Some Amazon Fire TV Stick owners struggle with poor WiFi signal strength. The combination of a small internal antenna, due to the device’s compact size, and being crammed behind a TV will often result in bad reception. If your Fire TV Stick is rooted, it’s possible to use a USB to Ethernet adpater to bypass WiFi entirely and connect the Stick with a wired connection. Here’s what you need to know and how to do it.
Compatible USB Ethernet Adapter
It’s important to use a USB ethernet adapter that is supported by the Fire TV Stick by default, because there is no easy way to install additional drivers. I’ve found that adopters using the Asix AX88772 chipset work great with the Fire TV Stick without any configuration. The exact adapter I used is the Monoprice USB 2.0 Ethernet Adapter 109466/9466 but there are many AX88772 adpaters that should also work. If you want to determine the chipset of a particular USB Ethernet adapter, and the manufacturer doesn’t have it listed, try downloading the adapter’s Linux or Mac drivers. The driver files or instructions will often be labeled with the chipset model.
Update
See this post for an all-in-one Ethernet adapter that works with the Fire TV Stick.
Quick Guide
Surprisingly, all you need to do to get a USB Ethernet adapter to work is connect everything up and enable OTG capabilities. The Fire TV Stick immediately recognizes the connection and automatically switches to it.
- Connect the USB Ethernet Adapter to an OTG Cable.
- Connect a wired ethernet cable to the USB Ethernet Adapter.
- Connect the OTG Cable to the Fire TV Sick and lastly to power.
- Enable OTG support on the Fire TV Stick by following this guide.
- And you’re done! The Fire TV Stick will automatically detect everything and switch to the wired connection. To verify, go to the Settings menu and scroll over to System > Network, and you’ll see it is now listed as a “Wired” connection.
Detailed Guide
If the quick guide above didn’t work, or you want a bit more insight into what’s going on, you can go through the following steps.
- Connect your OTG Cable to the Fire TV Stick and power it on.
- Connect to the Fire TV Stick via ADB.
- Enter ADB shell by running the command:
adb shell - Enter root by running the command:
su - [OPTIONAL] If you want, you can bring up your current network configuration now, before connecting the USB Ethernet Adapter, so that you can see it change later. This way you can verify that your USB ethernet adapter is recognized by the Fire TV Stick. Display your network configuration by running the command:
netcfg
- Enable OTG support by running the command:
echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/bcmpmu_otg_xceiv/host - Connect your USB Ethernet Adapter to the OTG Cable, but do not connect the Ethernet Cable yet.
- [OPTIONAL] Check that the Fire TV Stick recognised your USB Ethernet Adapter by running the command:
netcfg
You should see a new line foreth0 in the list.
- Connect the Ethernet Cable to the USB Ethernet Adapter.
- [OPTIONAL] Quickly, before the Fire TV Stick switches to the Ethernet connection and you lose your current ADB connection, view the IP address assigned to the USB Ethernet Adapter by running the command:
netcfg
- The Fire TV Stick will automatically switch to the wired ethernet connection. To verify, go to the Settings menu and scroll over to System > Network, and you’ll see it is now listed as a “Wired” connection.
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If you come across a chipset or adapter that does not work, please reply to this comment so that I can update the follow list.
Incompatible Chipsets:
Incompatible Adapters:
When you say this has to be done every time you power down or reboot the stick, does that mean every time I shut off my TV I have to redo all of this to get it to be a wired connection?
The chromecast power ethernet adapter is said to have a Asix AX88xx chip. https://store.google.com/product/ethernet_adapter_for_chromecast. Not sure if it has enough power though.
Do you need root to do this?
This.
And also, if I do this, will it block kodi ?
No. Kodi works with Ethernet or Wireless.
Did you read ANYTHING on this page? It says “rooted” in the damn title! It says you have to be rooted in the 3rd sentence!
But I’m asking if anyone has attempted to without root?
“Enter ADB shell by running the command: adb shell
Enter root by running the command: su”
As the SU command needs root to be able to grant permissions – I doubt this would work with unrooted sticks.
I was not aware of that.Thanks for the response.
To be a brain surgeon you have to go to medical school
Boogir: CAn I be a brain surgeon without going to medical school
No, you have to go to medical school
Boogir: but I want to know if anyone tried doing brain surgery with a high school diploma
Nice touch the “Dude” muahahahahah.
Plot twist: Boogir has done brain surgery with a high school diploma.
“If your Fire TV Stick is rooted,” and rooted is linked to http://www.aftvnews.com/start , because this is a major subject of this site. So you have somehow missed both the main subject of the article and main subject of the site. I guess you got here from google?
It’s in the title!!!!
OMG, the dumbing down of the world!
Can anyone confirm if a Gigabit adapter works?
I tried a Sabrent branded “USB-G1000” that reports as AX88178 on my Gen 1 Fire TV(Fire OS 5.0.5) and it did not go to “Wired” when I disconnected the onboard Ethernet.
PS: Is there a command I can do to disable the Wireless? And is there a command to let me choose which network device I am using? I’m not rooted.
Nice I was thinking the same thing, guess I should have read all the comments before I replied…
I have yet to confirm the USB adapter actually works at all. I got it for a dollar at a thrift store.
