Beginner ... Questions on using VPN with Kodi and Performance

VPN
1

Hi and thanks in advance.

I have installed Kodi with The Crew, Fen Lite, Coco Scrapers and Mad Titan Add-ons.

I am using Real-Debrid (paid version) and SurfShark VPN.

I am using a FireStick.

  1. Performance

My internet is “fiber 500” … when I do a speed test near the TV whici is about 15 feet from my router, my speed measures at about 275-300.

My first question is about buffering. When I use FenLite for 'On Demand" movies and tv, all runs smooth and it’s rare to experience any buffering. But “Live TV” or Sports is basically unwatchable and buffers often . I did raise the Kodi cache in settings but no good outcome.

How can I improve this?

  1. Use of VPN – How It Impacts My Hulu Live TV

With VPN turned on, my Hulu Live TV is not available. After turning off the VPN, I need to unplug/wait/plug in again my fire stick before Hulu Live TV will work. I’ve searched and read a lot in the Kodi sub-Reddit but I don’t know to how to fix this.

Can I somehow leave my VPN on and not have it knock down my Hulu Live TV? Or,

Do I need to leave my VPN off when not using Kodi? Will this “On/Off” process work for me? Or,

Do I need to sacrifice Hulu LiveTv if I use Kodi?

What am I missing?

Thank you very much.

2

You don’t need to use a VPN if you are using real debrid. Sports and live TV are hit or miss on kodi.

3

I am not a kodi expert, far from it. In my experience going from a firestick to a shield gave me a huge performance boost. Very fast internet helped with huge files such as 40gb

4

Why are you using a VPN ?

5

No need for Surfshark (vpn) when using debrid subscription

6

Would this include services other than RD like Premiumize?

7

Second that. Don’t use VPN with real debrid. Most free sports sites with have buffering issues.

8

Thank you. I will follow that advice. That said, if I do not use a VPN, am I at greater risk on security? i.e., unscrupulous add-on developers. Again, thanks.

9

Thank you. I will research what a Shield is and how to apply one to my Chrome OS

10

I have no good reason. I used Troypoint for a “how to guide” and I guess I didn’t recognizthat e all the VPN content there was advertising and wasn’t, as I surmised, a recommendation from a good source. Thank you for responding.

11

Thank you for replying. May I ask … my internet download speed is 275-300. Would 1-gig service improve performance?

12

Traffic over RD is TLS encrypted (https), so your ISP knows you are connecting to RD servers, but they have no idea what is in the stream/download. You don’t need and probably should not use a VPN with RD, it can cause issues.

The good add ons are open source, so they can be vetted. If you use any closed source add-ons… you are at some risk with or without a VPN. Stick to Open source add ons, most of the good ones are anyway.

13

I’ve been using method above for years and have had no issue. In terms of shady developers, just use the popular add one that are mentioned here and you should be good to go

14

I think he is referring to the Nvidia Shield tablet

15

No that guy makes money off of people who click on the VPN on his site. The developers of these add-ons don’t actually care for him because they do all of this stuff for free while he’s making money off of it or so I’ve heard but with real debrid you don’t need a VPN and it’s faster without one and cheaper

16

Probably not. Buffering issues are server-side. They’re streaming to too many things at once.

17

Thank you,

I’m not sure what Open Source means. I do use Troypoint for guidance and set up instructions.

18

Copy that and thanks. I appreciate the insight.

19

Seconded! It is usually because the server stream is over subscribed. Watch some sport that is not as popular a fanbase as footie etc. watch how stable those streams are. Then watch some footie that you know has huge fanbase. You’ll see the difference. If you’re really serious about it, an IPTV sub is most prob the way to go.

20

Open Source software is software that publishes it’s source code and allows for it to be distributed, and reused under certain circumstances. So the actual source code of the app can be viewed and shared by anyone. In this context it means that the code is public, so anyone can look for malicious activity.

Here is more info:

Open source is a very common term in tech circles. But I get that some people don’t know what it is. The Kodi crowd trends towards tech