Discussions

[blosepo1]

I set up a new WiFi router because I changed service providers. I was using my phone app for the remote to the TV, but now it won’t connect because I haven’t connected to the TV to the new WiFi yet. The thing is - I can’t even turn on the TV to do so, and I can’t find the physical remote. I have an LG TCL 40”.

What are my options? I’m pretty new to all this.

Thank you!

[RokuEmmanuel-D · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the Roku Community, @blosepo1!

Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention. We'd be more than happy to provide the information you need. 

Since you lost the connection to your previous Wi-Fi network, you'll need to use the physical remote to connect to the new Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, you can't use the Roku Mobile app without the remote, as you must first manually link your Roku TV to the new internet provider. Once this connection is established, you'll be able to use the Roku app seamlessly. 

We hope this clarifies everything. Please let us know if you need more help. 

All the best,
Emman

[Strega2]

A neat trick in this situation is to set the SSID and password of the new router to be the same as the previous one.  If you do that, your Rokus and other Wi-Fi devices should all connect automatically.

It's still a good idea to find/replace the remote for the long term, because if you ever need to do a factory reset, this trick won't work for that.

[DiViewing]

How will this work if the password has changed?

[DiViewing]

• This is BULL💩!!!  What is the point of having the remote on your phone if you can't do everything with it?!! I wouldn't have bothered changing the password if this were the case! Is there a warning about this somewhere?!  We get so used to using the remote on our phone & don't look for the physical remote when it goes missing! It is nowhere to be found!! Why should I have to buy another one?!

[Tim_Hare]

It's pretty simple, really:

1. You connected that TV to the old WiFi network.

2. The TV is looking for the old network, which doesn't exist, so it can't connect to that.

3. The TV knows nothing about the new WiFi network, so it can't connect to that, either.

4. So, even though your phone _can_ connect to the new network, there's no way for the router to pass that to the TV, because the TV can't connect.

Assuming you haven't moved since you bought the TV, the physical remote ought to be somewhere in the house.  Do what I do - when you run out of logical place to look for it, look for it in all the 'no way it would be in there' places.  You'd be surprised at how many weird place a remote can find to hide itself.

A future solution, if the TV manufacturer (or Roku in the case of standalone Roku devices), wanted to work on it, would be for them to find a way to pair the phone to the device over Bluetooth