Forum Discussion

BrLA's avatar
BrLA
Channel Surfer
5 years ago
Solved

ROKU Suddenly won't connect to Internet

I've had my Roku Streaming Stick for a year and a half and I've never had a problem connecting to WI-FI or internet. Suddenly, it tells me I am not connected to Internet.  I've done everything I was ...
Thesolutionisthebgnanswer
TV & Player WiFi
Wifi and Internet Questions
  • Kmill78's avatar
    Kmill78
    5 years ago

    I am not sure if the roku stick works like the Express but i was able to get my roku Express to connect back to the wifi again by doing a factory reset.

    Press the 

    Home x5

    Fast forward x3

    Rewind x2

    Should take you to s screen where you can choose factory reset. Hopefully this works for you🤞

     

    Additional resources that you might find helpful from the Roku Support site:

  • makaiguy's avatar
    makaiguy
    5 years ago

    Factory reset is a last resort because you'll have to start all over from scratch to set it up again, as though it had just come out of the box.

    This has worked for me to fix wifi problems - try it before resorting to a factory reset.

    • Restart your router (yeah, I know everything else connects okay, try it anyway).
    • When router comes back up, restart your Roku, Settings > System > Restart system
      (or for a Roku TV, it's Settings > System > Power > Restart system).
    • When Roku comes back up, Settings > Network > Set up connection.

    Let us know how you make out.

    [Edited to add...]

    There are a couple of network connection problems being reported since my original post that have been caused by updates to routers. These have primarily been reported with routers supplied by internet providers (Comcast/Xfinity, Cox, and AT&T reported so far), but it's possible they could also occur with user-owned routers that have received updates.

    • ROKU LOCATES NETWORK BUT CANNOT CONNECT
      Some router updates have changed the router's connection settings from b/g/n to just g/n, causing some Roku models to lose their ability to connect to the network. The solution is to set the router's configuration back to using b/g/n.
       
    • ROKU CANNOT FIND LOCAL WIFI NETWORK
      Some routers have had their 2.4 GHz wifi band turned off, leaving only the 5 GHz band operational. Devices with single band wifi radios, notably Roku Express and Premiere models (but not Express 4K models) as well as many other single band devices can not even see the 5 GHz band. The solution is to reconfigure the router and turn the 2.4 GHz band back on.

    If you need to make configuration changes on equipment supplied by your internet provider but you have no access to its settings, you may need to request your internet provider to make the changes for you.

  • Adie1's avatar
    Adie1
    5 years ago

    I can only repeat what worked for me, which was changing the wi-fi channel. I'd been having intermittent Roku problems for ages, then changed the channel on another user's advice, and it's been fine ever since. (It's an easy fix to Google if you're a dunce like me!) Good luck!

  • Tamalesyatole's avatar
    Tamalesyatole
    5 years ago

    • Restart your router (yeah, I know everything else connects okay, try it anyway).
    • When router comes back up, restart your Roku, Settings > System > Restart system
    • When Roku comes back up, Settings > Network > Set up connection

     

    WTF it worked for me!?!1! Didn't even had to re-setup the connection.

    TV remembered previous SSID (Changed router recently so I forgot whether I had connected this TV to it) and Android Mirroring also worked, so a busted WiFi couldn't be the reason, I thought.

    Everything else worked with the WiFi so I thought it wasn't either.

ClayClai's avatar
ClayClai
Binge Watcher
5 years ago

My Roku Express device has been installed and running for over2 years. Today it lost connection and refuses to see my wifi. It sees other nearby wifis but not mine. My other wifi devices (phone, laptop, tablet) see my wifi (2.5G) just fine. I have rebooted and then power cycled my router with no joy. Nothing here speaks to my problem. My router is a Linksys WRT1200AC running OpenWRT 18.06 and my ISP is Spectrum. I had been connecting to the 2.5G Marvell 88W8864 802.11bgn radio using mixed WPA/WPA2 PSK (CCMP) encryption. I have been in IT since 1970 and a Linux Systems Administrator since 1998 so I'm not exactly wet behind the ears on this stuff. I suspect a recent firmware update from Roku as nothing else on my network has changed or is failing. I see more than 34 complaints with my profile starting in June 2020, with no solution from Roku.

dollilocks's avatar
dollilocks
Binge Watcher
5 years ago

ClayClai 

New to this stuff or not there is a resolve.  My devices have been installed 4 years with no problem prior to the lost connection and refusal to see my wifi.  I also did have a dialogue with Roku's support, and finally figured it out myself.  Firmware update?  Most likely. The beauty of tech is the rapid changes. 

