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DeliriuM
Channel Surfer

Re: TCL Roku TV and Netflix Buffering

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I totally agree.  I spent two hours on chat with Netflix yesterday.  They refused to acknowledge this Roku thread because it came from the "internet" and they can't go on rumor.  So as it stands right now they are treating my issue as an individual failure and want me to walk through all of the normal tier 1 steps for debugging.  As if I haven't been trying that stuff for weeks.  I don't see how an individual consumer can get them to recognize this as a wide scale issue.  They just want me to do things like power down my TV, power down my modem, etc, etc....  We need help from Roku or TCL in approaching them to fix this.  How can we get these companies to talk??

BTW, I did notice that the TCL's Netflix Roku app is a much newer version of Netflix than my LG OLED TV.  That older Netflix is rock solid on the very same ethernet link.  Both TV's have 100BaseT ethernet HW which means the theoretical max speed is 100Mbps (will always be less than this).  The Netflix app on LG TV internal speed test registers 87 Mbps consistently.  My TCL TV has its own speed test outside of all the apps.  It registers at 87-90 Mbps.  But when I run the Netflix app on there and run the speed test I'm seeing 25-40 Mbps.  I can certainly see if it's dipping down to the low 20s how Dolby Cinema streams might start running into issues....

@RokuDanny-R 

ukfigs
Binge Watcher

Re: TCL Roku TV and Netflix Buffering

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I have given up on talking to tech support at Roku, TCL and Netflix as they all point somewhere else and no-one seems to be willing to actually troubleshoot the issue. It is pretty obvious it is some kind of connection bottleneck between the Roku OS and the Netflix app on this TV series. On my TCL 55R615 the netflix app has a 2015 date that has not changed in a year (if ever), on another TCL roku TV the app is dated 2017 and has no issues and on the Firestick the app is dated 2020 and the connection speed is 6 times faster. This is on the same TV, with the same WiFi connection (5G) and same channel as the TV. Same with the Roku stick+, later rdapp date, way faster throughput and no buffering. I even forced the TV to update to 9.3 from 9.2 to see if that would improve the situation but no change, Netflix channel loads then buffers and sticks a 25% for a while then jerks and stops etc. totally unwatchable.

I could probably live with the Roku stick if it were not for the hassle of needing 2 Roku remotes to be able to switch inputs to DVD, Antenna, Receiver etc.

As I bought the 5 year extended support from BestBuy I am currently waiting for a Geek Squad visit which will for sure go over all the stuff I have already done and not fix anything and then I can return the TV as this in my opinion is a manufacturers defect. I have had Roku systems from the start but this experience has really soured me as the whole point was to make life easy for the family with an integrated system and a single remote and we are back to multiple systems and multiple remotes. If it were some obtuse channel I could maybe understand the lack of interest but we are talking about the Netflix channel, the key reason a lot of people buy Roku in the first place.

After 11 months of messing with this I am obviously not a happy camper.

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DeliriuM
Channel Surfer

Re: TCL Roku TV and Netflix Buffering

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So I have been pestering Netflix nonstop on this.  They finally admitted they have escalated the issue to be investigated by their research team....  There is hope.....

Jettymk4
Reel Rookie

Re: TCL Roku TV and Netflix Buffering

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Just bought a TCL 6 series roku tv and having the same issue.  Its plugged directly into the modem.  My lg tv that is using the wifi has no problem streaming 4k content. 

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DeliriuM
Channel Surfer

Re: TCL Roku TV and Netflix Buffering

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BTW, I'm curious what versions of Netflix people are running that are having this TCL issue.  Netflix probed me on this and I do suspect it might be tied to a certain range of versions.  You can get this from inside the Netflix app by clicking Get Help - Device - and then look under Software Version.  My problematic TCL 625 series TV is running 5.1.81188087.  My good LG OLED TV is running 5.1.2.  I also have a good older 4-series TCL TV that is running 4.2.81179088.  I have a buddy who has a 617 series (I think) TV that has no problems and he is also running 4.2.81179088.  I didn't write this one down but my FireTV 4K stick is on a MUCH newer version than all of these as well and that doesn't have any issues.  

Just curious what versions other people are having issues with on their TCLs....

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aem
Binge Watcher

Re: TCL Roku TV and Netflix Buffering

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I have a TCL 55R625 and I'm running the same version of Netflix.

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mouthgravy
Streaming Star

I hate when there are multiple parties involved because then everyone plays blame game.

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Roku, Blaming Netflix, Netflix "Highly Aware" of TCL Roku Conflict. ISP redid my entire line needlessly and for the same result.  TCL Did onsite repair.  Who is missing from the helpful list here?

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mouthgravy
Streaming Star

Re: TCL Roku TV and Netflix Buffering

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I have no 4K on any streaming channel through Roku, But the Firestick and Xbox1 help me get 4K.

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Flonner
Binge Watcher

Re: I hate when there are multiple parties involved because then everyone plays blame game.

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This is my take on it:  Netflix works on every other device I have with no issues and as I can gather from this thread it is the same for everyone else.  Is anyone cancelling Netflix due to this issue? Likely not, I won't be anyways.  As for the TCL TV that I have that has now had this issue since January, will I be buying another? Only if it doesn't have Roku.  I really like the TV but the onboard Roku is terrible.  I also have 2 other Roku devices that work just fine.  Will I buy any other Roku devices in the future?  Absolutely not given their handling of this issue.  

So who do I think should be leading the charge here?  Certainly Roku, I feel they have the most to loose in this situation.

I've jumped through every single hoop that these companies have asked of me to try and resolve this issue multiples of times and now I am just playing the waiting game.

Either the issue gets resolved or it doesn't.  At this point it just doesn't even matter to me.  If Roku and TCL don't wish to have my business going forward, that is their prerogative.

Jimruko
Newbie

Re: TCL Roku TV and Netflix Buffering

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Using tcl series 8 (2019) same issue, connected via LAN with an 400Mbps connection. I also get slow speeds ~60Mbps when I test the network in the TV settings. 

 

Report ID 3T-247-860

 

Please fix! 

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