I’m glad we both found solutions, albeit in far different ways.
Thanks - I agree.
One troubleshooting hint I thought of after posting that last night, which might be useful to people reading this thread is - if the WiFi board goes bad, your RF-based remote stops working too. If you have an optical link remote, it will work just fine. If your remote is RF-based (higher-end remote, most have a local earphone jack) - it uses the same board as the WiFi for communications.
So two clues as to a bad WiFi board: no (or intermittent) WiFi; and no connectivity to an RF-based remote.
How do you tell the difference between an optical link remote and a wireless-RF-based remote? The optical remote has to have a view of the TV to work. It won't work if you have it in your hand but are facing away from the TV. The wireless-RF-based remote will work, even if you're out of sight of the TV (I think its range is about 25'.
Can I set up my wifi throw the app on my phone
I need help putting my wifi on TV with out a remote
@Roron it is impossible to connect your TV to a wireless network without a remote. The app will not connect to your TV unless the TV and the phone are connected to the same private network. You can use a universal IR remote, so you don't have to have a Roku specific remote. Just make sure the remote you buy says it supports TCL TVs.
Roku makes an IR remote... and it's not terribly expensive. If the TV suddenly stopped connecting to the WiFi network chances are excellent the WiFi board went bad in it, or the grounding screw for it has come loose. The board is located near the base of the TV right next to one of the loudspeakers. If the TV sound has been used at a higher volume I could see that causing the screw to gradually become loose and it losing ground and not working.
On mine the WiFi board went bad. I found a replacement board (and I eventually bought an entire kit of ALL the boards in it, which I've had to use once - power supply board crapped out) for small money ($70.) I've since added a surge protector for the power for it and the board failures seem to have stopped.
If you're ambitious - and have some small level of skill and common sense, it's not difficult (except finding a place to lay it face-down) to remove the back cover. It's about 20 or so screws that have to be removed (and kept sorted - some are longer than others). In that case I'd suggest trying to tighten up the screw holding the board to the frame, and see if that fixes things. If it doesn't - you need the replacement board. It only took me a few days to get a replacement - but I reassembled mine, and plugged a Roku stick into one of the USB ports and used it that way until the new board arrive. Disassemble/replace board = working TV.
Just remember: the Roku player IR remote does not work for a Roku TV. Players and TVs use different IR codes.
Would you happen to have a contact point for TCL customer support? Updating the TV's firmware might prove difficult if there is no WiFi connectivity.
Roku TV Partner Support Contact Information
TCL
https://support.tclusa.com/televisions
1-877-300-8837