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The Ultimate Method to Access Geo-restricted Content

Digital Media Players: Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku and Chromecast

In a previous post I showed you how to install VPN on Fire TV. Though the method introduced in that article works, it has a few drawbacks. First, the method requires you to root (jailbreak) your Fire TV, which voids its warranty. Second, the method requires you to disable the update program, which means you won’t receive new features or security fixes. Above all, the method doesn’t work with all VPN services: it works perfectly with IPVanish and HideMyAss; but it doesn’t work with Cyberghost VPN or PIA (Private Internet Access), one of the most popular VPN services.

To overcome these problems, I’ve come up with a new method of unblocking Fire TV. This new approach doesn’t require you to jailbreak your device, and it works with all VPN services. Even better, it works not only with Fire TV, but also for other digital media players (Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, etc.).

Table of Contents

    Overview

    The new method, shown in Figure 1, extends your existing network by adding a second (VPN) router dedicated to devices that require access to VPN service. You connect all devices that use VPN to the second (VPN) router, and any devices that don’t use VPN to the Internet router.

    Network digram: a VPN router is connected to the main router.

    Figure 1 A second (VPN) router is connected to the Internet router using a network cable.

    You may ask, what are the advantages of using two routers, and can we simply install VPN on the existing Internet router? You certainly can, but you’re likely to run into some problems.

    First, when VPN is installed on the main Internet router it slows down the speed of every connected device, including non-VPN devices. Second, every time you make changes to the VPN setup it disrupts all connected devices. Finally, running VPN on the main router makes all connected users “virtually” reside where the VPN server is. This causes geolocation-based applications (Google Map) to function incorrectly.

    The two router setup eliminates these problems. It lets you group your devices by need: those that use VPN and those that don’t. Now you can tinker with settings on the VPN router without affecting devices connected to the main Internet router, a useful advantage for any network with multiple users.

    Preparation

    You’ll need a second router that supports the OpenVPN client and an ethernet cable to link the two routers. Also, make sure that you know how to log into each router’s configuration pages.

    Choosing a VPN Router

    You can use any router, old or new, as your second (VPN) router, but it must support the OpenVPN client. If you choose to use an old router, check the manufacturer’s website to see whether they offer firmware for your model that supports OpenVPN. If they don’t, you may find third party firmware for your model at the “supported devices” page on the following websites: dd-wrt, OpenWrt, or Asuswrt-Merlin (for Asus routers only).

    If you plan to buy a new router, make sure its firmware supports the OpenVPN client. If not, you will have to find third party firmware that meets this requirement. A list of routers I recommend is shown in Table 1.

    Table 1 Recommended VPN routers
    ModelRAM[MB]Flash[MB]VPN FirmwareCost
    TP-LINK TL-WDR36001288dd-wrt$49
    Asus RT-N66U25632Asuswrt-Merlin$124
    Asus RT-AC68U256128 Asuswrt-Merlin $200
    In this article I use an Asus AC68R as the Internet router, and an Asus RT-N66U as the VPN router.

    IP Address Plan

    I recorded the IP addresses for my routers in Table 2. You can use these settings for your routers also. Simply enter the numbers listed in Table 2 into the appropriate fields in your router configuration pages as you go through the instructions.

    If you decide to allocate your own IP address ranges to your routers, you should organize a similar table/sheet to ease your setup. You can use any private IP address range [1] for either router, but the address range allocated to one router must not ‘overlap’ with the other. Refer to this page to determine the subnet mask for your selected private IP address range. For more information refer to the notes listed below Table 2.

    Table 2 IP Address Plan
    Device Internet Router VPN Router
    Private (LAN) IP Range 192.168.1.1 – 192.168.1.254 10.0.0.1 – 10.0.0.254
    LAN Settings
    LAN IP 192.168.1.1 10.0.0.1
    LAN Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0 255.255.255.0
    WAN Settings
    WAN Connection Type PPPoE Static IP
    WAN IP Automatic 192.168.1.11
    WAN Subnet Mask Automatic 255.255.255.0
    WAN Gateway Automatic 192.168.1.1
    WAN DNS Server Automatic 192.168.1.1

    Here’s an explanation of some of the fields in Table 2.

