Do you have a Roku TV that is connected to the internet but apps like YouTube, Netflix, HBO, Apple TV and others are not working?
When you check the network screen, it shows Wi-Fi is connected with an “excellent signal strength”, but there’s really no connection (since the apps/channels are not loading).
You may see “error connecting to internet” when you try to open any of the apps or any other network connection error message on your Roku.
If that sounds like the issue you are facing, then you are not alone. By the way, it’s also called Roku error code 009.
In this guide, I am going to show you some quick and proven ways to fix the issue and get back to streaming on your Roku device.
It doesn’t matter whether you have a TCL Roku TVs, Hisense Roku TV, Onn Roku TV, Sharp Roku TV, Insignia Roku TV, Westinghouse Roku TV, Roku Express, Roku Ultra, Roku Premiere and other brands/models of Roku TV.
Let’s dive right in!
Roku Connected to Internet But Apps Not Working
Follow the step-by-step troubleshooting guide below to fix a Roku TV that is connected to internet but not working (Roku error code 009).
1. Power Cycle Network Router
The first thing you need to do if your Roku is connected to internet but apps are not working, is to reboot your network router.
Whether you have a Comcast, Spectrum, Xfinity or any other router, a simple restart is all it takes sometimes even if other Wi-Fi enabled device are working fine.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Turn off your network router, and unplug it from the power outlet
- Leave it unplugged for for 2 minutes
- If you have a router and modem, unplug the router and modem. Plug in the modem first, wait for 2 minutes for the modem to get online and then plug in the router.
- Now, wait for your Roku to be connected again and the apps should now be working.
If that doesn’t work for you, move to the next step.
2. Perform a System Restart on Roku
The next thing you need to do is your Roku TV is connected but apps are not working is to perform a quick system restart.
It’s even better when this is done after you’ve already restarted your Roku device (as shown earlier).
Here’s how you can do a system restart on your Roku TV:
- Using your Roku remote, press the Home button to access the main menu.
- Scroll up or down and select “Settings” using the arrow buttons on the remote.
- In the Settings menu, select System > System restart.
- You’ll see a prompt asking you to confirm that you want to restart the system. Select “Restart” to confirm.
If you are still experiencing the connection issue on your Roku after restarting the router as well as the Roku device, then move to the next step.
3. Reset Network Settings
Another way to fix a Roku that is shows excellent signal strength but doesn’t load apps is to reset the network settings.
A network reset will disassociate the network access point and reset the Roku TV network driver.
Here’s how to reset network connection on Roku TV:
- Press the settings (gear icon) on the remote.
- Under settings, select System > Advanced System Settings > Network Connection Reset and press the OK button.
- Your Roku TV should reboot after this.
Since the network reset will forget all the network(s) you’ve connected to before, you need to set up the network connection again. Here’s how:
- Press Home button on Roku remote
- Scroll and select Settings
- Select Network
- Select Set up connection
- Choose Wireless
- Select your WiFi network from the list of available networks. If you do not see your network, select Scan again to see all networks.
- Enter your correct network password.
- Finally, select Connect
Now, your Roku TV should not only be connected, but the apps should start loading without showing any error connecting to the internet.
- Roku Can’t Find Wi-Fi After Network Reset (Quick Fix)
- Roku Not Connecting to Wi-Fi After Reset (Quick Fix)
You can check also check the network status and signal strength after the network reset.
To do a network check, go to Settings > Network > About
If the status shows “Connected” with excellent signal strength, click on “Check Connection”.
- Once the check is complete, you should see a prompt showing ‘Connection check was successful‘.
If you see that, your Roku apps/channels should now be working. Otherwise, move to the next step.
4. Disable Network Pings
If your Roku TV is connected to internet but apps are still not loading, then disable network pings on Roku secret menu.
Whether you have a TCL Roku TV, Hisense Roku TV, Onn Roku TV, Sharp Roku TV, Insignia Roku TV, Westinghouse Roku TV, Roku Express, Roku Ultra, Roku Premiere and other brands/models of Roku TV, the process is the same.
Now, let’s take a look at this quick 2-step process fix.
First, to disable the network pings, you need to press a combination of keys on your Roku TV remote which will bring up the secret menu.
- First, make sure your TV is on and is on the home screen
- Using the remote, press the ‘Home’ button 5 times
- Press ‘Fast forward’ button once
- Press the ‘Play’ button once
- Press the ‘Rewind’ button once
- Press the ‘Play’ button once again
- Then, press the ‘Fast forward’ button once again
- Now, your TV should show the platform secret screen, select ‘System Operations Menu’
- On the next screen, select ‘Network menu’
That’s not all, there’s one more thing left to do – You need to restart your Roku TV.
