Develop Bugs

VPN Client on the Fire TV

Hi,
I'm in France and trying to set up a VPN client on the Fire TV.
The only decent I've found on the store is VPNroot which won't connect and display a "socket address family" error.
I'm using Boxpn service which works great on my desktop/mobiles.
Anyone succeeded in setting a VPN client on the ftv ?

..

c0mm0n said:
Hi,
I'm in France and trying to set up a VPN client on the Fire TV.
The only decent I've found on the store is VPNroot which won't connect and display a "socket address family" error.
I'm using Boxpn service which works great on my desktop/mobiles.
Anyone succeeded in setting a VPN client on the ftv ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not yet. I have tried HMA and vyprVPN the apps crash when connecting to a server. You could do what I did and install DD-WRT on your router, granted your router is compatible. It works great for me and a have everything behind that router protected by the VPN

Yes i'm working on the router side too, but still thinks it'd be great to have the client running on the FTV itself.

c0mm0n said:
Yes i'm working on the router side too, but still thinks it'd be great to have the client running on the FTV itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it would be cool to take it anywhere with you and just fire up the VPN app and get all the content without having to worry about carrying a router with you. ill keep looking into it. will update if find anything

Tun.ko with droidvpn works.
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Free mobile app

Proxydroid with socks5 algo works.
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Free mobile app

I'm afraid, Fire TV OS is not particularly receptive to VPN usage however, if your router supports DD-WRT firmware, it's a good news because DD-WRT has the option of selecting different VPN configurations like: PPTP, L2TP or OpenVPN and Once configured, users on the network don’t need to enter a log in process when they need to activate the VPN. It just starts automatically, so any device connects automatically and easily, giving you all the benefits of using a reliable VPN service.

^^ Macuser just mentioned the tun.ko vpn module got it working. Theres a tun.ko installer by droidvpn in the playstore that some of u guys may want to mess with.

i tried to follow Rose Ab's idea
i found an old router with dd-wrt on it, i now have to networks: one local and one connected via vpn which has the AFTV on it.
it works great

lanfeust said:
i tried to follow Rose Ab's idea
i found an old router with dd-wrt on it, i now have to networks: one local and one connected via vpn which has the AFTV on it.
it works great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to share how you configured the two networks? I'm thinking about doing the same thing, but can't find a reliable guide to do so.
I have two routers - both configured with dd-wrt. I find that when I plug my second router (w/vpn) into the first's LAN port, I can never get a connection to pass through. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

vyktym said:
Care to share how you configured the two networks? I'm thinking about doing the same thing, but can't find a reliable guide to do so.
I have two routers - both configured with dd-wrt. I find that when I plug my second router (w/vpn) into the first's LAN port, I can never get a connection to pass through. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually, i have one router for my "usefull" network wich is configured as a gateway (you can use your internet box too). The other is configured as a vpn connected client, connected on the first, making a network for devices that need to be connected to the USA. I use purevpn and they have good tutorials for tomato or ddwrt and other kind of routers.
I also have a NAS with two ethernet ports... each connected on a different network, so it can be available from the fire tv and my computer

lanfeust said:
actually, i have one router for my "usefull" network wich is configured as a gateway (you can use your internet box too). The other is configured as a vpn connected client, connected on the first, making a network for devices that need to be connected to the USA. I use purevpn and they have good tutorials for tomato or ddwrt and other kind of routers.
I also have a NAS with two ethernet ports... each connected on a different network, so it can be available from the fire tv and my computer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for clarifying. I think I got it working on my end by configuring the 2nd router to use the first router's IP address as the gateway and local DNS server. Still not my preferred option (waiting for the PIA android app to function by itself), but it will work for now. Cheers.

wouldnt it be better to just load up DDWRT on a router and configure your vpn from there?

macuser said:
Tun.ko with droidvpn works.
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell us a little more about how you got this working?
Thanks

The best option avalaible is proxydroid.
Droidvpn is too slow.
Knowing this, if you still prefer using a vpn just let me know.

macuser said:
The best option avalaible is proxydroid.
Droidvpn is too slow.
Knowing this, if you still prefer using a vpn just let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you explain the settings on the router side? I have dd-wrt

OpenVPN running both natively and on router
justin6162 said:
Can you explain the settings on the router side? I have dd-wrt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a thread on reddit that explains both using the OpenVPN client directly on FireTV or split-routing setup.
Here is the link to use the OpenVPN client natively on FireTV:
reddit.com/r/fireTV/comments/2b4hlh/finally_got_vpn_working/
Here is the link to use OpenVPN on the router and selectively route traffic over the tunnel for the FireTV:
reddit.com/r/fireTV/comments/2b4hlh/finally_got_vpn_working/cjwup38
I'm sure you can adapt the instructions to suit dd-wrt. And if you can't, maybe you should switch over to OpenWRT.
P.s. I'm a lurker so I cannot generate links until I've posted 10 times. Maybe a mod can do it, or someone else can repost it, or better yet, transcribe the instructions.

