Roku legacy products

[hotpotato]

I picked up a Roku N1100 box at a thrift store for $10. After plugging it in I found someone else's Roku account was registered to it so I did a factory reset. During the setup process it tries to connect to Roku. Whether I connect by wire or wireless it tells me it can't connect to Roku even though all the networking stuff shows as being OK. Is this box just too old to be used for anything? I was hoping to use it to watch the usual Roku channels and stream from my Plex server.

[Strega]

A few years back Roku announced that models that old were no longer supported, but lately I've read several reports that they can't even connect to Roku or set up anymore.  Do you know that current models start at $19.99? 

[hotpotato]

I didn't know they were that low right now but I sort of like those thrift store deals. Apparently now those deals aren't so great where Roku's are concerned. Originally my parents and I got in to using Rokus because of a couple thrift store finds. Eventually those two boxes started crashing and restarting due to unclear issues. Got a new Roku for dad but I haven't bought a new one. This one that I just bought at the thrift store had a lot of connectivity options. I sort of have a mish-mash of old and newer stuff where connectivity options can help. I guess I'll continue using my Raspberry Pi to stream Plex media. I just wish I hadn't basically thrown away that $10. The thrift store doesn't accept returns.

[DBDukes]

@hotpotato 

It came with a remote, right? Probably one of the "Snickers Bar" remotes. They worked great. The remote will control any Roku set top box (not sticks and not Roku TVs). So, it's not a total loss.

[hotpotato]

Sadly, no. It was just the box. I had a spare 5V 2.5A AC adapter at home plus a couple spare Roku remotes from the previous two boxes that became unreliable.

[DBDukes]

@hotpotato 

That device came with an Ethernet port, not just 2.4 GHz wireless. Are you using an Ethernet connection? I'm asking in case the WiFi has an issue. The Ethernet port would eliminate that, and if it can connect to the Roku servers, it won't update, but you might find some simple apps that will work with it.

[hotpotato]

Initially I thought maybe the Roku server was down but yes, I tried both forms of connection multiple times and the lights on the Ethernet port are lit up.

[makaiguy · Accepted solution]

The N1100 is a first generation Roku (current releases are 10th generation) that was released in 2019 (OOPS!, make that 2009) so it's going on 13 years old.  Roku quit supporting it years ago and it stopped receiving Roku software updates at version 3.1 (current version is 10.5).  Even if you somehow should get it to connect to the internet, you'll find many current channels require capabilities added in later Roku models and won't even install on the N1100.