Community discussions

[atc98092]

If it's 5 months old it's under warranty. Contact @RokuDanny-R or @RokuMary-F for assistance.

[pscarbor]

I have a Roku 3 that I've had for several years and have used more or less successfully. About four weeks ago Roku pusher a firmware update to v 10 firmware.

First let me say, I am in a rural area on a cable connection and my ISP (Suddenlink) is well known for bad and/or intermittent service and lying about it. My connection drops regularly, usually for a second or two but sometimes for longer.

Of course being without a viable internet connection for several minutes will cause the Roku to also lose its connection; the issue I'm having is with shorted drops. With the previous firmware version the Roku would buffer for a few seconds, often a minute or two, then reconnect and resume. While somewhat annoying I consider this the price I pay for living on a lake in the country.

With the v 10 firmware the Roku will not reconnect. In order to get the connection back I have to go to System/advanced options/reset connection, which resets the connection and then the Roku itself. I can then set up the connection again and resume.

I am direct ethernet connected to my router. Just for grins I tried wifi a few times. Same issue.

So on to how to contact Roku: Like most of you here I was amazed at the new lack of customer support. After some research I found the email address of the CEO of Roku and sent HIM an email describing my issues and asking him to look into them. Surprise, surprise, two days later the 'nonexistant' Roku customer support emailed me and opened a support case.

Now the bad news: So far they have been no help at all. Apparently I've been shuttled off to tier 1 support, aka 'eighth grade computer science club'. They keep asking for the model and serial (I've sent it twice now) and asking  me which shows are giving me problems.

My guess (I'm a retired Engineer; in my previous life I programmed, directed, and managed Internet application and real time application development and support) is, the version 10 firmware is supposed to give additional support for 4K. That's fine but at 15 MBS (the best speed Slowlink can currently provide in my area) I can't stream 4K anyway. Apparently the upgrade created connection issues for slower connections.

I've considered upgrading to a Roku Ultra but I'm afraid the Ultra will have the same issues. No strike that: I'm CERTAIN the Ultra will have the same issues.

I think is time Roku will probably respond to User pressure and restore their previous call in and online customer service. Unfortunately it probably won't be very helpful.

[atc98092]

First, I completely understand your frustration with your problems and the lack of support. Your Roku 3 is getting very old. Depending on which version it is, it was released in March 2013 or April 2015. OS 10 will not add 4K support to that player. But I will agree that each new major OS release tends to cause issues with the older players. I don't believe it's intentional, as I try to trust my fellow man as much as possible. But that's just me...

I can't attempt to duplicate your issue, as I have an extremely rock solid DSL connection. I agree that the Roku should attempt to reconnect automatically. There is a network reset function in the Settings/System menu that might help if there's a hiccup in the network settings. And you must consider that it's possible that the OS update triggered something in your 6-8 year old player to electrically break. Your engineering background might recognize where that might happen better than I could ever attempt to describe it. And that's merely a thought to consider. I have a Roku about that vintage (slightly older even) and while it does still work, it's performance is so poor that it's been sitting in a desk drawer for several years. I only know it still works if I pull it out to test something that someone has reported. 

[pscarbor]

Thank you for your response.

I use the "network reset" function when the Roku loses connection; that's the only way I've found to get it back - thought I'd mentioned that? oh well.

I'm not accusing Roku of intentionally breaking anything but I can tell you that happens a lot in the IT world (Apple is famous for doing that sort of thing). And I wouldn't even mind spending a hundred bucks on a new unit if I could be certain the new unit would solve the issue.

Also congrats on having rock solid DSL! My experience with DSL in the Dallas Texas area before I retired was pretty negative. I got one of the first fiber connections and that was better, then a lot better, then great. In Eastern Louisiana we expect to have fiber to the home sometime between AD 3550 and never. By then I expect Disney will own the EU and have an exclusive contract with the US Senate; Washington DC will have been renamed Muskville; and Florida will have succeeded and formed the country of Trumpaswanna.

Anyway, back to reality...I originally had an Amazon Fire and Roku, one in each house. When I retired and moved to Louisiana I kept the Roku going. I'm going to check out what Amazon has to offer these days. I don't want to switch, I have a lot of subscriptions through Roku but if things don't improve my current unit will be worthless and as I stated before I have no confidence that a new unit will be any better.

Good luck with that DSL - cable internet actually makes me envious!

[pscarbor]

Oh I forgot to mention this weirdness: I can get the unit going and stream (for example) three hours of Game of Thrones and never buffer - then when I switch to something else on another app (The Rookie on Hulu, say) it won't connect and when I check the network connection, sure enough, it says no internet.

So then, 'System/Advanced Options/Reset Network Connection', 'Network/Set Up Connection', etc. and it's back. I attribute this to periodically long latency, yet another Suddenlink network feature the new Roku firmware apparently can't deal with.

[atc98092]

Sorry, you did mention you've used the network reset. Completely missed it. 

Sounds like you're a prime candidate for getting Starlink from SpaceX. 

[michaellbennett]

There is ZERO customer support.only 2 day email.This is intoleral.3 year customer.i will immediately cancel when I figure out how to.i spoke with customer service 4 months ago.now this.they say you can chat but even that you can't do.its 6pm, not 12 midnight.

[RokuDanny-R]

@michaellbennett

Thanks for the post.

What is the issue you are experiencing?

With more information we will be able to assist you further.

Thanks,
Danny

[Petearc]

I think my Roku problem could be solved in 1 minute if I could talk to a live person.

instead I have been trying for 5 days to get Roku to work.

[pscarbor]

Don't bet on it dude - Roku 'support' is essentially worthless.

What is the issue? Maybe someone on the forum can help you.