How to use a VPN with Amazon Fire Stick TV
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With the flexibility of Fire OS and the ability to install third-party apps on the device, the Fire Stick isn’t just about playing content from typical services like Netflix and Hulu. What makes the Fire Stick an obvious choice for media streaming is its ability to play content from both free and paid services around the world.
If you’re looking to delve into the world of Fire Stick freedom, TechJunkie is the perfect place to do so — and in this guide, we’ll look at the most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to streaming pirated content online. Follow along as we dive into VPNs, privacy, and how to protect yourself online.
What is a VPN?
A VPN happens to be one of the best ways to protect your online life and privacy. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, and it allows a computer, smartphone, or other web-connected device to connect to another server through a private tunnel secured on both ends of the connection.
When your VPN is active, instead of using the standard path between your computer or smartphone to get to an article, video, or anything else online, the VPN uses the private tunnel to get to its destination. This tunnel is only decrypted at the start and end points of the destination, a function known as end-to-end encryption, so that your computer and webpage know you’re there, but your ISP can’t display the content you want. Re-vision beyond the general “data” level. In short, with the help of a VPN, your ISP cannot see any of your activity – thus, it also cannot sell your data to advertisers.
Now, we must not say that this data is not completely anonymous. Depending on the VPN you choose, the VPN may still track you, which can complicate matters when you try to browse anonymously. This is why it’s important to choose a great VPN service – you don’t just want to hide your internet traffic from ISPs and advertisers. You also want to make sure that your VPN is safe and secure when browsing.
Choosing a VPN can be tricky, especially with all the options available online today, so you’ll want to check out the full list of recommendations here. Alternately, you can also follow this guide as we make some recommendations for use specifically with the Fire Stick.
Why do I need a VPN?
If you only stream essential content on your Fire Stick – think Amazon Prime Video or Hulu – you probably don’t. Although having a VPN turned on is rarely a file wrong Choice, the privacy you add to your device is not necessary to enjoy your favorite services regularly. And while we also say that the less information you provide to ISPs and online businesses, the better, the truth is that a VPN will not be right for everyone.
However, if you find your way to this page, it is probably because you are using your Fire Stick for something that is not a standard app available through the Amazon Appstore. Whether it’s basic hacking apps like Showbox or Terrarium TV, or more complex apps like Kodi, which let you load your entire Fire Stick with a new interface, along with thousands of apps and add-ons to completely change the way you watch movies forever. These systems are easy to set up and use, but there’s a big reason people keep them away: They’re not entirely legal.
While thousands of users get away with consuming pirated content online every day, it is important to keep in mind that not everyone gets away with hacking. If you get caught by your ISP, you could fall into some hot water, including losing your internet access or even facing heavy fines from groups like the MPAA.
So, if you are looking to consume pirated content on your Fire Stick, the best way to keep yourself safe from getting caught is to use a VPN. The most popular VPNs aren’t necessarily designed with hacking in mind, but they do support keeping your internet usage confidential so you can catch up on the latest series of games online without having to pay for cable or sign up for another streaming service.
What VPN should I use?
There is no shortage of VPNs available for the Fire Stick, but if you’re not sure where to start, we’ve got great news! As we mentioned above, we have an entire article filled with an in-depth analysis of some of the best VPNs on the market today, and it’s worth checking out our suggestions here. However, we do have a few of our favorites specifically for use with the Fire Stick. Here’s a quick summary of what you should look for to use it on your Fire Stick!
- ExpressVPN: One of our all-time favorites, ExpressVPN is a great all-around option for anyone looking for a simple VPN that isn’t too difficult to use, while keeping their data secure. The app is packed with features and security options that help keep your information safe while browsing the web, and most of the connections to your VPN servers are established within a few moments. It’s also one of the best ways ExpressVPN may not reinvent the wheel, but they have enough ideas to take care of here to make sure you’re happy with your VPN.
- Private Internet Access (PIA): Private internet access isn’t quite as cheap as it used to be, but that doesn’t stop us from recommending it as one of the best VPNs out there. Although the monthly subscription is not available at the low and low price of $6.95 anymore, you can still buy a one-year subscription for just $39.95. It’s the cheapest product on our list, and while it might not include any flashy features or flagship options, paying just $40 a year for VPN support is a no-brainer.
