Wi-Fi & connectivity

Having Roku connectivity problems? Get the help and troubleshooting tips you need for Roku wireless connection issues, ethernet connections, and more.
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whiteatom
Channel Surfer

Connect to Wifi without internet uplink

Hi all,

I have a TCL 40S325 Roku TV that is causing me headaches. I have been using this TV for the last year on an offline wifi network at work to watch movies from a local Plex server (no internet uplink). This had been working good for the most part. The Roku complained that there's no internet, but connected to the Wifi and got an IP address. When I open plex I got a "you don't have internet" error with an option to set up a connection or proceed anyway - I just chose proceed anyway and it found the local Plex server and worked just fine. 

Recently, Plex has become increasingly more cloud/online focused, so it's been causing us problems in our off-line environment, so our techy guy has moved his movie collection over to Jellyfin. I took my TV home and installed the Jellyfin app, and also upgraded the software to version 11 (was on 9.0something before). Now I have taken the TV back to work, and it won't connect to the Wifi anymore. It does it's normal routine giving me a green check on the Wifi, and a red X on the internet, but where it used to say you don't have internet, but still connect me to the Wifi (get an IP etc), now it just flat out rejects the network and asks me to try another.

Obviously without staying connected to the wifi, I can't connect to the Jellyfin server and my TV is a paperweight.

Is there some way I can tell my TV that it's OK with no internet, and I still want to connect? Can I roll back to a firmware that would do this? Very frustrated that this is the new behaviour because it makes the thing useless in my environment!

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16 REPLIES 16
whiteatom
Channel Surfer

Re: Connect to Wifi without internet uplink

Forgot to add. I have activated this TV - been using it for a year (maybe 2). I have reset the network settings twice, and I just tried a factory reset, no change. 

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AvsGunnar
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Connect to Wifi without internet uplink

@whiteatom 

Whenever the Roku device (or RokuTV) is moved to a new network, it does the automatic network check and internet check.  It only has to successfully connect once to the internet on the new network and then you can usually use it offline. (network only).

On some Roku devices, you can still connect it to internet on another network (like your home) to pass the internet test, and then move to another network and attach via ethernet.  (This was the way to still use the Ultra when the Streaming Sticks lost the ability).

It may help to rename your home network to the work network when attempting this setup.  It is getting increasingly more difficult to make this work as more devices are losing this ability, and is due to the updates of the Roku OS.  The Roku is an internet streaming device, so they really do not care about supporting offline use (which I do think is a mistake on their part, as this feature used to exist in older OS).

Just another one of those things that makes you shake your head you ask "why does Roku choose to do this?"  The Roku device, in my opinion, should not be denied a network connection simply because an active internet connection is not detected.  

Roku Community Streaming Expert
Just another Roku user... I am not a Roku employee.
Insignia RokuTV, Ultra 4660, Premiere+ 3921, Express 4k+ 3941, Streambar 9102

whiteatom
Channel Surfer

Re: Connect to Wifi without internet uplink

Ok.. I wonder if I can confuse with with my hotspot. Will report back!

whiteatom
Channel Surfer

Re: Connect to Wifi without internet uplink

Nope.. I had hope, but it doesn't want to work. I managed to bridge the wifi network to my hotspot and it connected perfectly, opened Jellyfin, found the server and played something. Then I disconnected the bridge, and it kept going so I thought it was fixed.

I exited Jellyfin to begin planing the parade and fireworks show to celebrate @AvsGunnar but a few mins later, the clock disappeared and the dreaded "Not Connected" appeared. Restarted the tv a few times, but it just won't connect without internet. Same error as before - poop.

It's funny.. before I upgraded the software. My wifi from home was still listed in the network options, but now it's not - so clearly the new software only uses current and online connections.

The only difference I see after this online moment is that it saved the password for the wifi - it didn't do that before. 

Any other ideas I could try?

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AvsGunnar
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Connect to Wifi without internet uplink

@whiteatom 

I doubt it.  Most of the ability on different devices began to be affected around the 10.0 update,  I know I have trouble with my Ultra currently on 11.0 when I try to switch networks in the same location.  In my area, the internet will go down at times due to storms, and Roku will sometimes allow me to still use NAS or USB drives at the router it is currently connected to via ethernet, but if I try to switch to another router or network in the same residence, I am unable to without internet access.  Additionally, if I lose internet access, none of my wireless Roku devices can access either the USB or NAS through the Roku's Media Player.  Limited only to the ethernet device, and that is also not a given. (sometimes it works, sometimes it won't).

