Firestick general discussion thread

lertsnim

They all work work perfectly with Smart DNS apart from Freevee with my amazon account set to Ireland.

Nowso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491430#Comment_121491430

it is an option yes but if someone just wants to keep it simple .and use the uk apps. a uk account would be advised .

wassie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491382#Comment_121491382

Yes - I have the Amazon apps from UK, US, AUS and ROI regions. I dont have any issues with things not working.

Is a little more effort to change regions back and forth, but the main advantage is that the apps are easily updated and always remain in your library. When you get a new firestick you can just reinstall from your library and no risk of Amazon updates breaking sideloaded apps as gets reported from time to time.

Don't get me wrong, sideloading is useful for getting apps not in Amazons library and I get why peeps do it. But personally I dont sideload any APKs anymore purely to avoid any risk of malware infecting my device and ultimately my network. Others dont see this as a risk, but google "fire tv sideload risk" and make your own mind up.

Agree with Nowso advice on using setting your Prime Video to UK - with the caveat you need a VPN set to UK to get the best benefit. Prime UK has a bigger library of shows over the Irish version.

Seve OB

i don’t have a vpn.

I was able to load Chanel 4 app straight onto irish registered firestick. Pretty sure it is not geo restricted

no chance i could install itv or bbc players.

i have another firestick which is registered to a uk account. Chanel 4 works fine. Think I got bbc iplayer installed but nothing plays. Indeed pretty much nothing on the prime plays on that.

really have to have a VPN, but I couldn’t be arsed

Nowso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121495835#Comment_121495835

channel 4 has some stuff available without vpn not all - . u get more on the uk account and a vpn is worth it for stuff on Iplayer . if you like music its great for Glastonbury Live streams n stuff like that

batistuta9

Live channels are the only thing that won't work on channel 4 app. It's not geoblocked.

Prime works fine in Ireland too, don't think there's any difference in the content now either except for the premier league. Login on a browser if you've problems playing stuff & it'll change you to ROI

Sleeper12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121495835#Comment_121495835

Getflix is very cheap and would allow you view all UK and US streaming apps.

Getflix lifetime subscription is less than $50. Very reasonable for a once off payment

https://www.stacksocial.com/sales/getflix-lifetime-subscription-4

maebee

I've only a limited knowledge of firesticks but I've had one firestick for the past 3+ years. It very seldom buffers and I'm very pleased with it. I was thinking of getting another stick to use in another room, and using both with my same account. Would this cause one or both sticks to buffer or would it not make any difference? TIA.

Nowso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121499800#Comment_121499800

you can use the same amazon account yes - the only limit on streams is on accounts would be on apps that you have accounts with Netflix etc

once you have fiber internet the 2 should work fine together .

get one off the new 2023 firestick 4k or 4k max . as they have better picture quality

wassie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121496701#Comment_121496701

Ireland Prime doesn't have access to the full UK catalogue. But you get all Amazon produced and owned content. TBH there not a lot outside of Amazon's own stuff that it worth watching I find in any event.

wassie

Looks like ads are certain to be set to be introduced from 2024, along with a paid ad-free premium tier.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/amazon-prime-video-pg-mediabrands-deal-1235720646/

batistuta9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121504103#Comment_121504103

Didn't think that was the case for years. Give me something to try you think isn't available

wassie

I only have a UK account, so I have no idea whats available in the Irish version. I guess you'll just have to take Amazon's word for it.

Prime Video

Prime members living outside of the UK can access exclusive Prime Originals, and popular movies and TV at primevideo.com. The complete Prime Video catalogue on Amazon.co.uk is only available to Prime members living and located in the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G6V3LUCB9M6VNQAD

And beside the free content, the full catalogue also includes paid content, of which some is only available to rent or purchase in the UK.

batistuta9

I'd stuff not play on firestick before, login to primevideo & it prompts to change region and that sorted it.

Before that I got them to set prime video region to UK to watch the pl games, no need for a VPN to view either. Their geoblocking was an account setting it seemed.

Nowso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121508098#Comment_121508098

Yes i used that before . now just watch on us apps its less hassle

freevee has some stuff that people will want on and thats an advantage of the uk account over irish . also ive linked up uk radio app for absolute radio to alexa that wouldnt work on my irish account .

wassie

Decent article here for anyone that doesnt have a VPN for Firestick and considering it. I'm normally cautious about VPN comparison articles as often they are paid reviews, but CNET are generally reputable and make clear their affiliate links.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/best-vpn-for-firestick/

Ive had ExpressVPN before and it is handsdown the best - but also very expensive.

I use Nord these days on a very cheap 2 year plan (always coupons floating around on the interwebs) and Nord's native FireTV app is very good. No complaints but occasionally I still get geoblocked - just means I may need to switch servers a couple of times in order to access regional content.

Also helps to manual force stop the steaming app and clear cache under the menu: Settings -> Apps -> Manage Installed Apps -> [Streaming App Name].

Nowso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121509055#Comment_121509055

agree re express vpn - its gone 2 dear now - surfshark works out cheap over a 3 years and others like widscribe etc can be cheaper options

Nigzcurran

I have windscribe a few years now, only costs about €40 a year I think and has never failed on anything I've tried so far

Nowso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510399#Comment_121510399

windscribe is grand for tv streaming and the like a bit limited for bigger pc tasks due to its set up

Nigzcurran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510725#Comment_121510725

Yeah we only use it for various players and streaming apps and the likes

wassie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510399#Comment_121510399

About the same as I'm paying for Nord €37/year (€74 total).

Surfshark can be had for about the same price but for 28 months (2yrs +4 months) for first time subscribers.

ablelocks

BBC iPlayer not working with Fire Cube using vpn unlimited (keepsolid)

i cleared the app cache and restarted but still the same - i can login and view / select shows to watch, but then get an error message.

anyone have any ideas on how to get it going or is it simply that iplayer have blocked the vpn servers?

Nowso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121607202#Comment_121607202

try change protocol , but they may be not working right/blocked

ablelocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121607253#Comment_121607253

change protocol? as in change the uk location?

Nowso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121608443#Comment_121608443

no on yours it will be either - IKEv2, OpenVPN®, KeepSolid Wise TCP/UDP, WireGuard® . in your settings -

if you have other uk locations aswell might help

sometimes vpns stop working on apps for a while

peneau

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121607202#Comment_121607202

I contacted VPN Unlimited support about this issue 28th Dec, this was their reply.

"We confirm that we are facing temporary issues with our UK servers. Our tech team is working on a fix.

There is no ETA for now but the service will be back soon.

We will notify you as soon as BBC iPlayer is available again."

If it's of any use to you I did manage to get it working using their SmartDNS app on the Firestick

Nowso

maybe install a free one for a while from the fire tv store

The Black Oil

Tried to install ITV's app to watch Mr Bates vs The Post Office, be it didn't play ball. Presume I'd have to go the VPN route.

TheDriver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121623622#Comment_121623622

Only c4 works without vpn. Need vpn for BBC, itv, C5. I use stv instead as it works better

davywalsh7

anyone have any issues with audio delay on their firestick

i have tried a few suggestions from google but no luck

audio worked fine when had firestick initially in august but since around Nov its actually unwatchable, works fine on smart tv apps its just firestick