Where I live we have a local wireless network. To connect to the internet through the network you have to click on a "connect to the internet" icon. The Roku can connect to the local network but since I can't click the "connect" icon it can't connect to the internet.

Can I run my computer and Roku through a router to connect to the local network and then to the internet? My thought is if I connect to the internet through the router with my computer then my Roku would also be connected to the internet since it is also going through the router. I use a wireless repeater to boost my reception of the local wireless network so I can hard wire a router to the repeater if it is necessary to do so.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I assume this board has more people with questions than answers which is why there is over 100 views of this post and nobody has an answer.

After three emails to customer service and receiving one canned answer that in no way applied to my situation and two more where it was obvious they didn't read or didn't comprehend my question, I've come to expect what alot of other people are saying. Customer service here is very questionabe.

cool81Z28 wrote:

Where I live we have a local wireless network. To connect to the internet through the network you have to click on a "connect to the internet" icon. The Roku can connect to the local network but since I can't click the "connect" icon it can't connect to the internet.

Can I run my computer and Roku through a router to connect to the local network and then to the internet? My thought is if I connect to the internet through the router with my computer then my Roku would also be connected to the internet since it is also going through the router. I use a wireless repeater to boost my reception of the local wireless network so I can hard wire a router to the repeater if it is necessary to do so.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm one of those thats popped in and read this question twice, but left not fully understanding your problem. By living in an area with local wifi, I'm assuming you mean free over the air city network access? Is the "click to connect to the internet" icon just a shortcut to a browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer? The way I see a local city wide hotspot working is that your device would detect the network and either connect automatically, or have you select a network from a list of available ones. The roku should be able to see this local wireless network. When you went through the setup did it search for a wireless network and find anything? The wireless netowrk should be transmitting its SSID name. Do you know what that is, in case there are more than one detected (you may have a neighbor with a secure wireless network that you won't be able to connect to)?

Hi dgrace,

Thanks for responding.

My problem is that my Roku does identify and connect to the local wireless network but can not get to the internet from there. When you connect to the local wireless network with a computer you get to a welcome page and then you have to click on a "connect" icon to proceed to the internet. Since I am not able to see the welcome page with the Roku I can not click the "connect" icon to reach the internet.

I was told by someone that I may be able to use a router to connect. They told me that if I connected to the local network via a router with my computer and then connect to the internet that the Roku should be able to reach the internet if it is also connecting through the router. Their logic was that the local network will recognize the ip address from the router so any device going through the router would also be connected to the internet.

It sounded logical but I wanted someone else to confirm it before I bought a router. I went to Best Buy, CompUSA, and Hhgregg, and nobody could answer my question. I am a little disappointed that electronics stores don't have employees that are trained enough to answer a question I don't feel is that complicated.

Thanks again for your response and any help you can offer.

I

cool81Z28 wrote:

Hi dgrace,

Thanks for responding.

My problem is that my Roku does identify and connect to the local wireless network but can not get to the internet from there. When you connect to the local wireless network with a computer you get to a welcome page and then you have to click on a "connect" icon to proceed to the internet. Since I am not able to see the welcome page with the Roku I can not click the "connect" icon to reach the internet.

I was told by someone that I may be able to use a router to connect. They told me that if I connected to the local network via a router with my computer and then connect to the internet that the Roku should be able to reach the internet if it is also connecting through the router. Their logic was that the local network will recognize the ip address from the router so any device going through the router would also be connected to the internet.

It sounded logical but I wanted someone else to confirm it before I bought a router. I went to Best Buy, CompUSA, and Hhgregg, and nobody could answer my question. I am a little disappointed that electronics stores don't have employees that are trained enough to answer a question I don't feel is that complicated.

Thanks again for your response and any help you can offer.

I

It sounds very much like the networks you find in hotels, where you are forced through their home page to agree to terms. It might be that you could set a router so that you have the PC online and the roku routes thru the access point to the net (where the ISP will only see the one IP of your router, not one for the roku). That is all probably by design so that streaming devices can't hog bandwidth. If you buy a router, keep the receipt and all the packaging. Sorry I didn't have a magic bullet to solve this.

Thanks dgrace. You reaffirmed what I was told so I will get a router give it a shot. Thanks again for your help.

It worked! Running the Roku and my computer through a router solved the problem. Thanks dgrace.

Roku should take note of this problem as it may not be widespread but I'm sure other people have had the same problem. Customer support told me this wouldn't work but it does. They even told me that the Roku doesn't work with a wireless repeater and they were wrong again. They obviously are very poorly trained.

I hope this thread helps other people.

Glad it worked. I'm curious though if you have to connect with the pc each time now or leave the connection "open". Where are you? I only know of one area where free local city wifi is happening and that's near Bill Gate's place of business.

dgrace wrote:

Glad it worked. I'm curious though if you have to connect with the pc each time now or leave the connection "open". Where are you? I only know of one area where free local city wifi is happening and that's near Bill Gate's place of business.

So far I haven't had to reconnect with the computer. I guess once it connects through the router it stays connected but I'll post if I run into any problems.

My wifi isn't from the city but in the building where I live. Thanks again.