If you have a Roku and problems with the Attached Devices page, we have a possible workaround...

[htismaqe]

A brief explanation of the issue:

Attempting to update name, icon, or QoS settings of some devices in the Attached Devices page resulted in a blank grey screen, so affected devices could not be updated/changed.

A brief explanation of my findings:

Most devices like Android or Apple will strip out special characters when they send their device name to the router. An iPhone with a name of Jimmy's iPhone will show up in the router as JIMMYS-IPHONE.

In my case, my Roku TV (despite the fact that I had setup a DHCP reservation of ROKU-TV and also changed its name in the "Attached Devices" to ROKU-TV) was sending the name 40" to the router. I checked the Roku TV and sure enough, the device name in the Roku "Settings | About" was 40" Roku TV. That quotation mark was, in my case, what was causing the issue.

A brief explanation of troubleshooting and workaround steps:

PLEASE NOTE: The steps that follow do not require telnet/ssh access but having shell access will make the process easier/quicker. If you're interested in working from the command line, PM me and I'll run you through some steps to hopefully fix the issue.

1. If you have this issue but do not have a Roku device, skip to step 11.
2. If you do not have a DHCP reservation setup for your Roku device, skip to step 5.
3. Go to "Settings | LAN Settings" and remove the DHCP reservation for your Roku.
4. Reboot the Roku device then reboot your router. This allows both devices to update DHCP and short name.
5. If you have already changed the name of your Roku in "Administration | Attached Devices" go into the Roku device on that page and remove the name. By leaving the field blank, the Roku will re-inherit the name assigned on the device itself in "Attached Devices". NOTE: If your Roku device is affected by this glitch, you won't be able to change the name. If you have this issue, PM me for further troubleshooting steps.
6. Note the name of your Roku in "Attached Devices". In particular, look for any special characters, as they are most likely causing the issue. If there are no special characters or spaces in the name, it is possible the Roku isn't causing the issue. If so, you can skip to step 11 but the next step might still be something you want to pursue regardless.
7. In "About | Settings" on your Roku device, you should see your account name (most likely your email address or Roku username) and the local name of the device. In my case, there was no setting on the device to change this name, so I had to immediately execute step 8.
8. Login into your Roku account and find your device. Change the device name to something with no special characters and save your changes.
9. Reboot the Roku device then reboot your router. This allows both devices to update DHCP and short name.
   
10. Once you have done this, the problem should be fixed. Feel free to rename and assign QoS priority to all your devices! If your problem is not fixed, proceed to step 11.
11. This is the not-so-fun part: If you don't have a Roku (or following the above steps didn't fix your issue), you will have to do the following steps.
12. Unplug all devices from your network, both wired and wireless. Reboot your router.
13. Start adding your devices back one by one, checking "Attached Devices" after each add until the problem re-appears.
14. Once you have isolated the offending device, work through steps 5-9 until the problem is fixed.

Special Thanks To:

@kamoj for assistance in troubleshooting and understanding Linux shell commands!
@RMinNJ for leading me to investigate the Roku device as the cause!
@Voxel for his excellent firmware!

 

[kamoj]

Excellent work!

 

[royarcher]

A brief explanation of the issue:

Attempting to update name, icon, or QoS settings of some devices in the Attached Devices page resulted in a blank grey screen, so affected devices could not be updated/changed.

A brief explanation of my findings:

Most devices like Android or Apple will strip out special characters when they send their device name to the router. An iPhone with a name of Jimmy's iPhone will show up in the router as JIMMYS-IPHONE.

In my case, my Roku TV (despite the fact that I had setup a DHCP reservation of ROKU-TV and also changed its name in the "Attached Devices" to ROKU-TV) was sending the name 40" to the router. I checked the Roku TV and sure enough, the device name in the Roku "Settings | About" was 40" Roku TV. That quotation mark was, in my case, what was causing the issue.

A brief explanation of troubleshooting and workaround steps:

PLEASE NOTE: The steps that follow do not require telnet/ssh access but having shell access will make the process easier/quicker. If you're interested in working from the command line, PM me and I'll run you through some steps to hopefully fix the issue.

