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How does Roku make money?

Dave Farquhar Video November 28, 2018December 6, 2018

Roku sells streaming devices that plug into your TV. It doesn’t charge a subscription beyond what the streaming providers charge, and the devices aren’t all that expensive. So how does Roku make money? Let’s take a look.

Roku, it turns out, has several revenue streams it’s able to tap. As more and more people seek alternatives to pay TV, it’s likely to grow.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Can you use Roku without wifi?

Dave Farquhar Video November 12, 2018March 13, 2021

Can you use Roku without wifi? In some cases you can, although depending on the circumstances, a Roku can certainly be less useful without wifi. Here’s what models work without wifi and what they can do for you.

Dave Farquhar

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What Roku to buy

Dave Farquhar Video November 6, 2018June 3, 2019

Roku makes seven models of its popular set-top box for streaming video. And that’s if you only count current production and aren’t buying a used model. Here’s how to know what Roku to buy.

You can buy a TV with Roku hardware built in, but I prefer a separate device. Here’s why.

Dave Farquhar

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Roku buffering all the time

Dave Farquhar Video October 3, 2018March 13, 2021

Is your Roku buffering all the time when you try to watch streaming media? While it can be frustrating, usually these buffering problems are solvable. Here are six things to try to fix Roku buffering before you switch to another streaming device like an Apple TV or Fire TV stick in frustration.

Some streaming apps are more demanding than others, so if you experience buffering in some apps but not others, that’s not unusual. Watching TV on Netflix always works great for me, for example. And while some people find Hulu occasionally problematic, I don’t think I’ve ever had more than a minor hiccup in Hulu. But I have friends who have issues with HBO Go and I have issues with MLB.tv.

Dave Farquhar

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Watch home movies on Roku

Dave Farquhar Video September 21, 2018September 15, 2018

Streaming content is great for watching movies and TV shows. It almost makes it unnecessary to keep a DVD player around, except for home movies. What’s the modern solution for those? Actually there is one, and it’s likely to have better longevity than recorded DVDs or VHS tapes as long as you’re careful. Here’s how to watch home movies on Roku.

Dave Farquhar

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Roku overheating fixes

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Video September 14, 2018September 14, 2018

I have a Roku 2720X. I’ve had it since 2014, so it’s a few years old now, but I like it. Lately it’s been having some problems though. It works fabulously with Hulu and Netflix, but streaming local media and streaming baseball give me trouble. I traced it to overheating. So let’s look at some Roku overheating fixes.

Some people replace their devices with newer models with faster dual- or quad-core processors. This works; a more powerful chip will handle the load of newer, more demanding apps better without heating up as much. But you can extend the useful life of your venerable single-core 600 MHz Roku devices too, at least until Roku stops releasing updates for them.

Dave Farquhar

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Fix MLB.tv loading please wait on Roku

Dave Farquhar Baseball, Video April 19, 2017September 14, 2018asus, netflix, Roku

It’s frustrating to watch baseball and get constant interruptions from black screens that say “loading, please wait.” Here are six ways to fix problems with MLB.tv loading please wait on Roku.

Dave Farquhar

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Decrease your Roku resolution to save bandwidth

Dave Farquhar Video July 3, 2015September 14, 2018Display resolution, netflix, Roku

From time to time when I’m watching baseball on my Roku, I’ll get a lot of buffering and, in extreme cases, a message stating that I may have insufficient bandwidth. If you have the same problem, the best fix for this to to decrease your Roku’s playback resolution. Or if you’re subject to a data cap, decreasing your resolution helps you stay under that too. Here’s how to change your Roku resolution.

The picture will suffer, but I’d rather watch a lower quality picture than none at all. You may also need to resize your Internet connection, but you can do this trick immediately, and for free.

Dave Farquhar

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I hope this new recordable DVD format catches on

Dave Farquhar Video August 10, 20111950s, computerworld, kodak, LG, VHS

In October, LG and its startup partner Millenniata plan to release a new type of DVD, which they claim will last forever. The Navy doesn’t come right out and say it lasts forever, but it does say in its tests that these discs, called M-Discs, do last considerably longer than the traditional DVD-R and DVD+R discs on the market today.

I hope this catches on, but it’s possible it won’t. Why? Cost.

Dave Farquhar

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DVD players as cheap home media centers

Dave Farquhar Video August 12, 2010July 14, 2016Media Player, thomas the tank engine, usb port, VCR

I thought the steady stream of Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora, Bob the Builder, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas, Elmo, Thomas, and Thomas had finally done in our DVD player after almost 8 years.

It turned out the VCR I was running the video through was actually the problem, but what I learned in shopping for a potential replacement suggests I may want to think about replacing it anyway.Modern DVD players will upscale your old DVDs to make them almost hi-def, and have HDMI ports for digital connection to HDTVs. But they do more than that.

Mid-range ($50 and up) players include a USB port, so you can plug a flash drive or hard drive into them, and they’ll play MP3 audio or DIVX video off them.

Due to the United States’ anti-fair-use laws, I won’t tell you how to do it, but what you’ll want to do is rip your DVDs to a USB hard drive, convert them to DIVX, then plug them into your DVD player. Ask Google how. Then you have a library of movies in a 5-inch box and don’t have to mess with discs. That’s a big plus when you have small kids like I do. Plug in the box, turn it on, and pick your movie or show from the on-screen menu.

For ages, I’ve been planning to build a media center PC for just this purpose.

But I think I’d really rather just buy a $50 DVD player and plug a USB hard drive into it. Even though our 32″ CRT TV can’t really take advantage of a modern player’s video capability, the convenience of not fiddling with discs (and no risk of scratching them) makes it worth the 50 bucks. And once LED-lit LCD TVs get affordable, the DVD player will be ready for it when I upgrade.

Update: Rather than buy a pricier DVD player, you might want to consider a $35 DVR, which can double as a media player.

Dave Farquhar

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