Discussions

[raykman]

Hello everyone

I am a newbie to Roku and need some help

I am purchasing a house to rent out in Florida and would like to try and cut costs as much as possible as far as Tv programming 

I am trying to decide between Roku Tv and Roku box to setup for 3 tv's in the house for people staying at the house and also us coming to visit

There is one situation that makes this more difficult my wife would rather the Tvs be connected thru a cable to receive internet rather than a WiFi signal thru the house

The house has Xfinity coaxial cable in each room where the tvs will reside

I was going to buy my internet through Xfinity and use either a Roku box or Roku Tv to get rid of cable programming and use the roku programming and free stations to cut the cable bill

my question is, if I buy a roku Tv can  I plug the coaxial cable into the back of the Tv, will this provide internet to the roku Tv instead of Wifi

If I am way off base with this let me know and any suggestions of hooking this up to avoid using wifi or a cable box and programming would be greatly appreciated

Thanks so much for all your help

Ray

[JWS9518]

The short answer is no. 

The cable port (coaxial) on a TV doesn't have that function.  The cables port's primary purpose is to interpret a video/audio signal from a source, in this case, the cable provider.  Think of it like an HDMI port, but lesser video quality.  The ethernet port on the other hand is meant to create an ethernet connection and in this case to create a connection to the cable provided network, through a modem.  Coaxial cable can provide the connection via the wire, but there needs to be something to interpret that signal. 

You will need a cable modem or cable modem/router combo to "interpret" the signal and router to provide wi-fi or be able to hardwire from the router to the network port (ethernet) of the TV.  I personally recommend the Roku devices with any name brand TV instead of the TVs as there seems to be less problems with those and if something happens to the Roku box, then that cost less to replace than if the TV becomes obsolete or has a problem.  I also recommend a separate modem router than a combo modem/router device as those work better and provide a stronger more reliable signal. 

You could hardwire the TVs to the network by getting a router that has a mesh network with satellites (like the Orbi or others) and connect the TVs via network cable (Cat 5 or 6) from the router and satellites to the network port of the TV.  Wireless is easier, however, how reliable the signal depends on a lot of factors including distance from router, how big your house is, what the house is made of, how crowded the wireless signal is, the quality of router you have and other things. 

For example, I have Roku Ultras instead of cable boxes (using Spectrum cable and internet).  I still have cable service but save by not paying for boxes.  If you get rid of your cable service and just use the internet, this works basically the same.  I use the Spectrum provided cable modem connected to an Orbi router and satellites, which provides the signal to the Roku whether that is the Roku box or TV.  Some I have hardwired direct to the router and others I do not and are connected wirelessly. All of the Roku devices work equally well as far as signal and reliability.  Now you don't need to spend as much as an Orbi costs as there are cheaper mesh networks out there, but of course that depends on your budget and features you want.  

The other option of course to connect "Cable" is using the Comcast provided cable boxes via the old fashion way of cable TV.  I think your wife is confusing the terms a bit.  You can get "cable" internet but not in the sense of cable TV with cable boxes.  That is the purpose of a modem in that instance. 

If you want all of the TVs or Roku devices hardwired into the network, then you need a way in each room to access that network via ethernet cable either by having a router/extender/satellite in each room to hardwire to, ethernet cable run through the walls in each room from the router or server.  Or you can connect each of those wirelessly from the router. Just make sure you use a secure network with a good password.  Hardwiring those rooms for ethernet is going to be more expensive to do, regardless of whether you use a mesh network or try to hardwire through walls.

[raykman]

Thanks so much for all your help

I am not understanding the orbi mesh satellite system

These are your words

You will need a cable modem or cable modem/router combo to "interpret" the signal and router to provide wi-fi or be able to hardwire from the router to the network port (ethernet) of the TV. 

You could hardwire the TVs to the network by getting a router that has a mesh network with satellites (like the Orbi or others) and connect the TVs via network cable (Cat 5 or 6) from the router and satellites to the network port of the TV. If you want all of the TVs or Roku devices hardwired into the network, then you need a way in each room to access that network via ethernet cable either by having a router/extender/satellite in each room to hardwire to. You will need a cable modem or cable modem/router combo to "interpret" the signal and router to provide wi-fi or be able to hardwire from the router to the network port (ethernet) of the TV. 

My words

So I would just pay for internet from Xfinity and get their modem and then connect the xfinity modem (how to Connect?)  into an orbi system. Then I would place satellites in the other rooms where i want a Tv hardwired and use an ethernet cable from the satellite into an ethernet port on the tv or ethernet port on the Roku ultra? Is this not still wifi traveling to the satellite and then a hardwire connection to Roku box or Tv?

Last question do you know anything about MoCa ? . Since there is already coaxial cable in each room for the tvs can i take the coaxial cable and place a MoCA 2.5 Network Adapter on it and then place an ethernet cable into a Roku Ultra which has an ethernet connection then hdmi into the tv or directly into a Roku Tv

Not sure of the initial connection of the initial coaxial cable from Xfinity  to the the modem or router and and how it gets transferred into the different rooms where the tvs are?

Sorry to throw so much at you and thank you so much for taking the time to help me out

The house is in Florida and I would like to rent it out and eventually move. I am going down next month for about 4 days  I have an electrican set up to help but I wanted a game plan on how to hook this up  

The home is single level about 1,700 sq ft Tv in Living room and two bedrooms

Thanks again

Ray