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1donaldlee
Reel Rookie

fairly new Ultra+ just isn't reliable -- zero support from Roku

I have fairly new Roku Ultra+.  Purchased within last 6 months.  Today, I'm watching a soccer game on Paramount+.   The Roku just keeps choking and struggling.  Buffering, freezing, resetting, freezing and dying needing to be reset.  Yes, the software is all up-to-date.  The Ultra+ is hardwired connected to the 2GB google fiber router.  

There was nothing wrong with the stream.  I put the game on my PC in a browser, wireless connected to the same router.  No issues whatsoever.   

The infuriating part of this is Roku offers zero support for this problem.   The only option is to post something here for other users to read.   Needless to say, this Roku is going back to Costco, and all my other Rokus are going to be tossed.  I will switch over to Apple TV because they will publish a phone number and answer my call when their product is not working right.  

A streamer worthy of my money has built in error trapping and clear, transparent error reporting.  When things are going wrong there is clear information on why.  And you have phone technical support.

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5 REPLIES 5
RokuDanny-R
Retired Moderator

Re: fairly new Ultra+ just isn't reliable -- zero support from Roku

@1donaldlee

Thanks for the post.

In general buffering related issues are due to poor internet connectivity. Did you already try rebooting your wireless network? In addition, did you already try removing the channel from the Roku home screen by navigating to the channel tile, pressing the * key on your remote and choosing 'Remove channel'. Then restart your device from Settings>System>System restart. Once your player starts up again, add the channel back once more?

Please keep us posted what you find out.

 

Thanks,
Danny

Danny R.
Roku Community Moderator
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1donaldlee
Reel Rookie

Re: fairly new Ultra+ just isn't reliable -- zero support from Roku

Hi Danny.  @RokuDanny-R  Thank you for responding.   

 Please let me point out to you some facts most of which was first related in my original post:

- The Roku is hard wired attached, via CAT6e patch cable, to my router. The router is a state-of-the-art 2GB Google Fiber supplied router (google insists on providing their router to ensure a high capacity router capable of supporting their 2GB service. During the event in question the Roku reported download speeds of 87 Mbps.

- I was able to flawlessly play the same stream, at the same time, on my PC which was wifi connected to the same router.

- The Roku, on its own with no actions by me, froze, crashed, and restarted itself during the stream.  I had to navigate back to the stream to get it going again.  

 - The router is rebooted once a week. If it was the problem then the PC stream would have had problems as well.

Respectfully, your response supports my assertion that Roku provides zero support to solve Roku responsible problems.  Despite being provided ample evidence that Roku is the problem, you deny there is a problem with a response that ignores the facts first provided to you and just posts general problem solving techniques.

I suspect Roku will blame everything on the Paramount+ app.  This is a convenient business structure to have two parties so that each can blame the other and provide no further assistance to a customer.  I reject this view.  Roku is responsible for the quality of all apps on the Roku.  At the very least Roku should provided robust error trapping and reporting: A Roku should never freeze up or have trouble without reporting to the user detailed error information that informs the customer exactly why the error has happened.  This may need to be done in a post-recovery message or log.  You don't do it however because you don't want to identify the problem because then it would have to be fixed.  You don't want to do that to your partner or yourself.   You want to be able to produce poor quality systems with no accountability.

My biggest problem is Roku selling, and collecting subscription payments for, a device while washing your hands of it actually working as advertised.

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OwnerofDevices
Roku Guru

Re: fairly new Ultra+ just isn't reliable -- zero support from Roku

I have 3 Roku TVs that give me buffer free streaming on all of my channels that I watch. All 3 of my TVs are connected wirelessly. Not a single TV is close to my Xfinity Xfi gateway or the wireless extender. Perhaps, you might want to try connecting wirelessly instead of using the ethernet cable. 

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1donaldlee
Reel Rookie

Re: fairly new Ultra+ just isn't reliable -- zero support from Roku

I'm sorry.  This is not meant as snark, but are you serious?  The speed, latency, and reliability superiority of wired over wireless is axiomatic.  

The overall speed of the roku both wired and wireless is generally pretty good.    Most likely, an app (Paramount+) was struggling and causing problems.  Roku's responsibility here is that Roku provides zero in error trapping, error reporting to the customer, or technical support. Roku does nothing to allow a customer to hold the app provider responsible, or expose their role in the problem.  Roku is not putting real effort into customer experience and support.

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OwnerofDevices
Roku Guru

Re: fairly new Ultra+ just isn't reliable -- zero support from Roku

Latency has not been an issue with my devices in my environment, even though I am 100 percent WIFI on my Roku devices for several years.

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