this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2025
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139
Alternatives to Roku/AppleTV for Jellyfin Client (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 days ago by nix98@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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My jellyfin collection has finally become large enough that I have been able to cancel all my streaming services. My issue now is that I want to get rid of my Roku's that are hooked up to each TV.

Is there a good alternative? It MUST be family approved, meaning:

  1. It is not visible (no desktop/laptop hooked up)
  2. It is low power
  3. It has a simple remote control
  4. It supports Jellyfin
  5. It is relatively cheap (< $150)

I am sure I could build something out of a raspberry pi, but:

  1. I don't need another project I have to fiddle with
  2. It MUST support new codecs (h.265/AC1/aac/...) as I want direct play from my server
  3. If it stutters/buffers once, it goes into the trash!

I've generally been mostly happy with my Roku, and my pi.hole blocks most of their analytics, but last week, I pressed the home button on my Roku and it started play a video add with audio. Completely unacceptable (That has happened twice in the last week). And in general, the more of this crap I can get out of my life the better!

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[–] TrippyHippyDan@lemmy.world 48 points 2 days ago (2 children)

If you're happy with the Roku hardware and you're going to cancel all your other streaming services, why not just firewall block the Roku from reaching out of your local network?

If you do that, Jellyfin will still work fine, and you won't have the ability to get posted ads or anything else from the Roku, so it'll just become a Jellyfin box.

[–] SquiffSquiff@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I have a Rocku streaming stick and it won't work without an internet connection

[–] TrippyHippyDan@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Oh, that's absolutely horrible that they designed it that way. 🤮

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 15 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I've taken this approach, sometimes these boxes will act up when they can't phone home. Definitely worth trying though.

[–] TrippyHippyDan@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

Worth that at least before you start looking at different hardware.

Otherwise, it's the same thing if you have a smart TV, download the Jellyfin app, and then just completely stop it from being able to connect anywhere else.

[–] nix98@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Have you tried it with a Roku? My pi.hole blocks most things, but I haven't yet tried to completely block it from the Internet. In the past, I've had to allow some domains through my pi.hole or things would be completely broken, but that hasn't happened in a while...

I suppose I'd have to occasionally unblock it to get updates to the jellyfin app, which is doable.

[–] ryan_harg@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 10 hours ago

i have a roku express 4k and pihole shuts it down completely. it has the jellyfin app, nothing else. works great. I only open up internet to update the app from time to time.