Hi @sche,
A warm welcome here at the Roku Community!
We appreciate you reaching us regarding your concern with your Roku remote. No worries, we're here to help you with this.
A Roku simple remote uses invisible infrared (IR) light to transmit the button presses over a short distance.
For a simple remote to operate reliably, it must be pointed directly at the Roku streaming device (it is controlling) and there must be nothing that could block the signal from traveling to the front of that device (where the IR receiver is located).
Here's our Support link for further assistance: How to fix Simple remote
Keep us posted on how it goes and we'd be more than happy to continue assisting you.
All the best,
Carly
Carly Y.
Roku Community Moderator
