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mousetowndude's avatar
mousetowndude
Reel Rookie
3 years ago

Can roku stay on without timing out. Can you keep it on all the time. Maybe a timer off

I have Spectrum cable as my ISP and can run their service while continuously streaming.  The downside is that I am required to have a set top channel selector box.  When I switch to using a ROKU device, I get the 4 hour bandwidth limit regardless of any ROKU setting to the contrary.  I suspect my ISP is responsible for imposing that restriction by virtue of the changing device MAC identity.

More insight... I took a trial test with a fiber optic cable provider recently to compare it to Spectrum cable.  I still used the Spectrum APP but it limits the number of screening devices to three while using a non-Spectrum ISP with the ROKU device.  It also removes some of the local channels that I can get when using Spectrum as my ISP.  That goes to show that the ISP's are not likely to lift those restriction since it's not in their best interest financially.

Fool that I am, I'll stay with the Spectrum cable ISP and the ROKU devices (have 5 TV's) for the time being but fools can sometimes be very ingenious and I'll be using all the grey matter I have to circumvent these inconveniences.  The workable ways I have come up with so far are kludges but I'm still hopeful.

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  • Strega's avatar
    Strega
    Roku Guru
    3 years ago

    Yes, any app can implement its own timeout and many do so.  Unlike broadcast TV (both over the air and over cable), each individual stream uses resources so lots of content providers don’t like having them go to waste, and implement their own time outs.

    • mousetowndude's avatar
      mousetowndude
      Reel Rookie
      3 years ago

      That no doubt true.  It's apparently also true that the app can be coded to operate differently depending on who the ISP is.  I'm not sure whether that's due to the app or the ISP.  I suspect it's entirely up to how the app is coded and the ISP has no involvement in it.

      Spectrum is apparently coding restrictions into their app to encourage users to stay with them as their internet service provider.  It punishes users that use the app on a competing ISP by applying maximum streaming screen limits and removing some local TV channels.  It would be nice if they would divulge that up front.  It would have saved me the time and expense of finding it out the hard way.