- Turn off your Roku TV
- Unplug it from the power outlet
- Leave it unplugged for 60 seconds
- Now, plug it back in and turn it on
Go back and open the app, and you should be good to go!
5. Clear Roku System Cache
Another proven way to fix a Roku TV that is connected (with excellent signal strength), but apps aren’t working is to clear the system cache on your Roku TV.
To do this, you need to press a combination of keys on your Roku remote as seen below.
- First, press the ‘Home’ button to return to the home screen
While on the home screen, press the following key combination:
- Press the ‘Home’ button on your Roku TV remote 5 times
- Next, press the ‘Up arrow’
button on your remote once - After that, press the ‘Rewind’
button twice - Then, press the ‘Fast forward’
button twice
After a few seconds, your Roku TV will shut down and boot up again.
Once the TV restarts, open any app – Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, YouTube, Apple TV, Spotify etc. on your Roku and the apps should now load fine.
6. Switch Wireless Mode on Router to b/g/n
The network mode that is chosen on your router is another thing that is known to cause Wi-Fi connection issues with Roku TVs devices.
Some Roku devices are only capable of connecting with the wireless b/g/n network on the 2.4 GHz band.
Although this is most commonly associated with the Roku Premiere and Roku Express streaming devices (especially the 3920X Roku Premiere & 3700X Roku Express models), the same thing could be responsible for the Wi-Fi connection issue on other Roku TV models and brands.
What you need to do is simple – you need to change the wireless mode on your router for the 2.4 GHz band from g/n to b/g/n. 
If you don’t know how to do this, you can reach out to your ISP (Xfinity, Comcast, Spectrum etc.) to help you with it.
By manually switching the wireless mode on your network router, your Roku device will not only be connected with “excellent signal strength”, but you should now be able to stream apps/channels fine.
7. Switch Wi-Fi Network Frequency Band
A number of users who faced the same issue have reported that switching from the 2.4 GHz frequency band to the 5.0 GHz frequency band fixed the issue for them.
So, while using the b/g/n network on the 2.4 GHz band is one way to fix it, switching entire to the 5.0 GHz band is another proven fix.
While the 2.4 GHz band covers a larger area and is better at penetrating solid objects, the 5.0 GHz despite covering a smaller area is much faster compared to the former.
Therefore, if you have a dual-band network router, you need to ensure that you connect your Roku to the 5.0 GHz network band.
Even if you get a “good” or “fair” signal strength on the 5.0 GHz band after switching (depending on presence of any interfering object, and the distance between your router and Roku device), it could still be much faster than the “excellent” network on the 2.4 GHz band because the 5.0 GHz is actually faster.
Even better?
You actually get to stream again as the apps/channels on your Roku should now load without any network issue.
Also, the 5.0 GHz network band has significantly less glitches per second.
Here’s how to switch to the 5.0 GHz network band on your router:
- First, ensure that both bands of your network router are being broadcast (or at least the 5.0 GHz band). You can check this on your Router dashboard or contact your ISP for help.
- Press Home button on Roku remote
- Scroll and select Settings
- Select Network
- Select Set up connection
- Choose Wireless
- Select your Wi-Fi network (2.4 GHz band) from the list of available networks. If you do not see your network, select Scan again to see all networks.
- Enter your correct network password.
- Finally, select Connect
Now, go ahead and open the apps on your Roku and you should be good to go again.
8. Manually Switch Channel Selection
If your network band is connected to the DFS channels (52-140) on the 5.0 GHz network band which Roku cannot use, your Roku might be connected but the apps will not work.
In that case, you need to disable the use of DFS on the 5.0 GHz band or manually switch to a wireless channel that’s more stable with Roku (Channel 6 or 11).
First, you can view the channel that is currently assigned to your network when the issue happens via the Roku network connection test. That way, you can switch the channel to one of the other channel options that work well with Roku (1, 6 or 11).
- To do a network connection test, go to Settings > Network > About
- You can see from the screenshot below that it is connected to Wireless channel 11.
- So, if you check yours and it’s connected to Channel 1, switch it to Channel 11 or 6.
You can do this directly on your router’s dashboard (app or web). You may also contact your ISP (Xfinity/Comcast, Cox, Spectrum, AT&T, Verizon etc.) to help you with this.
In fact, a number of users have reported that switching their network channel helped fix the issue.
Just like the 5.0 GHz network band (when compared to the 2.4 GHz band), wireless channels 6 and 11 have much lower glitches per second on Roku (hence, why the issue is fixed in both cases).
9. Reduce the Network Glitches Per Second Using Secret Menu
I have mentioned that the 5.0 GHz network band (vs the 2.4 GHz band), as well as Wireless channel 6 or 11 (vs channel 1 or DFS channels) have much lower glitches per second on Roku.
