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Forum Discussion
Tweaks for better wireless performance of Rokus?
Hey. So, I'm not sure if this is an Orbi issue and if there are some settings I can change to improve performance, but I'm having some issues. My setup is RBK50 (RBR50 + RBS50) and FiOS gigabit connection. I do not use the FiOS quantum router -- my Orbi is connected directly to the ONT. Orbi is in Router mode.
Generally, I have my Orbi dialed in, but I'm getting pretty atrocious performance on all of my Roku devices. I've been doing some testing on each Roku device by checking connection speed through Roku settings and standing next to each device with my phone and running Ookla Speed Test.
These are the results:
- Basement Roku TV (2020 5 series): 37 mbps, Phone Speed Test: 526mbps
- Living Room Roku Ultra (2020 model): 48mbps, Phone Speed Test: 364mbps
- Bedroom Roku TV (2018 6 series): 22mbps, Phone Speed Test: 482mbps
I have tried various wireless channels with the same results. I also connected to my phone's WiFi Hotspot and the Roku tested at 82mbps. WTH!?
My Orbi settings are:
- 20/40 MHz coexistence disabled
- Daisy-chain disabled
- Implicit Beamforming enabled
- MIMO enabled
- Fast Roaming enabled
- I'm on latest firmware, 2.7.2.104 (but I don't think this is related to firmware since I've always had this issue across different firmwares)
Some things I'm thinking about and would appreciate your expertise to know if they may help:
- Reserving the Roku IPs or setting Static IPs
- I understand there is no QoS for Orbi, but is there a way to direct more bandwidth to the Rokus?
- Changing settings that you believe may help!
Thank you in advance and sorry for the long post, but I wanted to try and be thorough. If I can provide any additional information for clarity, just let me know.
EDIT: I forgot to mention -- I connected one of the Rokus to my phone's Hotspot and it pulled 82mbps download. WTH!? Could the speeds be related to network congestion? I have 28 devices connected to my Orbi. Some Google Homes, some Wyze cams, phones, etc.
16 Replies
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The settings appear fine. (I have no Roku, so please excuse my ignorance)
How is performance measured on the Roku? (Secret Antenna screen? Speedtest app?)
WiFi is really sensitive to obstacles between the device and the access point. Anything metal, concrete, or brick really reduces the signal. (The TV itself is often a huge slab of metal.)
I have searched the web and have not found any reference to where the WiFi antennas are located on Roku TV's. For certain, do not want the TV itself to be between the antenna and the Orbi. (i.e. that Roku Ultra needs to be where it can "see" the Orbi.
Being a bit OCD, I have "assigned" IP addresses to every device in my house that seems "permanent", but that has no bearing performance.
When I search for "How much bandwidth is required for Roku?", it appears that all of these Roku's have more than is required.
How does the "atrocious performance" manifest? screen pixeling? Buffering?
Thanks for your reply.
The speeds I put for the Roku device are tested in the settings menu of Roku. It's their own speed test. The corresponding Ookla Speed Tests were done on my phone standing right next to each device, respectively. Thus, I would think that if there were obstacles affecting speed, they would also affect my phone. The speed are too drastically different, IMO, for that to be the issue.
For the most part, there aren't many issues streaming movies & tv shows. However, the issues appear when trying to stream high bitrate files from my Plex Server. Essentially, anything above 20mbps bitrate will error out at some point and stop playback. To get those movies & shows to play, I need to adjust Plex settings to a lower bitrate, which forces a transcode of the file from my server. The files I'm referring to should be able to direct play, but the Roku is bottlenecking them. That's why I'm wondering if I can push more bandwidth to the Rokus, prioritize them in my network (like QoS althought I know Orbi doesn't let us mess with that feature). Or if there are settings I should change that might help out with this.
Like I said in my original post, I'm not sure this is an Orbi issue. But I have spoken with other people on different, non-Orbi internet setups that typically see 80-100 mbps on wifi with their Rokus. Also, since all of my Rokus (I have 5 in total) are pulling down speeds under 50mbps, I think it's very unlikely that all of these devices have wifi issues, so more likely that something in my network is configured wrong. So I figured I'd turn to the Orbi gods to see if there are settings to tweak or more granular control of QoS.
Do the Roku's report which frequenc band they are using?
What 5G channel is the Orbi set to? (on mine, the choices are 36, 40, 44, and 48)
