Devices like the Amazon Fire TV Stick are primarily used to stream shows and movies from services like Netflix, Hulu, and of course, Amazon Prime Video.
However, they’re actually capable of a whole lot more than that!
So, if you’re going without an internet connection for a bit, you may be wondering – does the fire stick work without internet or Wi-Fi?
In this article, I’ll cover everything that you need to know!
Can You Use An Amazon Fire Stick Without An Internet Connection?
Yes, it is possible to use a fire stick without an internet connection. There are plenty of things that you can do even without an internet connection, which we’ll get to in just a moment!
However, you will not be able to stream shows or movies that are not already downloaded onto your device.
This is because an internet connection is required to connect to the various streaming platforms, and stream the media that they offer.
Functionally, there is actually very little difference between streaming and downloading content.
While downloading works by saving a file to your device, streaming does sort of the same thing. Parts of the video file are downloaded as you stream, and then immediately played back to you. They are not stored on your device like a complete video file would, which is why you will need an internet connection in order to stream them again.
So, just like you need internet to download a file, you also need the internet to stream.
That being said, some services allow you to download videos to be watched offline. In these instances, you would be able to watch these videos without an internet connection, but you wouldn’t be able to stream anything that wasn’t yet downloaded. More on that a little later!
What Can You Do On A Fire Stick Without Internet?
We now know that you can’t stream content without an internet connection. So, what can you do?
It turns out, there’s a lot of functionality that the Fire Stick offers that doesn’t require an internet connection at all. Let’s look over some of these use cases now!
1. Play Games Offline
One thing to try out is playing some of the games offered in the Fire TV app library!
Once you’ve downloaded these to your Fire Stick, most of them can be played offline without any issues.
Fire OS – the operating system that runs your Fire Tv Stick, is actually based on Android. This means that many Android apps and games will run on it without any problems.
Best of all, because games tend to have a much smaller file size then downloaded movies, you can save a lot of them if you know that you’ll be offline in the near future.
That being said, your television remote probably isn’t very useful for playing most games.
So, you may consider investing in a Bluetooth game controller that works with Android – this should work on your Fire TV stick too!
2. Watch Downloaded Movies
Secondly, if you’ve downloaded movies onto your Fire Stick, it’s possible to watch these too – even without an internet connection!
Many streaming services allow you to download movies for offline viewing, including Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
You can also download an app like Kodi to download and view movies more easily, even without a connection to the internet.
Alternatively, many modern smart TVs also have a media browser built into them.
So, it may be easier to just download the movies onto a USB stick (or external hard drive) and load them up that way. Of course, that assumes you’re able to find legal copies of the movie to download online.
Tip: Since both Fire TV sticks as well as portable hard drives can be taken anywhere, this can be useful if you have slow internet at your primary residence. Simply visit a place with fast internet, download lots of content, and you’ll have it to view when you get back home!
3. Mirror Your Phone Or Tablet To Your TV
Finally, it’s also possible to mirror your phone to your smart TV, even without an internet connection.
Because Wi-Fi isn’t available, you will need to mirror your phone via Bluetooth instead. So, make sure that Bluetooth is available for your device.
Then, simply go to your phone’s screen mirroring function, and select your Fire Stick or smart TV on the list of devices that pops up.
From there, you’ll be able to mirror your phone or tablet’s screen – allowing you to watch anything that’s been saved on your phone, or browse the internet if your phone has an active internet connection!
Consider Using Your Phone’s Mobile Hotspot!
Just because you don’t have a Wi-Fi connection, does not mean that all hope is lost!
Most cell phones these days allow you to use your phone as a mobile hotspot. So, if you have a connection to your cellular provider’s network, you may be able to share this with your Fire Stick.
Keep in mind however that you will need to set it up as a new network on your TV, and many mobile hotspot plans only allow a limited amount of data to be used.
These plans can be as little as 5 or 10 gigabytes. For reference, 1 hour of HD video can use 1.5 gb of data, and 4K video can use 7.2 gigabytes per hour.
So, you should check with your carrier to see how much data can be allowed on a mobile hotspot, so you avoid going over it.
As noted earlier, you can always mirror your phone to your TV instead. This will still allow you to view the content on your television, without actually connecting your TV to your mobile hotspot – saving you data and preventing overages!
Conclusion
As you can see, your Amazon Fire TV Stick isn’t completely useless without an internet connection. However, you’ll only be able to mirror your phone, or view content that has already been previously downloaded.
Without internet, none of the typical streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+ will work.
In a pinch however you can use your phone’s mobile hotspot to provide internet to your fire stick.
I hope that you’ve found this article to be helpful. If you have any other questions about Amazon’s Fire TV Stick (or other streaming devices), please ask them using the comment form below.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister