Lost Roku Remote and the Roku Is Not Connected to WiFi: What Actually Works

This is the worst version of the “lost remote” problem, so let’s be straight about why: normally a phone can rescue a Roku instantly, because your phone reaches the Roku over WiFi. But here the Roku isn’t on WiFi — so there’s nothing for the phone to reach yet. No remote to reconnect it, no network to reconnect it through. That’s the double catch-22, and no app can wish it away.

The good news: it’s almost always solvable for free, and the right fix depends on one question most guides skip.

First, the question that decides everything

Did your WiFi network actually change — or did the Roku just drop off a network that still exists?

These look identical on screen (“Not connected to the internet”) but have completely different fixes:

The network still exists (router rebooted, brief outage, someone power-cycled things, the Roku was unplugged and moved back). The Roku remembers this network and wants to rejoin it. You often don’t need to type anything — you just need the network back up and the Roku reachable.
The network is genuinely gone (new router, new ISP, moved house, changed the WiFi name or password). The Roku is hunting for a network that no longer exists, so it’ll never reconnect on its own — you’ll have to point it at the new one and type the new password.

Figure out which you’re in before you touch anything. It saves you the whole hotspot dance in the common case.

Case 1: the network still exists — just make it reachable again

If the WiFi name and password are unchanged, the Roku will reconnect the moment that network is healthy and in range. Try, in order:

Power-cycle the router, wait for it to fully come back (2–3 minutes), then power-cycle the Roku (unplug 10 seconds). A Roku that dropped off a still-existing network usually rejoins on boot with zero input.
Plug in Ethernet if the Roku has a port. Many Roku players and some Roku TVs have one. A cable from the router makes the Roku reachable instantly — no WiFi, no password, no remote needed. Your iPhone on the same router can then see it.
Once it’s back online, put your iPhone on that same WiFi, open Remote Pro, and scan — the Roku appears by name and you’re in control, no pairing step at all. From there you can fix anything else at leisure: control your Roku entirely from your iPhone.

If the Roku comes back but your app still can’t find it, that’s a network-split issue (phone and Roku on different bands or the guest network), not a remote issue — run the checklist: Roku remote app can’t find your TV.

Case 2: the network is gone — the hotspot clone

If the old WiFi truly doesn’t exist anymore, the Roku can’t rejoin it, and you have no remote to send it to the new one. The honest workhorse here is to briefly recreate the old network so the Roku connects to something your phone can also join:

On a second phone, set a personal hotspot with the exact name (SSID) and password the Roku last used — case-sensitive, character for character.
The Roku recognizes “its” network and joins automatically. No input needed on the Roku itself.
Put your first phone on that same hotspot and open a remote app — now the Roku is reachable.
Use the app’s D-pad and keyboard to go Settings → Network → Set up new connection → Wireless, pick your real new WiFi, and type the password.

The full step-by-step (written for a Fire Stick, but the hotspot steps are identical on Roku) is here: the hotspot trick for a moved WiFi network. The typing half — getting the new password onto the screen once you’re reachable — is covered in detail here: enter a WiFi password on a Roku without the remote.

Why a phone is the right tool once you’re reachable

The moment your phone can see the Roku — by Ethernet or the hotspot clone — a remote app does the thing an on-screen keyboard makes miserable: it hands the Roku’s text fields your iPhone keyboard. No more arrowing letter-by-letter across a grid to enter a 20-character WiFi password. Roku needs no pairing — it accepts control from apps on the local network with no PIN and no Allow prompt — so Remote Pro opens straight onto the D-pad with the keyboard one tap away. The free official Roku app works honestly too; it’s just a larger, account-nudging app.

If the Roku shows up in the app but ignores every press, its “Control by mobile apps” policy is set to Disabled — one setting flips it back: the “control by mobile apps” setting.

Roku TV owners: the panel buttons buy you a little

If it’s a Roku TV (TCL, Hisense, onn., Sharp), there are a few physical buttons on the panel — usually the bottom edge or back-right — covering power, input, and sometimes volume. They’re enough to power the set on and confirm it’s alive, but not enough to arrow through a network menu and type a password. Use them to turn it on, then let your phone do the network setup as above.

Last resort: the reset pinhole (know what it does and doesn’t fix)

Most Roku devices have a recessed Reset button — hold ~10 seconds to return to the out-of-box setup wizard. But be clear-eyed: the wizard still asks you to choose a WiFi network and type its password, so a reset alone drops you right back at needing an input device. Only reach for it if the Roku is wedged on a network you genuinely can’t recreate — and pair it with Ethernet or the hotspot clone so your phone can drive the fresh setup.

The honest summary: the fix isn’t an app that “connects to a Roku with no WiFi” — physics won’t allow it. The fix is getting the Roku reachable (rejoin an existing network, plug in Ethernet, or clone the old one on a hotspot), after which your iPhone becomes both the D-pad and the keyboard that finishes the job. Remote Pro opens straight onto the remote and covers your Samsung, Fire TV and Android TV from the same screen.