    • For the WAN IP address of the VPN router use any IP address (e.g.192.168.1.11) from the Internet router’s IP range that is not already assigned. This permits access to the VPN router’s configuration page from devices connected to the Internet router.
    • For the WAN subnet mask of the VPN router, use the LAN subnet mask of the Internet router (e.g. 255.255.255.0).
    • For the WAN DNS server and WAN gateway of the VPN router, use the IP address of the Internet router (e.g.192.168.1.1).

    Instructions

    In the following steps I’ll first show you how to set up your VPN router through your computer. Next, on the Internet router, we’ll assign a static IP to the new router. Then we’ll configure OpenVPN on the new router. Finally, I’ll show you how to unblock various digital media players [2] using this method. Let’s get started.

    Setting Up the VPN Router

    1. Connect the VPN router to your computer using a network cable.
    2. Log into the VPN router’s configuration page.
    3. Under settings for Wireless, choose a wireless channel. (To avoid interference, choose any channel other than the one used by the Internet router.)
      RT-N10P: Wireless Network Setting

      RT-N10P: Wireless Network Setting

    4. Under LAN-> LAN IP, enter the IP address and subnet mask for the VPN router. Remember to enable DHCP under LAN-> DHCP Server.
      LAN setting of RT-N10P

      LAN setting of RT-N10P

    5. Under WAN -> Internet Connection, select “Static IP” for the WAN connection type. Then, under the WAN IP settings section, enter the WAN IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and DNS server for the VPN router.
      WAN Setting of RT-N10P

      WAN Setting of RT-N10P

    6. Under the “Administration” menu, enable the “Allow web access from WAN” option to permit WAN-connected devices to access the VPN router.

    Connecting Two Routers

    Next, connect your VPN router to the Internet router by plugging one end of an Ethernet cable into the WAN port of the VPN router, then plugging the other end of the cable into any LAN port on your Internet router.

    Configuring the Internet Router

    Next, you’ll log into your Internet router and manually assign an IP address to your VPN router. On the router’s configuration page, go to LAN->DHCP Server and enter an IP address for the VPN router. This address must be identical to the WAN IP address of the VPN router (e.g. 192.168.1.11). You may find this option in a different location depending on your router model.

    RT-AC68R DHCP static IP

    Manually assign an IP address for the VPN router.

    Setting Up the OpenVPN Client

    To set up the OpenVPN client on your VPN router, follow the instructions in “How to Install VPN Client on Your Router“.

    Connecting Digital Media Players

    You can use this method to unblock any digital media player simply by connecting it to the VPN router. No additional setup is required. Chromecast users should make sure both the device itself and the mobile phone used to control the device are connected to the (same) VPN network.

    Conclusion

    I recommend this new method because it’s easy to use, works for a variety of digital media players, and is compatible with all VPN services. Additionally, this two router setup helps you manage your VPN devices without impacting your whole network. Now, instead of devoting time to hacking your toys, you can relax and enjoy the shows you want to see. After all, shouldn’t technology make your life more convenient?

    References

    • 1. Private IP address
    • 2. Digital media player is sometimes referred to as ‘streaming player’, or ‘set-top box’.

    Got a question? Post it in our forums. We’ll work it out.

    Comments 88

    1. This method should work fine, but the geolocation isn’t always the same even if the IP is in the location you want to use. I will explain. I connect to Kansas City using ExpressVPN, which is setup on my second VPN router. After connecting to KC I open up Playstation Vue and it gives me Saint Louis local channels. I wanted KC locals. Checking my geolocation with various websites I find that not every one shows I’m connected to KC. This seems awfully strange to me. If it doesn’t work 100% of the time why don’t the brilliant minds figure it out so that the IP always matches where the server is located? Who or what is discovering my real location instead of my VPN IP?

