Amazon Fire TV Stick’s have been around for many years now. They are a great way to turn any TV into an Alexa powered Smart TV, with access to thousands of apps, movies, and shows.
A single Fire TV Stick can only run one TV at a time. In other words, if you have multiple TV’s in your home, you will need multiple Fire TV Stick’s if other people in your house are wanting to stream content at the same time.
Buying multiple devices might not be ideal for everyone, although it is the easiest solution to control multiple TV’s at the same time. Your Amazon account can be logged in to all your devices, however, certain apps have restrictions on the number of simultaneous streams.
For example, Amazon Prime limits you to two simultaneous streams per account. HBO Max limits you to one stream per account. If you plan on having multiple Fire TV Stick’s, it’s important to either have multiple Amazon accounts, or be willing to compromise with members of your household when it comes to who uses which service.
Buying multiple Fire TV Stick’s vs sharing
Sharing a Fire TV Stick between multiple TV’s is another option. This is ideal if you don’t want to buy more than one Fire TV Stick, or you are an individual who doesn’t need to have multiple streams going at one time.
A Fire TV Stick is a self-contained streaming device. The only connection it needs is to the video input on a TV. That makes sharing a single Fire TV Stick between multiple TV’s a breeze. Just unplug it from one TV, and plug it into another.
If you’re trying to decide between buying multiple and just sharing one, here are the pros and cons:
Multiple Fire TV Stick’s
Pros
- Stream content simultaneously
- No need to unplug or setup each time
- Set it and forget it
Cons
- Expensive to buy multiple Fire TV Stick’s
- Some apps limit the amount of streams per account
Sharing between multiple TV’s
Pros
- More cost effective since you are only buying one Fire TV Stick
- No need to worry about account/device/stream limits
- Your Fire TV Stick stays exactly the same as you want it, nobody else messes with it
Cons
- Need to remember to pack your Fire TV Stick when you want to use it on a different TV
- Can’t have multiple TV’s streaming at one time
Tips when sharing or buying for multiple TV’s
Connecting the Fire TV Stick to a TV is easy. Just unplug from one, and plug into another. However, you need to remember to update the Wifi setting if you are sharing your Fire TV Stick at a friends house, or anywhere with a different Wifi network.
When you originally set up your Fire TV Stick, you enter the Wifi details so it can connect to the internet. If you are going somewhere new, where it hasn’t connected to, you’ll have to provide the Wifi details before you can start streaming. You only provide them the first time. On future visits, it will remember the login details and automatically connect.
Another tip I have is for the people who will be buying multiple Fire TV Stick’s for their TV’s. When you setup a Fire TV Stick, you have to log in with your Amazon account. It automatically creates a backup of the Fire TV Stick, and uploads it to the cloud on your Amazon account.
When you buy another Fire TV Stick and log in during setup, it will ask you if you want to restore from the backup. If you select to restore from backup, all your apps and settings will be copied from your original Fire TV Stick, to your new one. This tip can save you a lot of time when setting up a new Fire TV Stick.
Final thoughts
Whether you decide to use a single Fire TV Stick for all your TV’s, or buy multiple, there are ways to enjoy content on any TV that you have. The benefit of sharing a Fire TV Stick from TV to TV is that you only have to buy it once. The downside is that you can’t enjoy it on multiple TV’s simultaneously.
The benefits of buying multiple Fire TV Stick’s is that you can enjoy simultaneous Fire TV streams at one time, and you don’t have to worry about carrying it around from TV to TV. The downside is that you have to purchase multiple devices.
See also: Fire TV Stick Lite vs 4K – The Key Differences