Tablo with Roku3 vs Roku2

Support & Troubleshooting
1

I have been through all the Roku and Tablo upgrages to fix FF delays and Roku Reboots. Here is my status now:

Roku3 Via Wired Ethernet to Tablo recording is Flawless
IPad App Via 5Gig WiFi to Tablo is recording Flawless
Roku2 Via 5Gig WiFi to Hulu and Netflix is Flawless
Roku2 Via 5Gig WiFi to Tablo recording is FRUSTRATING! I am at the point where I would almost rather watch the commercials than to wait for the Blue Status bar to complete or to suffer another Roku2 reboot.

I am recording at 720p 3Mbps.
Roku2 says WiFi signal is excellent
Roku2 v7 b9044
Tablo 2.2.8

Any value in doing a factory reset on Roku2 and starting over?

Suggestions?

2

Which Roku 3? Model 4230 or 4200?

Which Roku 2? Model 4210 or 2720?

3

Thanks for pointing this out theuser86. I checked the Roku website and the description of the Roku2 they sell today is not what I bought.
What I have is:
Roku3 Model 4200x
Roku2 Model 2720x
So, this suggests I am using older models of both.
Would the Roku2 Model 4210 be faster or have more buffering capability?

4

  1. What is the made and model of your router? It is likely you just have poor WiFi signal for local streaming, the bitrate of Tablo streaming is higher than that of Hulu and Netflix.

  2. What is the recording quality you have the Tablo set to?

  3. Can you please move the Roku 3 Model 4200 to where the Roku 2 Model 2720 is, and try it on the WiFi? The Roku 2 you have is the older model, which is not as powerful as the Roku 3 (4200 or 4230). The internal hardware in the 4200 is the same as the new 4210 and 4230, so you could buy a new Roku 2 or new Roku 3.

  4. As well, can you try the 2.4 GHz band on the Roku 2 instead of the 5 GHz band? While the 5 GHz band is theoretically faster, it suffers from poor WiFi signal due to long distances and going through walls.

5

You have been very helpful in bringing to my attention that the models within Roku2 have changed with time. I have my LinkSys EA3500 set up with different SSID’s for 5Gig and 2.4Gig and the Roku2 issues are the same on ether. Also, the distance and barriers are small and insignificant. I see that the Roku2 sold today uses an IR Remote with no earbud connection, so this may force the Roku3 as we enjoy the earbud feature. My Roku3 is closer to the router so that I can use wired Ethernet, but I have also used the Roku3 with 5Gig and 2.4Gig and it works fine. My old Roku2 does not have wired Ethernet as an option, nor USB, which the ones sold today do, so this suggests a whole different platform. Thanks for your help. I will do some more testing, but I think I will get a new Roku3.

6

The new Roku 2 (2015) performance wise is equivalent to the Roku 3. If you don’t need the extra features of the Roku 3 it is a little less costly.

7

Before purchasing a Roku 3, I would try your current Roku 3 via WiFi in the location where the Roku 2 is.

You may want to purchase another device, say Nexus Player which has Wireless AC, the Roku 3 does not. Never mind, your router is Wireless N only.

8

I did some testing today, confirming that the older Roku2 is the problem.
Changed Roku3 Model 4200x from Wired to Wifi
There was some desegregation of performance but very watchable.

With both on WiFi, traded places for Roku2 Model 2720x and Roku3 Model 4200x.
Both devices behaved as they were before the switch, or in other words, the problem stayed with the Roku2, confirming that this was not a wireless range issue.

So, because I require the earbuds that the new Roku2 no longer supports, I will buy a new Roku3.

I thank you both for giving me the idea to look differently at the situation, and for the knowledge that there were platform differences within the Roku2 name.

2 Likes
9

The Roku 4 supports the better 5 mghz wifi.
802.11ac MIMO dual-band wireless
10/100 Base-T Ethernet
Roku 3 supports
802.11 (a/b/g/n compatible) with WEP, WPA, and WPA2 support
10/100 Base-T Ethernet

10

Correct but his router is only Wireless N, to take advantage of the Wireless AC in the Roku 4 he’d have to upgrade his router.

11

So the new Roku 2 (4210) is the same internal hardware as the new Roku 3 (4230) and the old Roku 3 (4200), thus it does support pairing of a WiFi Direct Connect remote to it even if it comes with an IR remote from the store.

The old Roku 2 (2720) comes with the same WiFi Direct Connect remote as the old Roku 3 (4200). So in theory you should be able to buy the new Roku 2 (4210) and use the WiFi DC remote from the old Roku 2 (2720) with it. This will save you some money and let you use headphone jack on the remote.

A simple way to test this would be to pair the old Roku 2 remote you currently have with your the old Roku 3 you have. If it works, it will work with the new Roku 2 as the old Roku 3 and new Roku 2 have the same internal hardware.

12

Very good thoughts and suggestions. I have not had a chance to re-pair the remotes as you suggest as a test, but I can say that the remote application on the i-pad works on both of my Roku’s so I think this confirms your notion. I have already ordered the Roku3.

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