Suggest a Feature

[Sitharien]

Can you guys release a product that supports all available 5GHz channels? Not supporting DFS channels forces your users to stack their 5GHz signals on top of our neighbors, causing serious interference in certain cases. We love the products, but we would like them, to keep pace with the times.

[Ma3]

I second that!  Bought 3 roku 4K sticks on Black Friday but went back to amazon fire tv 4K stick because that has proper WiFi channel support.  My understanding It doesn’t even require FCC certification For client devices (only for routers).  And WiFi 6 routers use dfs to reduce congestion in condo complexes etc.  

[dumbpuppy]

I would like to see DFS support.  My 5GHz band is just as congested as the 2GHz.  My 5GHz is on a DFS channel.  All my devices, except the Roku are on it.

[Ittybittybig]

Ditto, I've tried everything to access the 5ghz band using the two new Premieres I recently purchased. I had bought the two Roku boxes because I prefer the interface. But, now that I realize most of the newer Roku models do not offer 5ghz capability, I'm returning both Roku boxes.

If you, like me, live in an area with a congested 2ghz band (yes, my streaming pauses most evenings for hours on end) you may want to just avoid Roku altogether because nothing can be done about it. 

Thanks Roku, you made my decision to go with a competitor much easier! (Ooop, I guess that's not what a company is supposed to do to stay in business...)

[Sitharien]

Roku does support 5GHz, just not the DFS channels in the 5GHz range. If you set your access point to only use standard channels, you will find that your devices connect fine. My problem is that they do not support DFS channels...

[Smith6612]

Adding in my support for this. My home has multiple Access points running at 80Mhz channel bandwidth. Because I have more than two access points, I need to run additional APs on DFS channels to avoid interference between them. Although I know the Roku does not support 80Mhz wide channels, it is beneficial for other devices since they can get off the air sooner, giving breathing room for the Roku to enjoy. I do have a Roku Streaming Stick +.

I also administer a number of apartment building networks, where the building construction and tenant usage patterns (gamers, students, streamers, etc) require a high number of access points, and I run the APs at 40Mhz. Because other apartment complexes are nearby and sometimes tenants bring their own network, I also utilize DFS channels there. The tenants utilize a lot of Roku devices, including ones embedded into TVs, and they are unable to enjoy the performance benefits of having 2/3rds of the 5Ghz spectrum wide open for use. I'm sure many of the existing products can support 5Ghz DFS with a software update, but they may require recertification with the FCC to complete. Either way, one competing device, Apple TV in particular, supports DFS. Most other streaming products like Fire TV, NVIDIA Shield, and Google Chromecast, don't support DFS. This would be one of many ways to differentiate Roku from these other products.

It's worth pointing out that many consumers also use ISP supplied routers and Mesh systems, and many are starting to utilize 5Ghz DFS as the other 5Ghz channels start to get too congested to handle all of the devices, especially in densely populated urban environments. Verizon FiOS is one such ISP whose routers will select DFS channels on a regular basis. Business users with higher end wireless systems will also utilize the DFS channels for performance.

[kiler129]

I'm speechless... not supporting DFS channels is something which I wouldn't expect. I came here trying to diagnose why multiple people report to me that their Roku devices cannot see the 5Ghz network.

Not using DFS channels is simply not an option in residential places where you can see 100+ 5Ghz networks.

[Codel]

This needs to become a thing, I live in an apartment complex, and there are far too many 5ghz networks around, as well as my internet connection coming in, is operating wireless on a Ubiquity Prism 5, using uni 3 for a clean connection. Uni1 is completely used, which only leaves DFS as the cleanest channels, and Roku doesn't support DFS. This is a HUGE overlook by Roku. Every device I own supports DFS, but not my Roku. I am forced to partially overlap my internet connections frequency, which almost cuts it's throughout by half at times. 

And the lack of any official Roku answers, aren't leaving me with any hope for a fix. No explanation why from Roku wherever you look, just alot of posts about people asking and complaining about the this very issue. You need to answer your customers!

[kiler129]

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@Codel wrote:

No explanation why from Roku wherever you look (...)

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The reason is simple - Roku's remotes are WiFi. In such case the base station is a WiFi client to get Internet connection as well as an access point for the remote. As all WiFi chipsets can really only work on one channel at the time Roku is forced to serve remotes on the same frequency as the WiFi connection to the router.

The catch here is FCC mandates that to transmit on DFS frequency you have to do either of two:

- Be a client and receive a beacon from the AP
- Be an AP and scan for radar for 10 minutes before enabling the radio

As the Roku base station is actually both they will have to wait ten minutes after every reboot to connect to the remote... which is not gonna fly.

[dmarcoux]

Yes, please add DFS channel support.