Amazon’s Fire Stick is an amazing streaming device. It includes thousands of tv shows and movies.
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and HBO are only a fraction of the popular channels included in Fire Stick.
While Fire Stick is an impressive device, it’s complicated to attach it to your computer or laptop.
In this guide, we’ll teach you all the ways to connect Firestick with Computers and Laptops.
How to Connect FireStick with Your Computer?
You can connect the Fire Stick to your computer using two methods.
By using an HDMI converter and using HDMI directly.
Method 01: Connect FireStick to Computer through HDMI
This method may or may not work for you. If it does, awesome! If it doesn’t then you should try the second one.
Follow the steps below to see if Fire Stick works on your computer using this method.
First, you need to make sure that your computer has these 3 features.
1. HDMI Input. If your computer doesn’t have an HDMI input port, then following this process is pointless.
So make sure your computer has an HDMI input port.
2. Audio. This one goes without saying, but still, I’m saying it because a few computers don’t have built-in speakers or an audio jack.
Without audio, there is no point in watching anything, because you won’t be able to understand anything.
If your computer doesn’t have audio, install it.
3. HDCP Compliance. Your computer should follow the HDCP compliance or the content will be at high risk of being pirated.
4. Power Adapter. The power supplied by the computer won’t be enough to run the Fire Stick, that’s why you’ll need a power adapter for generating additional power.
Now that we have the 4 requirements out of the way, let’s get down to the step-by-step process.
Step 1. Attach the Fire Stick power cable with the power adapter and attach the adapter to the computer’s power outlet.
Step 2. Turn on your monitor. The Fire Stick logo should be displayed on your screen.
Step 3. Read and follow the instructions displayed on your monitor.
Step 4. Then attach the Fire Stick remote with the stick.
To do this first, you should press the Play button on your Firestick remote.
Step 5. Select the language of your choice. Every written piece of information will be displayed in your chosen language.
Step 6. You’ll display multiple network options. Choose the one you prefer.
Step 7. Sign into your Amazon account and create a new account, if you don’t have one.
That’s it. Now all you’ve to do is start streaming and enjoy.
Method 2: HDMI Converter based process
If the above method didn’t work for you, then it really is a bummer.
Because this method can be pretty cost-effective and time-consuming.
But the good news is that you can still make it work by following all the methods mentioned in this section.
The HDMI converters can do the following tasks. Convert USB to HDMI, HDMI to VGA, VGA to HDMI, DVI to HDMI, Composite to HDMI.
At least one of these methods will allow you to attach Fire Stick to your computer.
You’ll need multiple adapters for following all these methods.
VGA to HDMI
1. Attach the VGA interface to the computer.
2. Then plug in the USB and Audio connectors.
3. Attach one HDMI cable with the HDMI female interface.
4. Last, connect the other HDMI cable to the display or projector.
HDMI to VGA
1. Connect the HDMI of the adapter to your computer’s HDMI port.
2. Attach the VGA cable of your computer to the VGA port of the adapter.
3. Turn on the adapter and the computer, and enjoy.
USB to HDMI
1. Connect one side of the USB cable to your computer.
2. Attach the other side of the USB cable to the USB port in the HDMI adapter.
3. Insert the male end of the HDMI cable to the female port in the adapter.
4. Last, attach the free end of the HDMI cable to the free HDMI port of your computer.
Composite to HDMI
1. Connect the audio cable of your computer to a red or white connector on the Composite to HDMI adapter.
2. Attach the video cable to the Yellow connector.
3. Attach the HDMI cable to the computer.
That’s it! We’ve covered all the ways to make Fire Stick work on a computer.
If you are here to read only about computers and are not interested in laptops, then you should skip the next section and go to the FAQs section.
But, if you’re interested in making Fire Stick work with laptops, then you’ll get some significant information in the next section.
How to Connect FireStick with Your Laptop?
Connecting the Fire Stick with your laptop is only worth it if you travel a lot.
Otherwise, why not just use the device on a TV or a computer?
Although it’s possible to connect the Fire Stick device with a laptop, it doesn’t come without some big drawbacks.
To help you understand whether using a Fire Stick on a laptop is worth it for you, we’ve listed two methods.
Read them and find out whether one of them is worth it for you.
Method NO 1: Elgato HD60 S + ViewHD HDMI Splitter
Elgato HD60 S includes software that allows you to transfer the data from the USB-C cable to the laptop’s screen.
However, streaming videos this way requires nothing less than a Super-Laptop.
At the very least, you’ll need a Windows 10 65-bit PC and or a MacBook running Sierra.
The processor should be at least quad-core i5-4xxx and sometimes even higher.
The Graphic card should be no weaker than NVIDIA GeForce GTX 600. And last, you’ll need a USB 3.0 port.
As far as the system is concerned, you’re set. But the work is not done yet.
One last thing you’ll have to worry about is HDCP. It’s an encryption protocol that is used for preventing digital content from being illegally copied.
The problem is that the FireStick device has this protocol and the Elgato HD60 S can’t work with this protocol.
But there is no need to panic. You can get rid of HDCP encryption by using this little device called ViewHD HDMI Splitter.
The HDMI Splitter breaks the HDCP signals and only sends the HDMI signal through.
That’s it! With a Super-Laptop, Elgato HD60 S, and VIewHD HDMI Splitter you should be able to use FireStick on your laptop.
Method NO 2: A Laptop with HDMI-In port
To make FireStick work with a laptop without going through the troubles mentioned in the previous method, you’ll need a unique laptop.
Almost all laptops have an HDMI port. The FireStick also has an HDMI port. By looking at these statements it seems FireStick should work with laptops with no problem.
But, as we’ve read in the previous method, that’s certainly not the case.
While both devices have an HDMI port, the problem is that both of them have an HDMI-Output port.
None of them has an HDMI-Input port. This means, none of these devices have the capacity to receive signals, they only give signals.
Now you see why data can’t be transferred from FireStick to Laptops.
The good news is there are a few laptops (most of them were developed in the past) that have HDMI-Input ports.
These laptops are quite rare, so they’ll be darn hard to find.
And even when you find one, you won’t be able to use them for anything else than using FireStick.
That’s because most of them were created nearly a decade ago and don’t have modern features.
On the bright side, because these laptops will be old and used, they’ll be cheap.
Conclusion
Using the FireStick with a computer or laptop is complicated.
By reading this post you’ve learned multiple ways to run a FireStick on Laptops and Computers.
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