Firestick

[Maurice Swan]

It's often been mentioned to get a Firestick on this thread. Living in France, my satellite dish (beaming Sky channels) is being obstructed by large trees....hence I am looking at alternatives.

1. Is it easy to install? I have one free hdmi slot on my (non smart) TV.
2. Presumably it has its own hand held 'controller' ?
3. Would it be able to receive mainstream UK channels (how?) and children's programmes? (KIDS on Sky...).
4. Does it have a VPN of its own....so that eg I could set it to UK and then use BBC iPlayer?
   - I usually set my VPN on my laptop rather than on the wifi router itself.
5. Are all Firesticks pretty much the same?
6. I have read that ROKU might be better?

All advice and information welcome.

[blue matt]

It's often been mentioned to get a Firestick on this thread. Living in France, my satellite dish (beaming Sky channels) is being obstructed by large trees....hence I am looking at alternatives.

1. Is it easy to install? I have one free hdmi slot on my (non smart) TV.
   
   just plug it in to your spare HDMI slot and then the wall for power then connect to your wifi ( its got to be a decent connection though )
   
2. Presumably it has its own hand held 'controller' ?
   
   yes
   
3. Would it be able to receive mainstream UK channels (how?) and children's programmes? (KIDS on Sky...).
   
   I guess they will be locked to the region, so a VPN would be needed,
   
4. Does it have a VPN of its own....so that eg I could set it to UK and then use BBC iPlayer?
   - I usually set my VPN on my laptop rather than on the wifi router itself.
   
   last time I looked it had a few, its all app based, so just install whatever VPN app you prefer
   
5. Are all Firesticks pretty much the same?
   
   Firestick is the AMAZON brand, they do a LITE one, a 4K one and a standard one
   
6. I have read that ROKU might be better?
   
   its a personal choice, I have a cheap NOWTV stick on one of the TV's ( its a rebadged ROKU lite ) but also have a few Firestick lites ( they were nothing money in the Black Friday sale ) they are all pretty much the same, they install app's to watch TV, most channels have them now, so Netflix, Prime, NOWTV, Disney Plus etc etc
   
   

All advice and information welcome.

[C1C9F2C7]

roku is not better

[Maurice Swan]

Thanks for the guidance Blue Matt. Is there anyone living abroad who has a Firestick can set a VPN to UK AND THEN view BBC iplayer?? (DOn't think you can download it.....but is there a 'browser' facility to link to it?

thanks

[Des Parrot]

Thanks for the guidance Blue Matt. Is there anyone living abroad who has a Firestick can set a VPN to UK AND THEN view BBC iplayer?? (DOn't think you can download it.....but is there a 'browser' facility to link to it?

thanks

Hi mate, I’m in Poland, I’ve got an Amazon Firestick, it’s got NordVPN pre-loaded. Got access to all UK tv. I also have Sky Go via my laptop & HDMI.

My Firestick goes on holiday with us as well, currently watching IOM TT+ live

[blue matt]

Thanks for the guidance Blue Matt. Is there anyone living abroad who has a Firestick can set a VPN to UK AND THEN view BBC iplayer?? (DOn't think you can download it.....but is there a 'browser' facility to link to it?

thanks

daughters in Ibiza at the mo, they took a fire stick lite to watch " love Island " on ITV player, it works fine

you can installed the BBC player app on the stick aswell

[bluemoon]

i have had them all... i dont recommend the lite at all, shite bit ok kit compared to the 4k max with 8gb of ram memory...

i have the 4k max now and its much faster and smoother, most of the questions have been answered really...

some of the answers could read yes and no... does it come with tv, sky, kids, movies no.. but also yes as i can install that on any stick for free and so could you... and yes you can also subscribe to a premium iptv service which gives you all of that and more incl the ifollow football and ppv boxing when required... those services range from £30-£40 a year deppend who you go with... again all that can be done by you as you just pay the sub and from there its an app username and password based situation

some of the apps i could put your way are free and avail to all, easy to install, and yes you can get sky sports and movies on them and such but you get what you get with anything free... its not always working well, glich free, or even working at all at times

you can and should be able to use a vpn to get around any disney, netflix or other area blocks... i dont bother myself as ive never not been able to view any content id want

[Maurice Swan]

Thanks all......have info i need....

[Maurice Swan]

Have ordered the 4k Max version.......one further question....I read it is preferable to install the VPN on the router - is is this true...and how easy/difficult is it with eg NORDVPN?

[C1C9F2C7]

Have ordered the 4k Max version.......one further question....I read it is preferable to install the VPN on the router - is is this true...and how easy/difficult is it with eg NORDVPN?

no a vpn on the stick is fine