My two firestick 4K Max recently stopped connecting to the IPTV service I have been using for about a year. I found a free VPN without data cap that allows me to continue using the IPTV service. Initially I thought maybe my ISP started blocking the IPTV app, but the same IPTV service works on my Win11 PC without a VPN on the same home network as the firesticks. Could Amazon be blocking the IPTV on the firesticks? Once I establish connection to the IPTV, I can turn the VPN off and still use the IPTV app until the next day. Then I need to connect the VPN again. The obvious solution is to just use the VPN, but the downside is the VPN slows things down enough to cause buffering. Reviews I have read say that this free VPN is not ideal for firestick streaming. I wish someone could give me a recommendation. Is it against the rules to recommend a VPN?
ProtonVPN free. Test it out. Proton is a no log supplier and their free vpn is genuine.
You said it won’t connect and its been about a year. Your subscription has’t expired after one year? Just a thought.
Thanks Miki. ProtonVPN Free version is the one I have been using. My ISP provides a solid 500 MBPS tested from my laptop via wifi. The Firestick network speed test shows 200-400 MBPS without the ProtonVPN connected. When ProtonVPN is connected it drops down to 70 MBPS at best, and that depends on which ProtonVPN server I’m connected to. Some of their servers drop me below 10 MBPS. I’m in the USA and the default server that the Proton app chooses is always in the Netherlands which yields a terrible connection. I get better results when I select a USA server with the least load, but at best they still drop speeds down by 60 to 70%. Proton’s free VPN servers are usually loaded at 60 to 100%, so I pick the lowest one. Later in the day, that server might be loaded up to capacity and that’s when I see the buffering. Speed loss using the ProtonVPN on my laptop only drops speed by about 10-20%. I don’t mind paying for a VPN as long as it doesn’t drop speed to the point of buffering on live TV streaming.
Ya the free servers are always over full. I have ProtonVPN paid. A 2 yr sub. My ISP service is 150 Mbps down and with my VPN on I get all that and sometimes more with their speedup tech. Just tested mine and right now I’m getting 160 Gbps down connected to New York.
Thanks for the reply, @sirseal . No, my subscription hasn’t expired, I’m good through Jan 2024. They have a Win app for PC and I use that from my laptop with no issues and no VPN. So it’s not the IPTV service and I don’t think it’s my ISP, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to connect from my PC. The common problem is the 2 firesticks, so I suspect maybe Amazon has done something. The odd thing is that after enabling VPN on the firestick I can use the IPTV service and then I can disable the VPN and don’t lose connection to the IPTV as long as I don’t exit out of the IPTV app. Doing this gets my speeds back up. If I exit out of the IPTV app or restart the firestick then I have to enable the VPN to get back in.
@Miki - Cool, That’s exactly the kind of user experience I was hoping to hear. Are you using the “Plus” or “Unlimited” paid versions? How many devices are you allowed with the paid version? My router appears to support the OpenVPN protocol that Proton uses so I was thinking about putting it on my router instead of each of my firesticks and PC’s. Thanks.
Wireguard protocol is best. I got a 2 yr plan. I have plus. Connect up to 10 devices. If installed on your router then that is just 1 device and everything connected through it is protected.
I have a firestick light with 3 iptv services on tivimate 2 of 3 services work on firestick one does not, don’t know why.
Check that the url you are using is correctly typed in.
Miraculously, and for unknown reasons, both my firesticks are able to connect to my iptv service today without a VPN enabled. I didn’t change any settings, no changes to the sign in credentials on the iptv app; and now it’s working the way it had been.
Thanks for all the replies.
@Miki I have been looking into putting the ProtonVPN on my router (TP Link Deco x20). Although the documentation says my Deco router works with VPN using standard VPN protocols such OpenVPN, and WireGuard, when I got to where I would download a configuration file from my Proton account it says that it is for OpenVPN; no mention of Wireguard. I’m a complete rookie when it comes to this. In addition to that, using the free version it requires me to select a specific free Proton server for the router configuration. It’s easy to change to a different server from friestick or a pc if the one being used is slow, but how would you do that from the server?
That’s the nature of “free” versions. Often they are lacking stuff. I bought a 2Yr sub when they had a sale. But my biggest beef is they don’t give you any access to “settings” on streaming devices. Instead it’s all automatic and I simply don’t understand this attitude and never have. It seems to work well but you can’t even split tunnel or change protocols. All you can do is pick a server. Their attitude from customer service sucks. They are not helpful at all. Month after month all I got was “we are working on it”, ummm no you’re not. Then I got a "streaming devices are not a priority for us. Priority!!! It isn’t even in their developement club let alone a priority.
I haven’t a clue how to use it on a modem/router or server setup. Sorry.
I use internet with 600 MBPS and have 4TV’s, 3-fire stick, I-I Pad Pro-and 2-Mac Book air’s and
2 cell phones. The connection is fiber optical and each TV has the mesh system on 4tv’s. Don’t
get any buffering. My salesman told me to get 600 speed. Also my stream service said no VPN
needed. I have Nord but don’t use the VPN. It was explained to me by a gent that did installation for a larger cable company, as long as your watching live TV or movies, just do not download anything. Been going this way for years without issue.