    2. How do I send all clients on my network directly through my Asus OpenVPN? I can set it up as a server and then have clients run their own software to connect to the server. IE: computer, and cell phones can run openvpn apps and GUI to connect back to the server, but firestick and other gear that cannot use openvpn software specific to the client, leaves these devices out in the cold. How can I just force all clients in my network to go through the Asus Openvpn server I have setup on the router? If anyone can help with this I will be eternally grateful as I have tried to figure this out for way too long.

    3. Is there anyway to change which VPN region is set in real time or for a specific device from the router method?

      i.e Set Amazon Fire TV Stick to UK VPN
      then set Kodi box to US VPN

      without using the relevant VPN providers software clients i.e Cyberghosts.

      Thanks

    4. Hi William,

      I love this solution, but what are the advantages of this against just listing the VPN router as 192.168.2.1?

      ASUS routers typically don’t need flashing as the firmware includes Open Vpn etc., I’m guessing that might be the same with other brands also, so no need for Merlin….is there? Have I missed something?

      Thanks,
      Guy

    5. Hi I am using Flow in Anguilla, the router is one that I have never heard of and I am unable to find log in credentials for it (SMART/RG, Model: SR510N
      Will I still be able to use this method without being able to configure Internet router? If so, are ther any steps you can give me to help?

      1. Post
        Author

        Yes. Make sure the private IP address allocated to your VPN router does not ‘overlap’ with the range used by the Internet router.

    6. Did your setup Minus setting up Merlin on RT-N66U. Current firmware on device blocks 3rd party software from being loaded.
      But my real questions is now that Netflix is blocking VPN connections, is there a way to have devices connected to VPN router and have Netflix connection bypass the VPN. I know it sounds crazy, but I also have Kodi on same device and don’t want to lose Netflix functionality. I’ve checked other forums and there are some crazy methods that give little to no instructions. Your walkthroughs are 100% clear and precise, so I come to you VPN master.

      1. Post
        Author
    7. Hi,
      I have followed your tutorial to set up a 2nd router (ASUS AC68U) as a VPN router behind an Internet router (ASUS AC3200). However, when I try and access the VPN router admin page after I have connected the router to a Lan port, it can’t be found (192.168.1.11). I pinged the IP address from the Internet router and no response. I also don’t see it on the client list on the network map page.I set up the VPN router on a laptop and have no problem accessing the LAN admin page (10.0.0.1) from there, but no dice with the WAN address when it’s connected to the Internet router.
      Any suggestions?
      Thx,
      Guy

    8. Hi
      I have a Belkin n750 as my internet router but it does not have the feature to manually assign IP addresses around the DHCP. Also in your Table 2 IP Address Plan you show the Internet router as a PPPoE but I do not have a user name and password from my provider. Are either of these a show stopper or is there a work around.

      Thanks in advance

      1. Post
        Author
    9. I’m in the UK & got it all set up and working on my RT-AC66u (VPN Router) & RTAC87u (internet router) but Amazon Prime come up with a Geo_IP error every time I try to watch something in Amazon Prime. Would like access to US content and have set the VPN router up with a US openvpn client file from my VPN provider (VPNUnlimited).

      1. Hi James,

        I am also in the UK and have the same setup as you (RT-AC66U f/w ver 3.0.0.4.380.3831 as VPN router and RT-AC87U f/w ver 380.60 beta 2 merlin as internet router), only difference is I use IPVanish as my VPN client. My question is

        a) Did you manage to resolve your problem (I am getting the same message) and if so how?

        b) I have followed the guide as above but both routers are running very slow on the LAN ports and only my android phone seems to be picking up the 5Ghz channels.

        Any advice would be most appreciated.

    10. Hi, please advise me about connecting a usb drive to my router. If I plug the HD into my VPN router, I can’t access it from my PC which connects to the Internet router? If I plug the HD into my Internet router, then my FireTV can’t see the files?