The important questions are:
- How can you check the glitches/second value on your Roku?
- More importantly, what else can you do to reduce it and fix the Wi-Fi connection issue?
To check the glitches/second value, you need to access the secret Wi-Fi screen using your Roku remote. Press the following button sequence to get to the secret Wi-Fi screen:
- Home, Home, Home, Home, Home, Fast Forward, Play, Rewind, Play, Fast Forward
You will see the glitch rate value and the bar. The lower the glitches rate, the better.
For the best performance, you want a value that’s lower than 100 (by the way, even 0 glitches per second is possible).
If your Roku shows connected with excellent signal strength, but the glitch rate is high, then apps on your Roku device will not load and may still show a network error message.
Therefore, you need to find another way to reduce the glitch value.
One quick way to do that is to adjust your network router or TV position until the glitches/second bar reduces considerably.
Sometimes, adjusting the TV or router a few inches is all you need to fix the issue.
10. Change DNS Server on Router
Another way to fix the issue where your Roku has excellent signal strength but no has connection is to switch the DNS server on your router to Google DNS servers.
To do that, you need to access your router dashboard and change the DNS server.
Here’s how to do that:
- While connected to your network router, access your router dashboard by visiting the login URL. You can find this on the router manual or on your router. Some of the links can be found below:
-
- Linksys – http://192.168.1.1
- D-Link/Netgear – http://192.168.0.1
- Belkin – http://192.168.2.1
- ASUS – http://192.168.1.1/
- AT&T U-verse – http://192.168.1.254
- Comcast – http://10.0.0.1
- Depending on the manufacturer of the router, look for DNS settings on the web interface. If you are having trouble finding the DNS server settings, check the router’s manual or search on Google for how to change DNS server for your router’s brand.
- Under DNS server 1 (or primary DNS), input 8.8.8.8
- Under DNS server 2 (or secondary DNS), input 8.8.4.4
- If there are options to input DNS server 3 and 4, leave them empty
- Save the settings
- Now, restart your network router to ensure that it establishes a new connection from the new DNS server
Go back and connect your Roku device to your Wi-Fi network, and that should fix the connection problem.
11. Reset Router Network
If your Roku is still connected to the internet but apps are not working (Roku error code 009), then the next thing you want to do is to reset your network router.
This is not the same as simply restarting your network router like I showed earlier – this is an actual reset.
Although every router has a different way of resetting it, most of them have a small hole at the back of the router where you can insert a pin or a similar thin object to press and hold the tiny reset button inside.
You may have to hold the reset button for up to 30 seconds and then restart the router for the reset to be done – you can check the router’s manual or contact your ISP to know the exact procedure to reset the router.
Alternatively, you may also contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to help you ping the router and reset it remotely for you. Then, all you need to do is to restart the router after you’re told to do so.
12. Update Roku OS Software
The next thing you want to do if your Roku apps are still not loading despite being connected is to update your Roku OS software.
The easier way to update your Roku system software would be to do to Settings > System > System Update.
However, since the network connection issue might prevent you from doing that, then you may only be left with the manual update method.
Here’s how to update your Roku TV system software manually:
Step 1: Download the Latest Roku OS Software
- Open a web browser on your computer and visit tvupdate.roku.com.
- Choose the brand of your Roku TV e.g TCL, Hisense, Onn, Sharp, Philips etc.
- Enter your Roku Model Number and Serial Number. To find these, go to Settings > System > About on your Roku TV. The model appears as 4 numbers followed by a letter (e.g. 6104X), and the serial number is a combination of 12 numbers and/or letters. Then, click on ‘Next’.
- Click on ‘Download Software’ to get the installer file on your computer (it will be named ‘update.roku‘)
Step 2: Format the USB Drive
Like I mentioned earlier, if your USB drive is already formatted as FAT32, FAT16 or MS-DOS (FAT). So, if you don’t want to format your USB drive, go ahead and jump to the next step. If a format is required, you can copy your files to another location, come back to this step and proceed onwards from here.
On windows:
- Plug the USB flash drive into your computer.
- Open the File Explorer and go to ‘This PC’.
- Right-click the USB flash drive and select ‘Format’.
- If the flash drive capacity is more than 2GB, select FAT32. If it is less than 2GB, select FAT16.
- Then, select ‘Start’
On Mac:
- Plug the USB flash drive into your computer.
- Open Finder and search for ‘Disk Utility’
- Select the USB flash drive from the left panel.
- Click on the Erase tab on the right panel.
- Select MS-DOS (FAT) from the drop-down menu.
- Click the Erase button and click Erase button again when prompted to format your drive.