Generally, I just eliminate the Roku device from the equation and use the network and server run through a computer directly to the TV.  All my storage is local, though, not cloud based.  I really only use cloud services as a backup.

The other users and Experts in the community are more media server savvy though, so may be able to offer some other workarounds.  They are more familiar with the different servers and capabilities than I am.  I began with Kodi so really unfamiliar with the requirements outside of that.  I really don't do much media server streaming anymore.  Wish I could offer you better advice.

Roku Community Streaming Expert
Just another Roku user... I am not a Roku employee.
Insignia RokuTV, Ultra 4660, Premiere+ 3921, Express 4k+ 3941, Streambar 9102

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whiteatom
Channel Surfer

Re: Connect to Wifi without internet uplink

I appreciate the input - unfortunately this is entirely a network connection issue. Jellyfin will work if I can get the TV to stay connected to the network - not worried about that. 

I was hoping I could set a static IP as a solution, but I can't really see how'd you do that. Anyone have any idea how to manually configure IP settings?

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atc98092
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Connect to Wifi without internet uplink

Roku does not offer any way to enter a static IP address, and I've never been able to connect one to a network without Internet. I'm surprised yours would allow it, but that might be TV brand specific.

If you can rename your hotspot with the same SSID as your WiFi, and use the same password, they you could likely trick it to automatically connect back to the WiFi connection. It would likely give you the Internet connection error, but it should remain connected.

This is the one area that a Roku is less than satisfactory, which is playing home media. It insists on an Internet connection to join a network (although if you use Ethernet it might get past that check). Remember the original and primary purpose of a Roku, which is to stream from the Internet. Their programmers don't understand that people use their Roku devices without Internet access. And for playing home media, Roku has poor support for containers and codecs. They can't bitstream lossless audio, no support for VC-1 video, only support a few containers (no support for MPG, AVI, and a handful of others). No support for image based captions.

That's why Plex and Emby work so well, they've developed good transcoding profiles to work around all of these limitations. But that requires a pretty powerful computer for video transcoding (audio transcoding doesn't take much power). I've tweaked the profiles in Serviio for years, but I still run into an occasional user that has issues with a particular file/player combination. 

Dan

Roku Community Streaming Expert

Help others find this answer and click "Accept as Solution."
If you appreciate my answer, maybe give me a Kudo.

I am not a Roku employee, just another user.
whiteatom
Channel Surfer

Re: Connect to Wifi without internet uplink

I got it to connect to the wifi by bridging the router to my phone, so it's been configured for this network and accepted it - but it seems to periodically test for internet, because a few mins after the bridge was disconnected, the TV disconnected itself from the Wifi. That's what's frustrating about this - it works for a bit, but the OS steps in a disconnects from a network that is functioning for me. 

This absolutely works perfectly on the older version of the software. My buddy here has a rokuTV with 9.something software and his TV connects just like mine did - Wireless OK, internet not OK, and it stays connected. After my troubles, he hotspotted his TV to install Jellyfin, but clicked no to the update. His TV still connects to the network but now Jellyfin won't work.. it just displays the logo for a second then exits - so I think we're in a catch22 here. Don't upgrade, can't use the app; upgrade and you can't get on the network. He's had a bit of luck using the browser, but it's really **bleep** on the roku.

Plex has been perfect for me on the Roku, and Jellyfin works good when the wifi is bridged - it's just so frustrating that Roku has made my TV useless for this use case. The worst part now, is I can actually watch Jellyfin on my phone (on the wifi with no internet), but I can't even cast to the RokuTV anymore because its not on the network, what a stupid oversight on Roku's part. All network functionality has been killed for me by upgrading to version 11.

 

Re: Connect to Wifi without internet uplink

So what product can we switch to that allows for offline wife use via PLEX? I am a full time RV'er, and the Roku is [was] our solution to watching media while outside of service areas via a local NAS.

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