Wi-Fi & connectivity

[MrsCarrieG27]

I know that this has been posted before but I am finding this rather odd. I have spectrum isp but a mesh Orbi system. I was able to use my Roku stick at 12:30 am this morning but at 10:30 am it would no longer connect to my wifi. It sees it. It’s excellent signal but won’t connect.

   I also happen to be an employee for spectrum and this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of this happening. I actually spent 30 minutes with a customer troubleshooting this yesterday. Now I have gone through all the troubleshooting techniques possible including unplugging the internet equipment plus the Roku , factory defaulting the Roku and still no connection. 

    I have no issues with any other devices. Only this roku stick. What’s going on Roku?

[AvsGunnar]

@MrsCarrieG27 

Not sure what your Spectrum ISP DNS servers are set to in your router but the default ones appears to be the ones posted in this link. 71.10.216.1 and71.10.216.2

https://www.whatsmydns.net/dns/usa/spectrum.html

Since you stated the Roku is seeing your network SSID and is connecting to network but not the internet, I think I would try alternative DNS servers.  The best ones for troubleshooting are the public Google DNS servers.  8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4    https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/

Verify that the new DNS address is the same across all your devices (modem, router, access points, etc) so they all point to same DNS and no conflicts exist.  Then restart and reboot all equipment after making these changes.

Post back with an update.

[Plushkanyc]

I am having the same issue but a different Roku product.  Worked fine for 3 weeks, then suddenly yesterday it stopped mid-program.  It sees my wifi and shows the strength as excellent but will not connect to it.

I don’t understand about DNS etc so where would I change that and why would I suddenly need to?

[MrsCarrieG27]

Super strange. 10 minutes after I posted this I decided to try one more time and it finally worked. I will keep the dns in mind if it happens again! Thanks for replying 

[AvsGunnar]

@Plushkanyc 

Different resolutions for different issues.  Normally the ISP provider's DNS servers are fine but Spectrum ISP users seems to run into issues with Roku devices so an initial step is to eliminate the DNS. (a lot of times the ISP servers are not configured for optimal speed and use, so normally I just change them).

The DNS servers can be altered under the Network Setup tab where you find the DHCP server. (This includes the router's IP address and DNS servers).  May have to enter Advanced Settings to change these.

Initially for you, I would just suggest restarting the router, let it fully reboot, then restart your Roku device and see if that resolves issues.

If not post back with your Roku model number and your router model number.

[AvsGunnar]

@MrsCarrieG27 

Good to hear you got resolved.

I was running some ping tests during responses and the primary default DNS number was unreachable and the secondary DNS number took very long time to respond, so chances are you are now connected using the secondary DNS address. [This is assuming you are using the default DNS I listed]

You can perform a similar test on any computer using the command prompt ping 71.10.216.2 (obviously substitute the DNS address or IP address you are trying to test for response)

ping x.x.x.x

Again, good to hear you are back up and running. 

[RJ_Daniels]

This afternoon I was watching Hulu on my Roku Express + and then lost connection.  Same time the RokuTV downstairs lost connection. Both using Xfinity 2.4 ghz. My tablet, my phone and brother's phone on 2.4 ghz all work just fine. Tried resetting, unplugging for 1 minute plug back in, rescanning. Still nothing. Seems strange all my roku devices decided to be the only things not to connect in the house.

[AvsGunnar]

@RJ_Daniels 

Cell phones and laptops have much more sophisticated hardware than these little streaming devices, both in the internal NIC (wireless chip technology) and the wireless antenna strength.

Additionally, any device that is streaming will be susceptible to interference and network congestion or speed issues. (A laptop may buffer, the Roku usually just freezes, loses connection, or may close).  Much less memory to perform complicated tasking.

You can try changing the channel in your router's Wireless Settings. Under normal circumstances, selecting 1, 6, or 11 is a good choice.  If currently set to Auto, then router could of switched it to a congested channel and the Roku devices simply lost connection.

The Roku devices can only operate on channels 1-11, so other possibility is that if router channel selection is set to Auto, it may have automatically switched to an unsupported channel of 12, 13, or 14 which would inevitably had caused a resulting disconnection from network of both devices since the Roku could no longer see the network on these channels.

Sometimes simple reboot of router will work, but best practice is to manually assign the channel to the supported channels of 1-11 from within the Wireless Settings of the router,