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hip2b2
Reel Rookie

Using the Roku Stick while traveling

I travel both domestically (Canada) and offshore, staying at both residences and hotels.  I am planning on buying a Roku Stick for this purpose, but I have come across some conflicting information on the net about using the Roku this way. 

Specifically:

  • Will I "generally" (I understand there are no guarantees to any answer I receive) be able to use my Canadian Roku when I am away? 
  • Are there any countries where using the Roku is just a no-go?
  • If I have been able to connect to Netflix in the past at a hotel, is this an indication that the Roku device will work?

Thanks in advance.

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2 REPLIES 2
atc98092
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Using the Roku Stick while traveling

Will your Canadian Roku work in another country? Yes, it will. Depending on the country you might need a power converter/adapter if you are somewhere that doesn't use the North American plug standard.

Will your Canadian subscriptions work in another country? It is doubtful, but some might. That all depends on the provider. Some will recognize the public IP address your Roku is using and if they determine you are somewhere they don't permit their content to stream, it will not work. Some apps don't care where you are, such as YouTube. But most have licensing restrictions for the content they stream that limits where they are permitted to allow their content to play.

Netflix does have regional limitations. Most likely your account will still work, but there might be content you can see at home that isn't available in another country. I no longer use Netflix, but when i did have it I never tried it outside the US, so no experience there. 

I have one thing to add about using hotel TVs. Most hotels today (at least the major chains) use TVs that have their HDMI ports disabled, except for the one they use to feed their service. Some hotels have a box behind the TV that offers one or two HDMI ports, but often that box is inaccessible to the guest. I have been in a Sheraton (Marriott property) all this week, and I could not use the Samsung TV HDMI ports because the hotel's proprietary remote didn't have an input selection button. They did offer an HDMI connect option, but the box with the port was hidden inside the wall where I couldn't access it.

I've been in other Marriott and Hilton properties with LG TVs, and in some cases I could use one of the other ports. However, they way they program their TVs the TV volume is locked at a high level and the volume is controlled in that hidden box. If you can access the box, then you can control your Roku volume. But connected directly to the TV's second HDMI port your volume is far too high for watching in comfort, let alone how loud it would be to someone in the next room. Again, some remotes will allow controlling the volume at the TV, so the HDMI ports can be used. But some will only control the volume through the hidden box, and then you're stuck.

Dan

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hip2b2
Reel Rookie

Re: Using the Roku Stick while traveling

Thank you for an extremely complete answer, which I interpret as a definite maybe depending on some circumstances.  I understand and expected this to be the case.

Most interesting is your hotel experience re blocked TV HDMI ports.  I have not found this anywhere in my travels.  But I will not be surprised that having heard this, I will come across it in the future.  In the last few years, I have been connecting my phone to hotel TV's via a USB-C to HDMI cable.  I have never had a problem (though I confess that when in Japan I have had some trouble finding the right buttons to select the HDMI port I connected the cable to); Google Translate has been of some help.

Many thanks again

 

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