      My current setup is my usb drive connects to my PC, and I share it with SMB:// to the FTV. I don’t want to plug the HD into my PC anymore because sometimes there’s some network issue and it makes me need to reboot the PC so the FTV can stream again from the HD. I want to bypass that so I don’t have to reboot the PC and only reboot the router.

      Can you see a solution? I don’t want to move the drive back and forth between the routers. I don’t mind if the PC can’t stream the video but I want to copy new files onto the drive, and delete and rearrange. Thanks in advance.

      1. Post
        Author

        First, connect the USB drive to the Internet router. Next, on the Fire TV, access the USB drive using the SMB protocol, e.g. smb://192.168.1.xxx

        1. Post
          Author
    11. newbie alert – can I use 2 networks on the firetv? one for all the regular firetv stuff in my actual geo-location and one for kodi via a second connection (maybe the wired assuming the wired is used by firetv?)

      I want to setup a vpn for koi but retain all the usual firetv stuff from my actual location in the UK (player etc).

      Cheers

      1. Post
        Author
        1. You’d have to manually switch the network connection between wired and wireless every time you run Kodi and then switch to a geo-sensitive app. I do this on mine so that I can watch NHL blacked out games (wireless/VPN). To watch Netflix, I have to switch back to my LAN to be geo-located and not suffer the bandwidth consequences of an encrypted pipe.

    12. Hi,

      Great article,

      Just wondering if you managed to figure out instructions to use one of the vpn routers with the Virgin media super hub?

      Thanks,
      Jeet

    13. Hi there, I have a virgin media super hub 2 wireless router.
      i currently connect my Apple TV 2 and Amazon Fire TV box to this wirelessly.
      How do I connect this up so I can use a vpn like ipvanish ?
      Any step by step instructions will be much appreciated.
      I have to use the virgin media super hub 2 as this is how I get my broadband into my home.

      1. I second this request as I have set this up as per the info yet i get connected but with issues and results in no internet connection. A revised how to would help greatly.

        1. You will need to change the superhub to being a modem not having the hub 2 can not say how to do it but will require you to change the router settings to modem access and use 192.168.100.1 to access the hub 2 setup.

    14. This is more of a question. I have an Asus RT-AC56R ( same as 56u )
      I have spent the last 2 days, with 2 separate VPN services trying to get the VPN installed on router to be faster than 6mbs. ( I get 100Mbs without it )……I, and the tech people never found an answer. I installed 10 different ways.
      I googled, and it seems to be the norm, that installing a VPN straight to a router, equals very, very slow speeds.
      The only reason I wanted to do this, is because I bought a amazon fire stick, and have Kodi on it.
      Very bummed, and give up on it……..I canceled both VPN services. ( IPVanish, and ExpressIP…Express had an awesome, and easy install with asus )

      If you have any ideas on this, let me know.

      1. Did you ever get a resolve for this. I am only getting 6Mbps out of my VPN router which kind of defeats the object since you cant watch a thing at that speed. When the VPN is turned off I am at 300Mbps….huge difference

        1. I just did the double router method (D-Link DIR803 as the main router and ASUS RT-AC68U as the VPN router) I get enough speed to stream Netflix but Hulu buffers and stalls. I read that this is due to “Double NAT” are there any setting that can be done on the main router to speed up the connection through it? (static route perhaps…i don’t want to bridge it)

          Im using the original ASUS firmware… will i get any speed improvement from the merlin firmware?

    15. Hi William
      I am newbie I’m afraid, this is a great article but I am trying to clarify a few points, I have just purchased a Netgear N300 which has DD-WRT installed, and OpenVPN configured.
      I have IPVanish as a VPN client, so do I have to follow your instructions above, or is there another setup I need to follow.
      Thanks again.
      Phil in the UK

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Phil,
        IPVanish has a great tutorial of how to set up their VPN service on a DD-WRT router. Simply follow the instructions on this page. Let me know how it goes.