- IPVanish: IPVanish is the top-tier VPN available today, and one of its standout features is the number of servers. With more than 40,000 servers available today, it is one of the largest VPNs in operation today, which can help you increase your speed and privacy. It is also somewhat expensive; One month of service costs a fixed $10, and it renews automatically on a monthly basis, costing users a full $120 per year. As usual, prepaying is the best option here, as it cuts the cost down to about $80 per year.
This is by no means a complete list of options available for use on a Fire Stick, but with the choices of the best overall service, best budget and best premium VPN service, you are bound to find something that fits what you are trying to do online. And remember, these VPNs support multiple connections, which means that in addition to your Fire Stick, you can also protect your computer, tablet, or smartphone with the same plan.
What about free VPNs?
We know this answer will get some people worried, but in general, you shouldn’t use free VPNs to protect your online identity. While free VPNs, like Hola for example, promise to protect your online data, VPNs cost money to support and run every day, unfortunately, if you don’t pay for the product, there’s a good chance you be the product.
As many Hola users discovered in 2015, many free VPNs actively use your bandwidth for unethical or illegal acts such as bot attacks, or reselling your data directly to the same advertisers you’re trying to avoid, without the basic level of protection your provider gives you. Internet service.
Yes, it is a dangerous world for users who are looking for a free VPN to use without risking their data, although options like TunnelBear offer a free trial, where you are given a small amount of free VPN data per month.
It won’t keep you protected long enough to stream an unlimited number of movies and TV shows to your Fire Stick, but if you want to test with a VPN, TunnelBear (along with other options like Private Tunnel VPN) are reliable and fairly easy services to use.
Install your VPN on Fire Stick
Here’s the good news: In most cases, it’s really easy to set up and run a VPN on your Fire Stick. Unlike Google’s Chromecast, which requires you to set up your VPN using your router to protect your streaming content, Fire Stick allows easily accessible VPNs to run in the background of your device, and for most major VPN companies you can already get the supported app Direct from the Amazon Appstore.
This means there’s no settings menu to dig into, or hard-to-click options when setting up a VPN to use in the background of your device. Once you have the VPN of your choice installed on your Fire Stick and logged into your account with the service, you can allow the VPN to run in the background and watch any media on your TV, all while identifying you. You have protected your content.
All of our three picks above, including ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, and IPVanish, have apps available for the Fire Stick on the Appstore, but they’re not alone. There are dozens of reputable VPN services on the platform, including:
- Windscribe
- PureVPN
- CyberGhost
- IvacyVPN
- SurfShark
- NordVPN
Additionally, many smaller VPN companies also have apps for Fire Stick, so most users should be able to secure their Fire Stick. We recommend choosing one of the VPNs mentioned above, as you can easily get the app up and running on your Fire Stick without having to resort to other tricks to use the VPN on your device. Most apps simply allow you to turn on your VPN switch and go back to the home screen, making it an easy way to secure your movie stream while you’re online.
What if my VPN is not on the App Store?
Well, you’re not entirely out of luck. If you’ve already purchased a VPN that doesn’t have an app on the Appstore – like TunnelBear, for example – you have two options on how to continue using your VPN on your Fire Stick despite the incompatibility. First, you can try sideloading your app using APK from APKMirror. This is somewhat involved, but very easy to do once you know the steps. Check out our guide on installing Kodi to learn how to sideload apps on Fire Stick.
Note that, thanks to the incompatibility with how the remote interface works with ported Android apps, you’ll need to use an external app called Mouse Toggle for Fire TV in order to properly control the sideloaded apps. Overall, this is more complicated than just switching your VPN to a supported one, but if you’re in the middle of a year of signing up with an unsupported app, this is one of the best ways you can go about protecting your fire stick.
You can also use your VPN connection to your router, which will redirect all traffic from your ISP to your VPN, securing every device on your network. In order to do this properly, you will need to consider how to do it independently on the VPN of your choice, along with the instructions for your router brand, on your VPN site.
In general, if you can, we recommend one of the VPNs listed above, since starting with a VPN that is natively supported by Amazon Fire Stick would be the easiest path to protecting your streaming.
Using your Fire Stick to watch your favorite movies, TV shows, and more is a no-brainer, and with the ease of getting a VPN up and running on your Fire Stick, you don’t have to worry about giving up your privacy to do so. Whether you’re looking to hide what you’re streaming from your ISP, or you’re just looking to secure your internet connection, a VPN is a must for any Amazon Fire Stick user.
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