snappywan said:
There is a thread on reddit that explains both using the OpenVPN client directly on FireTV or split-routing setup.
Here is the link to use the OpenVPN client natively on FireTV:
reddit.com/r/fireTV/comments/2b4hlh/finally_got_vpn_working/
Here is the link to use OpenVPN on the router and selectively route traffic over the tunnel for the FireTV:
reddit.com/r/fireTV/comments/2b4hlh/finally_got_vpn_working/cjwup38
I'm sure you can adapt the instructions to suit dd-wrt. And if you can't, maybe you should switch over to OpenWRT.
P.s. I'm a lurker so I cannot generate links until I've posted 10 times. Maybe a mod can do it, or someone else can repost it, or better yet, transcribe the instructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to get a split tunnel up and running on an ASUS RT-N66U router running Merlin Firmware. The VPN in Merlin is basically a port of OpenVPN in the tomato firmware implementation. The first step is to create the VPN tunnel and then you can setup the separate routes. For Private Internet Access (PIA). I used the following instructions to setup the tunnel:
https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/110/updated-tomato-setup-for-newer-branches-including-tomatousb/p1
Next I followed the instructions on this page for setting up a separate route for my FireTv. With this configuration my AFTV goes through the VPN tunnel and everything else goes through the normal Wan to my ISP. I followed the following instruction. Look at page 2 of the post for the instructions by WIZIN
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9311&highlight=split
This is tailored for ASUS routers, but the idea should not be too difficult to implement on and dd-wrt o tomato firmware.
For me this is a much cleaner solution than running something on the AFTV. It starts up and shuts down with the router, so I don' have worry about restarting it when I reboot on the AFTV or it using CPU and memory on the AFTV.

Please help
Rose Ab said:
I'm afraid, Fire TV OS is not particularly receptive to VPN usage however, if your router supports DD-WRT firmware, it's a good news because DD-WRT has the option of selecting different VPN configurations like: PPTP, L2TP or OpenVPN and Once configured, users on the network don’t need to enter a log in process when they need to activate the VPN. It just starts automatically, so any device connects automatically and easily, giving you all the benefits of using a reliable VPN service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a fire tv and would like to have a backup to connect to the office. I have a Asus N900 which has asuswrt fimrware. How do I setup the client to connect I am getting bad config on mine when trying to connect. IPCP -timeout sending config-requests.

How to Block Root using UVerse Gateway?

Hi
I seem to have hit a bit of bad luck.
I have ATT Uverse with their 3800HGV-B Gateway, and a Netgear WNDR4300 behind it. As Uverse gateway wouldn't block the amzdigitaldownloads.edgesuite.net, softwareupdates.amazon.com domains, I "blocked" them on the Netgear router, and AFTV is connected via Ethernet to the Netgear box.
I ordered AFTV from Staples and was lucky to get a rootable version (v620), the above blocking was not effective and v820 got downloaded but didn't autoinstall. I went ahead and Rooted it using AFTV Utility, and made a mistake!! of not disabling OTA updates on AFTV. I was make a mistake and clicked in the OTA menu and lost all root
I tried another AFTV box, and this installed OTA and went straight to v520. I have used AFTV Utlity to block further updates hoping it might be easier to get Root on this version than v820.
My "blocking" on Netgear router is clearly not working.
I MAY give this another try w/ a new AFTV order but need to know how to block the sites using Uverse Router. I would really like to get a Rootable AFTV, as I want to have XBMC assessable via the home page, pair my Wii Remotes, etc.
Is there anyway to determine the stock FW version based on AFTV DSN Number.
Any guidance would be most appreciated.
I really want the Root

Umm, ~200 views and no replies. I hope soem guru chimes in

First off, you should ask questions in the q&a forum. You get better results. But hold on, let me find my spoon...I don't use a netgear router so I can't tell u exactly what to do but you can probably Google it. On the router, you would need to look for parental controls or firewall areas. Use key word blocking or url blocking and block the required sites. They are listed around this forum somewhere. Then before you even power up your firetv, use your computer and try and download the software updates from Amazon. If you have your router set up correctly it should give you an error and not let you get them.
Edit: quick Google search turned up this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2760884

Thanks for taking the time to post a reply. The issue I have is wrt the interaction of UVerse Gateway and the 2nd Netgear Router behind it. As DNS is still handled by Uverse, (I think) Netgear router is not able to block it. I have that part configured. I will try and block the additional URL in the thread. Thanks again.

