Wi-Fi & connectivity

[beaston]

Wow. I don't get it. 95% of users create STRONG wifi passwords with special characters. Well, mine includes | and / , which my roku express stick does NOT SUPPORT. I would rather give up my roku and sell it as used rather than change my password yet again. But yet, it has the symbols for Euro, GBP, and Yen????? Who uses these in a password???????

[boogernose]

Passwords a security are a bit over stated with personal machines.

Large data bases and smaller sub nets have something to offer we dont really.

Just use like 5 digits.

[beaston]

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@boogernose wrote:

Passwords a security are a bit over stated with personal machines.

Large data bases and smaller sub nets have something to offer we dont really.

Just use like 5 digits.

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You're kidding, right? And for what it's worth, wifi router passwords are minimum 8 alphanumeric characters.

[atc98092]

No they aren't. At least not in all modes. But I agree with him in part. Home networks are not a valuable target for hackers. We're small peanuts to them, and it's far easier to try to con a home user with a phony web site. My WiFi password is just alphanumeric, and there has never been any issue. None of my home PCs have the firewall enabled, as I am not concerned with a hacker within my network. There's simply nothing there valuable enough for someone to bother with.

And from what I've seen recently here on the forum, Roku now does support at least some of the special characters. What they are I have no idea, but more than one person has stated their password has special characters and their Roku connects. 

[beaston]

Sorry, I just think it's silly to not have a strong wifi password. If everyone thought this way, then any hacker would be in heaven as any home network would be fair game for them to hack into a home network and steal personal information such as their browsing history, saved passwords (including banking information), social security numbers, sensitive files, etc. Not to mention everything addressed in this article: https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/consumer/is-your-smart-home-vulnerable-to-a-hack-attack

But, to each their own. Given the instability of roku sticks constantly locking up, forgetting passwords for no reason, dropping the wifi connection for no reason, etc., streaming content to your TV from your computer using Firefox or Chrome as well as various media players does the same thing nowadays and is much more stable.

Oh, and I almost forgot the highest risk of all....Take this for example: Someone hacks your wifi router's password to gain access to your internet connection. They then proceed to download EXTREMELY ILLEGAL content. Of course you can prove it wasn't you in the long run, but by doing that, they will have made your life a living **bleep**. Would you really want that?

[atc98092]

I don't disagree with any of these potential situations. I work in Quality Control for the FAA for Air Traffic operations. I've been a controller for 36 years. We have a robust safety culture, and virtually everything we do is rated for risk. There are many scenarios that could have catastrophic results, but the likelihood of it occurring is so low that the risk is considered acceptable. While all you noted is possible, I also rate the likelihood of someone hacking my WiFi to do nefarious deeds is extremely low. They would either have to park a vehicle so close to my home that it would be impossible to not be seen (and the neighborhood watch is strong here) or it would have to be a neighbor. Again, not at all impossible, but highly unlikely. 

I'm not saying my password is something easy to guess, but I'm not concerned enough about it to go bonkers with it. As you say, to each their own. We all accept the level of risk we are comfortable with. You use what feels comfortable for you, and I have no problem with that at all. Have a great day and stay safe. 😄

[StreamerUser]

If by "special characters" it refers to non-alphanumeric characters, then Roku has supported those for many years in WiFi passwords, since my WLAN uses several different ones (longer than I have owned Roku products starting in 2014...)

As to the extent of the "special character" support, that perhaps is a different issue...

[Rob_L]

Just updated ROKU 4205X software  and it NO LONGER SUPPORTS SPECIAL CHARACTERS for password entry.

This means I can't use it in the intended location (the device had "forgotten" the password).

Thanks ROKU. This backward step has rendered my ROKU USELESS

[StreamerUser]

"Special Characters" are still supported by current and past versions of RokuOS (my WiFi password uses several, since 2014); that being said, I cant attest to the extent of the support (all the characters supported/for each RokuOS version).

Try doing a "Network connection reset" (Settings/System/Advanced/Network connection reset) and trying to connect again.

[boogernose]

People have had better luck using just a few digits.

It is unnecessary to use fancy characters for a wifi password.

The default passwords usually involve a set pf maybe 6 or 7 numbers.

Thats fine.