    16. Hi,

      Great guide! This sounds brilliant – a really elegant solution – but I wonder if you could advise whether Samba shares will be able to cross the two networks? Say I have a device sharing content via Samba connected to the VPN router – will a device connected to the main router still be able to see the Samba share? Many thanks!

      1. Post
        Author
    17. I bought a recommended VPN router. Sooo excited to get this working. Then I learned my internet router can’t assign a fixed IP to the VPN router! It has a lot of settings but it’s an ancient one without some features like this. I’m too broke to upgrade it now. Can you think of a way around this for me, pleeeease? All I want to do is use PIA with my FireTV and have non-VPN internet for my other devices.

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Julia,

        The step of assigning a fixed IP to the VPN router is optional so you’re good to go 🙂 Which router did you get?

    18. I have the TP-Link TL-WDR3600. I cannot find “Allow web access from WAN”.

      Do I want to check Enable WDS Bridging? The router instructions say

      “Enable WDS Bridging – You can select this to enable WDS Bridging, with this function, the Router can bridge two or more Wlans. NOTE: If this checkbox is selected, you had better make sure the following settings are correct.

      SSID(to be bridged) – The SSID of the AP your Router is going to connect to as a client. You can also use the survey function to select the SSID to join.

      MAC Address(to be bridged) – The MAC Address of the AP your Router is going to connect to as a client. You can also use the survey function to select the MAC Address to join.”

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Larry,

        On a dd-wrt router, the equivalent feature of “Allow web access from WAN” is called “Remote Access”. It can be found under Administration > Management > Remote Access
        dd-wrt Remote Access

    19. Hi,

      great stuff here, thanks – i am german but I live just behind the border to France – so I get a french IP – this could be very helpful for me to easy my live with my netflix subscription etc.

      I am wondering If a Asus RT-AC51U is sufficient instead of a mentioned RT-N66U – or isnt’t a AC Version better (RT-AC66U)? I have e.g. a iPhone 6 which should be able to deal with AC….

      The confusing thing was that sometimes there is vpn server+client functionality as a feature mentioned (RT-N66U) and sometimes “only” vpn server functionality – but the manuals are looking the same….

      br
      P

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Patrick,

        I don’t think RT-AC51U will work because I couldn’t find any firmware that supports OpenVPN client.

    20. With your solution, can I use a FireTV connected WIRED to the VPN Router, or does it need to be wireless?

      1. Post
        Author

        You can connect your FireTV to the VPN router either through an Ethernet cable or over Wi-Fi.

    21. Ok for the past two hours I completely cut off my internet… thank God it’s working again. Having severe problems with the part where I connect the two routers. I’m using a Fritz Box and as soon as I am changing something, nothing is working anymore. 🙁 Do you perhaps know if it’s not possible with the Fritz Box?

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi mart.n,

        What router are you using as the Internet router, and what router as the VPN router?

    22. I was already using a second Asus RT N66U as a bridge. (Friend of mine gave it to me as he had user problems with it). The layout of my house requires a bridge, or extender, for wifi. I want to try your two router method and obviously use the second Asus for that. (Already had my own Asus RT N 66U as my internet router.). Unsure how to add a third router to this setup so I can have my wifi range extended for those devices that do not need VPN. Could I put a switch before the second Asus? Appreciate any and all help.

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Je M,

        The two router method should work with your current setup. Simply add a new VPN router to your existing setup as shown in the article. The WAN to LAN connection from your Internet router to your VPN router is wired and doesn’t affect your existing WiFi extender router.

        1. Just to be clear, I am understanding you to say I do not need to add a third router to my set up. I can use my second Asus RT-N66U, which is currently set to bridge mode and already hard wired to my first Asus RT-N66U, as the VPN router. I will be able to have my wireless devices have regular, non VPN, Internet access, and my wired devices(roku, Fire TV, Raspberry Pi 2) wired to the VPN router and have VPN access. I guess I mistakenly thought the second router being in bridge mode and already physically connected to first router would prevent having wired VPN and wireless regular access on the second router. Do I need to make any wifi setting changes on either router?

