Wi-Fi & connectivity

[urend]

Is there really no way to force the Roku to connect to my wifi without having an active internet connection?

My internet is down for a few days. Yesterday the Roku ig hadn't figured that out yet and was still on my wifi, and I was able to stream from my local Plex server perfectly fine.

Today the Roku has figured out I don't have internet and is now refusing to be on my wifi. Obviously this is incredibly frustrating because I want to watch my media, which lives right here on my LAN.

So is there some workaround that I'm missing? Or is Roku really so deadset on showing me ads that I literally can't use the device at all otherwise?

[RokuTakashi · Accepted solution]

Hi, @urend 

Welcome to the Roku Community.

Roku devices require an internet connection for them to download channels and provide access for streaming various video and audio content online, For this matter, we recommend restarting your network connection for it to connect to your network without an internet connection. 

Reset Network Connection:

1. Press Home on your Roku remote.
2. Scroll and select Settings.
3. Select Advanced system settings.
4. Select Network connection reset.
5. Select Reset connection.

We hope this helps, and let us know if you have further concerns or inquries.

Best wishes,
Kash

[cbmelton]

But why is it a hard “requirement” to have internet in order to join a network? Can Roku add an option to “allow network connection without internet”? This would greatly help in situations like I had recently where my ISP had an outage for multiple days. I have media on my local network, but when my Roku got disconnected from my local network while I had no internet, I could no longer use my roku to stream my own local content. And Roku would not allow itself to be reconnected to my local network while there was no internet. 

[CElledge64]

I agree! I’m trying to use my phone hotspot and it connects with Roku but won’t finish connecting as I have no internet but my hotspot.😡

[TheMav]

Agreed, this is mind-numbingly stupid of Roku.

I have constant Fibre outages and the Roku is basically a bloody useless paperweight.  I have my own NAS with my own media, yet cannot connect to Jellyfin without a bloody internet connection, so although it confirms there's WiFi, once it cannot detect an internet connection is disconnects the WiFi.

And by the way, that 'advice' above from the Mod is as useful as a chocolate teapot!  Be warned that resetting the network connections mans you'll lose all your saved credentials and passwords (which was omitted of course), but even so, it doesn't solve the problem - same thing, checks network, but as soon as there's no WiFI, you've had it.  Roku are in the Dark Ages it seems.

Totally ridiculous and archaic.  We will be moving away from Roku because of this stupid design.  Their loss...

[brianmw42]

Why is this marked solved?  This is not an actual solution on the TV still won't join any network that doesn't have Wi-Fi.  That means you cannot have the Roku device on a private Network.  This means I cannot stream for my downloaded YouTube videos to my TV which only needs a Wi-Fi connection not internet.  There's also means I cannot stream for my local download server.  Which makes the TV completely useless.  There should absolutely be an option use this connection without Wi-Fi. 

[TheMav]

This is NOT Solved!!!

Read the posts first before answering with irrelevant information.  People like you really annoy me as you get on everyone's nerves posting rubbish that has nothing to do with the questions.

We want to be able to stream our local media using as one example the Jellyfin app, when our internet service is not available.  My fibre was down for a week - not a lot of good using Roku then was it?  You need to remove the checks for a live internet connection so we can opt to stream local media on occasions such as this.

Resetting the network connections does Nothing apart from making everyone have to log-in and type complex passwords again.  A total waste of time.

Please remove the requirement for a live internet connection and mark this as not solved!

[RokuJohnB]

Hi Community users,

Thanks for keeping us posted, and welcome to the Roku Community!

Please be advised that you cannot use a Roku without an internet or WiFi connection because its primary function is to stream content from the internet, so you need a connection to access streaming channels and watch content on it; however, if your TV has built-in channels or you connect an antenna to your TV, you can still use your TV even if your Roku is not connected to the internet.

If there's anything else that we can do to assist you, please keep us posted.

Kind regards,
John

[TheMav]

John, I appreciate your response, but satellite and aerial is again irrelevant to the question.  It is not about getting a signal to watch TV.  It is about being able to playback our own content from our local networked media libraries.  Surely this is not such a big deal???

So I already have my local WiFi connection, but no internet when our service is down.  That still does not provide a solution John.

For example, I can stream my media from my NAS to my PC using the Jellyfin App / player without an internet  connection.  All we are asking is to do the same with the Jellyfin Roku app when our internet service is down, so all you need to do is remove the internet checks.  We get that we can't stream from the internet in this situation when our service is down and that is why we want to be able to stream our local content.  Please get this fixed so we can mitigate the internet checks and allow these types of apps to work regardless of internet.  I am sure when our services are restored we will be streaming external content as usual.

Come on, it's not rocket science.....

[Reuben]

If there is an ethernet port you might try hard wiring it to your router.