[apc01]

I have heard there may be issues running a VPN on the Amazon Fire TV box.

I specifically need to run a VPN with Kodi.

What is the actual situation with this?

Thanks.

[wrxtasy]

Why do you specifically want an closed Firmware box like the Amazon Fire TV that cannot even be jailbroken if you buy a new one ?

[noggin]

Yes - unless you need other aspects of the Fire TV (Netflix, Amazon etc.) and VPN support for them, or already have a Fire TV, then something like a Pi 2 running OpenElec may be a better bet. Setting up a VPN on a Pi 2 in OpenElec isn't trivial, but neither is it that tricky. I've managed it a couple of times.

[cd2022]

I have heard there may be issues running a VPN on the Amazon Fire TV box.

I specifically need to run a VPN with Kodi.

What is the actual situation with this?

Thanks.

Your best bet would be invest in a VPN capable router, I had tried a few apps but none seems to work for the FireTV, I managed to get an OPENELEC box to work but sometime it drops connections without telling you.

[noggin]

I have heard there may be issues running a VPN on the Amazon Fire TV box.

I specifically need to run a VPN with Kodi.

What is the actual situation with this?

Thanks.

Your best bet would be invest in a VPN capable router, I had tried a few apps but none seems to work for the FireTV, I managed to get an OPENELEC box to work but sometime it drops connections without telling you.

I used to use a Netgear router that I upgraded to run Tomato - though I could have used ddWRT or OpenWRT - and that worked well with OpenVPN. You need to go for one with a reasonably decent CPU spec if you want decent throughputs - my first attempt on an older Netgear I had knocking around wasn't really high enough for streaming HD video from catch up TV sites.

However I've had no problems at all with dropped connections on my Pi2 running OpenVPN within OpenElec. (I used to use my Netgear to get the Smart TV apps on my Blu-ray player to think they were in a different country - but I now have the same functionality available elsewhere)

[apc01]

Why do you specifically want an closed Firmware box like the Amazon Fire TV that cannot even be jailbroken if you buy a new one ?

My first choice of box for Kodi would be the NVidia Shield, but it is not available in the UK.

I want a high performance Android/TV/Video box mostly to run Kodi, but also Netflix. There are some decent MXQ boxes out there but they only run Netflix in 480p.

[wrxtasy]

Fair enough.
Not to alarm any Amazon Fire TV owners out there, but we have already seen what Amazon can do to legal Open Source Coded apps like Kodi, by removing them from their App store.

http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-appstore-...oves-kodi/

With their closed Firmware you really are at the mercy of Amazon with what they can do next. It is entirely possible that with the release of their new Android 5.0 Lollipop firmware they could prevent Kodi being even sideloaded on to the AFTV.

The question is do you trust Amazon anymore ?

The other point to consider is that I believe there will be no support whatsoever for any Amazon Hardware from the Kodi devs from this point onwards. The Kodi team may not publicly state this, but you can already see it happening by the requested withdrawal of SPMC (Kodi modified Android App) from the Amazon App Store by the developer Koying.
Koying is one of the main Kodi Android developers, who has now turned his considerable skills to supporting the NVIDIA Shield.

---

I suggest you would get better Kodi video results (24p + Refresh Rate Switching) by buying a RPi2 or MINIX Neo X6 and supplementing that with an Amazon Fire TV stick if you need Netflix HD. The Neo X6 will also give you 1080p HEVC(H265) decoding.

[Ned Scott]

Eh? It wouldn't go that far. I still have like 4 Fire TV sticks and a Fire TV box that I don't plan on replacing.

[wrxtasy]

Its Amazon's walled, fortified garden, who really knows what they are up too.
Let hope for existing Kodi users / Amazon owners sake they don't go all Apple TV3 and lock everything down.

Its worth warning potential purchasers I would think at this point in time.

[apc01]

Its Amazon's walled, fortified garden, who really knows what they are up too.
Let hope for existing Kodi users / Amazon owners sake they don't go all Apple TV3 and lock everything down.

Its worth warning potential purchasers I would think at this point in time.

I definitely share your concerns about Amazon. I have been in the computer, technology and later Internet businesses for 38 years and seen this progression many times before.Once the Fire has reached a certain level of success thy could lock it down.

