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Ffosse
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30-05-2018, 11:09 AM
1

Amazon Fire stick

My new TV is failing to recognise my home wi-fi, well, it sees it but won't accept the password. None of my other devices have this problem.

Would a Fire Stick solve this problem? ie. would it connect to the internet so I can watch BBC iPlayer on my TV? I've created an Amazon account as I didn't have one. Is it just a matter of inputting my account details and hopefully connecting via wi-fi?
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Ffosse
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30-05-2018, 01:03 PM
2

Re: Amazon Fire stick

Upon phoning Sony, they said that since the TV sees my iPhone and will connect to it as a hot-spot then the fault must be with my internet provider.

They, on the other hand say that as my wi-fi is working with every other device in the house - iPad, iPhones, MacBook then the problem is with Sony.

I'm just going to go with the Fire Stick anyway, as, when I had the TV connected to the iPhone, its internet service seemed a bit basic, anyway. A Fire Stick will do a lot more, even though I'm not really an Amazon user. I've researched them, they are quite cheap and I should be able to get up and running with one fine.
Realist
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30-05-2018, 01:30 PM
3

Re: Amazon Fire stick

If the TV connects to another device fine, and if other devices connect to your home WiFi fine, then it's clear that you're not putting the right password or associated details into the TV. The character sets might not be what you think they are. You might need an underline instead of a hyphen, a letter O instead of number 0 and so on. Has to be something like that.

You can eliminate this by using your computer to temporarily change your router password to something simple like xxxxxx. If the TV still doesn't connect then there is some other issue.

Another prime suspect would be that your router has been set up to only allow either specific named devices or a specific number of devices. This is common.

Did you set up your router or did someone else do it?

On my system for example I limit the number of DNS IP Addresses that can be used to 10 which simply means that no morethan 10 devices can connect to the router at any one time which is plenty for us with multiple laptops, ereaders, wife's smart phone and printer etc.

Try getting a completely new device that has never connected to your home router before (say a friend's smart phone) and see if they can connect. If they can't then this is your problem.

Your router is configured for a maximum number of devices (which you've used up) or the router has an actual list of the MAC addresses of all your home devices and only allows those in which case you need to get the TV MAC Address added to that list.

None of that should be particularly difficult.

Note that an Amazon Fire Stick won't solve any of the above issues as it is just another device and will have the same issues as the TV.
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Ffosse
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30-05-2018, 02:37 PM
4

Re: Amazon Fire stick

I had someone in today who asked to use my wi-fi on their android tablet and it went with no problems.

I'm convinced its the TV as it's the only device which won't connect and I'm punctilious about putting in the correct password. It's internet seemed very basic when connected to my iPhone. Anyway, my Fire Stick has arrived and I look forward to setting it up.
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30-05-2018, 06:01 PM
5

Re: Amazon Fire stick

The Fire Stick is a really sleek and neat gadget - it's very fast at navigating the various menus and iPlayer works quickly and well.

I also like the ability to ask it questions (you don't have to say the Alexa word) and I've downloaded 5, all 4 and the ITV hub.

Stellar device for the price I paid (£10 off via an Argos voucher). Hard to believe it is such a low price but Amazon will no doubt be leveraging a lot of the content to make money. Strange, I wouldn't touch one of their tablets, but they do make a nice streaming stick with remote control.
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susan m
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30-05-2018, 06:19 PM
6

Re: Amazon Fire stick

Do you know while trying to understand all this technology stuff it was scrambling my brain , why can't things be easy to understand , when I went to buy a new TV and Freesat box my neighbour came with me who is quite savvy with this new stuff and thank goodness she did I came home with a scrambled brain that day and even worse when she set it up for me even then I had problems and called out a company to sort it . I don't even know what a fire stick is or where it goes . Phew .

Any way ffosse I'm glad you know what your talking about and I hope your enjoying your TV
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30-05-2018, 06:24 PM
7

Re: Amazon Fire stick

Originally Posted by susan m ->
Do you know while trying to understand all this technology stuff it was scrambling my brain , why can't things be easy to understand , when I went to buy a new TV and Freesat box my neighbour came with me who is quite savvy with this new stuff and thank goodness she did I came home with a scrambled brain that day and even worse when she set it up for me even then I had problems and called out a company to sort it . I don't even know what a fire stick is or where it goes . Phew .

Any way ffosse I'm glad you know what your talking about and I hope your enjoying your TV
Me neither!
Fire stick
Streaming stick
DNS
hot spot

No idea!
Realist
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30-05-2018, 06:39 PM
8

Re: Amazon Fire stick

Originally Posted by Ffosse ->
Hard to believe it is such a low price but Amazon will no doubt be leveraging a lot of the content to make money.
Yeah that's likely the truth. Once you surf your way through the limited FREE content (as I'm sure millions of people have done before you) then it will all be pay per view. That's why I don't have any of these things. Just a gadget to make people pay lots of money. I'd rather buy actual DVD box sets which are mine to keep for ever or to give to someone else.

Back to your TV issues . . .

Aside from asking for the WiFi password, did your TV also ask you to specify:

WiFi Type: WPA, WPA2, WPA Pers, WPA2 Pers

Encryption Type: AES or TKIP
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30-05-2018, 06:47 PM
9

Re: Amazon Fire stick

Originally Posted by Realist ->
Yeah that's likely the truth. Once you surf your way through the limited FREE content (as I'm sure millions of people have done before you) then it will all be pay per view. That's why I don't have any of these things. Just a gadget to make people pay lots of money. I'd rather buy actual DVD box sets which are mine to keep for ever or to give to someone else.

Back to your TV issues . . .

Aside from asking for the WiFi password, did your TV also ask you to specify:

WiFi Type: WPA, WPA2, WPA Pers, WPA2 Pers

Encryption Type: AES or TKIP
It seemed to ask for an easy scan or a more advanced one. Either way, it could see my router no problem; inputting the correct password was where it lost it. Either way, the internet (going by the brief time I spent with it connected to my phone's hotspot) was very barebones with a poor interface.

Not sure what the problem was, but it is the only device that I've ever tried which failed to connect to the internet using my wi-fi.

The Fire Stick makes that moot, though; it connected straight away and stays connected I believe. I'm sick of registering with TV companies just so I can watch their catch-up, though - seems everyone needs a profile or an account these days. I've also deleted the debit card from my Amazon account (far too easy to rent a movie you don't want) and I don't really use Amazon, anyway.
Realist
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31-05-2018, 08:47 AM
10

Re: Amazon Fire stick

What's the make and model of your new TV Ffosse?

Actually scratch that. I'd hazard a guess that it's a new Sony TV. The problems you are experiencing are nationwide and affect a wide range of Sony TVs.

There IS a solution however, and it is somewhat similar to the problem Surfermom had with her wireless audio speaker problem.

Your home Wifi router is capable of transmitting on different channels and frequencies. Some devices, like your TV and Surfermom's wireless speaker, can't handle certain channels.

What you have to do to get this to work properly, is go into your router settings using your PC/laptop and change the WiFi channel from 13 to 11, or an equivalent change.

If you can tell me the make/model of your router I can look up the instructions for it and determine where the relevant options are.

So the good news is the problem wasn't your fault. You did everything right, it's just your router is on the wrong channel or frequency for your TV.
 
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