1. If you have this issue but do not have a Roku device, skip to step 11.
2. If you do not have a DHCP reservation setup for your Roku device, skip to step 5.
3. Go to "Settings | LAN Settings" and remove the DHCP reservation for your Roku.
4. Reboot the Roku device then reboot your router. This allows both devices to update DHCP and short name.
5. If you have already changed the name of your Roku in "Administration | Attached Devices" go into the Roku device on that page and remove the name. By leaving the field blank, the Roku will re-inherit the name assigned on the device itself in "Attached Devices". NOTE: If your Roku device is affected by this glitch, you won't be able to change the name. If you have this issue, PM me for further troubleshooting steps.
6. Note the name of your Roku in "Attached Devices". In particular, look for any special characters, as they are most likely causing the issue. If there are no special characters or spaces in the name, it is possible the Roku isn't causing the issue. If so, you can skip to step 11 but the next step might still be something you want to pursue regardless.
7. In "About | Settings" on your Roku device, you should see your account name (most likely your email address or Roku username) and the local name of the device. In my case, there was no setting on the device to change this name, so I had to immediately execute step 8.
8. Login into your Roku account and find your device. Change the device name to something with no special characters and save your changes.
9. Reboot the Roku device then reboot your router. This allows both devices to update DHCP and short name.
   
10. Once you have done this, the problem should be fixed. Feel free to rename and assign QoS priority to all your devices! If your problem is not fixed, proceed to step 11.
11. This is the not-so-fun part: If you don't have a Roku (or following the above steps didn't fix your issue), you will have to do the following steps.
12. Unplug all devices from your network, both wired and wireless. Reboot your router.
13. Start adding your devices back one by one, checking "Attached Devices" after each add until the problem re-appears.
14. Once you have isolated the offending device, work through steps 5-9 until the problem is fixed.

Special Thanks To:

@kamoj for assistance in troubleshooting and understanding Linux shell commands!
@RMinNJ for leading me to investigate the Roku device as the cause!
@Voxel for his excellent firmware!

Well done it is about time someone took the time to fix a Roku issue thanks

 

[sfx2000]

I've seen this in the past with Roku's - and not related to Netgear, Linksys, or other consumer routers.

Good writeup, and thanks for sharing.

BTW - @htismaqe - it's been a while, and nice to see you back - send me a PM and we'll catch up on things.

 

[htismaqe]

I've seen this in the past with Roku's - and not related to Netgear, Linksys, or other consumer routers.

Good writeup, and thanks for sharing.

BTW - @htismaqe - it's been a while, and nice to see you back - send me a PM and we'll catch up on things.

What's up man? Send me a PM, for some reason the board won't let me PM you.

 

[sfx2000]

What's up man? Send me a PM, for some reason the board won't let me PM you.

done

 

[htismaqe]

I've seen this in the past with Roku's - and not related to Netgear, Linksys, or other consumer routers.

Good writeup, and thanks for sharing.

BTW - @htismaqe - it's been a while, and nice to see you back - send me a PM and we'll catch up on things.

Roku boxes are the worst when it comes to networking. Broadcasting on overlapping 2.4Ghz channels, this problem - it seems like every time I have a networking issue, it's the Roku that's causing it. I'm gonna have to breakdown and get them an Apple TV. They had a Fire Stick and it was garbage. Had to be rebooted all the time, menu was all messed up, and Netflix constantly had to be reset. Then it was a cheap Android box but it just wasn't user friendly enough plus it would just randomly reboot.

 

[royarcher]

Roku boxes are the worst when it comes to networking. Broadcasting on overlapping 2.4Ghz channels, this problem - it seems like every time I have a networking issue, it's the Roku that's causing it. I'm gonna have to breakdown and get them an Apple TV. They had a Fire Stick and it was garbage. Had to be rebooted all the time, menu was all messed up, and Netflix constantly had to be reset. Then it was a cheap Android box but it just wasn't user friendly enough plus it would just randomly reboot.

They work much better hardwired although I know its not always possible.Failing that I have two on the 5g radio and they rarely miss a beat

 

[htismaqe]

I'm going to put in some wiring this weekend, I'll add the Roku to the list.

 

[NetBytes]

second call that Roku's are more behaved when hardwired, if possible.

 

[jsmiddleton4]

One reason why I dumped my two ROKU's. I even had one with the optical port that was highly sought after.

 

[htismaqe]

I'm not fond of it either but it's my mother-in-law's. I tried several different solutions for her and she had problems with all of them except the Roku. It's much more user friendly but it's certainly not network friendly at all.