FRESH'S FIRE STICK

HOW TO USE AN AMAZON FIRE STICK

Welcome to FIRE TV BY FRESH

When I retired three years ago, a good friend gave me a Amazon Fire Stick that was modified to run the KODI Application.

Thousands of TV shows and Movies would be available for me to watch in my spare time.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have very little spare time (even in retirement). But that's another story.

However one show I got into was the Australian TV Show Wentworth.

Wentworth is  a grown up version of Orange Is The New Black. (Another show I loved) Wentworth would be shown in Australia first, then would hit Netflix after their season was completed in Australia.

So now I could watch Wentworth (as well as Star Trek Discovery) on my fire stick, and not have to wait for Netflix or pay those greedy **&_+*(&*  at CBS.

It was great but only good for shows that you REALLY REALLY had to see. It ran slower than the Cleveland Browns backfield. It took forever to load and was EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING.

So after playing with it for awhile, I gave up, and went back to COX CABLE.

But this year they RAISED my cost to well over TWO HUNDRED Dollars a month !!!! SO I called them.

"We'll get you a better deal!" They told me. So I waited on hold......
and waited on hold........ They finally came back......

"Best deal ever !" they told me. "But you have to RENT a new Modem, and get our CONTOUR DVR. And you get to keep your phone. And your rate will only go up 10 dollars a month."  

And I said, "Are you NUTS?? I already have a newer type modem that I own. And I have a TIVO Romeo with a LIFETIME Guide. And I hate phones !!" 

To make a long story short, I cut back to BASIC cable and signed up for HULU.

It was OK,  but not user friendly.  I eventually called COX back and caved........Stupid me.

On the bright side, I got a gal who really knew her stuff and did give me a pretty good deal. So it was a wash. COX VS HULU.

But I am sick and tired of fighting with them once a year.

The kicker was when my Cable froze up ON SUPER BOWL SUNDAY !!!!

Full disclosure here. I really don't give a rats ass about Pro Football. (but that's another story for my other blog)

But it was fun calling them and really giving them hell. 

But then, I found a YOU TUBE tutorial about the fire stick, and it dawned on me why mine sucked for air.

IT'S ALL ABOUT MEMORY AND THE WIFI.

Let me repeat,

IT'S ALL ABOUT MEMORY AND THE WIFI.

Let me splain : The Fire stick is a cheap cheap version of the fire TV.

The cost. Fire stick 39.00 Fire TV Stick streaming media player with Alexa built in, includes Alexa Voice Remote,
Fire stick 4K 49.00 Fire TV Stick 4K streaming device with Alexa built in, Ultra HD, Dolby Vision, includes the Alexa Voice Remote 
Memory: Fire stick 4 K and the regular Fire stick both has ONLY 8 gigs of memory

Let's look at the specs for those AND the bigger Fire Cube

Two things stick out here. The first is the discrepancy in the amount of memory. The CUBE has twice as much memory.

The second is the Ethernet connection. The fire stick can not be wired directly into your router !!

BUT WAIT !! - There is a way to solve both of these issues.

And that is why we are here. Not only are we going to wire our fire stick DIRECTLY to the internet (thus bypassing the dreaded WIFI) AND we are going to up the memory capability to 64 GIG !!! (You can go bigger than 64, but this is where I started) You will be able to put as many applications on the Fire stick as you want, and download MOVIES and TV Shows for viewing when you don't have internet. Like on a Cruise Ship. (Yes I know they have WIFI but I'm not giving them that kind of money)

We will begin with the most important item we will teach you. And it has NOTHING to do with Fire TV. We will start by protecting you from hackers, and your ISP from spying on your streaming. 

They all have a way of PURPOSELY clamping down your speed if you are streaming their competition. I will show you how to make it so they CAN NOT see ANY of your streaming info. And we won't get TOO technical about it. I WILL give you enough information to get you protected without causing you to go into brain freeze.

And the best thing of all is THIS IS NOT BRAIN SURGERY WE ARE DOING.I know there are seventh graders out there doing this. They may not be able to dial a rotary phone like us, but I will not be defeated !! My father always said the secret in life is knowing where the books were. He would have loved GOOGLE and YOU TUBE I discovered that the fire stick was  really simple if you just follow along. I've done the hard part. I've watched HUNDREDS of You Tube videos and read countless number of blogs on the issue. I have tested these theories, and found what Works. (and what doesn't)

We will show you how to set up a NEW Fire stick from scratch, how to JAILBREAK it so you can download programs that AMAZON doesn't want to to download. (Just like the guys selling these at the Flea Market.) We will not only upgrade the memory, we will show you how to hook it up to the internet, and even add a KEYBOARD. And we will check out some of the cool APPS that are available. Wanna watch BIG BANG THEORY in Chinese ??? It's a hoot and a half......

All on a 49.00 Fire stick.

So I hope you will stick around and follow along.

You'll thank me later.

We may even delve into some TIVO things as well as some other Techno type stuff.

This blog will not be fancy or hard to maneuver. Like my other BLOGS,

NO I DID NOT SAY THAT

and 

KILL IT CUT IT UP AND COOK IT 


 We WILL BE about the  INFORMATION. So expect lots of PICTURES and a STEP BY STEP Guide to your Fire stick.

One thing I discovered while doing my research.

IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE !!!!!

They are hundred of blogger and You Tubers talking about this. It put me in a total BRAIN Freeze. So I decided to try to simplify things for both you and me. We'll give you easy step by step directions, and simple explanations on how to use your Fire Stick. Don't worry, you can do it.

Or you can call the Junior High kid next door. 

So let's put on our 'big girl' panties and forge ahead.

Let's tell those Cable companies to STICK IT !!!! 

All the best, and see you next time