New internet provider, no password prompt
We moved from a house to an apartment and are trying to set up our Roku stick. We have a username and password, but the device doesn't prompt for either when connecting to the building internet service. We don't have this problem with computers and smartphones. What can we do?
You can get your Stick connected back to your user account by using a hotspot, such as on a smartphone. Then you can get back to the network connection issue.
How do you mean "other devices" prompt for a user name and password? That sounds like a separate authentication webpage that comes after the device is connected to the WiFi, such as most hotels use. If you aren't getting the prompt asking if you're using a hotel or dorm connection, that means the Roku thinks you have a network connection that doesn't require authentication. Since there's no way to manually trigger that function, you have two options. The first is to contact the support staff for your new network, and your management company should be able to provide you with that info. When you contact them, ask them to "whitelist" your device in their system. They will ask you for your device's MAC address. This is a number you can find on the Settings/Network/About screen. It's a 12 digit alphanumeric with two digits, a colon ( : ) and the two more, and so on.
The second is a bit more complicated, but overall might be more satisfying to use. You can use a Windows computer with a WiFi card (such as an old laptop) to connect to the WiFi network, then share that network connection to the same computer's Ethernet connection. This is basically called a secure bridge connection. You can then connect your own router to that Ethernet connection using the WAN port and you now have your own personal, private WiFi network that won't require anything more than knowing the SSID and password of the router WiFi.
The advantage to the second method is that you now have every device in your home completely separated from the building WiFi, which gives you much better privacy as well as complete control of your internal network. I've used them method when I was staying long term at a hotel during a work assignment. As I said, it's a bit complicated to set up, but once it's running you should never need to be concerned with your connection to the building WiFi again, unless they contact you and advise they've changed WiFi passwords or something like that. If that happens, you simply go onto the bridge computer and change it to the new one.
