This is my first thread on this forum so please be patient if you find it a bit long or indirect. I want the reader of this post to get a good feel of where I coming from and going with my Rokus. Then you will understand why I have to be careful of data/bandwidth issues. I started my journey into alternatives to pay-i.e. cable-television a year ago this month. Money is very tight in my pension supported household & traditional cable is simply out of our reach financially. We have basic AT&T DSL Internet access only with it’s rather problematic poor to practically nonexistent download speeds & a clunky-though newly purchased just this February-Netscape Modem/Router combo to deal with with no plans to upgrade anymore anytime soon.
I originally bought a Chromecast & found it rather limiting as my smartphone can’t store very many apps or channels with it’s very limited memory. So I bought a Roku Streaming Stick in early May 2018. I found it to be what I want it to be-an tiny all around streaming device that I can take anywhere with me & could store as many apps/channels as I want to. Plus the little gizmo would automatically adjust itself to the bad sometimes unreliable connection which is all that’s available here. The Roku Channel was the final push to purchase it as well.
So for this past year, I used this stick exclusively and it mostly worked quite well. Except for Mondays-Fridays from 6:00 pm to around Midnight, and all day Saturdays and Sundays. During those time periods I had to sometimes deal with frequent buffering and much longer loading times for my video & audio content-even sometimes getting thrown off a channel due to my Internet limitations. So I decided to take another plunge and buy the Roku Ultra. Based on the reviews I have been reading about other people’s similar limitations, I felt that this might help somewhat. Well, I am so glad I did & here’s why:
So far so good. Now for that one quirky problem which some people seem to get very upset with. You cannot turn any of these devices on or off without resorting to pulling the plug. You also might face the very real problem of going over your monthly data allotment even when you are not watching it if it not turned off. Plus monitor it for possible overheating problems and such (never happened to me personally).
So here is my solution. I went to the local hardware store and purchase an inexpensive Plug-In On/Off Switch:
I always use them to save my switches on my lamps and light duty sewing machines to save their own built in on/off switches. Replacing the plug in switches versions are far easier to replace than spending $$$$ on replacing the product itself or the product’s own built in switch assuming it has one. I use very basic mechanical ones. There are ones available for a bit more with timers and other sort of electronic controls. The idea is still the same. Pulling the device’s in and out of ports might damage the expensive TV or streaming device. So here is my idea presented to all of you. Examples Of These Plugs On Amazon Hope Roku adds these devices into their own accessories page for ease of device protection.
DBDukes
Roku Community Streaming Expert
Note: I am not a Roku employee.
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