      1. Post
        Author
    23. Hi there

      Great article. I’ve opted for the TP Link WDR3600 but am struggling to find the equivalent setting to follow point 6 “Allow web access from WAN”… any hints as to where I might find it or what the setting is on this router? I’ve looked through all of the settings and can’t find anything? I’m stuck!

      Thanks.

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Vic,

        For dd-wrt firmware, the feature you’re looking for is called “Remote Access”; you can find it under Administration -> Management

        dd-wrt router: Remote Access.

    24. Good guide! 1 question though.
      After i configured everything to guide, I’m stuck at whereby I need to configure the VPN router for OpenVPN or PPTP which i have subscribed to HMA.

      But I could not access the VPN router through 192.168.1.11 or 10.0.0.1.
      Please help.

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Tay: Make sure your computer is connected to the VPN router, and is also configured to receive an IP address using DHCP. Let me know if this doesn’t solve your problem.

        1. Thanks for replying!
          Must i connect my computer to the VPN router using LAN cable?
          I have set up using wireless connection to the routers.

          1. Post
            Author
        2. Hi William,

          I’ve followed everything in your guide, so accordingly the IP of the VPN router so that I login
          should be 192.168.1.11?
          But I could not.
          Anything I missing?
          Thanks for being patient.

          1. If your computer is connected to the VPN router, you can simply open page 10.0.0.1 to administer the VPN router. If your computer is connected to the Internet router, open page 192.168.1.11 instead. To permit access to the VPN router’s configuration page from devices connected to the Internet router, make sure to enable the “Allow web access from WAN” option under the “Administration” menu on your VPN router. Let me know if you have more questions, I’m happy to help.

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Henning,

        My guess is it will work, as long as you can set up a static IP address for the VPN router on on your Airport extreme. This page shows how to reserve an IP address for a device through Airport extreme. I have not tested Airport extreme so I can’t say yes for certain. Please let us know if it works for you, it will help others using the same router.

    25. Hello,
      My VPN service does not openVPN (tigervpn), so I have to use PPTP for the WAN IP setting for the VPN router, and get the WAN IP automatically assigned by the tigerVPN server. This conflicts with the instruction provided here, to setup a fixed WAN IP, assigned by the primary router. Is there anyway around this?
      Thanks
      AG

    26. Will this method work on a Jailbreak Amazon Fire TV? What method is better suited for a Jail broken Fire TV?

      1. Post
        Author
    27. Can the fire access the NAS server that is connected to the main router? ( Fire would be on 10.x network while the NAS is on 192.x network ). I want to be able to still use XBMC for local media.

      1. In a word, yes. To access the NAS connected to the main router, you need to “add routes” to the VPN configuration file. The HOWTO page on OpenVPN’s website has very detailed instructions of how you can do this. Let me know if this doesn’t solve your problem.

        /JL

    28. Which VPN Service is better to use for a good speed? Hidemyass or IPVanish?

      I use long time already Hidemyass, but is IPVanish much faster?

      Greets

      1. Hi Thomas: IPVanish and HideMyAss are both fast. Personally, I’ve had a better experience with IPVanish. IPVanish operates their VPN service using a tier-1 network, which can offer very fast network speeds. On the other hand, HideMyAss has more server locations, which makes their VPN a better choice to unblock a wider range of websites.

        /JL

    29. I purchased the tp link router that you suggested and it does not support open vpn… I went through the entire process of flashing dd-wrt and I cannot complete the guide because I have found else where you need 8mb of flash storage to use open vpn…. very misleading and now i have a router just sitting here and I can’t use…

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi techguy85,

        The TP-link router I previously recommended was a mistake. My bad, no excuses. I’ve now corrected this mistake and updated the article. I apologize for the slip-up. Thanks for being helpful, and for being cool about it.

