You might find your way to Roku’s Wireless Secret Screen to find that Antenna 2 is showing a value of zero.
Does 0 signal strength mean the Roku device is broken?
The answer is no. Read on to find out more.
Roku has a number of streaming devices. All of them support Wi-Fi connectivity.
However the Roku Express 3930CA only supports 2.4 GHz band while the Roku Express 4K 3940CA supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi.
Since the Roku Express supports only a single 2.4 GHz frequency band with the 802.11 b/g/n standard, it only has one antenna. This is why Antenna 2 is reporting a power level of zero (0), while Antenna 1 is showing a non-zero power level.
The Roku Express 4K and other products including Streaming Stick, Streambar and Ultra support both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Therefore they have two internal antennas – one for each band. The secret screen will therefore report power levels for both antennas.
Why is a different antenna required for each frequency band?
The physical dimensions of an antenna depends on its frequency range. An antenna for 2.4 GHz will be larger than one designed for 5 GHz. A single antenna cannot be used for both frequency ranges.
Use the Dipole Antenna Length Calculator to find the difference in lengths between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz antennas.
| Frequency (MHz) | Antenna Length (inches) |
|---|---|
| 2450 | 2.29 |
| 5000 | 1.12 |
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