A VPN isn’t just for your phone or your laptop: You can add a VPN app to your TV, and gain all the benefits that come from removing geo-restrictions, trackers, and ISP tracking. This is easily done if you have an Amazon Fire TV Stick. All you have to do is to install a VPN app from the App Store and enable it.
Why you should install a VPN on your Fire TV Stick
There are a number of good reasons for installing a VPN on your Fire TV Stick.
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Access geo-restricted content: VPNs allow you to bypass geo-restrictions imposed by streaming services. This means you can access content libraries from different regions, such as watching BBC iPlayer from outside the UK or accessing the U.S. Netflix library from another country.
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Prevent ISP throttling: Some ISPs may intentionally slow down your internet speed when you’re streaming, to manage network traffic. A VPN can prevent your ISP from recognizing that you’re streaming, thus avoiding any intentional slowdowns, which is particularly important when streaming in high quality like 4K.
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Ad blocking: Some VPNs offer ad-blocking features, which can enhance your viewing experience by removing unwanted ads that may appear while using your Fire TV Stick.
Best VPN on Fire TV Stick for speed: NordVPN
If you want speed, or the least amount of speed loss, NordVPN should be your pick. Speed tests from PCMag found that NordVPN reduces download speeds by only 0.7%. By comparison, ExpressVPN reduces download speeds by 20.4%. A reduction of 10-20% is not uncommon for VPNs, and if you have a really fast connection, you might not even worry about it. But if you want the most performance, and if you are regularly going to stream 4K content on your Fire TV Stick, going with NordVPN just for the sheer speed might be a good idea.
NordVPN is also good at other things: It has a simple app, fast servers, and is also good at unblocking content. It offers privacy features like a kill switch, split tunneling, tracker blocking, and more.
NordVPN’s monthly plan costs $12.99 per month, but if you buy a two-year plan, you can get it for $3.39 per month.
Best budget VPN on Fire TV Stick: Surfshark
If you’re on a budget, Surfshark, which is run by the same parent company as NordVPN, might be a good option. Surfshark offers unlimited simultaneous connections on the same account so you can have it running on your computer, smartphone, and your Fire TV Stick at the same time without worrying about speed drops or blockages.
Surfshark also does a great job of unblocking content, and the speed is fast enough for 4K streaming and based on tests by PCMag, the download speed only dropped by 4.8% (though they encountered bigger issues with upload speed and latency). For streaming media, that should be more than enough.
Surfshark’s monthly rates can be a bit high, but you start to save a lot of money when you buy the yearly, or two yearly plans, which are further discounted on sale days. The monthly rate is $10.99/month but if you’re buying it for two years, it comes down to just $2.49/month.
Best overall VPN on Fire TV Stick: ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is an all-around solid choice, and this is true for the Fire TV Stick app as well. The app is quite easy to use, and requires very little setup. It has a strong track record of unblocking regional content from popular services like Disney+ and Netflix, so you can stream Netflix from Singapore, for instance, while in the U.S.
While ExpressVPN is fast enough for media streaming, PCMag found a download data speed loss of 20.4% when using ExpressVPN. This means you’ll need to have a fast internet connection to get the most out of ExpressVPN.
The app includes features like a kill switch, split tunneling, and protocol selection, enhancing user security and privacy. It also offers an Advanced Protection suite to block ads, trackers, and malicious sites. ExpressVPN is a great option for travelers, as it has servers in over 100 countries.
ExpressVPN is the costliest option of all and only offers three plans. It costs $12.95 per month, $9.99 per month on a 6-month plan, and $8.32 per month on a one-year plan.
Though it’s a bit expensive, ExpressVPN’s versatility and reliability make it a great option for a VPN service on the Fire TV Stick.
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