Wi-Fi & connectivity

[Steven2583a]

One more thing.  I have been writing software for 25 years and know a design flaw when I see one.   Who ever did the R &D for this hotel feature didn't take enough samples on ways hotels authenticate or didn't take the data and design a method that would work for all cases.

[atc98092]

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@Steven2583a wrote:

No Dan Roku needs to modify their software so there is an advance setting on network/wifi to treat the wifi connection as a locked network and/or always ask the Hotel or Dorm. question when selecting the network.    

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I don't disagree. While it's a great idea, Roku's execution of the function is lacking. They need a way to manually trigger the hotel function. I've written a few computer programs myself, so I don't think it would be difficult to implement. Something tells me they didn't test this in-house too deeply, and since the public beta testers (I am one) might not travel often, or certainly not to the same location repeatedly, it's unlikely the beta testers would catch this. I do travel a fair amount, and while I usually stay in a Marriott property, it's seldom the same hotel. 

[sleepwalker]

I'm in the same boat. I'm pretty frustrated here (I'm staying a Hampton by Hilton hotel). My Roku shows the message about connecting to its own network, however within a few seconds it goes back to scanning for local networks and simply does not provide its own for me to connect to. Out of 20 attempts, there was only one where I saw the hotel's login page, but the Roku network connection disappeared before I could finish entering my hotel network login info. The functionality is there, but implemented poorly, which is really disappointing considering that users have been reporting this problem for over 2 years now. I've lost all hope that my Roku will ever work at this hotel.

[goody0813]

Is there any way to force the roku to ask me into hotel mode? I travel for work and bought the 4K roku express so that I could watch my streaming services on the go. However after connecting one time to Hilton's Wi-Fi it never prompts me into hotel mode again. I'm guessing this probably has to do with Hilton recognizing the Mac address after wifi refresh. However is there a way to force the roku to bring up hotel mode?

[renojim]

@goody0813, sorry, no.

[JZB]

I agree completely they need to either have a manual way to force the hotel connection using some kind of advanced settings on a network, or you should be able to access the Roku from your phone direct-Roku-111-xxxxxx and then when you try to browse the hotel pop up will show. 

[joegc]

Same problem, also staying at a Hilton Hotel

[ard000]

...me too.

I'm on a chat with support right now...  its laughable.

Apparently Roku is content with just ignoring this issue. 

I've purchased a streaming stick for the sole purpose of taking it with me when I'm on the road, so this bug makes it pretty useless.

So the solution seems to be:

    1. Return Roku and get my money back.

    2. Buy a Firestick.

    3. Never buy anything that Roku makes ever again.

    4. Tell EVERYONE who will listen about the poor quality of Roku's products and customer service.

....Doesnt seem like good business on Roku's part.

[atc98092]

I've traveled several times in the past few months, most recently this week. My Stick has connected to the Marriott network as expected every time, and going through the user Hotel setup and using my iPad to complete the authentication. I am suspicious of the hotel network for users that have issues getting the Hotel/Dorm function to work. If they are allowing the Roku to "see" the Internet before completing the authentication, that is likely what is tripping things up. That's the fault of the hotel's Internet provider.

That said, I don't know why Roku hasn't added a way to manually trigger the Hotel/Dorm function. Since there appears to be many hotels that don't have properly functional authentication firewalls, it would make sense to have a way to manually engage the function.

[Avg74]

I don’t know if this is helpful but figured I’d add my experience. We tried on our iPhones and iPads and kept running out of time before we could get connected to the hotel wifi. We tried it on my fiancés old Samsung tablet and it finally worked as it should.