Problems with Fire Stick

[Deleted User]

Have you ruled out the firestick being broke?

Take it to someone else's house, ideally someone with a firestick, and try it there.

AndyPix

^^ I was thinking this .
If the other devices inthe house work ok, and you have factory reset the firestick and it still doesnt work properly then my money is on a duff stick

[Deleted User]

AndyPix wrote: »

^^ I was thinking this .
If the other devices inthe house work ok, and you have factory reset the firestick and it still doesnt work properly then my money is on a duff stick

AND.. a new firestick is still cheaper than a new router

Ames

Thanks for all the responses.

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Why not buy a decent Android box instead?

I don't really know what options there are for other boxes. Can they access Prime video?

neilmcl wrote: »

In the meantime reboot your current sky router then once up and running log in to the router and and check the connection speed in the router's connection statistics. If this is much lower than you expect then you may have an issue with your line. Please post up the full stats on here.

If it's a wifi issue, one thing you can do to allow the stick to get a better signal and lessen any interference from your TV is to plug it in via the included dongle rather than directly into the TV. I found this helped a lot with one of mine.

I've rebooted the router, now the Fire Stick won't connect at all.

These are the router stats:

Modem Status Connected
DownStream Connection Speed21019
UpStream Connection Speed1287
VPI0
VCI38

I've just tried watching on my laptop again and that seems to be working, although it's a bit stuttery. That might be normal though, I've never used the laptop for streaming before and it's crap at everything else.

I don't think I've got the fire stick dongle.

kwikbreaks wrote: »

It certainly sounds like a WiFi issue and a wired speedtest should rule out the broadband connection as would checking the router stats if possible.

Is the router in the same room as the Firestick? Has anything been moved around? Have you checked for other SSIDs on the same channel as you?

As it was working fine before I doubt this is an issue but I did find that my TV USB port didn't provide sufficient power for a Googlecast and it played up. I fitted a mains socket with USB charging ports which sorted that out. I've only ever run my Firestick from that so not sure if it too needs a decent power source.

The router's right next to the TV. Nothing's been moved since last time it worked. I think there was one other user on the same channel, but I went through all 13 and the speed according to Netflix via the Fire Stick was less than 1mbps on all of them.

How do I do a wired speedtest?

The Fire Stick doesn't get it's power from the TV, it plugs into a power socket.

Ames

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Have you ruled out the firestick being broke?

Take it to someone else's house, ideally someone with a firestick, and try it there.

I can't do that, unfortunately.

AndyPix wrote: »

^^ I was thinking this .
If the other devices inthe house work ok, and you have factory reset the firestick and it still doesnt work properly then my money is on a duff stick

ringo_24601 wrote: »

AND.. a new firestick is still cheaper than a new router

A router's about £15, a Fire Stick £40. I'll start looking out for any deals and try getting a new one. Or start researching other types of box.

neilmcl

So the connection seems OK, so it does look like a wifi issue or a problem with stick itself. Take your laptop down to where the Fire stick is and run a speed test via http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest?utm_source=mainsite&utm_medium=navigation&utm_campaign=speedtest&utm_content=sidebar

Have you tried my suggestion of connecting the stick via the cable/dongle rather than plugging it in directly?

FYI, I find you have to reboot the Fire stick any time you reboot your router. I've also found that sometimes when you get connection issues with Netflix rebooting the App seems to help as well.

[Deleted User]

Ames wrote: »

I can't do that, unfortunately.





A router's about £15, a Fire Stick £40. I'll start looking out for any deals and try getting a new one. Or start researching other types of box.

The trick is to buy them on Prime day or Black Friday when they're on offer.

You could just buy a new one, try it, and if it also doesn't work, send it back to Amazon. If it works, you've got it sorted. If it doesn't, buy a new router.

boundy

Are you using the little hdmi extended that is supplied with the fire stick, I found having the stick plugged directly into the TV and not using it was causing a bit if interference and the speed the stick could achieve would drop, using g the little extension solved it

Ames

neilmcl wrote: »

So the connection seems OK, so it does look like a wifi issue or a problem with stick itself. Take your laptop down to where the Fire stick is and run a speed test via http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest?utm_source=mainsite&utm_medium=navigation&utm_campaign=speedtest&utm_content=sidebar

Have you tried my suggestion of connecting the stick via the cable/dongle rather than plugging it in directly?

FYI, I find you have to reboot the Fire stick any time you reboot your router. I've also found that sometimes when you get connection issues with Netflix rebooting the App seems to help as well.

The speed test had download speed at about 18.

As I said above, I don't have the dongle, or if I do I don't know where it is.

I've rebooted the router and fire stick and now it's not connecting at all.

ringo_24601 wrote: »

The trick is to buy them on Prime day or Black Friday when they're on offer.

You could just buy a new one, try it, and if it also doesn't work, send it back to Amazon. If it works, you've got it sorted. If it doesn't, buy a new router.

Yeah, I think I'll have to try buying a new one. I'll wait till they're on offer and in the meantime I can use my blu ray player for Netflix, all I need for that is the cable to connect it to the router.

Thanks again for all the help.

[Deleted User]

boundy wrote: »

Are you using the little hdmi extended that is supplied with the fire stick, I found having the stick plugged directly into the TV and not using it was causing a bit if interference and the speed the stick could achieve would drop, using g the little extension solved it

Forgot about that... this also sorted out the firestick for my sister-in-law.

Just getting the stick a few inches away from the TV seemed to help it's wifi reception greatly

If you've lost it then you can replace them cheaply https://www.amazon.co.uk/JaneDream-Extension-Cable-HDMI-Female/dp/B01464G036/

I've got a 3m extender for my TV upstairs, so I can plug HDMI things into the TV without needing to faff behind it.