Remotes

[jmr48138]

The remote that came with my Roku Express 4k+ needs a new set of batteries every week.  Removing them when not in use has no effect.  I have checked to make sure I have the latest firmware updates as suggested in other posts.

Is there anything else that can be tried?

[makaiguy · Accepted solution]

Voice remotes connect to your Roku by WiFi direct. 

There is some anecdotal evidence that one cause of battery drain for WiFi-direct remotes can be use of a router channel that is crowded by nearby routers using the same channel.  This is more likely to be a problem in the more heavily used 2.4 GHz wifi band than in the 5 GHz band.

If you have access to your router's setup, try configuring it to use a different WiFi channel to see if this helps the situation. If you are connecting in the crowded 2.4 GHz band, channels 1-11 are supported. Channels 1, 6, and 11 do not overlap each other and so give you the best chance at reducing congestion, so try each in succession, although depending on what channels your neighbors are using, other channels in the 1-11 range may work best. Also, reducing router bandwidth from 40 to 20 kHz may also reduce interference.

Note that optimum channel choice can be a moving target as neighbors bring new routers online in your vicinity, or reconfigure their routers to use different channels. I periodically use a wifi analyzer app on my smart phone that can show me which available wifi channels have the least congestion and I change the channel my router uses accordingly. I don't know if that explains my battery longevity (usually 3 months or more with fairly heavy use) but it's probably worth a try to see if it helps.