r/k12sysadmin • u/UsedPerformance2441 • 1d ago
Roku replacements?
Happy Monday, everybody. This place has become indispensable for me for seeking advice and such. So now I need some advice.
Each of our classrooms in the elementary school is fitted with an Epson 922F projector that have full Wi-Fi capabilities and such. Also attached to these projectors are Roku sticks. Which has served us well over the last seven or eight years. But now we’re running into limits with our Wi-Fi network because these Roku’s love to attach at the 40 MHz Spectrum.
Does anybody know of a device aside from the Roku ultra that we can purchase that is supported on Wi-Fi six and does all the same things that Roku does. I can’t afford to break the bank.
Thank you in advance…
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u/avalon01 Director of Technology 1d ago
What are you doing with the Roku's? Screen sharing? Streaming video services?
"All the things a Roku does" isn't very helpful. I'm trying to wrap my head around using a Roku in a classroom.
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u/linus_b3 Tech Director 1d ago
I don't really understand what you mean by this:
"But now we’re running into limits with our Wi-Fi network because these Roku’s love to attach at the 40 MHz Spectrum."
If you set your channel width on the APs to 20 MHz, a client wouldn't be able to connect at 40 MHz.
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u/JustTechIt 1d ago
What exactly is "all the stuff roku does" for you guys? There are a lot of options out there but they all differ slightly. So depending on specific needs im sure we can recommend something.
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u/macprince 1d ago
This. Personally, I'd resist mightily a wireless projection device in the classroom that is also a Disney+ player.
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u/stephenmg1284 Database/SIS 1d ago
My thoughts as well, and if it's anything but screen mirroring, why would anyone want to support that and the copywrite liability. If it's just screen mirroring, I'd want to know what devices are being mirrored and I would add Roku seems to be the device I've had the most issues with.
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u/UsedPerformance2441 1d ago
Our Roku’s are getting a little long in the tooth and I am upgrading our Wi-Fi to Wi-Fi seven over the next couple of months. I’m just looking for a device. It does Roku type of stuff that’ll take advantage of the 6 GHz band.
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u/JustTechIt 1d ago
None of that clarifies what you want them to do exactly. What FEATURES do you require beyond "what a roku does"? And what issue were you even facing? Your 40mhz comment made little sense. No one can help if you dont define an actual scope. "What the roku does" is what we expect from the end user, not the sysadmin.
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u/StressOdd5093 1d ago
Turn off DFS channels in your WiFi infrastructure. Otherwise, they will attempt to connect to 2.4GHz, which hopefully you don't have running except for where it's absolutely needed. If your 2.4GHz is 40Mhz channel width, drop it to 20MHz. Depending on how many APs you have, it may also be wise to run 20MHz width in the 5GHz range as well.
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u/UsedPerformance2441 1d ago
DFS has already turned off, so I don’t have to worry about that. I am looking for a Roku replacement that can better handle our Wi-Fi.
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u/macprince 1d ago
A Roku replacement to do what, though? I fail to see what the use of a Roku is in the classroom.
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u/UsedPerformance2441 1d ago
Because we use apps other than connecting to a TV.
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u/avalon01 Director of Technology 1d ago
That's not helpful at all.
What apps are you using on the Roku?
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u/macprince 1d ago
When you say "other than connecting to a TV", do you mean wireless projection?
What other apps? I mean, specifically. We can't provide any help unless we know what you're actually looking for.
This does sound more and more like an XY Problem (https://xyproblem.info), where Y = Roku.
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u/Computer_Panda 1d ago
I endorse wired rj45 extenders. Plugged into the teachers computer or docking station. You can cut your wifi device load in half.
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u/mainer188 1d ago
Roku doesn't belong in a classroom. If the "stuff" you're referring to is streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Prime, etc., then you are heading down a bad path. Sorry to be blunt.
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u/UWPVIOLATOR 1d ago
Yeah same question. What are you using Roku's for they are not a enterprise device.
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u/LoveTechHateTech Director | Network/SysAdmin 1d ago
I have them on all my TVs at home and they do reasonably well with Apple devices and Airplay.
That being said, they would never touch my school network.
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u/CptUnderpants- 🖲️ Trackball Aficionado 23h ago
If the "stuff" you're referring to is streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Prime, etc., then you are heading down a bad path.
Why?
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u/mainer188 19h ago
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u/CptUnderpants- 🖲️ Trackball Aficionado 19h ago edited 19h ago
Oh no, a breach of terms of service. What ever shall we do?
Ever tried legitimately licensing access to much of the content of those services?
I have. At best they ignore your request. At worst they laugh in your face.
Seriously, why on earth do we care about violation of ToS when it doesn't expose the school to any claims of damages?
What's the worst they can do? Cancel the account. Big deal.
This has come up here before and nobody has ever given me a good reason to follow their ToS. Can you? I very much doubt it.
Why do any of us lick the boots of these multinationals who actively lobby for more tax breaks which means less money for schools? It's nonsense to deny access to our staff and students due to a pesky ToS.
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u/mainer188 19h ago
It's your job to protect your students, staff, and the district itself. Don't want to? Go for it. It's only your career at risk.
