Wi-Fi & connectivity

[jrbedwell]

Hello -

I recently installed an eero network in our home, and all devices have been working well except for one Roku Express model 3900X (we have 6 Rokus total, just one giving us this problem). We're on Verizon Fios, internet speed of 300 mbps, and I have a couple of other devices running off of this network in the same area as the Roku that aren't giving me any problems (I work remotely and my laptop has no issues with connecting and staying connected).

The Roku will intermittently lose the internet connection. After rebooting a few times and connecting to the wifi network, it will eventually connect and run fine for a bit, and then it will just drop the connection out of nowhere, and I have to start all over with connecting it. I've tried rebooting everything, but the problem persists with just this Roku.

For example, just rebooted. Set up internet connection, wifi and internet give me green check marks. Immediately go to check the connection, result is available networks and wireless connection give me green checks, internet connection fails. According to the Roku, the signal strength is excellent, so there's something else going on that I can't figure out. Please let me know of any further info needed. Thanks!

[RokuMary-F]

Hi @jrbedwell,

Thanks for posting in the Roku Community!

We understand that your Roku device may be having trouble connecting to your home network.

If you are getting an error code or message, refer to this link for common Roku error codes and their recommended actions: How to connect your Roku streaming device to the internet using Wi-Fi or Ethernet | Official Roku Su...

Furthermore, if the affected device is a Roku Express, please note that both devices are only compatible with wireless b/g/n networks on the 2.4 GHz spectrum. Ensure that your router is broadcasting a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network for the device to connect to.

Please keep us posted and we'll continue assisting you from there.


Best regards,
Mary

[jrbedwell]

I've already looked through all of that material you linked. As I've noted, I've already rebooted everything, and I have other Rokus working on this same network, including at least one other Roku Express. I'm not "having trouble connecting to your home network" - I can connect to the network, but it seems to be intermittent in the connection, whereas other devices in the same area don't have this problem at all.

This response isn't helpful at all.

[makaiguy]

@jrbedwell-

Let me say up front that I do not have a mesh wifi system, so I don't really know much about them, their capabilities, or what can be configured on them.

But I suspect that this problem may be related to the fact that the Express 3900 is a budget unit that can only use the 2.4 GHz wifi band.  If your eero system, as it tries to optimize signal, switches the Express to a 5 GHz connection, it will fail.  I don't know if there is an eero setting that would allow you to lock this one unit in at 2.4 GHz.

Further, in the 2.4 GHz band, Rokus support channels 1-11 as are used in North America.  In some other parts of the world, channels 12-14 are also used.  If the eero can switch to channels 12-14, then connection would be lost.

I could be barking up the wrong tree here, but it at least will give you some things to check into.

[happy_streamer]

Are the remaining 5 unit not observing this issue a different model or some are same model, too?

[jrbedwell · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the suggestions, and y'all are on the right track. Spent yesterday on the phone with eero customer service, who were great. I'll leave the solution here in case anyone has the same issues with eero/Roku. 

All responses were correct - it's a problem with older models only running on 2.4 GHz. The two Roku Express models that we have only run on 2.4, whereas the eero puts out both 2.4 and 5 GHz signals. So, to fix that, you go into the eero app and pause the 5 GHz signal, connect the older Roku to the wifi, and that should fix the problem. The one mistake I was making is it pauses the 5 GHz signal for 15 minutes, and you have to let that time run out so that the Roku only uses the 2.4. I was cancelling it once the Roku connected in the first few minutes, and that's why I was continuing to have issues.

Anyway, thanks all for the help and I'll mark this solved.