Wi-Fi & connectivity

[Wombat1]

There has been numerous topics on this issue and yet all the suggestions from all previous topics do not resolve the issue which I'm having. 

From using the Roku for quite a few years, Roku is prone to updates as expected although some updates seem to have done more harm then good in how the Roku performs. Prior to June 20 my Roku was working flawlessly; after this date and since this date my Roku  2 which I have been using for numerous years cannot find the wireless network. I've contacted my ISP, that was of not help as all they did was reset the connection, but there is no issue with the connection. 

I've also checked the settings of the Router, they are all fine in other words; the signal is 2.4 Ghz to which the WiFi is sending as well as b/g/n is also enabled. Therefore I decided to do a slight upgrade to Roku Express recently; hoping although that was hope flushed down the drain that maybe the slight upgrade to Roku Express would solve the issue; unfortunately, as expected it didn't.

All settings are good on my router, yet the Roku cannot find the WiFi signal, as well the WiFi signal strength is excellent. Even worse was I tried on my Roku2 a wired connection late last night, after spending over five hours on this issue, that didn't work either. 

What has gone wrong, or what is the Roku preventing as this is very strange and it all began June 20; at this point it seems I'll need help directly from Roku support as all the previous suggestions from other users were no solutions.

[atc98092]

There are five different versions of Roku players that were called "2", and only two of them are still supported. But even the most recent Roku 2 (4210) was released more than eight years ago. That one may have simply finally crashed.

Could you clarify if your Roku can see your WiFi but not connect, or not see it at all? If the latter, your WiFi is probably using channel 12, 13 or 14. These are unusable channels on Roku devices. The channel must be between 1 and 11, with 1, 6 or 11 being the best choice. If your WiFi radio in your router is configured to auto-select the channel (the default setting on almost all of them), it might have selected a channel that isn't supported. 

[Wombat1]

I set the channel to auto, the problem still persists ? 

The Roku sees the WiFi and the signal is excellent but won't connect. What I find odd is that the Wi-Fi signal within Windows has an red X for the WiFi ?

[Wombat1]

I tried, 1,6,11 neither are working; yet the signal strength is excellent so therefore what exactly is going on with the Roku as the Router is in working condition overall ?

[atc98092]

@Wombat1 still need to clarify: does the Roku see the WiFi but not connect, or is it not visible at all?

Can you test it on a phone hotspot, to help eliminate a possible problem with the router?

[Wombat1]

The Roku does see the WiFi and it does not connect ? 

There is no problem with the Router, I've had the ISP reset it twice the issue lies with the Roku !

[atc98092]

---

@Wombat1 wrote:

The Roku does see the WiFi and it does not connect ? 

There is no problem with the Router, I've had the ISP reset it twice the issue lies with the Roku !

---

OK, so the SSID is visible, but the Roku will not connect. So, the channel number is fine, no problem there. But again, if at all possible please try connecting the Roku to a different WiFi. A phone hotspot is usually the easiest thing to test it on. If the Roku connects to the hotspot, then the problem is not with the Roku.

Unfortunately, sometimes the WiFi settings in a router can be problematic for some devices, and work just fine on other devices. Since you're getting some sort of warning from your Windows PC that is connected to the same WiFi, it does seem suspicious. Your ISP resetting the router means nothing if the settings remain as they were. It might be a channel bandwidth setting that changed, MAC filtering might have become enabled by mistake, or some setting that is unique to your router. It's really hard to troubleshoot connection issues from a distance like this. 

[Wombat1]

I test with a phone for a WiFi hot spot; unlike the Roku, the phone could not find my WiFi signal ?

Therefore it links back to the Roku, as I mentioned the Roku2; now installed is a Roku Express was working fine, until June 20; then it just abruptly stopped working, nothing changed in one day, no new Roku was installed, nothing was changed on the Router, neither was it reset etc. 

[atc98092]

I'm sorry, you misunderstood me. I was referring to a phone being the hotspot, and the Roku trying to connect to the phone hotspot. We need to isolate if the problem is the Roku or the WiFi. 

I acknowledge that it was working until recently. But Roku has not released any firmware updates recently that might have caused a problem with the WiFi radio. But it's entirely possible your router has changed something that you are not aware of. Many settings within the router are set to "Auto" and can change without your, knowledge. When the ISP has control of the router (as it appears for yours, since they were able to restart it remotely), they can make changes without your knowledge as well, and simply because they said they didn't do anything doesn't make it a true statement. The customer service agent you spoke with may simply not be aware of changes the techs make, so I'm not accusing them of lying. But I'm still of the opinion there's some setting in your WiFi that was changed that is causing the problem. My ISP is Comcast/Xfinity, and I simply use their modem as a bridge and have my own personal router that controls everything. This way Comcast can't touch my settings, as the router isn't their property.

As I said, I really can't tell much from here. 

[Wombat1]

My phone doesn't have a hotspot for me to test from what I know; as it's a discontinued model of phone including operating system.

Typically in the past, the default settings would just work; that is what is strange as my Roku2 was working, and was working well with just the default Router settings but then just abruptly stopped, makes no sense.

The same issue with Roku Express as Roku2 they can't connect but see the WiFi signal ?