Amazon Fire TV is one of the most popular streaming devices out there. It allows you access to a wide variety of content including movies, TV shows, and live events. Using a Fire TV Stick is pretty much straightforward. But even then, there are some simple Fire TV Stick Hack ideas that you can explore to make your experience more fulfilling.
Here are some of these hacks and how they work:
Turning Your Firestick into a Fire TV
One thing that a lot of people ask about is how to turn their Firestick into a Fire TV. There’s a difference between these two devices.
While you can plug your Firestick into your TV’s HDMI port for streaming purposes, a Fire TV has more functionality including additional ports. Well, it’s actually possible to turn your Firestick into a Fire TV and take advantage of these multiple functionalities.
Keep in mind that the Firestick doesn’t have any ports. This Fire TV Stick hack allows you to get more ports. But why is this even important? Well, it’s for one simple reason. This hack transforms your simple and average Firestick into a multipurpose device.
In essence, you will be able to have additional USB ports for storage drives, an extra Ethernet port to connect to a wired Internet connection instead of Wi-Fi (and you know wired Internet tends to be faster than wireless), and even an extra port to plug in your keyboard for easy navigation on your Firestick.
How to Do It?
You will notice that your Firestick only has one single port for charging. The good news is that the device supports something called OTG technology. OTG technology a capability in most devices that allows them to read data from a USB device without necessarily using a PC.
You will, however, need an OTG cable to unlock these capabilities. The cable, on one hand, has a micro USB end that can fit into the Fire TV Stick charging port. On the other hand, it has a standard USB port. In essence, you can use the cable to connect additional USB devices into the Firestick.
This isn’t a new technology. In fact, it has been available for Android users for years. But very few people know that it works even on the Firestick. There’s, however, one challenge with this Fire TV Stick hack.
If you attach the standard OTG cable into your Firestick, then this means the only source of power to the device is removed. Remember that the Firestick doesn’t have a battery that you can charge. You have to plug it directly into the power source for it to work.
So, how do you go about this? Well, you just need a different cable. There are OTG cables available now that will not only give your Firestick an additional USB port but also a power cable as well. The cable will typically contain two male micro USB ends and one large female USB end.
The first micro USB is plugged into the Firestick. The second male cable contains a power port that will plug directly into your Firestick’s adapter. The female cable is now available to plug in various USB devices. In essence, what you get here is a 3-in-1 OTG cable.
It ensures your Firestick remains powered on while also offering an extra USB female port to connect other devices. This is a huge plus.
Connecting Multiple Devices
So, if you are planning to use one single extra device with your Firestick, then this cable should be enough. You can plug in a USB keyboard or even a USB storage device and open up a world of new possibilities as far as the functionality of your Firestick goes.
But what if you want to add more functions? Well, there’s a way around it. You will need to buy a USB hub. Make sure that it is a non-powered one so that it’s able to run once it’s plugged into the USB port. A USB hub gives you multiple USB ports for your Firestick.
Think of it as the normal power cord extension cable only that this time the main power source is the USB port plugged into the Firestick. A typical USB hub will have at least four different USB ports. This means that you can plug in various USB devices into your Firestick including a keyboard, a storage device, and you will still have at least two open USB ports for future use.
Connecting to the Ethernet
So, let’s say you wanted to use wired internet instead of the Wi-Fi? It’s actually very easy as long as you have the USB hub plugged into the Firestick TV. The only thing you will need here is a USB Ethernet adapter cable.
These cables are available on Amazon so it should be easy to buy them. The adapter has a USB end on one side and an Ethernet end on the other. What you will do here is to plug the USB end of the cable into one of the empty USB ports in your USB hub that is already plugged into your Fire TV Stick.
Then using a normal Ethernet cable, connect the Ethernet port to your wired Internet connection and you are done. The only challenge with these Fire TV Stick Hack ideas is the fact that they may make your Firestick look very cluttered.
But you don’t have any choice. A good rule would be to try and tuck away the USB hub behind your TV so that it’s hidden from everyone. You don’t need to get the hub if you only want to attach a single USB device on your Firestick at a time. Simply use a single OTG cable.
Conclusion
Transforming your Firestick into a Fire TV with added functionalities isn’t that hard. You just need to make a few investments in additional accessories as we have explained above.
Well, if you have tried this before, let us know your experience. Those of you who have run into any issues converting the Firestick into a Fire TV please leave your comments here below.
And in case you have any questions about our Fire TV Stick Hack ideas, let us know and we will get back to you in no time!
