Wi-Fi & connectivity

[mmortal03]

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@atc98092 wrote:

Roku devices only support channels 1-11 on 2.4 MHz. That isn't a bug. Channels 12-14 aren't permitted for use in North America, so Roku devices don't support them. That's why it's best to manually assign your wireless channel for both 2.4 and 5 GHz. To ensure your router doesn't self-assign an unsupported channel. And for 2.4 GHz, You should really only use channels 1, 6 or 11, to avoid potential channel overlap interference.   

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Agreed that that doesn't necessarily need to be seen as a bug, but people *in* the United States have been experiencing connectivity issues, including issues that crop up *after* a Roku firmware update, before which everything worked fine, so the problems here aren't all about channels.

[vanish32]

I have changed the router's channel several times, and every few days or weeks, randomly Roku will stop working. The only fix is to go into router admin and change  channel to something else.

So yea.. it is a bug. Tell me of any other device which requires you to change channels on your router randomly. It's not difficult to understand.

[kato223]

Looking at the Wireless networks supported by each Roku device, and unfortunately they are not all the same. 

Roku 2: 802.11 dual-band (a/b/g/n compatible) with WEP, WPA, and WPA2 support

Roku 3: 802.11 dual-band (a/b/g/n compatible) with WEP, WPA, and WPA2 support

Roku Express: 802.11bgn single-band wireless

Roku Premiere:  802.11bgn single-band wireless

Roku Streaming Stick: 802.11ac dual-band wireless (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz)

Only my Roku Express had an issue with seeing my 2.4GHz network(s) (I don't own a Premiere but I threw its WiFi support here anyway).  It is stated here that they can support the 802.11b network.  Since my network technically does not have any 802.11b wireless devices on it anymore I have disabled on my OpenWRT router the Allow legacy 802.11b rates and on my Linksys router (used as an access point only on my network) I have my 2.4GHz set to 802.11n only.  None of my Rokus are having any issues seeing any of my access points, even after recent updates.

[JackN777]

I haven't been able to find a legacy 802.11b setting to turn off in my NetGear AC1200 (R6120).

I did however set it permanently to channel 1 as I know that channel works best in my home setup with everything I use on it.

I can't agree that that is a bug, because it is the router that decides what channel is used and Roku's (try) to follow.

Neither Roku or the Router manufacturer can control interference on the channels available, it's simply not in their control. 🙂

[JackN777]

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@mmortal03 wrote:

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including issues that crop up *after* a Roku firmware update, before which everything worked fine, so the problems here aren't all about channels.

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Agreed, but then I never said all the problems were about channel settings. I will say that I bet a lot of them are though.

Even I experienced the issue about updates a few months back, but it ironed itself out after a few more.

This does nothing for the ones that can't even connect at all though so...

[kato223]

Looking at the PDF on the Netgear AC1200 https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/R6120/R6120_UM_EN.pdf on Page 54 it states about the different modes.  Maybe try Neighbor-friendly mode or Performance mode.  Try to avoid the Legacy mode if at all possible.

[JackN777]

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@kato223 wrote:

Looking at the PDF on the Netgear AC1200 https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/R6120/R6120_UM_EN.pdf on Page 54 it states about the different modes.  Maybe try Neighbor-friendly mode or Performance mode.  Try to avoid the Legacy mode if at all possible.

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I will take another look at some point but for now the Channel 1 forced setting makes everything work as it did at first. So I will leave it alone. 🙂

[vanish32]

I don't understand how some of us are still thinking this is somehow a router problem. Run a simple test case - how many other devices in your home network require you to change channel settings else they will randomly disconnect. I can answer- none in my home.

Yes changing the router channel fixes the problem for some time, but the bottom line is that you shouldn't have to do it. Roku needs to fix this problem.

[kato223]

You are probably correct about this being a Roku issue.  However, the only Rokus that I own that have had this issue are my Express and Streaming Stick.  The Roku 2 and 3 have always connected to all my routers just fine regardless of what they have been set to. 

So, until Roku can fix this, these are steps that you can take to get yours working.  Oh, and yes, sometimes on your home networks you need to change your channels,  especially if you are in a very populated area like apartments or even some newer neighborhoods where they are tightly packing the homes into them.

From my personal experience with the 5 Rokus that I own the only thing that has allowed all 5 to keep working was disabling my Legacy modes on my router since NOTHING in my house uses B or G for that matter anymore.  Most devices now are N and AC.  I have never messed with my channels on my routers as I don't get the crosstalk from neighbors even though I can see their WiFi's.  So, it appears to me that the updates that were pushed to the Rokus may have caused problems with them seeing networks in Legacy modes.

[atc98092]

Another setting you might look at is channel width. My son-in-law was having significant issues with his laptop and iPhone always dropping their connection. On 5 GHz we had the channel width set at 80 MHz. After reducing the channel width to 40 MHz his connections have been solid. On 2.4 GHz, I recommend staying at 20 MHz channel width for the same reason. Some devices aren't happy with the wider widths. Yes, it's all within spec, but not all devices can handle the maximum channel width setting. 

Note that many access points have their channel width set to auto, same as the channel selection. Setting the width (and channel) manually can help isolate a problem area, and hopefully resolve the issue. Even with those reduced channel widths, you'll still have more than enough bandwidth for anything that is streamed with a Roku device.