Special forces
What about a gb adapter? I have been thinking it might be nice to add one to my 1st gen firetv… I was thinking something with a AX88178 Chipset might work like this one… http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B003VSTDFG/
Is 17gb speed strong enough for a fire stick
Is there a way to make the OTG support persistent after reboots? Its not really that useful unless this is possible. Thanks
I have setup my fire stick and see the wired connection. I can also access it via ADB using the new IP address but it does not show as having internet access. It continually tells me to go to the network settings to resolve my issue. If I manually access my applications and start plex I can reach my server. Any ideas?
hello can anyone help.. I rooted by firestick and have the otg and the usb Ethernet but I am having trouble with the command prompts to enable a wired connection.. can someone help
I want to avoid wifi, so hardware Internet to my tv and firestick. How do I do this? I’m so confused. I ordered one of the parts above got it today and I’m banging my head against the wall. Please help! Thx :)
It works well but loses wired connection after a reset/power down. You have to go through the procedure again. Any way around this. I’m not familiar with Linux\android but surely there is a way to make th eth0 connection default.
Was gonna buy the adapt or etc until I saw guys comment. Not fun having to mess about each time. Anyone?
Will this USB ethernet adapter work?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006BA7D?tag=wiki085-20
For those asking about re-enabling OTG support after reboot, I’d recommend searching on the XDA developers forum. I don’t understand what this means, but there’s a description on the last comment of this thread that maybe someone could dumb down for us JV tinkerers.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/general/adapter-to-plug-usb-device-firestick-t3420851
Hello there. is there still no way to root or connect the firestick tv with OS of 5.2.1.1 to the ethernet? thanks
I have version 5.2.2 and I can not get past SU. adb shell then su and stuck. Any suggestions?
This is awesome. On the fire stick 2, you just need to hook everything up, I didn’t have to enable anything. It automatically creates the wired connection. Thanks.
Judd, Did you use the adapters identified in this article?
Ok so I’ll answer my own question. The new Amazon – Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice (aka: fire tv stick 2) will automatically detect a wired connection if you use these two adapters:
USB 2.0 Ethernet adapter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ACPST4M/?tag=aftvn-20
OTG adapter I paid $3.79 for this one because in stock therefore ships sooner
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CXAC1ZW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2PPTIYIQWMDK5
David, i have the fire tv stick 2 also with the version 5.Fire OS 5.2.1.1 and you were able to root this ? because i can´t root it …
So it doesn´t work without rooting ?
i have the fire stick 2 but not see the usb connection, just hdmi connection and usb power enter…. btw the speed improve? ty
Hi,
I Just got a cheap AX88772 Adapter and followed this guide. Wired connection is working, but after a few seconds the Stick is freezing completely. Maybe it’s a power problem, I will try if it works with a powered USB hub. Does anyone had similare problems?
Okay, powered USB Hub didn’t help. I can also connect with adb to eth0 to the DHCP assigned up address but after some time the stick freezes.
In the dmseg output I only see a few errors about IP6 bindings, but this is because I have disabled IPv6 on my router; should be the same on the wireless connection.
Any ideas?
connected to the device but when i run su after adb shell, it says not found….pleas help
Is your stick rooted? You need root to get superuser access!
I have the fire stick 2 with 5.2.2.0. I don’t believe there is a root for that just yet. I was reading somewhere that on the 5.2.2.0 it reads the otg automatically.
That’s mentioned in David’s comment above (in reply to Judd L.’s November 2016 post).
Will a usb 3.0 ethernet adapter destroy the Firestick?
I am trying to avoid destroying my firestick altogether, but what will in fact burn it out?
Hi saw your post was wondering if I had to be rooted to use this for myself am I interested. I have fire stick Alexa. Do you think it will work.
Is this jrock
It would be great if the source of this article actually answered some questions…
I also have the Fire Stick with Alexia. My wired pc gets 95Mbps. My wifi thru Fire Stick using a VPN, I get 5Mbps. I definitely want to get this wired to ethernet. However, This entire thread of yes no or maybe is confusing to say the least.
I have a NYKO Net Connect Wii ethernet adapter in which I have alsoused for my Asus laptop that works great for both,so will this work?
My husband got an adapter that came with a disc to install drivers. How do I install the drivers on my firestick? I am not very technically savvy. Says the chipset is the AX88772. Just not sure how to install the drivers to the stick or if it would even work
Her
This does not work for me at all
I get adb shell it says shell@montoya
I enter su and nothing happens
Then I enter netcfg and I get nothing
I have kingoroot and super su installed
This worked for me with an old Nintendo Wii wired Ethernet adapter I had on-hand. I did not root my unit, using the built-in support of the 2nd gen Stick. I had an old short OTG cable that lacked a power jack, so I cut the USB cable on the network adapter and wired the power leads of an old cut-off USB cable in parallel with the power and ground leads of the adapter. I then used a USB extension cable to get the connection from the Ethernet adapter up to the OTG cable, which was plugged into the Fire Stick. This allowed plugging the spliced-in USB cable into the original Fire Stick power supply and supplied power to both the Ethernet adapter and the Fire Stick. It work straight away! What a difference in the consistency of the connection and video quality!
I was a bit worried about the length of the extension cable and the gauge of the wires causing a voltage drop, but all seems good. I assume the Stick disables the WIFI radio if the wired adapter is detected, so the current draw is likely much less.
Apparently any Wii wired adapter will work, as they all (most?) use the Asix AX88772 chipset, which is known to be compatible with the Ethernet drivers in the Fire Stick. I verified the chipset by plugging into Windows and checking the Device Manager.
Total cost = $0.00
We can’t use the Fire Stick if the Fire Stick not connecting to WiFi. So you should try to fix if there is any such issue. We have so many ways to resolve the issue.