Forum Discussion

Ghillie2016's avatar
Ghillie2016
Newbie
2 years ago
Solved

initial activation without internet or cell phone service

I need to activate my new Ultra to use with Dish TV signal  I do NOT have internet or cell coverage.  Can I register and set up the account on another computer and get the code to activate the roku ...
TV & Player Setup
  • RokuArjiemar's avatar
    RokuArjiemar
    2 years ago

    Hello! Ghillie2016,

    Welcome to the Roku Community!

    Thank you for contacting us regarding the activation of your Roku Ultra. We are happy to help.

    Roku streaming makes it easy and affordable to watch what you love anytime you want. To get yourself set up, simply: 

    • Power up your Roku device 
    • Plug in and connect your Roku player or TV to the internet 
    • Create a Roku account and activate your device 

    And that’s it—cutting the cable cord is easy! Note: All Roku players and streaming sticks connect to your TV’s HDMI port. Roku TV models have the Roku streaming experience built-in, so no HDMI connection is needed. 

    Do I need an internet connection for Roku?

    Yes, Roku streaming players and Roku TV models need to be connected to your Wi-Fi network to work. Roku Ultra also has an Ethernet port for wired streaming.

    Please check this link for more detailed instructions on how to set up your Roku Ultra: How to set up your Roku Ultra.

    Thanks,
    Arjiemar

jeccker's avatar
jeccker
Channel Surfer
2 years ago

I'm having the same problem. I need a streaming player in my RV. I expect most times I'll be in places where I won't have internet.  But I don't want to online stream - I want to put in the usb drive and play videos from there. I want to use screen mirroring to watch shows saved on my phone (like vids I purchased from Amazon, and downloaded in the app for *offline* viewing).  I had two separate things to do this before, and it worked for a while - but they were cheap pieces of Chinese garbage, so eventually they died. I was excited to get the Roku - a solid product that had everything I needed in one box.

I set everything up in the house with an internet connection. I bought a tiny router for my "network." Then I unplugged the router from the internet, and everything worked fine. It doesn't need internet to play local videos. 

Then I put everything in the RV. Now when I power on the Roku, it gives me a "cannot connect to the internet" error. There's no way around it, even though it had the wifi password saved in it - it's just this time the router isn't connected to the internet.  All it needs to do is connect to the router, give me the main screen, *then* give me a "no internet" error as if I were watching online at home and there was a power failure.  Please fix this, otherwise it's just an expensive brick. 

This would be the same if I wanted to use the Roku at home during a power outage to play local (usb drive or phone mirroring) files.  I can hook up the generator to run the tv, but I can't get to the internet if the provider is without power. Why does it insist on an internet connection at power-up, when it clearly doesn't need one to play local files? I bought the Roku Ultra because it appeared to do all the things I need. But in reality, it fails miserably.  I'll have to return it.

I looked around for a smart tv (the one in the camper is not), but came up with nothing. This is a 28" tv. I might be able to do 30". But all I can find are 24", 27", and 32".  And none of the 27s have a built-in tuner (I can pick up several channels off the air). So I can't get around it that way.

My smart tvs in the house don't give me internet errors when I turn them on when the internet is down - only if I try to watch an online video. But I can still connect to my home's Plex server (I ripped all 1600 of my dvds to files for this), and stream from my phone. I can't believe the tvs are smarter than the Roku, considering Roku was around well before the functionality was integrated into tvs.

renojim's avatar
renojim
Community Streaming Expert
2 years ago

jeccker, Roku has made it painfully obvious that they don't care about local streaming - there's no money in that.  You may be able to use some kind of bridge from your router to your phone's hotspot just to get through the Internet check and then disable the hotspot, but I can't say that I've tried it.  There's probably better options than Roku out there for what you're trying to do.

  • jeccker's avatar
    jeccker
    Channel Surfer
    2 years ago

    I don't understand them taking this attitude. I don't pay them for any streaming services. They don't get any money if I stream from Amazon, or Hulu, or from my memory stick. They sell boxes. The more useful the box, the more they sell. Well, this box went back to Amazon, and I'm unlikely to get another. 

    • Strega2's avatar
      Strega2
      Roku Guru
      2 years ago
      jeccker wrote:

      They sell boxes.

      Investopedia says 14% of Roku revenue comes from hardware sales.  86% comes from advertising, distribution of streaming services, etc. 

      • jeccker's avatar
        jeccker
        Channel Surfer
        2 years ago

        Ah. That would explain it. Thanks! But I will never be streaming on the road. They'll never get advertising income from my RV. But if they changed the startup routine such a minimal amount, they could market it to non-internet uses. If I had an internet connection but only did offline streaming, they'd still not make advertising money from me.

    • atc98092's avatar
      atc98092
      Community Streaming Expert
      2 years ago

      jeccker There is one workaround that would get you working in your RV. Find a very inexpensive WiFi router, set it up with the same SSID and password that you have on your home network, and then put it in your RV. It doesn't need any Internet to work, but when your Roku sees the router that it "knows" it will reconnect without checking for an Internet connection. Now the Roku is happy and you can play whatever you want off of your Ultra. You should be able to find an inexpensive router with WiFi for under $50, some even under $30. It doesn't matter how well it works, it simply needs to provide the WiFi SSID/password for your Roku that it recognizes.

      • jeccker's avatar
        jeccker
        Channel Surfer
        2 years ago

        That's what I did. I bought a tiny travel router (1.5" square), connected it to the network to set up the Roku, then disconnected the internet. Everything worked fine. But after I unplugged everything and set up in the RV, it demanded an internet connection for the power-up, even though I was using the same router with the same SSID.