I’ve experimented with quite a lot of totally different streaming units through the years, however I all the time appear to return again to my Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max. It is small, feature-rich, and, in comparison with different streamers just like the Roku Extremely and Apple TV 4K, it delivers surprisingly good efficiency for such a compact gadget, which I am a fan of.
However one limitation that not solely the Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max has, however all of Amazon’s Fireplace TV Sticks share, is that as a result of they’re so small, they lack additional ports. This implies there is no built-in USB port for connecting a tough drive to observe private media or an Ethernet port to attach your Fireplace TV Stick on to your router.
Focusing particularly on Ethernet, these ports are normally solely discovered on streaming units just like the Fireplace TV Dice, Google TV Streamer, Apple TV 4K, and Roku Extremely due to their bigger dimension. Nevertheless, that does not imply Fireplace TV Sticks cannot use Ethernet.
With Amazon’s Fireplace TV Ethernet Adapter, which prices $15, you possibly can simply add an Ethernet port on to your Fireplace TV Stick. Nevertheless, whereas this may look like an effective way to get a extra dependable web connection, the fact is that Ethernet is not all the time quicker than Wi-Fi.
- Model
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Amazon
- Enter
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Ethernet
- Output
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Micro USB
How including an Ethernet port to a Fireplace TV Stick works
You plug the adapter into the Fireplace TV Stick’s Micro USB port
Amazon’s Ethernet Adapter is simple to arrange and plugs immediately into the Micro USB port in your Fireplace TV Stick. The adapter itself has two ports: an Ethernet port and a Micro USB port, the latter of which you employ to energy each the adapter and your Fireplace TV Stick. As soon as I had the whole lot related, my Fireplace TV Stick instantly switched to utilizing Ethernet as an alternative of Wi-Fi, and the outcomes had been just about what I anticipated.
Just like the Ethernet port on most good TVs, the Fireplace TV Ethernet Adapter has one fairly massive limitation. It solely helps 10/100 Ethernet, not Gigabit, that means it tops out at a 100 Mbps obtain pace. So when you may assume Ethernet is a quicker various to Wi-Fi in your Fireplace TV Stick, that is not all the time the case. In case your web supplier delivers strong obtain speeds and your Fireplace TV Stick has a great sign to your router, Wi-Fi can carry out simply as nicely.
I seen no distinction in any respect between utilizing the Ethernet Adapter on my Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max and its built-in Wi-Fi 6E capabilities.
In my case, I seen no distinction in any respect between utilizing the Ethernet Adapter on my Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max and its built-in Wi-Fi 6E capabilities. Exhibits and films loaded in 4K at just about the identical pace, and since most Fireplace TV apps on the Amazon Appstore are so small, they nonetheless downloaded in seconds, whether or not I used to be utilizing Ethernet or Wi-Fi.
The fact is that in case your Wi-Fi sign is respectable and never vulnerable to interference, you in all probability will not discover any distinction between utilizing Ethernet in your Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max and sticking with Wi-Fi. Nevertheless, in the event you assume your Wi-Fi could be slowing issues down in your Fireplace TV Stick and need to see if Ethernet might assist, there’s a simple option to discover out.
Do you have to use Ethernet or Wi-Fi in your Fireplace TV Stick?
You’ll be able to run a pace take a look at to search out out
Earlier than spending $15 on a Fireplace TV Ethernet adapter, I like to recommend working an web pace take a look at in your Fireplace TV Persist with see if it is truly value it.
To do that, go to Settings > Community. You may then see the Wi-Fi your Fireplace TV Stick is related to. Hover over it, and press the Pause/Play button in your distant. This may open a display the place you possibly can run a pace take a look at to see how good your Wi-Fi connection is in your Fireplace TV Stick (as you possibly can see within the picture above).
After I ran the take a look at on my Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max utilizing Wi-Fi, I bought a obtain pace of 225 Mbps, whereas once I ran the identical take a look at utilizing Ethernet, my obtain pace was solely 86 Mbps. So my obtain pace was greater than reduce in half when utilizing Ethernet over Wi-Fi. Nevertheless, in the event you run the identical take a look at and your Wi-Fi’s obtain pace is below 100 Mbps, an Ethernet adapter would seemingly profit you. In my case, it merely did not.
With all that in thoughts, there are two realities right here. Sure, utilizing an Ethernet adapter on a Fireplace TV Stick generally is a useful option to get a extra secure and dependable web connection, particularly in case your Wi-Fi sign is not the strongest. Then again, in case your Wi-Fi is already strong, you won’t discover a lot of a distinction between utilizing Ethernet and sticking with Wi-Fi in your Fireplace TV Stick.
In all equity, most streaming companies solely want about 25 Mbps of obtain pace for 4K streaming, so you possibly can’t go improper with both Ethernet or Wi-Fi in your Fireplace TV Stick. Although I will be sticking to Wi-Fi because it’s extra handy, and for the reason that 10/100 Ethernet would not make a robust sufficient distinction for me.
