Wi-Fi & connectivity

[SusanwatchingTV]

Hello, this is my first post, so please excuse me if I give too much or too little information.

A few months ago we decided to leave behind Cable (we were with Xfinity) and try streaming.

I had some experience with a small Roku TV I use in my exercise room, so I thought new Roku TVs would be perfect.

We have a big house (almost 5000 sq ft) and four adults living here, so I purchased three new Roku TVs.

Two of these:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C92VCZ48?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

and one of these:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLFFXNML?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

We had them connected to our WiFi network through XFinity for a few days, and then we had Ezee Fiber installation. They use these Eeros for their system, so we have two of these, one at the main hub (in the room with the 65" TV) and one downstairs in the entry way (to try to serve the other two TVs, which are in rooms 30-40' away).

All three TVs seemed to have no trouble staying connected to the old Xfinity wifi network (I used eero 6's to spread the signal, but I had six of them so they were right next to the TVs)

Once we got the new ezee fiber service, all three TVs connected to the new wifi network (named the same as the old network) just fine. HOWEVER, the problem comes as you watch a show. Every few minutes (sometimes every hour, sometimes 30 minutes, sometimes over and over every 5-10 minutes) the wifi will drop and the spinning will happen. Sometimes it will come back on its own; other times the message "No connection: Connect to the internet now..." will pop up. This happens on all three Roku TVs, even the one in the room with the hub, so I really don't think it's a signal strength thing.

At first, I did troubleshooting by reconnecting the WiFi as instructed on the screen. I did this several times and taught everyone how to do it for themselves, but we all got sick of that very quickly.

Then I did hard restarts of the TVs. No help.

Then I tried system updates. No help.

Then I tried turning everything off for an hour—all TVs unplugged, unplugged the modem.  Restarting everything seemed to help a little at first, but not really. Still, as one of us watches a show, the signal will drop.  We've figured out that just waiting patiently for a while it will come back, sometimes in a few seconds, other times a minute or two.

Getting desperate I've called ezee fiber for help. They are very nice, but their suggestions to turn everything off (hard system restart) didn't help. I'd already tried that, but I did it again and still nothing. 

Finally, they suggested renaming the network. I really didn't want to do that, but I finally caved and tried it. That involved reconnecting every device in this house. I realize now I shouldn't have done it, because, of course, it didn't help at all and was a HUGE pain.

Ezee Fiber has given up trying to help me now. The guy says he's stumped.

My next thought is to replace the eero Max 7s with some other mesh wifi system. Ezee Fiber says the 7 is necessary, but there seem to be other options available, so I could potentially try that.

The only other thought I have is to complain to Amazon about defective TVs and try to return them or get Asurion to help me troubleshoot. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm at the end of my rope.

Does anyone have any suggestions for things I could try before getting to the return stage?

I want to like Roku, but at this point I'm seriously regretting my purchases.

[RokuRhea-V]

Welcome @SusanwatchingTV, 

I appreciate your efforts in troubleshooting this issue. Please provide additional information so we can investigate this matter further.

• Serial number, device ID, and OS version. (this can all be found in Settings > System > About)
• Tracker ID (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button 5 times, followed by the Back button 5 times, and provide us with this ID).
• Modem/router model and ISP.

In the meantime, please update your Roku Made TV. Go to Settings > System > Software update.

Let us know what you find out!

Roku Community Team

[SusanwatchingTV]

Thank you for your help, RokuRhea-V.

Here are the answers to the questions you asked:

Modem/router model: Nokia Model XS-010X-Q

Eero Wi-Fi Max 7 - V010001

ISP: Ezee Fiber

TV #1 - 65"

Serial Number: X01300L0U74F

Device ID: S0NY7470U74F

Software version: 14.1

This one is my TV. Four times last night, during the two hours I watched TV, I had the connection problem. These are the codes I saw following your instructions:

Issue ID 4F-113-682

Issue ID 4F-113-748

Issue ID 4F-113-814

Issue ID 4F-113-850

And once it said: "Not Connected to the Internet" - Error 016

Other people watched the other two TVs, so I only have one issue ID for each.

