Firestick and mobile data

[ericonabike]

Bit of a techy numpty, so bear with me! I have a free Virgin SIM with unlimited data, UK and EU. Have been using it to mirror phone to Chrome cast device, which I bought in Portugal. Used my phone to set up hot-spot, which device connected to. Was working fine until last night (in UK) when it wouldn't connect. No idea why, nothing had changed.
Seems Amazon Firestick is the preferred option for Funsters so am looking at getting one and ditching Chrome cast. Some Qs I hope you can answer!
1. Can I use it with my phone hot-spot?
2. Can I watch UK channels as normal?
3. How easy would it be to use it in EU?
4. There seem to be different types of Firestick. Which one would best suit my needs?
Thanks in advance, as ever.

 

[monzer]

1. Yes easy to connect to phone hot-spot.

2. Yes if you don't mind opening all the different channels on demand services - BBC iplayer, ITV HUB etc. Although there are other options for watching UK channels depending on how keen you are on breaking the law

3. Easy in EU as long as you have plenty data. Maybe some issues with iplayer etc not liking you being out the UK but easy enough to get round this. Your virgin sim may beat this problem anyway.

4. Get the 4K version.

 

[Jo662]

1. Yes easy to connect to phone hot-spot.

2. Yes if you don't mind opening all the different channels on demand services - BBC iplayer, ITV HUB etc. Although there are other options for watching UK channels depending on how keen you are on breaking the law

3. Easy in EU as long as you have plenty data. Maybe some issues with iplayer etc not liking you being out the UK but easy enough to get round this. Your virgin sim may beat this problem anyway.

4. Get the 4K version.

As monzer says, great explanation

 

[ericonabike]

Cheers monzer much appreciated. Couple of supplementaries!
1. Is 4k better solely because of picture quality? As I'm not sure that would matter on my elderly Avtex!
2. Looking at the spec on the Argos site, it comes with a mains lead? What is that for, and can it still be used off grid?

 

[monzer]

They say the 4k is just a bit slicker. The menus and movement are a bit faster than the previous versions.

Mains lead can be used at home or in the van when on hook up but in theory it'll be mostly plugged in to your tvs USB port and it gets its power from that.

I would think your TV has a USB port (most do) but obviously worth checking.

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[Littlewheels]

You might want to check out TVMucho, you have to subscribe but it’s low £s 7.99 per month or similar, download the App to a device phone/Tablet and mirror it to your TV via HDMI cable.
All the U.K. TV channels and more besides and immediate link up.

TV App - TVMucho

This TV app works everywhere and better than any IPTV, VPN, set top box, streaming app or satellite dish. Sign up for TVMucho and get 1 free hour every day.

tvmucho.com

 

[Littlewheels]

Forgot to mention you can subscribe for a month at a time,you just cancel it until you travel again,no messing it works.

 

[Madmag]

OK. I’ve read and tried to find an answer and this thread is nearest I can get to my numpty question. I was using a UK SIM card in my mifi to get UK TV by way of iPlayer whilst in Spain. Decided to use a Spanish sim in mifi system as that has mega data and TV not used a lot. So Spanish sim in mifi working well. Put UK sim in spare iPhone as decided to use that as a hot spot for firestick. I have spent the afternoon getting totally nowhere!! Am I being stupid. I would like to use iPhone with a data SIM card as a hotspot to firestick but it just won’t work. The firestick either defaults to the other Wi-Fi or doesn’t give me option of using iPhone. The SIM card works OK in old mifi unit. So are there some settings I need to change. It seems I need to have a Wi-Fi connection to firestick not just mobile data. I’m going to try and work it out in my head again and try tomorrow but in the meantime any advice really would help. I thought it would be easy, it was simple with Wi-Fi but not with just SIM card it seems. Thanks. Rant over but fed up if technology at the moment.

 

[kevenh]

iPhone with a data SIM card

The bold part could be the issue.
Is it really data only? iPhone might need a calls & data capable sim.
A Mifi router might be OK with either sim type. I’m not sure about the iPhone or other phone types.

 

[Madmag]

Yes data only. Avtex TV. Won’t connect it it in phone but will in mifi.
Had a sleep and feeling a bit calmer now thanks

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[Manic]

Use a VPN and use the mifi with Spainish sim

 

[Madmag]

I was trying to avoid using a VPN as have enough UK dates on this sim to watch all the UK TV I would want. Have tried iPlayer on iPad through mifi and seems OK will try TV later. Was just trying to use phone as thought hotspot May give better signal strength than old mifi unit. Thanks.

 

[ericonabike]

Can only add that I used a UK Virgin sim in my Andriid phone to provide a hot-spot, and it worked perfectly with Firestick throughout Spain. But did need Firestick on EHU to first set it up, rather than 12v.

 

[Madmag]

Yes Firestick is on EHU. Will try again today. Thanks

 

[Capitanjohn]

My fire stick only works on 4g, when I try to hotspot it via iPhone in Europe it drops down to 3G.

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