7 Things New Roku Owners Should Know for Maximum Enjoyment
It's that special time of the year. Many new Roku media streamers will be sold with visions of cable cutting fresh in the minds of new Roku owners.
Roku is an amazing media streamer and we'll show you how to get maximum performance and enjoyment from it and even how to avoid a few common pitfalls along the way.
Fortunately if you are reading this, you are already one step ahead of many new Roku owners. This mkvXstream website is overflowing with helpful info, tips and tricks plus tons of great channels, apps and more especially for Roku. Click the purple Roku Roulette button in the sidebar. It will take you to over 70 random pages covering all kinds of things related to Roku.
1. Don't Expect Roku to be Just Like Cable
Roku is not like Cable TV or Satellite. In some ways it's much better, that is unless you happen to love commercials. (You won't hardly find any on Roku) If you choose to buy a Roku to cut your expensive monthly cable TV bill, you will love it.
From the moment you turn on your new Roku it's about choices, freedom and control. With Cable TV, you are fed an endless stream of content other people decide you should watch and when you should watch it.
Owning a Roku puts you in control of an endless selection of channels and many sources of Internet TV content.
Roku is mostly about watching content on-demand. It's a lot like YouTube on steroids except better organized
. Choose from many different channels which contain video clips, movies and TV shows and watch them on your schedule. Roku channels cover a wide range of subjects so there is always something to watch for the entire family.
If you miss watching the same live channels that are typically found on Cable TV, you can even find these live channels on Roku. Although this will cost an extra small additional monthly fee.
You can choose to watch Live TV from legal sources like USTVNow, or even from the Dark Side with channels like Wow or Mach TV.
Other options include watching many on demand cable channels if you have access to a basic cable or satellite account. This can save you a lot of money if you own several televisions. Pay only a monthly fee on one cable or satellite box and use Roku players on all your other TVs. The additional monthly box rental fees will easily pay for Netflix or another streaming service with much more content than cable.
2. Where to Find Hidden Private Roku Channels
If you only watch content from the channels on Roku's Channel Store, you are missing out on a huge selection of Private Roku channels. These channels offer great additional content.
Warning: Some private channels contain
Adult only content and these are not allowed on the Roku Channel Store. The best way to find private Roku channels is by getting our
Free Android or
Web App which will direct you to the many categories of Roku channels we have listed here on
mkvXstream.
3. Common Streaming Issues
Here are a few basic things to remember when using your Roku to stream with WiFi:
- Try to place your WiFi Router up as high as possible.
- Keep the distance between your WiFi Router and Roku player as close as you can.
- Occasionally unplug your WiFi Router and Cable Modem for several seconds to clear the cache.
- For the very best streaming performance, use a wired Ethernet cable.
- Use an Internet connection of at least 5Mbps for 1080p and 10 Mbps or faster for 4K UHD streaming.
Following these simple guidelines can help avoid some of the more common issues associated with streaming over WiFi. WiFi works great most of the time, although since it relies on radio waves it can sometimes be prone to interference from other devices.
The new Roku Ultra uses the AC WiFi standard which is faster and more robust than the Wireless N standard found on prior models. You will also need an AC Router to take full advantage of this added performance.
Ultimately, if you can use a Category 5e or Cat 6 Ethernet cable to connect your Roku to your router, it will give you the most reliable and fastest connection speed possible for streaming.
4. Don't Let Your Roku Get Too Hot
Roku players run a little on the warm side. Place your Roku inside a cabinet with poor air circulation or
hang it up near the ceiling behind your TV and you could be asking for problems.
Once they overheat this can cause resets, lockups and other annoying issues. Try to keep your Roku as cool as possible and you can even use this trick which we have used successfully on a Roku 3, and 4 that we have hidden away in a cabinet.
Keep Your Roku Cool!
5. Everything on Roku is Not Always Free
Many people cut their cable TV bill and buy a Roku expecting everything to be Free. Sadly this is not really true. Even though it costs no monthly fee to own a Roku, to get the best content it will still cost you some money. The good news is it will cost much less than you would typically pay your Cable TV or Satellite provider each month. Depending on how much content you subscribe to, the savings can even be rather significant.
To get the maximum enjoyment out of a Roku media streamer, you will really need to sign up to one or several streaming TV services like Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu. This will give you more content to watch than ever. If you like to watch newer movies, you can also rent an occasional movie from Vudu or Amazon. And if you choose to watch Adult movies, head on over to the;" style="font-family: verdana, myriad, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Roku Dark Side
The Roku Plex channel requires a NAS or Computer to be on at the same time you watch your Roku.
There are also some Roku channels and games that charge a small one time fee, or an ongoing monthly fee. Paid channels only make up a small portion of all the great Roku channels that are still 100% free. You may also want to check out the SlingTime Channel from Dish. This is a monthly streaming service that you can also sign up for which is cheaper than cable.
6. If Your New Roku Doesn't Work Don't Wait Too Long to Return It
Roku offers a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee Policy. If your new Roku has issues that Roku Support can't help you solve, send it back. Don't wait, hesitate or procrastinate. Get it back for a refund or replacement before the 30 Days are up.
Extend Your Roku Warranty
7. The Best Roku Support When You Need It
When you need help with your new Roku, here are several of the best places to turn for help.
The Roku Customer Service Team is an excellent resource to provide support while your Roku is brand new and under warranty which is only 90 days. After that they will charge a fee to diagnose or repair a problem.
Here is the contact info you need to get in touch with Roku Customer Service.
- CONTACT ROKU CUSTOMER SERVICE
Have Questions or Want to Chat About Your New Roku?
These are all excellent resources for new Roku Owners if you have questions or just want to discuss Roku or streaming:
- TVStreamin Forum
- Have your Checked Out the Chitchat Forums?
- Are the Best Roku Channels Hidden
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