Firesticks are streaming devices you can connect with traditional or smart TVs, PCs, and laptops. You can download apps from the Amazon store to stream movies or sideload third-party apps to stream free movies, TV shows, live TV, etc.
Streaming free online content using verified sites and apps is legal, but streaming copyrighted or illegal content is not. You might not intentionally stream copyrighted content, but unverified add-ons and apps will do that for you.
So, what should you do to avoid such situations? Well, the obvious step is not using these unverified add-ons and apps. But, you can also try using a VPN that can change or hide your IP address to protect you from the government, ISP, or the original content owners. In this article, I’ll tell you about the Hotspot Shield VPN, its features, alternate options, and more.
What Is Hotspot Shield VPN, and How Does It Help You?
Hotspot Shield is a free VPN for FireStick and one of the best free VPNs out there. It is available for android phones, TVs, Firestick devices, and more platforms. Several free VPNs got a bad reputation because they sell your data to third parties, but Hotspot Shield VPN is not one of them.
It has a hundred million monthly users and is one of the most hyped VPNs in the market. Here is why you need a VPN.
1) A VPN Gives You Privacy From the Websites That Gather Your Information.
The IP address is the primary key for the advertisers to show you ads relevant to your online activities. For instance, on several occasions, you search the internet or app, or website for an item you want to buy and see ads relevant to them almost everywhere.
These ads can be on your emails, social media apps, games, pages, and more places. To stop this, you might want to use a decent VPN that can help you by hiding your original IP address and changing it with a new one.
2) A VPN Helps You to Protect Your Identity and Personal Info.
As previously mentioned, a VPN helps in improving your online security. People often visit coffee shops, airports, hotels, malls, etc., and use free Wi-fi there. However, it might put their device and privacy in danger. You can know more about the security risks related to public Wi-fi.
Almost all public Wi-fi networks use the default credentials (admin credentials) to log in, which makes it easier for hackers or scammers to access their routers. After accessing the router, it becomes easy for them to launch a malware or virus threat on all connected devices to steal data.
Using a decent VPN can save you from this because it will give you military-grade encryption, which makes it hard for a hacker to track your location, activity, and more.
3) A VPN Can Help You Save Money on Airline Tickets and Car Rentals.
This trick is for you if you use a Firestick device as a browser. You can save a handsome amount of money by using a VPN on your Firestick or other devices. Most agencies and airline companies use geo-location to set prices for generating maximum benefit. So, changing your location might save you some money. You can also use this trick to reduce the online prices of items you like.
4) A VPN Helps You to Stream and Unblock Content.
One of the USPs of a decent VPN is it unlocks geo-restricted content for you. You get access to all types of content, apps, games, websites, torrents, and more. It helps massively when you wish to stream your favorite show or movie in a different country, but geo-restrictions there would not allow you to do so.
Geo-restricted means that content is only available for a particular state or country. You will not be able to access that content anywhere else. However, you can change your location to that specific location and enjoy that content.
Now, you might have got a good idea of why a VPN is necessary in several cases. Surfing, gaming, streaming, etc., are incomplete without using a VPN. Hotspot Shield is a free and decent VPN for Firestick devices, but you might also want to try these paid VPNs for more clarity.
1) Express VPN
There are mainly 2-3 parameters for selecting a decent VPN. One is speed or network quality, servers, and price. I’ll tell you about these three or four parameters of each VPN, and you can decide which one suits you.
- It offers a user-friendly interface and a dedicated on/off button you can use to connect automatically to the best server,
- Express VPN offers more than 3000 servers that are located in more than 90+ countries,
- It allows you to connect five simultaneous devices under one subscription,
- You can buy a subscription for as low as $8.32 monthly only if you buy a one-year plan. It will cost you $9.99 if you sign for half a year and $12.95 if you sign for only a month,
- It gives you average speeds of 202, 385, and 196 Mbps on IKEv2, Open VPN, and NordLynx and Lightway protocols,
- It offers AES-256 encryption, which makes it one of the most secure VPNs as it is military-level encryption,
- Express VPN does not keep logs of your online activity. For those who do not know, keeping logs means tracking and saving users’ online activities, patterns, and data.
You can torrent and use several verified or unverified add-ons using Express VPN. It is a verified add-on that is available on the Amazon store. You can sideload your preferable VPN to the Firestick if it is not available on the Amazon store.
2) Nord VPN
Nord VPN is also one of the most used paid VPNs on Firestick devices. Here are some of its features that can help you to decide if you want to pay extra for this VPN or stick with the Hotspot Shield VPN.
- Nord VPN also offers a user-friendly interface with a dedicated Quick Connect button you can use to connect to the best available server,
- Nord VPN offers more than 5000 servers that are located in more than 60+ countries,
- It allows you to connect six simultaneous devices under one subscription,
- You can buy a subscription for as low as $3.29 monthly only if you buy a two-year plan. It will cost you $4.99 monthly if you sign for a year and $11.99 if you sign for only a month. Overall, it is cheaper than the Express VPN,
- It gives you average speeds of 227, 350, and 259 Mbps on IKEv2, Open VPN, and NordLynx and Lightway protocols,
- Nord VPN claims not to keep any logs of a user’s online activity,
- Just like Express VPN and other decent premium VPNs, it offers AES-256 encryption, which makes Nord VPN one of the most secure VPNs as it is military-level encryption.
3) Surf Shark VPN
Surf Shark VPN is a new VPN as compared to Express and Nord VPNs, but it is cheaper and provides the same features as these two. Here is a list of these features.
- Surf Shark VPN has almost 3200 servers that are located in more than 65 countries,
- Unlike other VPNs, it allows unlimited simultaneous connections, which is a decent feature,
- You can buy a subscription for as low as $2.49 monthly only if you buy a two-year plan. It will cost you $6.49 monthly if you sign for a six months deal and $12.95 if you sign for only a month. Overall, it is cheaper than other VPNs. It does not offer a one-year subscription,
- It gives you average speeds of 114, 116, and 113 Mbps on local connections and US servers’ test,
- It also claims not to keep any logs of a user’s online activity,
- It offers a money-back guarantee of 30 days.
Key Points
- Hotspot Shield is a decent and free VPN available for Firestick devices,
- A VPN gives you more security and privacy along with other features,
- Express VPN, Nord VPN, and Surfshark VPNs are some of the best-paid VPNs you can use with Firestick devices.
