PrivateVPN is a relatively young VPN provider, but it’s ahead of the curve when it comes to unblocking stuff from abroad. The company recently released an app specifically designed for Amazon Fire TV devices, including Fire TV Sticks and the Fire TV Cube.
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Here’s how to install PrivateVPN on Amazon Firestick:
- Starting from the Home screen, navigate left to the magnifying glass icon to open the search bar
- Search for “PrivateVPN” and select the first result that appears
- Click the yellow Get button to download and install the app
- Click the yellow button again to Open PrivateVPN
- Enter the username and password for your PrivateVPN account and click Log in
- Select Choose a server location bring up a list of servers. Choose the one that best fits your needs.
- Click the Connect button to initialize a connection to the VPN server
- You’re connected! You can now leave the app and PrivateVPN will stay connected in the background
If you plan to unblock US Netflix or some other geo-locked streaming service from abroad, PrivateVPN makes it easy by clearly labelling which servers unblock what right in the app.
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PrivateVPN for Amazon Fire TV
PrivateVPN’s lightweight app makes it a great fit for Fire TV devices. It can unblock Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and many other geo-locked streaming video channels. Thanks to fast download speeds, you can reliably stream high quality video without buffering.
The company boasts a no-logs policy, so you won’t have to worry about it snooping on your online activity. Security meets all of our standards as far as encryption and leak protection. Live chat support is available on the website.
Apps are also available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. You may connect up to six devices at the same time.
PrivateVPN for older Fire TV devices
Older Fire TV devices, such as the first-generation Firestick, may not support VPN connections at all. You may be able to get the app to connect, but it won’t stay connected when you move on to other apps. If you want to use PrivateVPN with an older Fire TV device, you have two options:
- Set up a VPN-protected wifi hotspot. Using a laptop, you can broadcast a wifi hotspot to nearby devices. Any device that connects to that hotspot will have its internet traffic sent through the VPN server by default. Learn how to set up a VPN-protected hotspot in Windows 10 in the video below:
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- Configure the VPN on your wifi router. Some wifi routers allow you to configure VPNs in their firmware, so any device connected to them will automatically use the VPN. This process varies widely depending on your VPN provider and your router firmware. If your router firmware doesn’t support VPNs, you may be able to replace it with something that does, such as DD-WRT or Tomato. Be warned, however, that improperly replacing device firmware–a process known as “flashing”–can irreparably harm your device. Proceed with caution.
If those options are infeasible or too tech savvy for you, it’s probably best just to upgrade your Fire TV device to a newer model.
