Channels & viewing

[laknox]

We recently started busting through our ISP's data limit and, in trying to figure out why, we found that we'd come back to a series we were watching and find that several episodes had "played" while the TV was off.  Bandwith Saver is on on all 4 Roku boxes we have, 2 Ultras, 1 3 and one "older" one.  What we've started doing is to completely back out of any channel we're watching by using the Back button, all the way to the Roku Home menu.  This has been working and our data usage has significantly dropped.  We tried using the Roku Home button, but it didn't seem to work; that's why we just Back out all the way.  Add to that, the main TV that we watch, won't connect to the Roku remote, so we have to use the TV's remote, which doesn't have a Home button.  Roku =really= needs to come up with a better solution.

[Strega2]

Rokus don’t shut off (unless you force them to by pulling the plug) so it’s best to press the home button after any streaming.  The bandwidth saver can be useful, but if you rely on that exclusively, then each one of your TV-watching sessions can become effectively about 4 hours longer.  (But it’s good if you forget once in a while.)

The home button has always worked for me.  Are you saying you don’t see the home screen after pressing home, or are you saying that you’re on the home screen, but it’s still streaming somehow?  I’ve heard of buttons on remote failing, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the latter case.

Speaking of pulling the plug, you could get one of those smart power strips that senses the main device (TV) going into low power mode, and then shuts off the other sockets.  But then you'll have to wait for the Roku to boot up and I think pressing home works for most people.

[laknox]

My biggest issue is that on our main TV, a Samsung, the Roku remote won't pair with the TV (a separate issue), so there's no way to get to the Roku Home without using the Back button all the way back.  My other TVs all are connected to the Roku remote and the Home button works.  In our experience, the Home button doesn't always fully disconnect the channel.  I'll play with it more and see what happens.  Thanks.

[Strega2 · Accepted solution]

For what it's worth, my Samsung is not controlled by my Roku remote (because I prefer it that way) but the home button on the Roku remote works for me.  Everything on the Roku remote works as expected, except that the buttons on the side have no effect because I (intentionally) programmed them for the wrong TV.

I even turned off the 1-touch play feature so I can press the Roku remote home key, any time I'm in doubt about its streaming status, and not have to worry about it trying to turn the TV on or change the input.

[imabemeok]

Great idea! Thank you for your suggestion.I took your advice and it works like a dream.