Roku Streaming Stick (3600R) - HD Streaming Player with Quad-Core Processor

I purchased my first Roku Streaming Stick (actually first streaming stick ever) for use with our bedroom TV. I usually avoid purchasing "new" products until I do my research and am confident the bugs have been worked out but thought I would take a chance with thethis $50 stick. Upon receipt, I plugged the stick into the HDMI port, did the install, and was surprised to see it worked great and provided smooth uninterrupted streaming of all the channels I tried. Great, I thought, at this price I will purchase another one for our main family room TV.Fast forward one week later and I received my second stick. Plugged it into the downstairs TV (which is actually closer to my Asus RT-AC68W 1900 Mbps router), did the install, linked to my Roku account, and waited for the same great results I had with the first one. Lo and behold the streaming was much slower and the remote did not work consistently. I disconnected and reconnected power, removed and replaced remote batteries but still had no better results.I dd notice in the settings menu that the Roku was indicating poor signal strength. Very frustrating since this TV is actually closer to my router in distance. Thinking I had a "bad" Roku stick I went on their website for support/advice before I sent it back to Amazon. I noticed they suggested ordering a (free) HDMI extender cable if signal strength was poor. I figured I could give it another chance before sending back so I ordered the extender cable. I received the extender in a few short days and plugged it into my Roku and TV. Voila, the signal strength was much better and the device worked as well as the first one.Our upstairs (Vizio) TV's HDMI port is configured so that the Roku sticks out perpendicular (away from) to the TV. With the downstairs (Samsung) TV the Roku stick was a tighter fit and actually sat parallel to the back of the TV, close to the cabinet and to other cables. The extender cable enabled the Roku to stick out further, past the TV and probably allowed greater room for the antenna.If you are having issues with poor signal strength and/or inconsistent remote pairing, you may want to try this extender cable first before giving up or trying a replacement.Perhaps Roku should just ship these with every stick.

Reason for Purchase – We have been using cable to watch TV and movies for 40+ years. We were attempting to cut our cable services to only Internet and needed to replace our access to TV and movies. Many people have already switched, many never had cable. Streaming services appear to be more mature now so I made the plunge. I researched many of the various streaming devices but settled on Roku. I purchased a Roku Premiere+ (for Ethernet input) and 2 Streaming Sticks.Length of use – 1 monthSetup – Extremely easy. The Premier+ plugged it into the HDMI of my AVR and plugged the power into a separate outlet. At first I used the WiFi connection on the Premier+ but later switched to Ethernet. The Streaming Sticks are plugged into the HDMI of the TVs and to separate power outlets. The remotes are small but easy to use.Ease of Use – It took a little bit of adjusting to getting around when flipping channels etc., but we are now fairly efficient at it. Adding/deleting channels is a snap. Each device keeps its own channels apps separately, which can be moved, etc., without effecting other Roku devices.Customer Service – Have not had to contact.Features – Content is amazing. There are websites dedicated to Roku channel selections allowing you to filter through the numerous amount. Many are free, some have subscriptions which we avoid, some tie their use to you having a cable provider (isn’t this an oxymoron?). Our mobile devices can be used to look at content or used as a remote. A big benefit is we are now see true 1080P vs the 720P output from the cable company.Issues/Concerns – We have experienced some buffering on PlayStation Vue and NewsOn but nothing significant. On one of the Streaming Sticks we have experienced some issues with the remote not working at times. We just power down and up and it sorts itself out. This may be an issue with local power brownouts lately affecting the internet modem.Other – We also looked at the various streaming packages available from certain companies. We decided on PlayStation Vue as we liked their channel selection best. The DVR feature is slick and easy. All content is available through any PC or mobile device as well as well as the Guide. The number of usable HD channels is now more numerous than our previous cable provider. One of the best things is flexibility. If another streaming service comes along, I can try it out. Hardware is also not a big deal to switch should something new come along.Quality – I give the equipment a high rating. I have one 55” 1080P TV and two smaller 720P TVs. I would highly recommend if you plan on using Roku for 1080P to get something that takes Ethernet. I have good broadband and WiFi but Premier+ just couldn’t cope with the 1080P via WiFi. The 720Ps do just fine on WiFi. I wish the Premier+ had come with 1000 Base-T for the Ethernet vs just 10/100 as I believe this would have eliminated any buffering. Maybe in the future. As far as sound quality it’s on par with cable. I have the Premier+ hooked into my AVR and get great sound through my speakers.Price – I consider the price very reasonable. My net monthly savings vs the cable TV portion is about $58 which will pay for the equipment in less than 4 months.Glad we made the change. Between this and switching to Ooma for our landline we are saving many $$$. Very happy camper.