Why does my Roku keep Using bandwidth if it's turned off?

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Why does my Roku keep Using bandwidth if it's turned off?

Post by Admin » Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:49 am

Your Roku TV or Roku media player will continue to send and receive data to and from Roku when turned off.

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Software updates usually happen in the wee morning hours. It reports on everything you’ve watched and then sends it back to the company so it can fine-tune their ad software to provide more relevant advertisements.

It’s difficult to stop this unless you disconnect it completely from power. Roku is not the only company that collects and monitors your viewing habits. One news story that was circulating was about a Smart TV, that when the user disconnected it from the internet by deleting the Wi-Fi account. The TV actually used an open Wi-Fi connection from a neighbor's house to connect to the mother ship and send data back.

Back before we had smart plugs, an easy way to disconnect something from power was with a clapper. This was a little box which you plug in the device to you want to power down. Then when you clapped your hands, the device shut off the power. Clap again, and then it powers on the outlet.

You can still find these on eBay, or invest in a smart outlet, which you can control and schedule from a smart phone app.

Another concern is with cheap devices and free apps made in hostile nation-states. Some devices are even purposely made with malware built-in to spy on end users. They can activate microphones and cameras without warning. While this may sound paranoid, covering the camera and microphones may be a smart thing to do. Unless you want hacker from Nigeria contacting you by email telling you they have your most intimate moments recorded on video and will send them to everyone on your contact list unless you send them a crypto payment.

Use of bandwidth and sharing data when not in use is always a concern when you buy any Internet-connected device. The only way to prevent it is to power these devices down completely, when not in use. Or just accept the fact that these devices leach power and data constantly, when plugged in with access to the Internet.


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