Legolas2 said:
Thanks for taking the time to post a reply. The issue I have is wrt the interaction of UVerse Gateway and the 2nd Netgear Router behind it. As DNS is still handled by Uverse, (I think) Netgear router is not able to block it. I have that part configured. I will try and block the additional URL in the thread. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use UVerse but I have a similar setup with a router behind a gateway. Can't you disable DNS on the gateway and configure the router to handle DNS?
I can't offer specifics on UVerse as I don't use it but on mine I just turn off DNS on the gateway and let my router handle it.

The easy way to do it is to open a free account on opendns.com and block from there. After root, follow this guide: http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-block-ota-update-for-amazon-fire-tv-and-keep-root-access/

Do you have DD-WRT installed on your Netgear? If so, I have the same setup (except I have a Time Warner cable in place of Uverse). Using the the DNSMasq on my Netgear does prevent DNS lookups. I can confirm that with my setup. The Netgear does not need to pass through the DNS look-up further upstream if you properly set up your Masq options in DD-WRT. I have used 2 routers with DD-WRT setup and both have worked as intended.
The reason I can say that it works is that my updates were blocked, but more importantly, any pings to the the blocked addresses from my laptop (hooked to the same Netgear router) results in the bogus IP I put (127.0.0.1). One thing you want to make sure to test your setup is to make sure that you ping it on a computer and make sure that you don't have any static DNS entries for your network adapter on your machine that you are testing with.
If you have DD-WRT installed or plan to install it, please update the thread and I can post some pictures of my setup.

jmerrilljr2 said:
The easy way to do it is to open a free account on opendns.com and block from there. After root, follow this guide: http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-block-ota-update-for-amazon-fire-tv-and-keep-root-access/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bingo. I had to do this when my router blocks were not working. Before I even plugged in my FTV, I tested the update web addresses in my browser. If I hadn't of done that, then I would've thought that my router block was working and lost root as soon as I plugged it in. Instead, I saw that my router blocks were eff'd, and signed up for OpenDNS. Confirmed the blocks in my browser...THEN, I plugged in the FTV for the first time.
Anytime you only get one shot at something, you really want to make sure that you get it right and don't miss.

Now that Staples has AFTV down to $84, I will try my luck again and use OpenDNS setup. Hopefully I can get a "rootable" FW version out of the box.
BTW, Uverse Gateway sucks

Legolas2 said:
Now that Staples has AFTV down to $84, I will try my luck again and use OpenDNS setup. Hopefully I can get a "rootable" FW version out of the box.
BTW, Uverse Gateway sucks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took a look at a pdf of your 3800HGV-B Gateway modem and it apparently does bridge mode.
Bridge mode will make it act like a modem only, and let your router take care of DNS & all the other settings. It's how I have my home set up (I have comcast though, different hardware), as in my experience the modem/routers you get from your ISP usually sucks.
Might want to take a look into that.

nyder said:
I took a look at a pdf of your 3800HGV-B Gateway modem and it apparently does bridge mode.
Bridge mode will make it act like a modem only, and let your router take care of DNS & all the other settings. It's how I have my home set up (I have comcast though, different hardware), as in my experience the modem/routers you get from your ISP usually sucks.
Might want to take a look into that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Nyder. I managed to get 3800HGV into bridge mode and was able to block the Amazon sites from my computer. Will get to installing the new Fire TV (hopefully, it is rootable).
I wish AT&T had made this easy, it was PITA to get it working, w/ multiple factory resets needed to get it done right.

Fire Stick: Connecting to Kodi in Halls of Residence?

Hi all, first post so sorry if it's in the wrong place! I seem to have an issue connecting to my Fire Stick via adbfire. Adbfire won't connect to my Stick (Followed all steps required) and I have a feeling that it could be because I'm connected to my university Halls of Residence WiFi which is a shared network; is it possible that because of this the IP Address on my laptop won't match the one with the Stick? If so, is there any possible workaround to be able to get Kodi on the device?
Many thanks!
John

Hi,
Most universities employ Layer 2 client isolation, so that one wireless client is not able to communicate with another client. You will likely need to bring in your own router and use your own wireless SSID (against most university network AUP) in order to connect and push things via ADB.

Easiest workaround I can think of is to create your own wifi network, either by using your own router (even without an active internet connection, there are cheap ones available) or you could try a laptop/desktop or a smartphone.
If you have a wired ethernet connection or get a router which can connect to another wifi network, you may be able to get away with your own router all the time, but it's a gamble depending on your uni (mine apparently claimed that they would ban people, but I've been using a cable router without any problems so far (touch wood)).

