Assumptions
For this chapter of my Guide, I assume that:
- You have enrolled in, and successfully setup, Unblock-us.com service.
- You are using the same credit card information and zip code that you entered to subscribe to US Netflix (see my previous chapter).
- You purchased a Roku device with US firmware
– not the Canadian edition.
- YOU HAVE NOT YET ACTIVATED YOUR ROKU DEVICE.
Process
Open a browser window and type https://owner.roku.com/ in the browser address bar. The Welcome to your Roku account page appears.
Click the [Create account] button. The Create your Roku account page appears.
Enter your first and last names, your email address with confirmation, and then create and confirm a password. Agree to Roku’s Terms and Conditions, and click the [Continue] button. The Provide payment information page appears.
Enter your Amex card number, expiry date, and security code.
Enter your cardholder name (as it appears on your Amex), your real billing street address, your real billing city, and then the state and zip code verified by the US Postal Service (see my previous chapter). Keep the Country dropdown set to United States. Click the [Continue] button. The Choose your PIN preferences page appears.
Select your PIN preference, create and verify a PIN (if required), and click the [Continue] button.
Setup your Roku streaming player by following these instructions. You can watch instructional videos here.
Add Netflix, Hulu Plus, and other channels to your Roku by following these instructions.
The Netflix, Hulu Plus, and other streaming service websites offer instructions on how to setup their channels on your Roku.
Hows and Whys
After two chapters of cloak-and-dagger e-commerce shenanigans, your biggest hurdle comes from a hockey-puck-like device that has no business geoblocking anyone. And yet Roku does – or, at least, it tries. Shame on Roku.
At the time that I acquired my first puck, it was sold exclusively in the States and I had to buy online through a marginally shady-looking (but surprisingly responsive) grey-market electronics dealer in Markham. I got three months’ free Unblock-us.com service and a free HDMI cable in the deal. Not bad, for a 50% markup on US retail.
About three weeks later, I attempted to buy a second puck online, directly from Roku, and have it shipped to friends in upstate New York. The Underground Woman and I would be visiting later that month, and I’d pick it up then.
No dice. Amex accepted my credit card transaction with the funky zip, but Roku – ever the vigilant cockblocker – refused to ship and didn’t let me know that my order was never to leave its warehouse.
I telephoned Roku customer service, after two days without any indication that my order would be processed as accepted. A very nice, vaguely Indian-sounding gentleman answered, whose name was Fred or George or whatever Bangladeshi call centre alias most soothes American consumers.
I explained my predicament (living in Canada, shipping to American friends), verified my order details, answered a few Amex-related security questions – even little-white-lied that it was a gift for my friends’ anniversary – and the guy promptly rejected my order. Couldn’t take the chance that his little puck might make its way into Canada, very sorry sir.
Long story short: I bought two more off the black market. Thanks, Kijiji! Stuff it, Roku.
For some reason, Roku has taken it upon itself to keep its customers honest. Here’s how insufferably officious this company can be.
If you buy the Roku Canadian edition from Walmart or Amazon.ca – that is, a Roku with Canadian firmware – then it blocks you from adding US-based streaming channels like Hulu Plus, Vudu, Amazon Prime, or Pandora.
(You can add the Netflix channel, because Netflix service is available in Canada. You’ll get US content as soon as you login to your Netflix account.)
If you own a Roku with US firmware, but create an online Roku account with a Canadian billing address, then it blocks you from adding US-based streaming channels like Hulu Plus, Vudu, Amazon Prime, or Pandora.
If you own a Roku with US firmware, but create a Roku account on your television while you’re setting up the device (Unblock-us.com does not support Roku servers, though it really should), then it blocks you from adding blah blah blah… you get the picture.
All this to say, if you’re the kind of guy who likes to skip over important instructions – especially the ones that say, “Don’t skip over these important instructions” – and now you’re wondering why your Roku isn’t working as advertised, you have only yourself to blame. Delete your Roku account. Reset your Roku to factory specs. Start over. Douche.
For the rest of you: it’s child-in-a-candy-store time. Enjoy.