question about software update

Just some information in case anyone else has the same problem. I discovered my friend has a netgear router and seems they are troublesome with roku. The roku worked fine with ethernet cable. Wireless doesn't even when the roku was moved to the same room as the netgear. Roku said Netgear needs to increase channel strength to 11 but netgear wanted pay for support and that was a no go. So my friend still can not use the wireless with roku.

Roku said Netgear needs to increase channel strength to 11...

I think maybe they said to change the router to channel 11 to get away from possible interference on the channel he's using now.

I've also heard of people getting flat tires with every car ever manufactured on the planet. If every Netgear had problems, then they wouldn't continue being in business. What your friend really should do is go out and buy one of each make and model of wireless router available, set each of them up one by one in the same location, and then report back for which one worked for him. It would be a more practical, authoritative discovery, than to simply say all Netgears are junk and still not have a working solution. Channels 7 and 11 are the most common in use, with the most interference, because those don't overlap the other channels - it might make more sense to run through each channel available and figure out which one is best for his situation. And I don't see why people everywhere continue to be surprised when they call the manufacturer for help and are given billing terms for support - one of the reasons your router you bought is as inexpensive as it is - is because support isn't free. Reading the manual will (in most cases) allow you to troubleshoot and fix most problems you will face.

If there is any signal strength, it should be able to connect, just the speeds won't be where they could be - most likely it is either connecting and then dropping due to poor signal strength, or some other 'feature' is blocking access like the router settings, the mac authentication, the dhcp or other issues. But I'm sure you know Roku isn't responsible for your internet connection or router - you are. What makes this a "Roku developer problem" is beyond my comprehension. I have four rokus using a Netgear router - currently using channel 7 simply because it's cleanest where I am this week, haven't had issues over 60 feet from it with any wireless devices, and I have other devices wired. I'm sure other owners have similar 'stories' of reliabilty and tales of satisfaction with the product.

Hi,

I am glad your netgear devices are working for you. This particular one that my friend bought is having problems. She said it has been acting up. I don't recall seeing in my post that I typed " all netgears are junk". But I have researched online that many people have had some problems connecting their rokus when they are using a netgear router. Very possible if I search for another brand name that there will also be posts for other brands. My concern is to get this one working properly. I called roku first to get their input and the man specifically told me " call netgear and tell them this, tell them to increase channel strength to 11." I asked him and again and he repeated the same. When I called netgear they said they were very familiar with this scenario. The rest is history. Just helping out a friend and seeing if anyone else has had the same issues and what the fix is is to try and get it corrected. I know the people that will understand this problem the best are developers because they understand the inner workings of the routers and systems. Perhaps there is a setting or perhaps she has a bad router that needs to be replaced.

Thank you.

You'll probably find more helpful advice on the general forum.

I was not able to get my roku 3 to connect wirelessly, and I found a thread with information that solved the problem.


viewtopic.php?f=28&t=55251#p376040


try those steps to disable internet ping and see if it helps. If not, they might be more useful in that forum for a connectivity problem.

You might try the official Netgear forum which is free - http://forum1.netgear.com/
If you click downloads on that page you can select the specific model number, or drilldown to it to get the latest firmware, user guide and documentation. After a number of years even routers can 'fail' so my Netgear was replacing an old Linksys for me. The Linksys served us well just eventually it died. The rest of our Linksys equipment is still working without issue.

I have a Linksys too that has been working pretty good for a few years and hope it continues.

I will try the suggestions I have received. I appreciate the help. I am not that familiar with routers as much but figured there would be people in this forum that I have conversed with previously would be a big help.

Thanks for the tips. Much appreciated!

btw I failed to add in my previous post that the last error received was 014.