Amazon Fire Stick Works for Local Streaming Without Internet
Dec 3, 2014, 3:57 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,746
Amazon Fire Stick Works for Local Streaming Without Internet
I got the Fire Stick yesterday and played with it a bit.
There are certain apps that you can install by going to the apps menu. The apps are not organized well, and it is not clear to me if those are all of the apps that are available.
There are a few DLNA renderer apps - I can tell you that without these apps the First Stick is not seen on the network as a DLNA renderer. However, since the apps were not free, I didn't install any of those so I can't say how well they work.
One of the apps available that is free is Allcast, which is made to work with the Android Allcast app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...tta.cast&hl=en. As I have Allcast on my Android phone and tablet, I installed that app on the Fire Stick.
It worked fine - I could stream local content from my phone or tablet to the Fire Stick. I could also stream videos that I had uploaded to Dropbox to the Fire Stick using the Allcast interface.
As an experiment, I created a local hotspot using my Android phone, and logged the Fire Stick into that. I then logged my Nexus 7 tablet into the same hotspot network I had created, and turned off cellular data on my phone. The result was that the Fire Stick and my tablet were both on the phone hotspot network, but there was no internet connectivity.
I was able to stream local video from my Nexus 7 to the Fire Stick using Allcast, without the necessity of being hooked up to the internet (unlike the Chromecast.)
As a further experiment, I powered the Fire Stick off and then on again to see if it could power up and attach to the network when there was no internet connection on the internet - it did connect, gave me an error message, but was able to play local media from my Nexus 7 just fine.
Apparently one can sideload Android .apk files onto the Fire Stick using the directions here: http://sideloadfiretv.com/. I believe some have had success with XBMC/Kodi, although I'm not 100% certain that people have been successful with the stick (as opposed to the box.)
There are certain apps that you can install by going to the apps menu. The apps are not organized well, and it is not clear to me if those are all of the apps that are available.
There are a few DLNA renderer apps - I can tell you that without these apps the First Stick is not seen on the network as a DLNA renderer. However, since the apps were not free, I didn't install any of those so I can't say how well they work.
One of the apps available that is free is Allcast, which is made to work with the Android Allcast app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...tta.cast&hl=en. As I have Allcast on my Android phone and tablet, I installed that app on the Fire Stick.
It worked fine - I could stream local content from my phone or tablet to the Fire Stick. I could also stream videos that I had uploaded to Dropbox to the Fire Stick using the Allcast interface.
As an experiment, I created a local hotspot using my Android phone, and logged the Fire Stick into that. I then logged my Nexus 7 tablet into the same hotspot network I had created, and turned off cellular data on my phone. The result was that the Fire Stick and my tablet were both on the phone hotspot network, but there was no internet connectivity.
I was able to stream local video from my Nexus 7 to the Fire Stick using Allcast, without the necessity of being hooked up to the internet (unlike the Chromecast.)
As a further experiment, I powered the Fire Stick off and then on again to see if it could power up and attach to the network when there was no internet connection on the internet - it did connect, gave me an error message, but was able to play local media from my Nexus 7 just fine.
Apparently one can sideload Android .apk files onto the Fire Stick using the directions here: http://sideloadfiretv.com/. I believe some have had success with XBMC/Kodi, although I'm not 100% certain that people have been successful with the stick (as opposed to the box.)
Dec 3, 2014, 4:10 pm
#2
Join Date: Jul 2007
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Biggest catch at the moment is actually finding one. Amazon are out of stock until the middle of January. Staples did have them for $18 on Black Friday, but are now basically sold out...
Dec 3, 2014, 6:46 pm
#3
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Can I connect the Nexus 7 to a foreign VPN (so I can watch geo-restricted TV shows), then use AllCast to view those TV shows via the Amazon Fire Stick? Or will the VPN screw up the connection to the Fire Stick, like it currently does when I try to screencast with a Roku device?
Dec 3, 2014, 6:53 pm
#4
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,746
Nope - shouldn't work. The Nexus 7 and the Fire Stick need to be on the same network, and if the Nexus 7 is on a VPN they are on different networks.
If you are at home you can get one of the routers that is compatible with Astrill - www.astrill.com. Then, your entire home will be on the VPN, so you could screen cast with the Roku of use a Chromecast or Fire Stick.
If you are at home you can get one of the routers that is compatible with Astrill - www.astrill.com. Then, your entire home will be on the VPN, so you could screen cast with the Roku of use a Chromecast or Fire Stick.
Can I connect the Nexus 7 to a foreign VPN (so I can watch geo-restricted TV shows), then use AllCast to view those TV shows via the Amazon Fire Stick? Or will the VPN screw up the connection to the Fire Stick, like it currently does when I try to screencast with a Roku device?
Dec 4, 2014, 9:47 am
#5
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I'm not really shocked that it works without an internet connection, especially with captive network login being a feature that's advertised as coming soon. Even though the interface is extremely customized, the Fire Stick has more true Android at its heart than the Chromecast does.
