Fire Stick vs Fire Stick 4k

by HCLogo

I have a Fire Stick (non-4k) that buffers regularly while my shield has no problem at all with the IPTV service. Is the non-4k Fire Stick not adequate for IPTV? Should I upgrade it to a 4k?

lvpre

I have a 4k in the living and 2nd gen in the bedroom, they both perform pretty well with Tivimate. The 2nd gen is a little slower, but it works fine. Have you tried resetting the firestick? I have very few apps installed on my firestick, so there is plenty of free space too.

brewcrewtime

I think it is worth the upgrade. The 4K is on sale right through Amazon and Best Buy for $30. If you bought your non 4K fire stick from Amazon they will give you an extra 20% off to trade it in as well so it would be $24. I would also do a speed test on your Shield and non 4K FS to see if you are seeing a large difference on speed.

aeitv

Yeah Firesticks struggle when there’s not much space left on them I’d aim for minimum 1gb but I keep mine around 2gb. You have to regularly clear cache and force close apps. Download an app called Background Apps and Process List from Amazon store will make it easier to do.

mjlang07

Download a wifi analyzer for your phone and check that your stick is getting enough signal. Hold the phone beside the stick. You are looking for a reading less than -60 db. Also unless your router is less than 20ft from the device do not use 5ghz wifi as it is far less reliable than 2.4ghz.

Richg542

I have a 4K fire stick and a non-4K with an IPTV service running the TiviMate Player And I found that the non-4K with the IPTV service would buffer alot and my 4k rarely ever buffered so I decided to hardwire both devices to the router and what a difference it make.... The non-4K very rarely buffers now & the 4K don’t buffer at all now..... Here is the set up that I have with both devices..

https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Streaming-Logitech-Keyboards-Nintendo/dp/B07ZF6KSTR

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Gigabit-Ethernet-Converter-Support/dp/B014ZOJX7W

https://www.amazon.com/Mediabridge-Ethernet-Cable-100-Feet/dp/B003RCI5A0

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-128GB-Ultra-Flash-Drive/dp/B081QSJNRJ

https://www.amazon.com/BlueRigger-Extension-Ethernet-Supports-Channel/dp/B00S0ABFI8

dabig49

I recommend the Tivo 4K Stream over the 4k Firestick. more customizable after deleting pre installed apps it has about. 5GB more storage too

Emotional-Study-9936

Do you use a proper power supply for your firestick, not usb socket on the tv, but plugged in with the provided power supply? I had the same issue, was using a usb socket on the tv and had buffering issues. Plugged in the proper power supply and haven’t had any buffering since. Friends have had same issue and power supply sorted their buffering issue as well.

GetSecure

Make sure the stream is using HLS(m3u8) NOT MPEGTS(ts).

On my firestick 4k, ts always buffers, switching to m3u8 fixes it. Firesticks can't handle MPEGTS on high quality channels.