I’ve spent a lot of time troubleshooting frequent dropouts in Tablo live TV reception until I learned, by trial and error, that this problem only occurs when I use my ROKU Premier and its Tablo app to receive the WiFi signal from my router. When I go to the Samsung Tablo app I get perfect, error-free reception. But the Samsung Tablo app lacks some of the functionality of the ROKU app ( no preview thumbnails or two-week guide) so unless I figure out another way, I’m using the Samsung app to watch and record live TV and the ROKU app to play back recordings. Samsung and ROKU have told me that Tablo is responsible for writing these apps, so I’m wondering if or when fully-functional ones will be forthcoming.
Can I please have the model number of your Roku Premiere?
It is possible you have Roku with Wireless N 2.4 GHz only for WiFi, which is causing buffering problems due to poor WiFi signal strength.
I had to give up using a Roku Premier with my Tablo because of it being only wireless N 2.4 GHz. My Roku Ultras and Roku sticks work great with it, so I would switch to one of them.
1 Like
AFAIK, 2.4Ghz has better “reach” (e.g. through walls). So, probably, it’s better said that’s there’s more interference on 2.4Ghz rather than saying just “poor strength (of 2.4Ghz)”.
Fine, I have noticed “poor performance” of streaming over Wireless N 2.4 GHz when compared to device that use Wireless N 5 GHz. And in 2020, every streaming device really should use Wireless AC 5 GHz, much better performance.
Model#: 3920X
The Premiere Model 3920 only has single band Wireless N 2.4 GHz.
Roku sh** the bed with naming their devices. The older Premiere and Premiere+ devices, model 4620 and 4630, respectively were much better devices with Wireless AC.
But, it’s sort of like saying everyone should have a OLED TV, or a Ryzen CPU (it’s 2020 after all). I still have perfectly good working Roku 3 devices. With that said, because people in general are not going to “look up” information about what is out there, they are going to make assumptions based on what amounts to as “marketing” (effectively).
Good ole 2.4Ghz might work better “whole home” for some. But not work well for people surrounded by a ton of 2.4Ghz interference. As newer standards might bring higher and higher bitrate requirements, good ole 2.4Ghz is also going to suffer. But 5Ghz might be limiting for some depending on placement of physical blocks.
There are a lot of really really really bad 2.4Ghz devices out there that that run independent of typical network WiFi that cast off a ton of interference (not just your Microwave oven).
Maybe it’s just me, but since the 5Ghz “revolution”, the 2.4Ghz space has cleared up (some), at least with regards to network WiFi usage. But there for awhile, I imagine that in tight quarters, it was a really big mess (and might still be for “old” or “poorer” places).
In short, it’s going to vary. What works best, what works with your devices, etc…
Checked the signal strength (excellent) and the Roku Internet download speed (25 bps). But I did see 65 Mbps on one check. Could be that my Spectrum speed is not consistently OK for streaming. Funny that the online Spectrum download speed test shows 224 Mbps, while the ROKU test shows 25 Mbps. Unless I’m missing something here, and I’m not an expert by any means. And yes, my model Roku is 2.4 GHz.
This is your internet WAN speed, it has nothing to do with the speed transferring over your local WiFi network.
Read this article.
It’s almost 2021. You would think that there would be some app for either IOS or Android cell phones that would analyze 2.4 Ghz WiFi signal strength.
All you would have to do is walk up to the Roku at various times of the day and get the readout. I’ve been using one for 10 years.
Good info, 86. Makes sense. I’m an old RF guy, not so much digital, so I’m learning as I go. I do have Tablo speed set to HD 720 - 5 Mbps and this works fine with the Samsung Tablo app, The Roku should work, also, at this rate (the signal strength is excellent), but it doesn’t. So, I guess I either live with it or get a later model or another brand streaming stick.
I’ve heard good things about the new “Chromecast with Google TV”.
If you get a Roku Ultra you can hard wire it to your router. Providing it’s practical. Even if it isn’t practical you can usually find a way to do it. I have an Ultra in the basement at the opposite end of the house from the router. There is quite a bit of wire, wall jacks and an 8 port switch between the Ultra and the router. Zero problems with Tablo.
I have 3 tablo’s and a hdhomerun at the other end of my house. Why worry about running wires. Bought a gigabit switch and powerline adapters.
Probably took 30 minutes to set everything up and get it working. And that was 7 years ago. Then it’s only an issue of how you want to pass the stream from your router onto your various devices.
I have a power line adapter sitting in a drawer somewhere. It just did not work well so I gave up on it. And besides I love wiring stuff. Before I cut the cord in 2013 I had a well wired house for OTA in every room as well as distribution for when I had DirectTV. Adding some Ethernet wiring was not a problem. Also I’m retired so I do it for fun 
.
Wish I cold, Snow, but really not practical for me. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
Never heard of it, Sophie & Zippy, but I looked it up and it looks neat. Hard to believe you can do that without interference. They must use some pretty good filtering in there. I’m going to have to think about that one.
If you’re interested in powerline Ethernet adapters, read the topic below.