Roku HDMI stick | FerrariChat

Roku HDMI stick

Discussion in 'Technology' started by Whisky, Mar 26, 2018.

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  1. Whisky

    Whisky Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 27, 2006
    25,287
    Upper Great Plains
    Full Name:
    The original Fernando
    Wireless Roku stick.
    It sees the router, won't connect to the internet - says 'no connection'.
    How can it say no connection if it sees the router, but won't let me connect to it?
    I have:
    Reset the Roku.
    Updated the Roku.
    Reset the internet connection on the Roku.
    Unplugged the router for awhile, plugged it back in.
    Unplugged the Roku form power for a bit, plugged it back in.
    Reset and redone everything - again. Multiple times.

    My PC works, my smart phone works, my iPad all work on the router.
    The TV is line of sight away.
    I've reset and redone everything I know of.

    Anybody have any ideas?
     
  2. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jul 20, 2003
    51,458
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    Dirty Harry
    Which stick? (There's several)

    "I am weak-ish on snatch" ~ joker57676
     
  3. Whisky

    Whisky Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 27, 2006
    25,287
    Upper Great Plains
    Full Name:
    The original Fernando
    Normal Roku $50 streaming stick, but I would think they all 'connect' the same way - or not.
    The only thing I can think of is she must be entering her wifi password wrong, but she swears it's right.
    I am trying to diagnose it for my G/F, who is 30 miles away....

    It sees the router, she selects it, it 'connects', but the next step - where you
    enter in the password - it says 'no internet connection available'.
    I will probably just have to drive to her place tomorrow.

    It's odd - she has an Amazon Fire stick on a TV MUCH further away from the router
    and on a different floor - no problems.
     
  4. Gran Drewismo

    Gran Drewismo F1 Rookie

    Jan 24, 2005
    3,778
    Idaho
    Full Name:
    Andrew
    I haven't used a Roku before but can you tell if it's pulling an IP? Maybe something like Settings > Network ?

    If it shows something like 169.254.x.x then it's definitely not connecting.

    If it shows something like 192.168.x.x then at least it's pulling an IP.

    Not trying to over think things, just trying out my router-fu.

    What wireless router does she have?
     
  5. phil the brit

    phil the brit Formula 3

    Jul 7, 2013
    1,215
    Colchester+Clermont
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    Phil Taylor
    How far away from the router id the Roku? May need a signal extender?
     
  6. Whisky

    Whisky Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 27, 2006
    25,287
    Upper Great Plains
    Full Name:
    The original Fernando
    Line of sight, maybe 40 feet.
    She disconnected the Roku power, left for an hour, came back, plugged in the power, and now it works.
    We tried that once, unplugged power for 4 or 5 minutes, that didn't work, but an hour seems to have worked.
     
  7. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jul 20, 2003
    51,458
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    Dirty Harry
    Kewl!

    "I am weak-ish on snatch" ~ joker57676
     
  8. Whisky

    Whisky Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 27, 2006
    25,287
    Upper Great Plains
    Full Name:
    The original Fernando
    I am tired of the POS, we have to deal with this quite often, we are not in a
    position to get a wired unit, so I think I will switch to an Amazon Fire wireless...
    (or maybe it is just this particular one, a defect maybe...)
     
  9. phil the brit

    phil the brit Formula 3

    Jul 7, 2013
    1,215
    Colchester+Clermont
    Full Name:
    Phil Taylor
    My firesticks need re booting almost daily. It's a pain in the ass as they are behind high mounted TV's on walls and I need a ladder each time to get to them.
    Someone from Best Buy told me they are always going to be trouble because, to use his words "look how small they are, they have only got small aerials".
     
  10. SPDADCT

    SPDADCT Karting

    Oct 28, 2009
    72
    Southern California
    Full Name:
    Joseph
    Have you guys tried doing a Roku System Reset and System update?
     
  11. Whisky

    Whisky Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 27, 2006
    25,287
    Upper Great Plains
    Full Name:
    The original Fernando
    Yep, of course.

    If I could find a way to wire one, I would, but that would involve drilling holes, and she doesn't want to
    do that, so she is stuck.
    It just bugs me that it is almost line-of-sight to the router, maybe 40 feet away at most, and according to
    the Roku, the signal is 'weak'. Yet, I can ding her wifi with my phone and my iPad from behind her neighbor's
    house across the street...
     
  12. the_stig

    the_stig F1 Rookie

    Sep 19, 2005
    3,477
    Has she tried using the extension cable to move the stick out from behind the tv (assuming that's where it is now)?
     
  13. Lotaz

    Lotaz Formula 3

    Nov 18, 2016
    1,537
    Las Vegas
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    Scott
    I have several of these ROKU sticks, 25% had to be replaced, just sayin. I love the ROKU sticks, like them better than the Amazon Fire sticks I have.

