Technipages

Smart phone, gadget and computer tutorials

Roku: Manually Set Connection Speed

Roku: Manually Set Connection Speed

By 22 Comments

If you wish to set the speed of your connection for video streaming manually on the Roku video player, there is a code you can enter to access the speed override settings.

  1. Break out the Roku remote and go to the Home screen.
  2. Use the following sequence to access the “Select a speed…” screen:
    • Home 5 times
    • Rewind 3 times
    • Fast Forward 2 times.
  3. A screen will appear where you can set the speed you desire.
    Roku Speed Override

You may want to start by trying the 3.5Mbps setting, test playback, then try a different setting for best results.

The “Enable playback debugging” option turns on a feature that will display the speed you are getting while playing video. This setting only works with streaming set to “automatic“.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I always set to the lowest. I just experienced the data rate going back to automatic. At least I know it’s not just me

  2. I have noticed that the manual rate that I set on my Roku2 is no longer holding. With my 250GB data cap from my ISP this is not acceptible! I am now watching SlingTV on my PC devices as they do allow the data rate to be reliably set.

  3. I’ve had a roku for the last year or so, my boyfriend plays online on his computer so i constantly have to lower the Mbps rate so he can stream. i’ve literally never had a problem with it before the last week. i select a lower bit rate and as soon as i go back to the main menu it resets every single time and goes back to automatic. i went as far as to buy a new roku stick and i still am having the same problem, and roku support is not helpful at all. what is going on?!?!? and is there a different option i can use on the roku before losing my mind?

  4. For both my Roku Express Plus and my black Roku Streaming Stick I have been using the manual setting to select a lower bit rate for quite a while. However, today it will not hold the lower settting that I have selected. I just talked to Roku. First, they were very surprised that I knew how to change the bit rate. Secondly, they said that they have intentionally changed it so you can no longer select a manual setting (even though the menu still includes “manual.”
    Is anyone with any of the other Roku devices able to manually change the bit rate setting? If so, I will upgrade to a different Roku.

  6. Nick, I just followed the directions and it’s been a couple of weeks and the settings are still as I put them. I wonder if there’s something with the stick itself. I would contact Roku directly, maybe they’ll do some kind of update to fix it. I just bought another Roku stick for another TV and that one does not hold the settings. Our fire sticks hold the settings though. Maybe it’s best to go with a fire stick till they fix the bug. I’m contacting Roku directly for the other stick

  7. I have tried this and changed to manual and it doesn’t matter the speed I set I always comes back to automatic. Keenan what did you do that I didn’t I have 40 plus years in IT and this appears to be hard coded.

  8. Thank you worked for me. I checked back to see if the settings had held and although automatic was highlighted because that’s where the cursor defaults to the top right where it says bitrates it says that my settings are still there where I set them to

  9. Every few days my Roku goes back to automatic which gobbles up data. So I reset usually to minimum. Then a few days later I find it’s on automatic again!!!
    I emailed Roku and they were less than helpful.

  10. Why why why why WHY do they do this? Just let me set it to absolutely minimum bandwidth and leave it alone! I don’t care if it looks SD. I don’t care if it looks blocky. JUST LET ME CHOOSE AND LEAVE IT!

  11. I set all of ours at 1.5 using the actual remote. The settings held for months. Come December, we were suddenly using huge amounts of data. Went back in and noticed they had all reverted back to automatic. Just reset two nights ago and so far is holding.

    I think perhaps they reset themselves when we had a recent upgrade. Just a theory. I’m going to start checking these weekly to ensure we keep our usage down as we are cord cutters with three retired adults in the household.

  12. Worked for me. The new setting held. Used real physical remote. Once you select the speed it exits automatically. Went back in and there was an “x” next to the speed I selected.

  13. Got into the Bitrate menu and changed from Automatic to 1.0 mB/S. Went to news channel and it seems the Bitrate was still on high. Confirmed that when looking at my bandwidth usage from my ISP. Going to contact Roku on this issue. Having limited BW makes this option very important to me.

  14. This didn’t work for me. It was already on Automatic, so I enabled speed, which was supposed to show me the speed for shows somewhere. But it didn’t show the speed. It was a nice thought, though.

  15. using the 5-3-2 code to access the screen to change the bandwidth is great, there are lots of options to choose from, however, as soon as you close that screen, the ROKU TV reverts back to “automatic” and when in this mode, streaming consumes about 1 GB per hour of data. How do you make the change stick. ?

  16. Hello,
    Thanks for this… Wanted going crazy with the buffering problem on Plex in Roku.
    Used the code, change the Mbps and didn’t stop again. Great tip.

  17. Hi. I, like Sandy (March 17, 2017 comment), used the secret code to change the bit rate speed of my Roku Streaming Stick to 3.5, but it stays on Automatic. Any ideas?

  18. I have used the secret code to change the connection speed on my Roku 2. Now it stays on automatic. Roku doesn’t let you change it. Please advise.

  19. I have a Roku TV and it would not connect directly to my modem but it will connect to a computer that’s connected to the modem by hotspot what should I do to get my TV itself to connect to the internet without going through my laptop or computer

  20. This did not work on my ROKU? I m running through gigabytes like crazy watching k-dramas. HD is nice, but I want a choice. Any other suggestions?

  21. Thank you! I had tried this with the Roku app “remote” and it didn’t work, but it did when I used the real remote – thanks for the tip!

Did this help? Let us know!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.