Hi,
I currently use a Roku 3 to stream my plex to my TV but I am on my second one and now getting constant buffering errors using the Roku so I am becoming bored of having to replace the device.
Can anyone suggest good alternatives, I would like it to be able to stream 4K so its future proof or at least 1080, 5.1, DTS etc
Thanks
Buffering on a (current) Roku 3 should be rare. Are you using wireless for the server? Roku?
This sounds more network related than streaming device related.
No its a device issue, swapped it withe another Roku and works fine its over a Gigabit network so its just the device 
Its the second time I’ve had it with the Roku hence me wanting to move away from them now, just looking for people opinions on players that have
Thanks
For what its worth, the Roku’s have been rock solid for many generations. I have about 8 of them (both local and remote) that use my Plex without issue. And I will continue to do so. Many folks like the NVIDIA Shield (never used it myself) a lot. I’d stay away from the Amazon Fire Stick personally, I had one of those and it works, but not as well as most other devices (mainly due to having to transcode most things in my library that are formatted to support Roku’s).
@rayg1979 said:
Hi,I currently use a Roku 3 to stream my plex to my TV but I am on my second one and now getting constant buffering errors using the Roku so I am becoming bored of having to replace the device.
Can anyone suggest good alternatives, I would like it to be able to stream 4K so its future proof or at least 1080, 5.1, DTS etc
Thanks
I have looked at this issue over time and believe the only way to eliminate all issues that you mention and stream 4K is to run Plex Media Player on a windows box with at least Skylake processors with 12Gb of ram. Connect by HDMI to your Network Receiver via HDMI.
This will sort power consumption, noise and heat. It will also resolve your 4K if your receiver is 4K pass through, the windows box will allow all video formats I believe. Your TV in effect will just be a Monitor and not relying on built in support, even though those issues are quickly disappearing.
Or you could go this way
http://mymediaexperience.com/
If I have missed or miss interpreted something please reply.
At under $100 I would not worry about future proofing anything. 4k will still not be a big deal on the streaming side for a couple of years and there will always be something newer and better. Get what covers 90% of your needs today and chase the remaining 10% in a year or two.
That being said, the new Rokus (premier+ or ultra only due to ethernet IMHO) look interesting at the price points. I will wait and see how they function, though. Got burned on the Roku 4, so not in a rush. My 2015 Roku 2s are doing fine (other than 7.2 bug with files >4gb).
@rayg1979 said:
No its a device issue, swapped it withe another Roku and works fine its over a Gigabit network so its just the deviceIts the second time I’ve had it with the Roku hence me wanting to move away from them now, just looking for people opinions on players that have
Thanks
I’ve had probably 6-8 different Roku devices as my media players over the years…mainly for Plex. I’ve had one Roku 3 that exhibited the exact symptoms you’re describing. I think it was ultimately that I used the Roku a lot and it became subject to too much heat and started to cause the internals to not work very well.
I currently have 2 Rokus that get used fairly often (old Roku XD and new Roku Streaming stick). Both are for my kids and are rock solid. I’d have more Roku devices but unfortunately, the interface for Playstation Vue has caused me to move away from them in my main viewing areas. I have two Amazon Fire TV boxes (2015 model for both) that I have way more issues with than I ever had with the Rokus. I also have a Nexus Player and have had issues with that from time to time as well but has seemed to gotten a little better lately.
In my opinion, I think the Roku boxes are the most robust and simple set top boxes (not necessarily the most powerful, but that takes more dedicated hardware). If they could fix the Playstation Vue interface, I’d gladly get rid of my Amazon Fire TV boxes and go back to an all Roku household. It’s really not that uncommon to get one box that goes bad after a while. Maybe consider looking at the new Rokus that are now available as they will have 4K starting at the $80 price point. roku.com/products/roku-premiere
Another option could be the new Xiaomi Mi Box. It’s supposed to be the next “Nexus” device and people have been seeing them show up in Wal-Mart lately for $70…also has 4K. androidauthority.com/xiaomi-mi-box-seen-walmart-shelf-69-718134/
I agree, you should get the $69 Xiaomi Mi Box with an optional ethernet adapter for $5. No reason to buy the Nvidia Shield for over twice the price if you don’t want to play any games on it.
I use an apple tv and the new one has been on sale lately for $100. And I think the apple tv 4 just looks so much cleaner than any other device out there. The roku is fine but just looks cluttered or something.
