I bought this specifically because I was having trouble with my old Roku Premiere+ being able to stream YouTube videos in 4K. It would always default to standard definition or worse and never get any better. This should not have been happening, as I have 100 mbps fiber internet service. For reference, YouTube 4K requires 20 mbps, which I have 5x the requirement for.
So, I decided that because this model was touting "long-range wireless" that maybe this would remedy the problem. It did not. The claims are that this model has 2x the wireless speed of previous Rokus. Maybe this is true, but the actual speed it does get is absolutely terrible.
I have attached two pictures to this review. One is of the wireless speed that the Roku is saying it has (purple screen), which is 2 mbps. Bear in mind, this is about 10ft from my wireless router. The second picture is of a speed test that I ran (on the WiFi) of my iPhone literally laying on top of the Roku at the TV and it is getting 122 mbps up and down.
So, you can see why I am having so many issues with streaming in general with this thing. This device is only capable of utilizing 1.6% of the speed that my wireless router is delivering. My advice to most people looking at this thing, avoid at all costs. There are many other streaming options that will reliably deliver the speeds you need for proper streaming.
Update: 10/23/21
So, after a week of pulling my hair out with this thing, I decided to format it to return it. Thankfully, I decided to give it one last shot before sending it back.
I’m glad I did, because after the format, it started miraculously working for about 3 days now. It gets 150+ mbps. I checked all of the settings to see what exactly had changed. Turns out it was my wireless router assigning a terrible channel to the Roku!! It put it on channel 1 initially. Same with my old Roku Premiere. Both were getting 2 mbps. For whatever reason, it assigned this Roku after formatting to channel 48 on my network and that fixed everything.
So, your mileage really may vary here. You may not have the router problem I had and it works flawlessly, or you may have the same or worse. I still kind of feel like this could be an issue involving Roku, like the Roku maybe should tell the router “Hey, this channel sucks, please give me a different one!”
I have updated my review to 4 stars because it is the best streaming device out of all that I have tried. Roku is a great company with a great UI. I just can’t quite give it 5 stars because of the WiFi issues because I don’t know if the blame is fully on my router, since I don’t have any other devices having issues.
| Brand Name | Roku |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 0.9 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 3.7 x 0.8 x 0.45 inches |
| Country of Origin | Vietnam |
| Item model number | 3820R |
| Batteries | 2 AAA batteries required. (included) |
| Color Name | Black |
