Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks are popular for good reason. They’re inexpensive and make it easy to watch Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, and other streaming services on any TV, or even a projector or computer screen.
The only catch is that some videos may not be available in your region. It has nothing to do with the Firestick: it’s just that certain shows and even entire streaming services are restricted to certain countries due to licensing. For example, BBC iPlayer is only available in the UK.
You can bypass these restrictions by using a VPN. This can make it look like you’re in a different region than yours, which means you can watch previously blocked videos and see shows that don’t appear without the VPN.
For example, NCIS will not appear in Netflix search results when you are in the UK. But connect to a VPN server in the United States and you can watch it.
Remember, you’ll still need a Netflix (and other paid services) subscription to watch videos that aren’t normally available in your region. And note that others, like Amazon Prime Video, are region-bound in your account settings, so using a VPN won’t expand the selection of videos when you connect to a VPN server in a other country.
Which VPN is Best for Fire TV Stick?
The first thing to do is choose a VPN service. We’ve rounded up the best VPN services for Fire TV.
Although there are free VPNs, none of them are very helpful in unblocking video. Either they don’t allow you to connect to a server in the country you need, or they severely limit the amount of data per day. Some simply don’t allow free users access to servers that unblock video services.
The good news is that the best VPN services can be very affordable. You can subscribe for a month, which can be long enough to watch what you want, but you’ll pay less per month if you sign up for a year or more.
We recommend NordVPN, which is an app in your Fire TV’s app store just waiting to be installed. All you need is a 2nd generation or newer Fire TV Stick. So, as long as yours is less than seven years old, you can install any VPN you want.
How to Install a VPN App on a Fire TV Stick
Create an account
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If you don’t already have an account with the VPN service you are going to use, create one on your laptop, PC or even a phone as it is much easier than using the on-screen keyboard with the Fire TV remote.
Also, even though NordVPN lets you sign up through the app, some services don’t, and you’ll get a better price by going to the VPN’s website. You can sign up for NordVPN here.
TIP: Subscribing for one or two years means a cheaper overall price. Additionally, NordVPN will direct you to its Full plan, but that includes more than VPN, so go with Standard.
Access the app store
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Once your account is set up, go to your Fire TV and click the apps icon (marked 1), then click Get More Apps.
Find NordVPN
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Select Search with remote and press the Select button.
Type or speak
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Use the on-screen keyboard to search for Nord or press the microphone button on your remote and say “NordVPN”. Then select Nordvpn from the list of results with the remote.
Select NordVPN
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When the list of apps matching your search appears, use the select button on your remote to click on NordVPN – highlighted above. Installing the app is as simple as clicking the “Get” button and waiting for it to proceed to Open. Press the select button on your remote to open NordVPN.
Login
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Choose a way to sign in. It’s easiest to point your phone’s camera at the QR code (using the normal camera app) and it should bring up a link to tap to open the NordVPN website on the screen. connection. But you can also use the Connect button manually if you don’t mind using your remote and an on-screen keyboard.
Choose a server
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Once logged in, you can select a country. Choose the one where the video or streaming service is available. For example, if you’re trying to watch BBC iPlayer, you’ll need to select United Kingdom. For Netflix US, choose the United States. Scroll to the desired server and press the select button on the remote. You will see the status change from VPN not connected to VPN connected, with a green dot.
TIP: When you see a prompt to set up a VPN connection, click OK for all NordVPNs to set up on your Fire TV.
You can now press the home button on the remote to return to the main Fire TV menu.
Then launch iPlayer, Netflix or whatever app you want to stream from and you should find that you can now watch videos that were previously blocked. Regarding this service, you are now located in the country you chose in the VPN app.
How can I use a VPN service that doesn’t have an app?
If you’re willing to do the extra legwork, it’s possible to use other VPN services with Fire TV even if they don’t offer an app in the store.
One way is to find the Android .apk file for the app you want and sideload it to the Fire TV Stick. Often, you’ll find it directly on the VPN provider’s website, which is the safest place to get it.
The problem is that you may need to create a short link to avoid having to type in the full URL of the .apk file using the Fire TV remote. We recommend tinyurl.com for this. It’s free and doesn’t require you to create an account. You’ll need to do this on a PC or laptop first.
On your Fire TV, use the search function and search for “Downloader”. You can install the Downloader app which is needed to download the .apk file.
Run Downloader and enter the small URL you created earlier. The VPN APK file will download and you should see a prompt to install it. After that, it’s the same process as before: launch the app, log in with your details (create an account with the VPN service on your PC or laptop if you haven’t already).
Keep in mind that the app was probably made for a phone screen, not your TV, so it may appear sideways.
Choose a server in the country where you want to stream video and enable the VPN connection.
With any VPN running, your IP address will tell you that you are located in the country you selected and you should be able to access all the content available there.
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