Solving playback issues

[Hardin_Jenner]

Hi everyone,

I've been using Roku Express for a few months now, and overall, it has been a fantastic experience. However, I’ve recently been facing an issue with the streaming quality, and I’m hoping someone here can help me figure out what's going on.

The problem started about a week ago. When I stream on apps like Netflix, Hulu, or YouTube, the video quality frequently drops to a very low resolution. It stays that way for several minutes before returning to HD, and sometimes it doesn't recover at all unless I restart the stream.

Here are some things I’ve already tried to troubleshoot:

1. Checked internet speed: My internet connection is stable and delivers around 100 Mbps, which should be more than enough for HD streaming.
2. Restarted Roku device: I’ve unplugged and restarted the device multiple times, but the issue persists.
3. Reset network settings: I reconnected my Roku to Wi-Fi and ensured it's connected to the 5 GHz band of my router.
4. Updated firmware: The device is running the latest software version.
5. Changed streaming settings: I experimented with different streaming settings within the apps, but no significant improvement.

Despite trying all these steps, the issue seems to happen randomly, and I can’t pinpoint what’s causing it. I’ve also noticed it doesn’t happen on all apps; for example, Disney+ seems to work fine most of the time.

Has anyone else faced a similar problem? If so, how did you resolve it? Is there something I might be overlooking, or is this a potential hardware issue with my Roku Express?

I’d really appreciate any advice, tips, or troubleshooting suggestions from the community. I’m open to doing a factory reset, but I’m hesitant because I don’t want to lose all my app settings and preferences if there’s another way to fix this.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[RokuEmmanuel-D]

Hi, @Hardin_Jenner.

Welcome! We're happy you joined the Roku Community!

We completely understand your concern about your Roku device's frequently dropping picture quality. We know it can be frustrating, and we'd like to get you back up and running. 

Could you give us more information about it? Such as...

• When did you first notice this issue?
• Are you experiencing this only with certain apps or all apps on your Roku?
• Have you tried changing an internet connection so we can isolate the issue further?
• Could you provide a photo of the exact behavior? 

In the meantime, you can check out this support article on issues playing content on your Roku device.

We are waiting for your prompt response so we can dig into it further. 

Thanks,
Emman