Solving playback issues

[jimt1948]

After deciding to dump my TIVO, I did some research and decided to use ROKU streaming sticks 4K to stream on my three televisions.  So far I have been very disappointed with the ROKU Streaming Stick 4K.  I have also used older ROKU devices, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.  They all have some issues, but the ROKU product should never have been released.  I have Xfinity TV service, 800 mbs from Xfinity and an EERO mesh WiFi delivering about 250 mbs on my other devices in the area of the TV.  My TV is a brand new LG OLED.  I do not believe the problem is in my set. 

The most significant issues are:

1. Voice Synchronization with the pictures.  Most pre-recorded material like network dramas, movies and other content from services like Netflix and Amazon.  However, when it comes to live TV  such as local news shows, CNN, Fox News and live sports, the synchronization issue are so bad it is almost impossible to watch.  There is not just an slight error, the voices sometimes are several seconds ahead of the picture, so you start to hear voices from the program while the picture is still showing a commercial.  I have tried every suggestion in support and on this board.  They do not work.    

2. If you watch several hours of TV using the stick to say steam a session of binge watching, after some time the tick will simply stop the connection and go back to the main menu.  Not nearly as much of a problem as the sync issue but if you are watching a show and this happens at an important part it is annoying.  Generally I expect to see this once or twice a day.

3. Similar to the above and even a bit less frequent, the stick seems to overheat and it re-boots on its own.  This means you have to wait through the annoying bouncing ROKU logo and then go back into the menus.  I returned one stick over this and the new one is no better.  I expect this to occur only once or twice a week, except for the returned stick which did this many times a day.

There is a lot to like about the ROKU service, but honestly these are not issues I had with Apple or Amazon so I think the problem is just a product that hit the shelf before it was ready.  I wish I had gone another way with my streaming devices, but it is too late now and I raed on some boards that this is a know issue being batted back and forth between Xfinity and ROKU, but honestly the issue did not exist with my Apple TV using all of the same equipment.  I think the stick just gets too hot, much hotter than either of the others.  I don't expect ROKU will do anything so this s just a warning to others before you buy!

[atc98092]

I have one of the most recent versions of the Stick 4K+, and I haven't experienced any of those issues. I leave it in my suitcase and only use it when I travel, which on average is every three weeks. Depending on the hotel room, I sometimes have to power the Stick from a TV USB port, simply because there's no other available outlet. I tend to watch the stick from 2-4 hours each night after I finish working for the day. It's never overheated (even when I have been able to use a wall outlet so it's always powered on), and the only voice sync I've encountered is on YouTube, which can happen regardless of the player. Roku does have a setting called Bandwidth Saver that will stop playback after four hours if you never press a button on the remote. It's located under the Network settings, and can be disabled. However, there are a few channels that were programmed to stop playback after a certain length of time, and you simply can't override that.