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u/CptUnderpants- 🖲️ Trackball Aficionado 19h ago
Protect from what? There are no damages able to be awarded from violation of the ToS. Not that they want the bad PR for going after a school.
Not my career at risk at all. You highlight the risk (cancelled accounts) to line manager, advise they consult lawyers to confirm, then when they approve you set it all up.
I don't get why so many people here seem to simp for the multinational media conglomerates over providing a resource requested by teaching staff.
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u/Beautiful_Lock8799 17h ago
Yes there is damages you have to pay for showing protected content. Do your research, Disney will search and come after your district for showing their content. Nothing shapes policies more than losing money from something that can be preventable.
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u/CptUnderpants- 🖲️ Trackball Aficionado 17h ago
I have done my research. I just happen to live in a country which isn't run by corporations.
Besides, every time I see this come up, I ask for examples of schools which had to pay up for doing it and nobody has anything verifiable. It's probably the media companies spreading rumours of it, not any actual damages. Even if it is, it is probably for going beyond fair use. Not a ToS violation.
showing protected content
That's the thing. We are talking two different issues. Copyright and ToS. If you comply with the fair use requirements then it's just a ToS violation which the penalty is cancelling the account.
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u/RememberCitadel 1d ago
No Roku supports 802.1x. You should be running 802.1x. Therefore they are not really an option. They also don't have 6ghz radios or support wpa3 so they will never really be an option.
Something more professional like a barco click share would be more secure and provide screen connection and mirroring, but you could also just use Miracast to connect to your projectors for the same effect for free.
You would need to define what features/apps/services you use on the Roku to really discuss anything more in depth. Almost all of a Rokus features can be replicated with a web browser on a connected device however.
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u/slayermcb 1d ago
So you're pretty ambiguous on why you needed the Rokus specifically .A lot of people or questioning this and for good reason. If its for streaming apps like Netflix and Disney plus please remember that showing content like this is a classroom is 95% likely a breach in the EULA/TOS of the strwamjng playform. As well, if the material presented is not a part of the curriculum it can also be considered a violation of copywrite. There is some fair use involved, but not if its just watching a movie because next week is a vacation and they're just filling space.
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u/CptUnderpants- 🖲️ Trackball Aficionado 23h ago
tl;dr - It depends on jurisdiction.
a breach in the EULA/TOS
If permitted by law in the jurisdiction. If it is, penalty is cancelling the account. I suspect they turn a blind eye because I ran them with edu email addresses connecting on an IP with a PTR record to an edu domain. Trivial for them to detect and cancel, so likely they don't care or have a very high threshold.
if the material presented is not a part of the curriculum it can also be considered a violation of copywrite
How this is specifically worded varies by jurisdiction. Where I am it is defined broadly enough that keeping kids entertained during a free class is still covered.
I was asked to set up a heap, highlighted the risks, the unknowns, and what they should seek legal advice on. Decision came back saying to proceed. I used nvidia shield units.
We're IT people, not lawyers or policy-makers.
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u/slayermcb 20h ago edited 19h ago
I work with a teacher whose first career was corporate law, but yes were not lawyers. We should still advise where was can. As for jurisdiction, if in the US than Copyright is federal.
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u/CptUnderpants- 🖲️ Trackball Aficionado 19h ago
Also, jurisdiction in this case is US. Copyright is federal.
OP doesn't say what country. In mine we can have Disney+ playing The Little Mermaid in the last week of school for the year if we want and it still is covered by fair use.
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u/slayermcb 19h ago
I misworded it, thank you and I'll correct my statement. I meant to explain that in the US its Federal, as in it wont vary from place to place. When they said jurisdiction my thoughts went to state to state, not country to country.
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u/CptUnderpants- 🖲️ Trackball Aficionado 19h ago
As you're familiar with the US, have any schools been done for copyright infringement by using a streaming service against the ToS?
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u/slayermcb 18h ago
Usually schools get hit with cease and desist and small fines and not lawsuits. But not following the law because you don't think you'll get in trouble is bad policy.
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u/CptUnderpants- 🖲️ Trackball Aficionado 18h ago
Corporations can fine schools in the US? Wow. I knew things were messed up there but that's a whole other level.
But not following the law because you don't think you'll get in trouble is bad policy.
There are two things at play here. The terms of service and copyright/fair use.
I see no issues violating terms of service which are overly restrictive when they won't provide a reasonable method for legitimate access to those media resources. Especially given the largest penalty is cancellation of the account. It is only a breach of contract, not a criminal matter.
Violation of copyright is an entirely different thing. Fair use in the US must be extremely narrow for schools and the burden of proof must be with the school to prove legitimate use for this to actually be a consideration.
Here, the fair use for education is very broad. Keeping kids entertained while at school is a legitimate fair use.
I'm sorry that the US is so messed up in its copyright not allowing a reasonably broad fair use.
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u/vawlk 6h ago
i am not a lawyer but i still have to follow the law and it will be my butt that gets canned when they need a scape goat.
i don't allow consumer level equipment in our building.
our classrooms use wired epson projectors and use iprojection for screensharing. having only one side of the connection using wireless greatly reduces the wifi utilization.
we also have all of the projectors on their own vlan which allows all networks to connect and screen share.
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u/hightechcoord Tech Dir 1d ago
What on the Goddess Green Earth are you using Roku for?