Forum Discussion

Snoopy42's avatar
Snoopy42
Reel Rookie
4 years ago
Solved

How to quickly fix battery drain from point-anywhere Roku remotes

My RC-AL2 remote for my Roku streaming stick (3800) is going through batteries fast.  I shouldn’t have to change batteries every 2 weeks.  I’ve tried the system reset suggestion to no avail.  The bat...
remotes
Roku Batteries Questions
  • makaiguy's avatar
    makaiguy
    4 years ago

    Snoopy42--

    There is some evidence that one cause of battery drain for those with point-anywhere remotes that connect to the Roku via WiFi-direct can be use of a router channel that is crowded by nearby routers using the same channel. The remote has to work too hard constantly sorting through the information packets from other devices using the same channel and it may accelerate the battery drain.

    If you have access to your router's setup, try configuring it to use a different WIFI channel to see if this helps the situation. In the 2.4 GHz band, channels 1, 6, and 11 do not overlap each other and thus give you the best chance at reducing congestion, so try each in succession, although depending on what channels your neighbors are using other channels may work best. Also, reducing router bandwidth from 40 to 20 kHz may also reduce interference.

    Reducing congestion and interference can also improve your data transmission rates.

    Please report back to let us know how you make

makaiguy's avatar
makaiguy
Community Streaming Expert
4 years ago

Snoopy42--

There is some evidence that one cause of battery drain for those with point-anywhere remotes that connect to the Roku via WiFi-direct can be use of a router channel that is crowded by nearby routers using the same channel. The remote has to work too hard constantly sorting through the information packets from other devices using the same channel and it may accelerate the battery drain.

If you have access to your router's setup, try configuring it to use a different WIFI channel to see if this helps the situation. In the 2.4 GHz band, channels 1, 6, and 11 do not overlap each other and thus give you the best chance at reducing congestion, so try each in succession, although depending on what channels your neighbors are using other channels may work best. Also, reducing router bandwidth from 40 to 20 kHz may also reduce interference.

Reducing congestion and interference can also improve your data transmission rates.

Please report back to let us know how you make

DOuGpRATt's avatar
DOuGpRATt
Binge Watcher
4 years ago

You're saying that the remote has a WiFi connection to the player that operates on 2.4 GHz, regardless if the player is on a 5 GHz channel? (The lack of support for Dynamic Channel Selection in 5 GHz is another matter.) What is the evidence that a crowded 2.4 GHz channel is a problem for Roku's remotes, and why doesn't Amazon's Fire TV RF remote design have the problem?

makaiguy wrote:

Snoopy42--

There is some evidence that one cause of battery drain for those with point-anywhere remotes that connect to the Roku via WiFi-direct can be use of a router channel that is crowded by nearby routers using the same channel. The remote has to work too hard constantly sorting through the information packets from other devices using the same channel and it may accelerate the battery drain.

If you have access to your router's setup, try configuring it to use a different WIFI channel to see if this helps the situation. In the 2.4 GHz band, channels 1, 6, and 11 do not overlap each other and thus give you the best chance at reducing congestion, so try each in succession, although depending on what channels your neighbors are using other channels may work best. Also, reducing router bandwidth from 40 to 20 kHz may also reduce interference.

Reducing congestion and interference can also improve your data transmission rates.

Please report back to let us know how you make