I have had ROKU Express (until recently without 5G network support) for four years in two locations. I had the garbled sound problem initially with Spectrum internet service and my own wifi router. Excellent signal strength and available bandwidth, but still the problem persisted. I moved and, with the same Roku Express, had AT&T as my ISP and used their wifi router. The garbled sound problem went away. After a year, I switched to Spectrum again (again with my own NEW wifi router) and, lo and behold, the garbled sound problem returned. I thought it might be the 2.4G network connection ("good" quality per Roku network statistics) so I bought a new Roku Express that supported 5G. The new 5G connection is classified as "excellent" quality per Roku network statistics. Still the garbled sound problem persists. So, there are three potential sources of the problem for me: Spectrum internet service (in two different locations: 100 Mbps download and now 400 Mbps download), my own wifi routers, and Roku. I have tried switching between 2.4G and 5G networks without solving the problem. I am wondering if there is something in the way they handle traffic for non-Spectrum wifi routers that is potentially causing the audio problem with Roku. I am almost ready to pay Spectrum extra for their wifi router, or try another streaming device. I have to believe that Roku understands the nature of the problem but is unwilling to identify it openly for fear of losing customers.
Update: as another forum participant suggested, I used the Roku ap's remote function from my phone rather than the physical Roku remote to control the Roku Express stick for over two hours last night. I watched Netflix and had no recurrence of the garbled sound issue. I will continue to monitor and see if that 'fixed' the problem permanently.
Final update: after appearing to keep the sound from getting garbled for three days, the sound got garbled again despite using only the Roku ap on my phone as the remote. I am done with Roku and have moved on.