        I hope I didn’t lose you; please do check back soon, I have a lot more new stuff I want to share with my readers. I will try my best to keep future articles error-free. Scout’s honour 🙂

    30. Hi,

      really great site, saved me lot of time!! I also like your description and the tips you gave me, because i also looked for a solver, how i can watch Zattoo or Teleboy on my Fire TV. With your tip with a second router it worked fine.

      But i did:
      Bought the router ASUS RT-N66U because everyone recoomend it for a big flat. I connected the router like in the description of the router with my modem, connected my computer to the router, made the quick setup in the router and then i went through the instructions on Hidemyass, how to configurate OPENVPN on this router.

      Overall a work for around 10 minutes and thats it. Then i searched on my FIRE TV for the new network with the IP of the country i have choosen on my new router and now i can look all the channels i like.

      So the FIRE TV is worth every penny 😉

      Greets

      1. Thanks for your compliments, Thomas. We worked hard to make the instructions clear and easy to follow. You completed the setup in about ten minutes (that’s fast), which means our efforts were effective. Glad we could help. The two router setup is quickly becoming our most popular tutorial. It works for everybody and has no downside. We call that a win-win.

        We’re busy working on smart new solutions to common problems for upcoming articles. So tell your friends and keep in touch: subscribe to our newsletter 🙂

    31. I’m lost configuring the internet router. I can’t find were to assign a static IP to the VPN router. The DHCP configuration menu is confusing, and I don’t see anything related to the secondary (VPN) router. Please Help.

      1. Post
        Author
    32. Can anyone answer my question about accessing the FireTV once it’s behind the 2nd router? Since my computers are all on the first (main) router, and use 192.168.1.xxx as their IP addresses, how can I access the FireTV on the second router’s 10.0.0.xxx subnet in order to administer it?

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Dave,

        First, on the (2nd) VPN router, assign a static IP address to your Fire TV, e.g. 10.0.0.10.

        Second, on the main (Internet) router, assign a static IP address to your VPN router; e.g. 192.168.1.11.

        Finally, on your VPN router, setup port forwarding under “WAN->Port Forwarding”, as shown in the image below:How to access Fire TV remotely

        To connect to your Fire TV through a computer connected to the main router, use the following command:

        adb connect 192.168.1.11

        Let me know if this doesn’t solve your problem.

        1. That worked perfectly!!!! Thank you so much!! Really appreciate your help, and also your excellent guide.

      1. Post
        Author
    33. I got this all set up, thanks. One question though–how do I administer my FireTV (using adbFire, for example) from a laptop connected to the main router, rather than the VPN router that the FireTV is using?

    34. What is the effect of internet speed when connecting to a VPN using OpenVPN on a router? Will my download speeds be significantly affected?

      1. Post
        Author

        VPN will slow down your connection speed, but not enough to worry about. For example, though my connection isn’t super fast, I can stream Netflix and Pandora at the same time with no problem. Several factors can affect your speed, including the performance of your VPN server and where it’s located. I use my own VPN server, which I am quite satisfied with.

    35. I agree with others. This is such a great article. Thanks for your effort. Can you add screenshots of doing this on a dd-wrt router?

    36. This is an so awesome tutorial. Clear and comprehensible.
      Thanks a LOT for taking the effort, it will enable me to solve my problem exactly as needed.
      Greets
      Hans (Germany)

      1. Post
        Author

        Thanks for your awesome reply, Hans. I tried hard to make sure the tutorial was clear and easy to follow. Let me know how it works for you.

    37. I am a virgin media customer in the UK, I have my superhub as a modem only and use a billion 7800n as my router and wireless network. my problem is the virgin superhub is connected through the EWAN port on my router, so if i’m not mistaken this method will not work for me, am I correct?

      1. Post
        Author

        Hi Paul,
        It took me a while to look into this, but here is the answer. This method should work for you. You first need a VPN router. Then you connect one of the LAN ports on your Billion 7800(n) to the WAN port on the VPN router using an Ethernet cable. Let me know how it goes.

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