    I switched from cable to Directv NOW, glad I did but I have a many TV's so I bought sticks. 4 ROKUs and 2 Fire sticks.
     
  14. Gran Drewismo

    Gran Drewismo F1 Rookie

    Jan 24, 2005
    3,778
    Idaho
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    Andrew
    How is DirecTV Now? I have DirecTV and have thought about switching to their Now service but lack of local channels and DVR capability is a deal breaker for me.
     
  15. Lotaz

    Lotaz Formula 3

    Nov 18, 2016
    1,537
    Las Vegas
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    Scott
    I like it but I don't care about DVR capability and I get ABC and NBC (newly added) local channels. I found I recorded stuff and never got around to watching it. I have one digital antenna for over the air channels but find I rarely use it. It pretty much stays with the garage TV. I was just glad to get away from cable/satellite as I was tired of the games. Raise my rates, I complain they lower them. Why in the heck did they raise them if then can give me a cheaper price? $35 a month for Directv Now and no BS. Nice thing is you can watch anywhere on your phone, your tablet, your laptop, desktop or TV. When the NCAA tournament was on It was easy to keep on at work. I also hook it up to a projector in the back yard and have the ever popular "game night in the park."

    Now for the downfalls: you can only watch on 2 TVs at a time. If your internet provider as a data limit you might find out what that is if you watch a lot of TV or leave your TV's on unwatched. There was one time during a Golden Knights Hockey game it buffered at the worst time (My internet issue not Directv NOW). Of course no DVR. It would be nice to get CBS and FOX local channels, although a Digital air antenna solves this.

    After getting the ROKUs/Fire Sticks and everything set up I have no intention of going back. When I was first looking into streaming TV I was skeptical but read an article that said just cut the cable and you won't look back. I have not looked back after 6 months. I researched Amazon Prime, YouTube TV, Hulu, Sling etc. I did free trails of each. Between Directv Now, Netflix and watching stuff on regular YouTube I have more to watch than I possible can. I really don't feel like I am missing out on anything.

    It can be more cost effective to go with another streaming service, you have to look at what channels you need, and who provides those for the best price. Make sure you do some research before choosing Directv NOW to make sure its fits your needs. Sling was a close second in my world, if it wasn't for my wife's needs I would have gone with Sling.

    I do like the ROKUs better than the Fire sticks but I did have to send one back and it took a lot of emails back and forth with ROKU support to get it done. It happened to be the "free" ROKU that Directv NOW sent me. I have (2) 4k units and (2) regular. My friends keep telling me just to do a "jail break" on my sticks but I have personal issues with that.

    Hope this helps.
     
  16. Gran Drewismo

    Gran Drewismo F1 Rookie

    Jan 24, 2005
    3,778
    Idaho
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    Andrew
    This helps a lot. It seems NOW has improved and added features, which is good and I hope they continue to do so. I finally realized that at the end of the day, what I really want is a cheaper, streaming DirecTV service like I have now. In other words, seamless integration with local channels (no switching inputs) and DVR capability.

    We're paying something like $120 a month for DTV, I'd love to chop that in half and also ditch the dish on my roof, but I haven't found anything like what I'm looking for just yet.
     
  17. Lotaz

    Lotaz Formula 3

    Nov 18, 2016
    1,537
    Las Vegas
    Full Name:
    Scott

    DirecTV Now has added DVR capabilities with the Fire Stick upgrades and one of my ROKUs updated last night. I haven't tried the DVR function so I can't comment on it.

    The upgrade in general has been impressive. Still only NBC and ABC for local broadcasts so far.
     
  18. Gran Drewismo

    Gran Drewismo F1 Rookie

    Jan 24, 2005
    3,778
    Idaho
    Full Name:
    Andrew
    Very cool, thanks for the update.

    Checked and still no local channels in my area. So, close but not quite ready to pull the trigger.
     
  19. Streetsurfer

    Streetsurfer Formula Junior

    Dec 16, 2015
    934
    near Chicago
    Full Name:
    Ron
    I recently cleaned all the tv and firestick ports, patch cord, and power supply connectors related to using it, and ended a constant disconnection issue.

    Right before doing this, I had discovered that yet another ipad charge cord failed from having a dirty lightning port on the ipad. I cleaned it when replacing with a new cord and the adapter then ran cooler. Recalling the Roku stick was hot the last time I shut it all down in frustration made me realize it too probably had dirt fouled ports. It did. I used split tooth picks with some cotton fuzz rolled around it from make up pad removers, then sprayed alcohol on them to clean all connection points. It is running fine for a day, when it was disconnecting regularly, sometimes every fifteen minutes or so.
     

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