I live in uk. Recently I recommended surf shark to a friend as it was top of Troys list of VPNs It has turned out to be a disaster. For weeks he suffered constant buffering and now he is totally unable to get a connection. We are both in our 80s and not particularly tech savvy so any help could be invaluable. I have express vpn and have never had a problem.
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Just to ease your mind a little about your recommendation, Surfshark is a fantastic VPN. I am a huge fan of ExpressVPN as well, it is a close second for me. Your buddy may need to contact Surfshark directly to work out these issues, but we can try to help in here. Can you give us more information about his setup? Device, speed test numbers, locations he has tried, protocols he has tried, etc etc etc.
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He is using a 4K fire stick. measured broadband speed 52Mb/sec. He has tried different locations around UK Likes to default to Ireland for some reason. Not sure about protocols how do I find out what he is using and how to try others.What is best way to contact surf shark please?
surfshark webpage
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Go through the SS menu and find “Protocols”. It is probably defaulting to Wireguard protocol. The first thing I would try is switch to “Open” protocol. Also turn off “Web Clean” feature to see if that helps. If he’s getting speeds of 52 mbps with the VPN connected, that is more than plenty to connect and stream.
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Thank you carlbs.Sorry for delay in responding but only just got access to friends set up. The 52mbps is the speed from hub supplied by his internet provider. I downloaded Analiti on his firestick and measured his download speed as 10mbps. I then disconnected Surf Shark and re-measured his download speed at just over 12mbps still inadequate for streaming 4k. When I select SS there is no sign of a menu so still no wiser on protocol. Would be grateful for any further suggestions
If this is SS on a Firestick, it should be similar to the layout on my Mecool. On the right of the SS screen there should be “connected” or “not connected” and the location selected. In the center part of the screen there should be a long list of server locations by city or country. On the left side of the screen there should be the SS symbol on the top, “Features” in the middle, and “Settings” on the bottom left. You should then see “VPN settings”, “App Settings”, and “My Account”. Goto VPN settings and you will see “Kill switch” settings and “Protocols”. Use Protocols to choose “Open” (UDF). And yes, I just checked a firestick 4k and the layout is as I described above. Maybe try uninstalling and re-installing from Troy’s Toolbox if this isn’t what you are finding.
But if he’s only getting 10-12mbps, then he’s going to have problems. Upload speeds are also important for streaming. I figure I need close to 20mbps to stream 1080 and 25+ to stream 4k. I get about 370mbps without SS and about 70mbps with it on.
Thank you .I have found protocol settings and you were right it had defaulted to wire guard. Changed to open udp picture quality improved will report back on buffering status later .Thanks so much for your support.
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Hi carlbs,
Buffering as bad as ever .like me my friend uses iptv smarters pro. I have very few problems could this be cause of his problem?
If you have tried adjusting SS settings and rebooting the firestick and the speeds are still low without the VPN connected, then it could be that the wifi connection to the router is not good.
Analiti testing shows results for basics like signal strength and signal quality in addition to the speeds.
He could also try rebooting the router and moving the router and firestick closer to each other.
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Try Troypoints website.
He has a need for more speed.