It's not an internal network issue.  It needs to be addressed with Spectrum (in your case).  I didn't need to get on the phone with Comcast and quite frankly, I don't like grinding up my time when I do a better job navigating this stuff myself. 

In any event, call them up and discuss that M.A.C. address and make sure it is being acknowledged on their side.  Whatever Roku changed (firmware etc...), doesn't matter.  Get that M.A.C. address squared away.  It's not anything with the router. 

My devices (and I have plenty as well), had no issue.  My firestick even connected with no issue.  Again, call them and get that M.A.C. address acknowledged.  It's a pain in the **bleep**, but you'll be back in business once that permission is granted (on their side).  I don't know why the update has set off a rejection on the service provider side, nor do I care, these things sometimes happen with updates as you well know.

  • ClayClai's avatar
    ClayClai
    Binge Watcher
    5 years ago

    The problem I have with that is a wireless device should connect to the router even if the router isn't connected to the Internet. Now my Roku Express doesn't even see my SSID anymore. How can Spectrum be responsible for that?

    • ClayClai's avatar
      ClayClai
      Binge Watcher
      5 years ago

      Okay, I just tested my thesis. I disconnected my modem from my router. Then I disconnected the Samsung Galaxy S8 from the router wifi, and reconnected it with no problem - of course it warned me that I had no Internet, but it certainly saw the SSID and connected to it. Same with an HP notebook. Disconnected, reconnected, of course no Internet, but I could ping addresses on my LAN. Tried to connect the Roku Express to the router with the modem disconnected - so no Spectrum involved - it still wouldn't even see my router SSID. Maybe you are using a Spectrum supplied router.modem combo? But that's not my situation. I supplied my own modem, and that has been the only MAC address I ever had to register with Spectrum, and I run a lot of devices off that router.

      Obviously, I can't use the Roku without Internet, but why would it refuse to see the router wifi without a route to the Internet. Is this some sort of Roku bug?

    • renojim's avatar
      renojim
      Community Streaming Expert
      5 years ago

      This thread has become a mixture of two completely different problems.  Most people don't understand the difference between a Wi-Fi connection and an Internet connection and that you can have the first without the second, but not the second without the first.

      I hate to say it, but I'd expect someone wet behind the ears to call 2.4GHz "2.5G".  🙂  I don't know if anyone knows why a Roku will suddenly not see an SSID that it previous connected to, but you can try a few things with the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi settings.  I'm using an older version of OpenWRT, so the settings may be different, but I can choose between N and Legacy under Mode and 20 or 40MHz under Width, not to mention trying different channels.  I have mine set to N and 20MHz.  None of this may make a difference, but it's something to try.  There's also the Wireless Security stuff, but I don't know if any of that would have any effect on whether or not the SSID even shows up in a Roku scan.

      • ClayClai's avatar
        ClayClai
        Binge Watcher
        5 years ago

        renojim 

        Yea, by bad calling it 2.5G. I made that mistake because I named it ecosmos-2.5G, b/c I already had a ecosmos-2.4G and needed a new name. Okay, I'll try screwing around the the 2.4G wifi settings, although I hate to because everything else works as is. Does anybody know what Roku sw ver 9.4.0 likes. I'm using mode N, 40Mhz. What are you using?

    • dollilocks's avatar
      dollilocks
      Binge Watcher
      5 years ago

      ClayClai 

      A wireless device isn’t going to connect to a router when the M.A.C. address isn’t recognized.  Forget the router. Call Spectrum and have them add the Roku’s M.A.C. address.  Give it time and step through the connection process. 

      • Clascabra's avatar
        Clascabra
        Newbie
        3 years ago

        That's all I had to do. Thank you!