Bedtime TV

Some people, including one in particular I see in the mirror, like to watch TV when they go to bed. Having the TV on is just something that some people do. I understand it. I used to think it odd, until it became my way of doing things. I understand. I don't like that I need the TV on the go to sleep, but I'm not going to fight it. It works for me. Maybe it works for you, too.

With me, if there isn't a TV going, small sounds wake me up. A constant stream (get it?) of sound keeps little household sounds from waking me. Anyway, I go to sleep with the TV on.

But what about leaving the TV on all night? Some people don't care -- that guy in the mirror, for instance -- but some people do. How do turn the TV off if you're asleep?

Well, some TVs, including Roku TVs, have a sleep timer. It's actually pretty easy to do with a Roku TV. Roku has instructions on doing this:

1. Press Home home button on Roku remote on your Roku remote
2. Scroll and select Settings
3. Select System
4. Select Time
5. Select Sleep timer
6. Choose a time interval (30 minutes, 1 hour, 1.5 hours, 2 hours, 3 hours)

Pretty easy, huh? Yeah. But, what if you don't have a Roku TV? Well, your TV might have that capability, too. But if you're using a Roku attached to a TV, what happens if your TV goes off while Roku is streaming? Well, your Roku continues to stream. While the TV is off. Maybe. Or probably. It depends.

A lot of people don't realize that a separate Roku device won't always stop streaming if you turn the TV off. A Roku TV will stop, of course, but a Roku attached to a TV won't. Not always.

There are settings that allow the Roku to control the TV. This works both ways. Well, best case scenario is that it works both ways. But, that doesn't always happen. Whether it's a bug in the TV, or just a lack of full compatibility, turning off a TV doesn't always stop the Roku from streaming.

Originally, it never did. But, as TVs began supporting CEC better, turning off the TV began to turn off some Roku devices. I would not depend on it happening, if it's really important.

For instance, if you have a data cap, streaming with the TV off (that's what could be happening) will just eat up data and perhaps add up to going over your cap. That's money wasted. Don't waste money.

So, what do you do? Well, what I do is I use the Bandwidth Saver feature. That's on by default, and you have to change the settings to turn it off. But before depending on it, check to make sure it is still enabled. Just to be sure. Here are Roku's instructions on turning off Bandwidth Saver.

1. Press the Home button home button on Roku remote on your Roku remote.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Network.
4. Select Bandwidth saver.
5. Choose Off.

Of course, choose "On" if you want to turn it on.

That way, if you go to sleep, the Roku will stop streaming after four hours, unless you respond to the notice as it counts down the last several seconds before stopping the stream.

Perhaps you'll find this helpful if your sleep habits aren't working well with your Streaming Life.