A good comparison is the old Compaq computers that became HP. They made everything proprietary so all add-ons needed to be purchased from them at many times the cost of open-architecture. Fortunately companies like Dell came along.

Same with Amazon Fire TV. Now the NVidia is coming along with an open platform.

There is a serious risk that with a future release of firmware or Android that Kodi will be totally blocked from being side loaded.

If the NVidia Shield was available here the decision would be very easy.

[wrxtasy]

I would also like to add that Amazon / Kodi users should be very wary about updating (or allowing Auto-Updating) of the Firmware on any Amazon devices they currently own.

[Ned Scott]

No, that's tinfoil hat talk. Amazon isn't going to block sideloading because that's the only way they're allowing devs to test apps on the Fire TV box and Fire TV stick. They removed Kodi from the Amazon app store for phones and tablets, that's all. Nothing else has changed. Team Kodi isn't dropping any support, Amazon isn't anymore likely today to block things than they were a month ago, etc.

[misa]

I would also like to add that Amazon / Kodi users should be very wary about updating (or allowing Auto-Updating) of the Firmware on any Amazon devices they currently own.

Let it rest and please don't write things down which are just a strange idea and will never happen.

[apc01]

I would also like to add that Amazon / Kodi users should be very wary about updating (or allowing Auto-Updating) of the Firmware on any Amazon devices they currently own.

Let it rest and please don't write things down which are just a strange idea and will never happen.

You mean you hope will never happen. I have seen that sort of hope dashed before over the years.

From my perspective as a buyer of Kodi enabled technology, why would I even take the risk of something that could become as restricted as Apple for commercial gain, or geographically regionalised, when there are open architecture boxes out there that will always be open architecture and work globally? The Internet is all about open source which it relies on for projects such as Kodi, Android, Linux and much more. That requires open architecture hardware to make it useful and meaningful.

It seems obvious to me that Amazon are positioning themselves to be a full media provider like Netflix as an alternative to cable and satellite TV. Do you think it is in their best interests to have Kodi run on their boxes for obvious reasons? Of course not. They are after the mainstream public who do not know or care about Kodi who only want to watch TV and movies - blocking Kodi would be an easy commercial decision for Amazon.

Amazon are in the media business. NVidia are in the hardware platform business.

The NVidia box is the way forward for me, just a matter of what I do in the interim few months before UK release - an inexpensive MXQ box looks like the best option.

[wrxtasy]

I would also like to add that Amazon / Kodi users should be very wary about updating (or allowing Auto-Updating) of the Firmware on any Amazon devices they currently own.

Let it rest and please don't write things down which are just a strange idea and will never happen.

Please don't be so naive to think these things will never happen. I would rather inform potential purchasers and warn existing owners of what may happen than keep silent.

---

A little story, this time about the Sony Playstation 3.

When the PS3 was originally released it was November 2006 it was marketed as an advanced games console with an OtherOS install feature. You could actually install Linux on this machine as well as play games, some were even used for Supercomputing. A cluster of 200 PS3 computers were even used to crack SSL authentication such was the power of the advanced Cell Processor at the time. Open Source guys loved the power of this beast.

April 1st, 2010 (oh the irony !) Based on a rumor that a guy called George Hotz (Geohot) has breached security of the PS3 platform, Sony quietly removed the install OtherOS feature with a Firmware update. This caught a lot of users off guard including myself. The Sony PS3 was now locked up tighter than a Swiss Bank Vault once this Firmware was installed. Hackers and Open Source users were very pissed off. The only way to bring back the install OtherOS feature was a hardware hack to reflash the NAND or NOR which came quite a bit later.

Fast forward to January 2, 2011 and by this time the sales of PS3's had been very good for Sony's business. However it was on this day that Geohot released the PS3 root signing and encryption keys on his Website. He suddenly became Sony's public enemy No.1 and was even sued by Sony when he refused to take down these keys from his website. These keys allowed non approved Sony games and software to be installed on the PS3 including bring back the install OtherOS feature.

Moral of the story. Big corporations with big money and deep pockets will do whatever it takes to protect their business models, even if this means alienating a bunch of legal open source Kodi users in the process.

All I ask is existing and potential Amazon users be aware and informed, especially when using a platform with closed and secured Firmware.