Reports are XBMC/Kodi is working well on the Stick after side-loading... I plan on giving it a go this weekend. I keep expecting SPMC to make it into the Fire TV section of the AppStore to eliminate the need to side-load, but so far it has not. Once I put XBMC/Kodi on, I'll probably go as far as setting it up to launch on startup, setting the home-button to return to XBMC, and launching other apps (Netflix, Hulu, etc) from within XBMC masking the Fire TV interface completely.
Reports are XBMC/Kodi is working well on the Stick after side-loading... I plan on giving it a go this weekend. I keep expecting SPMC to make it into the Fire TV section of the AppStore to eliminate the need to side-load, but so far it has not. Once I put XBMC/Kodi on, I'll probably go as far as setting it up to launch on startup, setting the home-button to return to XBMC, and launching other apps (Netflix, Hulu, etc) from within XBMC masking the Fire TV interface completely.
Dec 4, 2014, 12:09 pm
#6
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Care to tell us how you would do that, or where one could get instructions on how to do that?
Dec 4, 2014, 1:20 pm
#7
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http://kodi.wiki/view/Amazon_Fire_TV
EDIT: Looks like root is required for some methods of bypassing the home screen, but not for others. Root is currently not available for the Stick (except for a fairly complicated hardware method that requires soldering an SD-Sniffer to the mainboard to offload the file-system to a PC).
EDIT: Looks like root is required for some methods of bypassing the home screen, but not for others. Root is currently not available for the Stick (except for a fairly complicated hardware method that requires soldering an SD-Sniffer to the mainboard to offload the file-system to a PC).
Last edited by IsleOfMan; Dec 4, 2014 at 2:17 pm
Dec 3, 2018, 12:33 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,746
Tried this on a new 4K Fire Stick and it did not work.
I got the Fire Stick yesterday and played with it a bit.
There are certain apps that you can install by going to the apps menu. The apps are not organized well, and it is not clear to me if those are all of the apps that are available.
There are a few DLNA renderer apps - I can tell you that without these apps the First Stick is not seen on the network as a DLNA renderer. However, since the apps were not free, I didn't install any of those so I can't say how well they work.
One of the apps available that is free is Allcast, which is made to work with the Android Allcast app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...tta.cast&hl=en. As I have Allcast on my Android phone and tablet, I installed that app on the Fire Stick.
It worked fine - I could stream local content from my phone or tablet to the Fire Stick. I could also stream videos that I had uploaded to Dropbox to the Fire Stick using the Allcast interface.
As an experiment, I created a local hotspot using my Android phone, and logged the Fire Stick into that. I then logged my Nexus 7 tablet into the same hotspot network I had created, and turned off cellular data on my phone. The result was that the Fire Stick and my tablet were both on the phone hotspot network, but there was no internet connectivity.
I was able to stream local video from my Nexus 7 to the Fire Stick using Allcast, without the necessity of being hooked up to the internet (unlike the Chromecast.)
As a further experiment, I powered the Fire Stick off and then on again to see if it could power up and attach to the network when there was no internet connection on the internet - it did connect, gave me an error message, but was able to play local media from my Nexus 7 just fine.
Apparently one can sideload Android .apk files onto the Fire Stick using the directions here: Sideload FireTV. I believe some have had success with XBMC/Kodi, although I'm not 100% certain that people have been successful with the stick (as opposed to the box.)
There are certain apps that you can install by going to the apps menu. The apps are not organized well, and it is not clear to me if those are all of the apps that are available.
There are a few DLNA renderer apps - I can tell you that without these apps the First Stick is not seen on the network as a DLNA renderer. However, since the apps were not free, I didn't install any of those so I can't say how well they work.
One of the apps available that is free is Allcast, which is made to work with the Android Allcast app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...tta.cast&hl=en. As I have Allcast on my Android phone and tablet, I installed that app on the Fire Stick.
It worked fine - I could stream local content from my phone or tablet to the Fire Stick. I could also stream videos that I had uploaded to Dropbox to the Fire Stick using the Allcast interface.
As an experiment, I created a local hotspot using my Android phone, and logged the Fire Stick into that. I then logged my Nexus 7 tablet into the same hotspot network I had created, and turned off cellular data on my phone. The result was that the Fire Stick and my tablet were both on the phone hotspot network, but there was no internet connectivity.
I was able to stream local video from my Nexus 7 to the Fire Stick using Allcast, without the necessity of being hooked up to the internet (unlike the Chromecast.)
As a further experiment, I powered the Fire Stick off and then on again to see if it could power up and attach to the network when there was no internet connection on the internet - it did connect, gave me an error message, but was able to play local media from my Nexus 7 just fine.
Apparently one can sideload Android .apk files onto the Fire Stick using the directions here: Sideload FireTV. I believe some have had success with XBMC/Kodi, although I'm not 100% certain that people have been successful with the stick (as opposed to the box.)
Dec 11, 2018, 7:51 am
#10
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My setup at home is a PC with media files, and Universal Media Server as a DLNA server. Then VLC on my Fire stick to play media. As long as the PC with UMS and the media is on the same network as the Fire TV stick I can browse from the Fire Stick and play media, with or without the internet.