Wi-Fi & connectivity

[ScarletCelestia]

Hello,

My network is Vodafone and my router is the TGH3000. My Roku is not "discovering" the network, so the SSID is not even appearing in the list of available networks.

The router is in the same room as the Roku Express so this is not the issue.

I updated the 3930EU Roku Express to the 12.0.0 update using my phone's hotspot, after the SSID was not appearing.

I have seen in other threads that Vodafone TGH3000 may go to channels 12-13 which the Roku cannot accept, but I checked and the network switches between valid networks 6 and 11. The network has been consistently 2.4Ghz/5.0 Ghz or 2.4Ghz Only.

I have also tried changing the DNS settings of my router to 1-1-1-1 and 8-8-8-8 as secondary (which is the Google DNS as far as I understand it). This also did not work.

After each change I have rebooted both the router and the Roku, but the SSID has yet to appear in the list. My neighbours' networks are appearing in the list, however. The Roku could connect to the guest WiFi in my University accommodation as well. I moved back home last night, and this is the first time I have tried connecting the Roku Express to this network.

Any help provided would be warmly welcomed, I've become very frustrated with the problem. This seems to be very specific and I haven't been able to find much information on the issue.

[renojim]

The 3930 only supports 2.4GHz channels 1 through 11 and doesn't support 5GHz at all.  You might want to try setting the "Split SSID" option and giving the 2.4 and 5GHz bands different names.  The manual I found isn't very good and doesn't mention how to change the channel at all.

[ScarletCelestia]

I'm sorry but I may not have been clear: I already tried splitting the SSID so that only 2.4GHz was valid. I also made sure that the channel was valid (was on 11).

Neither of these solutions worked...

[atc98092]

The channels 1, 6 and 11 are the best choices on 2.4GHz. But since you aren't even seeing the SSID when you're on channel 6 or 11, I suspect a hardware failure of some type. If your network is working correctly with other devices, most likely there's an issue with the Roku itself. The Roku Express has an internal WiFi antenna, so it's not anything that could be damaged from handling.

The 3930 is approaching 5 years old now, and while that is certainly well within an expected lifetime, it may have simply failed. Unfortunately that can happen with electronic devices at any age. I'm not a fan of the basic Express for multiple reasons, but lack of 5 GHz WiFi is a big one for me. If the Express 4K+ is available in Europe, I strongly suggest it as a replacement. There's no comparison between one of those and the model you have. 

[AvsGunnar]

@ScarletCelestia 

If you are able to connect the 3930 to your hotspot and stream content (since you used it to perform an update), then try the following.

1. Go to the web admin of the Vodafone THG3000 by entering 192.168.1.1 in a web browser.  Enter the password found on bottom of router. (Or "rooter" as you may pronounce it).

2. Look near the top right and change "Basic mode" to "Expert"

3. Look under the Wi-Fi Settings (left side menu) and try setting the Wifi Mode to "Mixed 802.11 b/g/n" and 20mhz Bandwidth.

4. Under the MAC Filter, verify that it is toggled to "Off"

5. The DNS settings you are using should be fine. (1.1.1.1 is a Cloudflare DNS and 8.8.8.8 is a Google DNS).  The DNS will only be used during internet connection/streaming and won't affect network/LAN connection. (ie. connection of devices to the network).

6. Save the new changes and Restart both the THG3000 and the Roku device.

7. If still no luck seeing the SSID, perform a Network Connection Reset on the Roku device from within Settings/System/Advanced System Settings/Network Connection Reset/Reset Connection.

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Looks like the firmware prevents changing the channels on the 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands so will need to use the web admin (or a wifi analyzer app) to see which channel the router is using. (just to verify that it is indeed using the channels specifiied in your settings and not automatically choosing an unsupported 12/13 channel).   Feel free to post an update if still having issues.  Make note if any of the above had any effect/no effect.  This router appears to be pretty locked down and some workarounds to Settings changes (channel selection) via the Vodaphone app seem to have been removed with firmware updates.

[bannnger44]

I had the issue where the Roku express would not find my Vodafone network but seemed to find everyone else’s WiFi router in the street! 
I switched my phone hotspot on and connected the Roku express to my phone, it did a software update courtesy of my phone data and then my Vodafone router WiFi was now available and connected absolutely fine. All good now