How to Speed Up and Improve
Firestick Performance
The Amazon Firestick is a pretty awesome device that allows you to stream a ton of awesome media content the household will enjoy. Unfortunately, like many gadgets, the Firestick can come across various problems, one of which is the device slowing down and performing sluggishly. Fortunately, there are Fire TV Stick hacks you can follow to remedy the slow performance.
Improve Your Firestick’s Performance
It must be frustrating figuring out what went wrong with your Firestick. To keep it working properly, try following any of these tips:
1. Use VPN
Many of us now look into VPNs to keep our online activities private and protected. Nowadays, this is very beneficial, especially with government agencies monitoring our online activities, hackers attempting to steal vital data, and the like. Plus, using a VPN is beneficial after you have jailbroken your Firestick. If you haven’t yet, you can learn how to jailbreak a Firestick here.
This solution is optimum for users who are experiencing buffering times that are longer than normal. The problem may not be the hardware, but the Internet Service Provider (ISP). They may throttle bandwidth for various reasons, hence slower loading times.
You can find different kinds of VPNs to invest in online, choosing one boils down to prioritizing the balance of security and speed.
2. Remove Problematic Apps
Brand new Firesticks perform fast, with fewer buffering issues, interface lags, or video stuttering. However, when you start installing more programs and applications, it would cause speed issues. The standard Firestick apps won’t cause problems, but when sideloading content or installing software that always runs in the background, it would lead to slower performances.
That is why it is best to remove all the programs that are known to slow down your Firestick. There are apps on Firesticks that provide basic options, though you won’t be able to tweak the settings enough to make significant improvements.
If ever you have apps sideloaded such as VPN software, Kodi, or apps monitoring your connection, then it may be culprits for slowing your Firestick down.
The Fire OS makes it easy to uninstall apps, so you can remove them right away and enjoy faster speeds within minutes.
3. Update Your Firestick
Amazon constantly releases new Fire OS updates to have their interface perform better. Updates also remedy the security patches for safer streaming. You can check your settings to see if your device is up to date, which can fix most of your speed issues.
4. Restart Your Firestick
We rarely shut down our Firesticks, or never at all. They are only sleeping then wake up once you want to use it for streaming. Over time, keeping them switched on would lead to interface slowdown and/or issues with buffering.
Quick rebooting would clear out any temporary cache data, boosting your Firestick’s speed. Simply unplug it and wait for a minute, then replug it. Or, you can use the software’s reboot option, which is quicker and safer.
5. Switch Off App Settings
Whenever you start your device, the Fire OS would notify Amazon’s servers to check if any of your apps require an update. If you have a lot of apps and programs installed, this would cause it to slow down, especially after rebooting it.
While we don’t always recommend switching off updates since newer and updated apps are quicker than older versions, you may want to switch this option off and see if it will fix the speed issues.
You can switch off the automatic updates on the Settings page of the Firestick. While switching off the automatic app updates, you may also want to turn off the “Collect App Usage Data” option. It may not make a huge impact in your speed, but that option is helpful in terms of privacy.
6. Check Your Internet
You might see that now every speed issue is related directly to the hardware. If ever you experience your video stuttering or always buffering, the likely culprit isn’t your Firestick or VPN, it may simply be your internet connection and speed.
Some network issues would usually be related to ISP congestion of remote server loads, which are uncontrollable. You can check your local network to rule out this cause, or to find remedies for it.
You can do the following:
- Switch VPN servers
- Check and restart your WiFi
- Switch off your VPN
- Reboot your router and modem
7. Factory Reset Your Firestick
If you have tried all of the above methods and the speed stays the same, then the last resort would be to reset your device back to its factory default state. This erases everything on your Firestick, this includes app downloads and sideloaded software.
All of your purchases are saved, though you’ll need to sign in again, then redownload everything after resetting your Firestick. You can do this on your device’s Settings page.
However, do understand your Firestick’s limitations. You shouldn’t expect the speed performance of a smartphone or tablet from it. Consider your situation and the speed to see if the Firestick still performs the same way it did when it was first bought. If so, then you may have to adjust your expectations towards the device instead.
Wrapping It Up
Hopefully, this article taught you everything you needed to know about speeding up and improving your Firestick’s performance. If you notice that your Firestick isn’t performing as efficiently as before, then try any of these tips to see if they work now. Good luck!