Solving playback issues

[StevenCee]

What's going on, really?  I have a super-fast WiFi connection, have no problem watching streaming videos anywhere but via the Roku app. Right now, I only hear the audio, the screen is frozen on the image of one of the Roku ads that played on the break!  Or it will stop completely and buffer, or at least the arrow will go round in circles, but nothing happening! Why is this so **bleep**? Do you use a dial-up to stream, or what?

[RokuTakashi]

Hi, @StevenCee

Thanks for posting.

We appreciate you for sharing this information with us. Have you tried uninstalling the Roku mobile app, and installing it again? Also, we would recommend restarting your router/modem. Furthermore, could you please send us an image or video referring to the issue?

Please keep us posted.

All the best,
Kash

[StevenCee]

@RokuTakashi It's not on my phone, but on my computer, so there's no app involved, as I go direct to the Roku website, sign in, and stream various channels on that. This problem has only gotten worse, it stops pretty much on every commercial break, and buffers regularly when programming is playing. Why??

[RokuCarly]

Thanks for the added information, @StevenCee.

Mentioning you have a super-fast WiFi connection, we should also consider how many devices are connected to it. It may be possible that the buffering issue might be a network problem since you can still access and stream on the Roku website. With this being mentioned, would you mind letting us know who is your Internet Service Provider? 

Moreover, may we also know if this happens while directly streaming on your TCL Roku TV? 

We'll be looking forward to your response. 

Best regards,
Carly

[StevenCee]

@RokuCarly 
Hi, No my Roku TV does not stall constantly, & buffers only occasionally.
There's not a lot of devices connected at one time, much less being in use all at the same time. And the buffering I experience on my computer, when trying to watch something on Roku, does not happen when I stream any other source, so it's not my computer, not my network, or I'd be having similar issues with other sites. Tonight I was actually able to watch on my computer for almost three hours before it began stopping and buffering, again, almost always when commercials are playing. My service provider is Spectrum, and oddly enough, the room where the Roku TV is, sometimes has connection issues, where my WiFi may slow down, even as low as 15 or 20 Mbps, while in the room with my computer, it's consistently 200-300 Mbps, so I doubt it's a WiFi issue.

Also, I'm getting captioning all the time, even when I have that option set to Off!  This also only happens on the website, on my computer, not ever on the TV.
And who do we contact to say that a channel's programming schedule is always wrong, all the time? The channel (& how), or You?  There's no reason why a channel's schedule showing up completely wrong every day, for weeks at a time, it should be a pretty simple fix, just have them put in the correct movies.

[RokuCarly]

Thanks for providing us with a precise explanation, @StevenCee.

Kindly let us know on which specific channels you are experiencing the buffering after a commercial prompt so we can assess your concern better and provide you with an accurate resolution.

In addition, could you please confirm if you have turned off the captioning directly on that specific channel or from your Roku settings? Most channels on the Roku streaming platform have built-in features that don't allow you to change their features outside their channel. 

Furthermore, regarding the wrong scheduling of a specific channel, it may be possible that they have different schedules of streaming every day. With this being said, could you please provide us with a screenshot of it for reference? Also, which specific channel is this? So we can provide you with their contact details for further clarification and assistance. 

We'll be anticipating your response.

Best regards,
Carly

[StevenCee]

@RokuCarly 

1. What channels buffer & stop? All the ones that I've watched! It's not an individual channel issue, it's the Roku stream.

2. I turn off the captioning via the controls on the bottom of the screen, of any show I don't want the captioning. On foreign language channels I do want the streaming. But for English shows it just clutters up the screen, but when I turn it off, it still shows... Just now, on my laptop, I clicked to stop the captioning, and it actually did it. So I'll try it again on my desktop, and will hope that somehow this bug has been fixed.

3, As for incorrect schedules, "it may be possible that they have different schedules of streaming every day."?  What does that even mean? I have no idea what you are asking or describing. It's pretty simple, the shows that are seen in the program guide are not the ones playing on the channel, period. Showing a pic of the schedule proves nothing, but none of the shows listed ever play at the times shown, if ever!  I see some of the same movies listed quite often, yet never see them broadcast, at any time, but definitely not at the times the guide shows.

4. I thought I mentioned a couple of the stations experiencing this, for sure Filmrise Action is one.
Also CJ ENM, a Korean channel, used to have captioning for all its shows, but recently there's none ever offered. I'm curious as to why they would stop offer captioning, when they are making the channel available to 300 million Americans, as not that many residents speak Korean.

[StevenCee]

@RokuCarly  Just wanted to say that tonight, watching a series on the CJ ENM channel (the only show with English captioning I've found this week), has been quite maddening. It's playing OK, not stopping to buffer during the actual show, however, once it plays a commercial, and comes back to the show, all I see is a frozen screen, while I can still hear the dialog (which, being in Korean, is of no use without being able to read the captioning), and each time I have refresh the window, for the video to show up! I suspect it has something to do with the commercials, as it's only happening once they end and the show again plays.

[RokuEuniceL]

Hi @StevenCee,

Thanks for keeping us posted here in the Roku Community!

We're glad to assist you with your streaming problem on Roku. Does it happen on a specific commercial or just a random commercial? Can you tell us which commercial and when this commercial is causing the freezing or buffering issue when streaming?

We'll anticipate your response.

Kind regards,

Eunice

[StevenCee]

@RokuEuniceL 

Hi, I don't know why you think this is all about a commercial, much less a specific commercial.

It's the streaming that often finds itself buffering, AND often, and on all kinds of different commercials, once it's time to go back to the show, the screen will frequently freeze, probably on the last image of the commercial last to play during the break.
I'm also seeing many Roku shows playing with way too dark a screen, even when I have my computer screen set to pretty high. Makes every scene look like it's filmed in the dark!