every youtuber agressively push VPNs, but is it really necessary if I use a streaming app (not actually downloading) ? Is there a difference here ?
Also, if VPN is needed : I already have a Mullvad (paid) VPN, running on my desktop & smartphone. I have no way to set it up on my router. Any chance I can get it running on my firestick ? (doesn’t seem to have a Mullvad app).
One solution would be to stream from my (VPN ready) smartphone, then cast to the firestick : has someone been able to do that ?
As long as you don’t stream or download any torrents you should be fine without a VPN, but you can never be too careful I guess. Even with downloading you shouldn’t have any problems
If you’re only streaming movies and TV shows you need something to hide what you’re doing from your ISP. VPNs are pushed a lot, but really you only need real-debrid for $3/month. It encrypts the traffic to their servers and because they have a full copy of what you’re watching, buffering isn’t an issue. I’m sure this will be downvoted by people that have no clue how this stuff works, but a VPN is overkill and usually just causes headaches for streaming only purposes.
Real-debrid = full bandwidth, no reliance on seeders, and is 256 bit encrypted to their servers, $3/month
VPN = encrypts EVERY thing, still relying on seeders for bandwidth, so buffering can be a thing, and usually costs about double to triple the amount
Mullvad has a beta for Android you can get on your firestick. Check the help section of their website for details, then use the Downloader app on your stick to install.
Just want to note that if you’ve installed an app that was not in the Amazon app store, and it promises “free” movies and TV, “streaming” is most likely a version of Bittorrent that downloads the pieces in order, rather than randomly.
So you run the same detection risks that you would if you downloaded the file to a PC.
The vpn is to hide ytour activity regardless of streaming or downloading, so unless you are 100% legit with everywhere you stream from and dont care, then yes, use a vpn, they arent that expensive, I think $5 a month for one of the better ones, ipvanish I think? Id jst get it for the year and pay for it and forget about it, plus you can use that on all your devices.
But if you already have one, can you download it on your firestick? if so you can log into it and use it there too without needing to buy an additional one.
Duely noted, thanks. I haven’t really ever used streaming, not sure what / where are the risks. I guess it comes from ISP noticing high data usage ? Can they actually distinguish streaming from regular, legal downloading ?
No problem, but it really just boils down to what are you trying to hide. If it’s just streaming TV shows and movies then dump the VPN and get real-debrid and thank me later.
I have never used those APK’s, but a quick Google shows that they do support RD. Troypoint is good for simple guides, but ignore all the crap about IPVanish. It’s 100% unnecessary. It’s pushed because he can make money from it.
In his instructions, if you scroll down, he walks you through adding real-debrid for those APK’s.
Once you use real-debrid, you’ll kick yourself for not using it sooner.
Also, real-debrid is just the most common and widely used add-on for this, but there are other services as well if your app uses them: premiumize and all-debrid