TV #2 - 55"

Serial Number: X01300A0K568

Device ID: S0NX7480K568

Software version: 14.1

Issue ID: 68-113-748

TV #3 - 55"

Serial Number: X01300XJT9W9

Device ID: S0NX748JT9W9

Software version: 14.1

Issue ID: W9-113-682

[RokuRhea-V]

Hey @SusanwatchingTV,

Thank you for sending us the details so accurately! We'll pass your information along to the Roku team for review. We appreciate your patience while we handle this!
Don't hesitate to start a new thread if you have any other questions. We're here for you!

Thanks,

Roku Community Team

[SusanwatchingTV]

Thank you.

I will try to be patient, but I hope it doesn't take too long for them to figure out how to help us!

[RokuRhea-V · Accepted solution]

Hey @SusanwatchingTV,

I just wanted to Inform you of an update from our Support Team. It's possible that the issue arises from a recent change in your Wi-Fi connection or some configuration settings. We recommend contacting your internet service provider for further assistance.

In the meantime try to connect the Roku TV to 2.4GHz to see if it helps.

Thanks,

Roku Community Team

[jontalk]

@SusanwatchingTV  While I'm unfamiliar with the Eeros you mention since I use Asus AI Mesh instead, I'm curious if you use a network app to view the local wireless environment. I have WiFi Analyzer for Andriod installed on my phone and constantly monitor to see if neighbors are using the same channel. Am sure there's a similar app for iPhone too. Also wondering if you have the log in/password for the main router and if channel selection is set to 'auto'. I ask since that setting can be problematic; manually selecting channels  is best. Regardless, its possible you're experiencing channel congestion or the Roku TV's have low quality WiFi radios. One way or the other, its worth analyzing the wireless environment to see if that's the problem.

[SusanwatchingTV]

Thank you, Rhea V.  

I've called ezee fiber internet again, and we tried several things which don't seem to have helped. 

They're sending another guy to the house Monday to see if he can figure something out (but this is the third guy they've sent, so I remain skeptical.)

I don't know how to "connect the Roku TV to 2.4GHz," so maybe the guy will know when he comes on Monday.

We've decided to go back to Xfinity if this doesn't get fixed this week.

[SusanwatchingTV]

Thank you, Jon. I appreciate the reply.

I use the eero app to control the eero network, but I don't seem to be able to make any kind of "channel selection" on that app.  I'll have to ask the guy from eZee Fiber how to manually select a channel for each TV set, or even if such a thing is possible (assuming that's what you're suggesting).

I looked at the Apple store for a WiFi Analyzer app and downloaded one called "WiFiman" because it is the highest rated.  I've opened it and run a speed test, but I don't really understand the results and have no frame of reference with which to make sense of them.  These things often assume a level of familiarity with technology which I do not possess.

I've clicked around in the app and see things moving, but again, I don't know what I'm looking at or what I'm supposed to do with the information I see.

I fear I'm going to need someone who understands all of this technical stuff to come here to help me figure this out. I'm the IT department for this house, and I can handle most little things, but my degree is in English Literature, so I'm terribly far out of my comfort level at this point. 🙂

[SusanwatchingTV · Accepted solution]

I want to give you all an update.

After doing everything everyone asked me to do, I decided to just keep pestering Ezee Fiber until they fixed the problem. It just had to be them, not the TVs, of course.

It took four different tech guys sent over the last few weeks, but the last guy finally found something wrong in the settings (I don't know what, exactly. He didn't specify.), and now every TV is staying connected, no problem.

I was beyond irritated with them, and almost dropped them, but I decided I had paid for the month and would let them keep trying until the end of it.

I'm sorry to have bothered you guys, but I do appreciate the answers and the attempts to help.