If you go the path of your own router, be sure you hide the SSID.
The Cisco APs we used, at the university I used to work at, had a dubious "feature" that would actively search out "rogue" SSIDs and would continuously associate/deassociate with them in order to overload the AP and cause them to lock up. They didn't want students using other public available SSIDs for fear of privacy concerns.

No connection via WPA/WPA2 PSK. NO ONE can figure out!!

I have spoken to many, many different amazon tech's regarding my amazon fire tv box (Not the stick), and no one can figure this out. I had a trendnet 732br router that would not connect via wpa/wpa2 psk. Tech told me router was incompatible. I bought a tp-link ac1750 router, same problem, but could connect via "open" network, and WPA/WPA2 PSK using TKIP encryption, but not AES. Tech told me to get a "name brand" router. I just spent 300.00 on a Linksys EA9200 AC3200 router. Can connect wired, WEP, open network, but STILL cannot connect vi WPA/WPA2 PSK. Have latest updates, stock firmware, latest update, and was told that an amazon developer would be calling me back. I tried the advanced setting, and can get tit to say connected when entering IP, DNS, gateway, etc, but it then gives me an error at the homepage saying network is not connected. When trying to connect vi WPA/WPA2 PSK, I get "Saved", "Obtaining IP addess", "Authenticating", or "avoided poor internet connection. Here's soething else that's weird. I CAN connect via WPA on my old linksys WRT54G router flashed with dd-wrt, but my speeds are horrible on it. ANY ideas???? Thank you in advance.

lowaek1019 said:
I have spoken to many, many different amazon tech's regarding my amazon fire tv box (Not the stick), and no one can figure this out. I had a trendnet 732br router that would not connect via wpa/wpa2 psk. Tech told me router was incompatible. I bought a tp-link ac1750 router, same problem, but could connect via "open" network, and WPA/WPA2 PSK using TKIP encryption, but not AES. Tech told me to get a "name brand" router. I just spent 300.00 on a Linksys EA9200 AC3200 router. Can connect wired, WEP, open network, but STILL cannot connect vi WPA/WPA2 PSK. Have latest updates, stock firmware, latest update, and was told that an amazon developer would be calling me back. I tried the advanced setting, and can get tit to say connected when entering IP, DNS, gateway, etc, but it then gives me an error at the homepage saying network is not connected. When trying to connect vi WPA/WPA2 PSK, I get "Saved", "Obtaining IP addess", "Authenticating", or "avoided poor internet connection. Here's soething else that's weird. I CAN connect via WPA on my old linksys WRT54G router flashed with dd-wrt, but my speeds are horrible on it. ANY ideas???? Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never had this issue with aftv but it's interesting. I think I already know the answer to this, being an aftv user, but on a computer like linux, what you might try is to connect without the encryption then reactivate after connecting. I'm not sure thats an option on aftv but might be a way to do it on the router? Good luck. That's gotta be frustrating.
BTW--if you're into open source router software like dd-wrt, that might be the best place to go for advice. They'd probably know better than amazon.

I've had the exact same problem, are you using a 5GHz network?
if so change the channel to 40+36, that should fix things. I have no idea why but it worked for me.

KLit75 said:
Never had this issue with aftv but it's interesting. I think I already know the answer to this, being an aftv user, but on a computer like linux, what you might try is to connect without the encryption then reactivate after connecting. I'm not sure thats an option on aftv but might be a way to do it on the router? Good luck. That's gotta be frustrating.
BTW--if you're into open source router software like dd-wrt, that might be the best place to go for advice. They'd probably know better than amazon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried that, and still don't work, thank you

Special characters in your password?
Since it connects in the open, try a guest account with simple "password."

Can someone test this for me on the Fire TV 2 (takes a couple of minutes)

FireTV 2 will not allow Custom DNS on WiFi (works on Wired)
Can someone please help verify this for me ... this problem has happened since day 1 when firmware was 5.0.2 ... I am now on 5.0.3.1 and the problem is still there.
Basically once you get to the screen where you enter the passphrase for Wifi - click on Advanced and enter a unique IP / Mask and DNS. Doing this on WIRED works - but not on Wifi. Basically, on wifi it pretends to accept it - but it does not stick.
Amazon says its not possible - which makes no sense since Apple TV / PS3 / Laptop all do that. I would understand if it did not allow it for both Wired and Wireless. But when it works for Wired but not for Wireless (both talking to the same DHCP) ... then its a bug.
You can test it by changing the Custom DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 (Official Google DNS) ... and then if it works - revert back to letting DHCP set it. Please let me know if it works for you.

Nobody can test this and help out a fellow FireTV user?

I did the test. It sticks. I used my own specific ip with the dns I set.

guiso98 said:
I did the test. It sticks. I used my own specific ip with the dns I set.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I narrowed the bug down to it happening only when the DHCP server issues an IPv6 DNS address to the wireless adapter.