Can't connect internet to Roku or Firestick. Phones/PC connection OK. - New customer

[AshRC]

Hi all, wondering if anyone has any guidance here.

I'm a new Vodafone Broadband customer and got the router set up easily. All looks good there, the white lights appear on: power / internet / WiFi. 

My laptop and phone are connected fine, and WiFi is working well there.

However, I cannot get my Roku or my Amazon FireStick to connect to the internet. They both say they are connected, and are seeing "fair" signal strength, but when I check the connection or try to open any apps, it says there is no internet. The TV and the router are in the same room - about 3 meters away from each other.

I've tried:

• Turning on/off and resetting the router
• Resetting the streaming devices
• Disconnecting and reconnecting the WiFi
• Pressing the WiFi button on the router (not sure what that does, but tried it anyway)
• Double/Triple checking the password
• Creating guest WiFi and connecting to that instead
• Changing the IP address to a static IP + changing the last numbers of the IP address (this was actually a trick I had to do in order to get my phones to connect and stop saying "connected without internet")
• Tried connecting via WPS as well - that also doesn't work 

Nothing is working. It always connects, and then says there is no internet.

I followed the help steps on the Vodafone website but nothing has worked. The only thing I couldn't try was the suggestion to check my content settings. When I go trough those steps I never see content settings. Tapping on "My account controls" in my account just displays the message "There’s nothing we can show you. We’re not able to show you any information here."

Needless to say this is very frustrating. We're pretty new customers so I understand that the speeds in the first days might be variable, but there's no reason I can see why the internet would be working on all my devices except those connected to the TV.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[DaneB]

Hey @AshRC, apologies for the delay in our response. Have you downloaded the My Vodafone Broadband app and gone to WiFi devices? If so, does it appear there?

[zorgster]

I also have a Roku that does not see the SSID from the Vodafone router.

It will not appear in WiFi Devices in the app if it is not trying to connect to the router.

On the Roku, you can see every other network in the neighbourhood.  But not Vodafone.

This is attached to a SmartTV which has inbuilt WiFi and connects to the Vodafone router.  And another device also connects ... signal strength is fine.   There's a ChromeCast on the floor above and that also is fine.

I was told to change DNS on my router to point to Google DNS by a Vodafone Engineer.  And that this is their 'fix' for the problem.   Somehow this magically makes the SSID visible to the Roku?  :amazed: (but this won't fix your problem)

The issue is likely to be caused by the router WiFi being stuck on channel 13.  The only way out of that given the current interface and lack of channel settings in the Vodafone app .. is to replace the router.  Or connect a second Access Point to the router.

[zorgster]

I have connected my Roku to the home network.

1.  Buy a cheap TPLink Extender

2.  Set it up in Access Point mode with a different SSID

3.  Wire it into the Vodafone Router.

4.  Search for Networks on the Roku and FireTV and it works straightaway.

(Luckily I had a TPLink Extender that I was trying to use as an extender - but it works better than the Vodafone Router, so I'll keep it in AP mode.

Oliver

[Grump]

Seems like overkill. I found that the Roku just needed updating, then it would see the network. Connecting it to a friend’s network, or in my case, my iPhone hotspot and completing setup/update did the trick without having to buy any more kit.

[Grump]

I had this problem and it took me several hours to work out. Essentially you need to update your Roku. Not easy when it won’t connect to your wifi… I connected mine to my iphone hotspot, updated it and set it up. (Or try taking it to a friend’s house). Then went into the Roku settings and suddenly the Vodafone network was appearing so I could switch the connection to that.

No idea why it wouldn’t show up before. I could literally see about 15 other networks in my street but neither my main Vodafone or guest network would show up. My guess is that either the standard SSID is too long or there’s some weird network thing going on that an update will fix.

[Trev1501]

Hi,

We have recently had full fibre broadband installed and are having exactly the same problem - our Roku is literally 6 feet from the router but is saying it can't be found! What is the fix for this please (I am not very techy so please don't be too complicated!)

Many thanks!

[Mark]

Hey , have you tried updating your Roku software as advised by ? If not I'd suggest trying this first. You'll need an alternative internet connection to do this. If you have a mobile with unlimited data, then a hotspot through this would be perfect. To update the software, please follow these steps:

1. Press the Home button on your Roku remote.
2. Scroll up or down and select Settings.
3. Select System.
4. Select System update. (The System update screen displays the current software and build version, along with the date and time of the latest update).
5. Select Check Now to manually check for updates.

If there is new software available, then your Roku player will download and install them automatically and once completed, your Roku player will reboot. Let us know how you get on when trying this and if you need any further help. 

[Trev1501]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the feedback - we have tried what you suggest and the Roku system is apparently up to date. Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Trevor

[Mark]

If you're having issues with other devices connecting @Trev1501, you'll need to reach out to out Tech team as they'll be best placed to look into this for you. If it's just the Roku device that's not connecting, I'd suggest resetting it to factory settings.