Can You Connect Amazon Fire Stick to a Mobile Hotspot? (Yes, It’s Easy!)

Are you wondering if you can connect an Amazon Fire Stick to a mobile hotspot? It’s actually a lot easier than you think.

While it is easy, there’s one step most people overlook, which prevents the hotspot from working with their Fire Stick. I’ll explain the steps in a moment. 

Here’s the thing: 

The main issue you need to be aware of is mobile data charges. Streaming HD media will quickly consume your mobile data, so it’s best to only do this if you have an unlimited mobile data plan.

You can save data by loading non-HD content too.

It’s also important to remember you need a fast mobile hotspot, at least 3 Mbps for HD, and 15 Mbps for UHD content. 4G or 5G is recommended, 3G won’t offer enough bandwidth, and the Fire Stick will likely cut out. 

How to Connect Amazon Fire Stick to a Mobile Hotspot: 

1. Setup the Amazon Fire Stick (Connect to HDMI, USB for Power, Turn on, etc)
2. Turn on your mobile hotspot, set a simple password
3. Use the Amazon Fire Stick remote to navigate to Settings
4. Open the Network menu (if you have saved networks, forget all of them)
5. Locate your hotspot Wifi network, enter the password
6. Test if you can stream media on the Amazon Fire Stick from the mobile hotspot. 

Note: The steps are similar for connecting a Roku to a mobile hotspot.

And did you know you can also connect a Chromecast to a mobile hotspot? 

Common Issues:

For some people, connecting an Amazon Fire Stick to a mobile hotspot is easy while others struggle.

Here are some common issues you might run into…

Outdated Firmware: 

People on old Fire OS versions struggle to connect their Amazon Fire Stick to a mobile hotspot. The above steps usually work, but there are some common issues people run into.

To make the process easier, I recommend connecting the Amazon Fire Stick to your home’s Wifi first and updating it to the latest firmware. If you’re Fire Stick is running the latest build of the Fire OS, the process of connecting it to a mobile hotspot is very straightforward. 

Connected to Mobile Hotspot, No Internet Access:

If your Amazon Fire Stick connects to your hotspot, but can’t load any media, or access the internet, chances are you need to add a manual proxy. In most cases, for this part, you will need to launch a mobile hotspot using an Android app called NetShare. NetShare is not available on iPhones. 

Open the app on your phone and click on Start Hotspot, you can use all the default settings if you want, but I suggest adding a simple password. A normal mobile hotspot will be created and you can connect from your Fire Stick using the steps from earlier. 

To add a manual proxy you need to open a secret menu on the Fire Stick using the remote. Hold the middle button on the remote (select button) and the down button for five seconds, let go, and press the menu button twice. The developer tools menu should open. Scroll down for Network Proxy.

You could try setting the proxy to auto at first to see if it works. If not, select manual, and enter the proxy information from the NetShare app on your phone. It’s usually 192.168.49.1 and the proxy port is 8282.

You can leave the “Bypass Proxy For” section empty. Save the settings, and if your mobile hot spot has internet, your Amazon Fire Stick should be able to load media. 

Fire Stick Mobile Hot Spot Timeout

Since mobile hot spots were mainly designed for temporary use, they will automatically turn off when not in use.

If the mobile hotspot turns off, the Fire Stick might have a hard time connecting to it again. Luckily, on Android phones, you can manually configure the time-out options of your hotspot.

Open the hotspot menu, tap on details, locate the three dots in the top right corner, and select timeout settings. Select “Never timeout” to keep the hotspot active at all times.

It’s not recommended to keep your hotspot on at all times because not only will your phone run out of battery faster but you’ll also consume more data. 

Conclusion: 

If you have unlimited mobile data, you can try connecting a Fire Stick to your mobile hotspot. In most cases, it does work, but you might need to play around with some settings or update the firmware. It also depends on your phone, devices running Android 10 seem to be more compatible. 

Have you got it working? Drop a comment below!