Wi-Fi & connectivity

[dongiomar]

Can anyone think of a reason why I'd be getting faster connection speeds over wireless vs wired? I have a router in my living room that acts as an access point, and the roku is right next to it. I've been using it wired, but I tried connecting via wireless, and I'm getting almost double the speed (according to the connection test within roku). What is the max speed a Roku Ultra can handle? Weird thing is, even on 5G wifi, it's saying my speed is 180-ish Mbps. However, if I connect to the same wifi with my laptop, I get 500+.

[atc98092]

Roku devices with an Ethernet jack will max out at around 92 Mbps. That's the Fast Ethernet standard which is what these wired devices support. WiFi is capable of faster connections, but there's still hardware limitations in the Roku device that keep you from getting the highest possible speed from your wireless connection.

I have tested my Ultra 4800 three ways: playing a video via the USB connection, the same video over the wired connection, and then using WiFi. My home network is Gigabit wired, and my Internet speed is usually around 900 Mbps. I have a handful of test videos with various bitrates. Playing them via USB, the highest bitrate I can play without stuttering or buffering is about 160 Mbps. My 250 Mbps file is unplayable because it barely loads before it buffers again. Over a wired connection, my 90 Mbps file stutters a little but doesn't buffer. 120 Mbps begins buffering. Over my 802.11ac WiFi access point (which is within 5 feet of the Roku) I get some stuttering beginning at 160 Mbps, with buffering happening at 180 Mbps, and the same result with 250 Mbps as I get from the USB connection. 

My Ultra reports a maximum Internet connection speed of 92 Mbps on wired and 205 Mbps on WiFi. Older Roku devices don't always report an accurate network speed. Those are hardware limitations of the player, and no way around them. My Ultra can play my UHD movie rips over WiFi, but not via Ethernet, since they have bitrates of 60-70 Mbps steady and peaks over 150 Mbps. Fast Ethernet can't handle those bitrates. My Shield has a Gigabit Ethernet jack, and can play my UHD rips without issue. 

[andyross]

It should be clarified that if you are not playing local network video, then the speed is not important. Internet streaming currently tops out around 25Mbs for 4K.

[mcleanmb0]

So, from what you are saying above, it sounds like it's better to have all of my Roku's set up to use my Wi-Fi connection instead of running CAT-6? I've noticed the exact same thing: when I test each Roku switching between Wi-Fi and connected, the Wi-Fi is almost twice the speed. Just to ensure I read this correctly, I should definitely switch my Roku's to Wi-Fi?

[atc98092]

@mcleanmb0 It depends on what you're streaming. If you are only using the online providers, such as Netflix or Prime Video, the wired Ethernet is more than fast enough for any of their content. The only way to saturate the Fast Ethernet connection is if you're watching ripped 4K videos from a home server, such as Plex or a DLNA server. That's the only way you need a connection faster than what a wired Roku can support. Under those conditions, yes a WiFi connection would work better than wired, as long as it's 5 GHz 802.11ac. 

[mcleanmb0]

Thank you for the reply! Yes, I did some research after reading your reply, and sounds like with the limitations of streaming speeds, the direct ethernet connection is plenty fast enough, and far more stable than Wi-Fi. So, I guess I didn't waste time running those cables!