Roku setup

[Tivoburkee]

You never mentioned what model you had, you leave it up to use to assume. 

[me_little_me]

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@Tivoburkee wrote:

You never mentioned what model you had, you leave it up to use to assume. 

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I apologize. It's a 3810X Streaming Stick +. I just got it today from Target. The stick had 3810X on it and the box had an SKU of 3810R.

I also heard from "support". They claim the problem is caused by the fact that it is a "private email" address - but that is the login address I use for the Roku site and, the address I need to use to link it with my other Rokus which also used that address and the address they used to email me their "answer".

[Instonejoe]

This solution absolutely does not work!! Why can’t I just sign in with my account to start using the Roku? I currently have 4 Roku devices and never had this issue. 

I never get sent an activation code and there is no bypass. I’ve reset and re tried this several times. I enter my email (yes it’s correct) and no activation email comes. 

I already have a Roku account but it does not let me enter it. This is dumb.

[CTBatHome]

We have the same problem. Bought two streaming sticks during Black Friday (Target).  One we've used with no problems for several months. The second we just tried to set up on a different tv. It asks for the password (the same one all the other Roku boxes use) and we get a screen that says it is sending a code, then a new screen that says "we'e sorry, the email you provided isn't working.

We've had this email for years.

We thought there was an internet problem so we disconnected the Roku on the kitchen TV and tried connecting the new Roku stick. Same problem.

How do I return this stick under warranty. I read reviews online that said people were having intermittent problems. This is particularly concerning since we had to buy new equipment because Roku stopped supporting older models.

Is Roku having issues because of all the people staying home now?

[me_little_me]

What I gather fro the from the replies from "support" is that they have changed their software to verify the email address and will not accept "private" email addresses i.e. those that are not coming from real servers and are instead coming from masked servers. My existing account uses one of these masked servers as I want to keep my real email private. However, the existing Roku devices on my account were added before this change to their software so registered properly.

It has taken multiple back and forth emails over as many days just to get to that point because they don't really read what I send and are more interested in marking the problem as resolved than they are in answering or explaining why. In fact, on one of their replies, they told me how to change my password(!) (unneeded, unwanted, and unrelated) which wasted a couple of days of emails.

When I asked specific questions as to how to proceed, they ignored those and told me to use a different, unmasked email. Doing so requires that you set up a new account but that's not what I want as then one of my devices would be on one account and the rest on the other. They made no suggestion and I can find no online help in merging the two accounts if I do so as an intermediate fix.

I have written a snail mail letter to Anthony Wood, the CEO of Roku asking if he can get a simple thing like this resolved. I await his reply.

I suppose they don't have the ability, authority or interest to override the system to manually register my Roku or calling me (since I can't call them these days) to discuss solutions.

If I don't get an adequate resolution soon, I'll return the Roku as "defective" and buy a competing product and eventually replacing the other Roku devices with that other product. I'd prefer to keep it as I like the idea that Roku is independent and my use of them doesn't involve me dealing with what I consider the worst offenders of privacy and security.

I retired as a computer and network privacy and security consultant for a major computer company so I do what little I can to protect the little privacy we have left. In fact, when traveling (which was quite often until this past month), I would connect my "traveling Roku" to the VPN in my mini-router so that it would appear to be in a different city to keep out the prying eyes of the hotel chain and their ISP and limit any other company's knowledge of my location. I bought this Roku specifically to become my new "traveling Roku" so I wouldn't have to pull one repeatedly off one of my TVs.

[CTBatHome]

Wow @me_little_me 

Thank you - that's probably the issue. I have multiple Roku boxes on this email account and I'm not inclined to have to redo every single box to get them to log in. Oye!

I get they are trying to strengthen security but good grief I've been a customer for more than a decade at this address. This must be a recent "unannounced" change. We bought two sticks at the same time during cyber Monday and installed the other one in December. So where was the notification to those of us who manage to get their emails about everything else?

I might do the same thing. Just return it as defective. We can Chromecast off our iPads and at this point, who wants to manage two different accounts? Plus I love your idea about having a traveling stick when I'm out for business. Wouldn't it make more sense to allow us to have a secondary email account on our main account to eliminate the stress?

With the situation more people are stuck at home with various members of the family streaming content on more than one TV and this is one more layer of bureaucracy I don't need. My poor husband spent a half hour trying to get it work and NOWHERE on this site does Roku address the email issue.

Sigh - yep - former engineer who wishes there was someone at these tech companies familiar with their customer base needs.

Thanks for the answer. Guess I won't go out and try to get a replacement this weekend.

[JCEllis]

New Roku Customer here, no activiation link email, followed Tanner's advice, still no email with link to activate my Roku Premiere.  I'll check back for a solution, going back for a refund in a few days otherwise.  Clunky out of the box.

[RokuTannerD]

@JCEllis @Instonejoe Thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear about the experience you're running into. A few quick questions to confirm some information: 

- Were you able to check all your filters and junk/spam folders to ensure no messages were getting intercepted from your inbox? 

- Did you try using a different email address to see if you were able to receive the message? 

If you are still running into the issue, and have tried the steps mentioned above, please send me a private message with the email address you are trying to enter in order to link your device, along with the Device ID printed on your device. I'll assist you further from there. 

Thanks,

Tanner

[rbmurray]

Having to same issue here. I don't see an answer here. Did everyone just return their Roku?

[vansks]

Just keep repeating the steps.  After several no emails and emails arriving too late (code expired), I finally got one in time to activate the roku.