Step 3: Copy the Downloaded Software File to USB drive
- Now, locate the update.roku file on your computer (should be in the Downloads folder by default unless you changed the storage location)
- Insert the USB flash drive and copy the update.roku file to the flash drive (do not put it in a subfolder)
- Eject the flash drive and remove it from the port of your computer
Step 4: Insert USB Drive Into Roku TV & Update
- Insert the flash drive into the USB port on your Roku TV
NOTE: If you see the message “Update file could not be opened. Please try again”, the format of the USB flash drive is likely not recognized. In that case, you need to format it. To do that, go back to step 2 above (if you skipped it earlier and proceed from there).
- Press the Home button on Roku remote on your Roku TV remote, and select Settings > System > System update > I can’t connect.
Your Roku TV validates the file on the USB flash drive and displays a 12-digit code on the TV screen. If you see the message “Contents of the update file are invalid”, your Roku TV is already running the latest software version.
- Go back to your computer and enter the code and click on next.
- After you enter the code correctly, a new 6-digit code appears on your computer screen
- Return to your Roku TV and enter the 6-digit code using your Roku TV remote. The software update begins immediately, and your Roku TV restarts once the software update is complete.
- After your Roku TV restarts, you can remove the USB flash drive.
The video below will show you the whole process:
13. Try a Different Wi-Fi Network
At this point, you want to try to connect your Roku to your phone hotspot.
Are you able stream apps when you connect to a different network? Then, you know the issue is coming from an incompatibility between the network router and Roku device or an issue with the router itself.
From what I’ve seen, a number of users who had the same issue were able to stream apps when they connected to their phone hotspot or to another network router.
Whether this is happening on a new network router or you’ve been using it for a while without issue, you cannot rule out the possibility of some incompatibility between your router and Router device.
If the issue had just recently started on the same network router you’ve been using before without such issue, then try updating the software of your network router – via dashboard or contact ISP.
That could help fix any software issue that might be causing the connection issue.
Otherwise, you may have to get a new network router. Once you update your router and/or mesh system or get a new one, the issue will most likely be fixed if it’s coming from your router.
14. Factory Reset Roku TV
If you are still facing the network issue, you should try to reset your Roku device to factory settings.
Here’s how to do that:
- Click on Home button on Roku remote
- Scroll and select Settings
- Select System > Advanced system settings > Factory reset
- Enter the code displayed on the TV and click on ‘OK’
Alternatively, you can reset your Roku TV without remote by using the physical reset button on the TV. Here’s how to do that:
- First, locate the physical reset button on your Roku TV. You will need a pin or any tiny object to push the button.
- Once you locate the reset button, press and hold the button firmly for 10 – 20 seconds while your device is powered on. When it shuts down, keep holding down the reset button until it powers on again and shows the Roku TV logo. Then, you can release the button.
- When the factory reset is complete, the TV will reboot twice and finally turn on.
- Once it restarts, connect to your Wireless network and the issue should be resolved hopefully.
15. Switch to an Ethernet Cable
While this may not be the best option for a most people, switching to an ethernet cable is an option to consider if nothing has worked for you so far.
Moreover, ethernet cables are generally faster than Wi-Fi connections. The only limitation could come from the location of your Wi-Fi router and your TV.
However, if you have your TV and network router in the same room (which is the best anyway to avoid wireless signal interference), and you have a good ethernet cable, then you are very good to go.
To use the ethernet connection, connect one end of an ethernet cable to your network router and the other end of the cable to the ethernet port on your Roku TV, Roku Express or Roku Ultra. Then, go to Settings > Network > Network Connection > Wired.
NOTE:
- If your Roku TV does not come with an ethernet port, you can still use an ethernet cable by using a USB 2.0 ethernet adapter
- Plug the USB-to-ethernet adapter to the USB port on your Roku device, then plug the other end into your ethernet port on your router
- Next, reset your network connection as shown above (this will remove the current Wi-Fi connections)
- Restart your Roku device, and it will automatically be connected to the internet via ethernet
You can check the demonstration in the video below:
Bottom Line
There are many things that can cause Roku TV to be connected to internet with an excellent signal strength, yet apps not working.
It can range from software glitches on the Roku device or router, network incompatibility issue, network pings, wireless mode, network frequency band, network channel selected and network glitches.
Just like many other Roku internet connection problems, there are a number of proven ways to fix it which includes troubleshooting the Roku device as well as the network router.
By following the step-by-step procedures shown on this page, you should be able to fix the issue and get back to streaming on your Roku device.
If you find the guide helpful, let me know which of the methods fixed the issue for you in the comment section below.
I’m going to try this! Hopefully it fixes my issue with loading videos from my workout apps!
Thank you!
Let me know how it goes Kelly, you’re welcome.