Do you keep receiving the Amazon Fire Stick WiFi not in range error message yet you’re close to it?
Well, don’t fret. Let’s find out why this issue occurs and learn a couple of solutions so you can get back to using an error-free WiFi network.
The Fire Stick WiFi not being in range could be caused by a weak WiFi signal or hardware problems. You can quickly fix it by changing the security protocol on your Fire Device, disabling the Smart Connect feature, or resetting your Fire Stick.
Now that we’ve established why this issue could occur, and know some of the troubleshooting techniques, let’s get into the details and fix this problem for good.
Why Is The Amazon Fire Stick WiFi not in Range?
The most common cause for the Fire Stick WiFi not being in range is problems with your home network, but there are other potential issues that you’ll have to dismiss.
Here are some of the most common reasons this nuisance arises:
- Firestick hardware issues
- Weak WiFi signal
- Wrong IP address configuration
- Amazon service outage
- Internet outage
How to Fix The Amazon Fire Stick WiFi not in Range?
First off, you need to check if the Amazon service is down before doing anything else.
If there’s a service outage, there’s nothing else you can do other than wait for Amazon to fix the issue.
If everything seems to be working fine on their end, you can move on to the following troubleshooting tips:
Solution #1 Forget Your WiFi Network Then Reconnect It
Suppose neither restarting your router nor factory resetting your Fire Stick worked.
In that case, you can forget the Fire Stick WiFi on your device (laptop or smartphone). After that re-establish a connection after a while to see if it fixes the range issue.
Here’s how:
- On your device, navigate to Settings and select WiFi and Network.
- Find the Fire Stick WiFi and press the Menu icon (represented by three horizontal lines).
- Choose the option to forget the network and confirm your choice when triggered.
- Your Fire Stick will disconnect from your device.
- Now go back to the list of available WiFi networks and find your Fire Stick WiFi.
- Select it and enter your WiFi password when prompted.
Solution #2 Try A 2.4 GHz Network
You can also fix the Fire Stick not in range issue by using a 2.4 GHz network if possible.
If your Fire device offers a 2.4 GHz or a 5 GHz network, you can follow these steps:
- Go to the Fire Stick settings.
- Navigate to Network and switch to the 2.4 GHz network
- Check to see if your device can connect to the WiFi.
Note: The 5 GHz network is faster, but the 2.4 GHz network has a stronger signal and a greater range.
Solution #3 Restart Your Amazon Fire Stick
If your Fire Stick says the WiFi is not in range, a simple restart should quickly fix the issue.
Here are the steps on how to do it:
- Press and hold the Power button to turn off the Fire Stick.
- Wait for 30 seconds and turn it back on.
- Wait for a few minutes for the Fire Stick to completely power on.
- Once it restarts, try establishing a WiFi connection with your device.
Tip: You could also unplug the power cord then plug it back in and power on the Fire Stick.
Solution #4 Reset the Amazon Fire Stick
Factory resetting your Fire Stick might sound too simple to work, but it actually does.
Generally, resets do an excellent job clearing out any bugs in your device that could be causing the WiFi range issues.
You can factory reset the Firestick with or without a remote. Here’s how:
Steps To Factory Reset With a Remote:
- On the Fire Stick home screen, go to the Settings menu.
- Select My Fire TV in the settings options.
- Scroll to Factory Reset, select it and enter your PIN.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
- Wait for a few minutes for the reset to finish.
Tip: Don't unplug the device while the factory reset is in progress.
Steps To Factory Reset Without a Remote:
If you don’t have a remote control to navigate through the options on your Fire Stick, you can factory reset it using the Fire Stick mobile app.
Here’s how to do it:
- Download the Fire Stick app from the app and set it up in the same network as your Fire device.
- On the app, select your Firestick and establish a connection.
- Enter your 4-digit code displayed on your TV to establish the connection fully.
- Go to Settings in the app and select your device on the new page.
- Select Factory Reset in the options tab.
- Tap Confirm on the app to start the reset process and wait for a few minutes.
Solution #5 Change the Security Protocol
Foremost, you need to understand that the Fire Stick isn’t the most intelligent device on the market.
I mean that compared to devices like smartphones or laptops, it looks a little dumb for a techy device.
It doesn’t use similar state-of-the-art WiFi security protocols as those devices I’ve mentioned, and due to that, it suffers from its limitations in this area.
Most top-quality routers offer features such as excellent password-encryption procedures and various frequencies. However, these are out of the Amazon Fire Stick’s capabilities.
Unfortunately, the only encryptions that the Fire Stick can process are:
- WPA-PSK
- WPA1-PSK
- WEP
How To Change The WiFi Encryption
Now that we’ve got a brief overview of the Fire Stick’s strengths and weaknesses, we’ll change your WiFi encryption to one from the options above that your device identifies.
Here’s how to do it:
- Open your home router’s login page.
- Using your router and a laptop, connect to your WiFi.
- Enter your IP address in the web browser.
- Go to the router’s web page settings and navigate through the advanced settings.
- Change your WiFi encryption to whichever your Fire Stick can identify on Wireless settings.
More often than not, this trick works like a charm when fixing the Fire Stick range issue. However, if there are no changes, don’t get all worked up.
Try out the next solution!
Solution #6 Disable Smart Connect on Your Router
As I mentioned earlier, naturally, the Fire Stick lacks all the intelligent, cutting-edge tech like smartphones and laptops, making it a less sophisticated device.
This can cause the WiFi range issues to happen quite often. Fortunately, there’s a solution for this shortcoming.
Many routers nowadays use Smart Connect, an app specially designed to track down all WiFi-enabled devices around your house and get them connected.
The major challenge is that the Fire Stick isn't intelligent enough to be regarded as a WiFi device by the Smart Connect.
Therefore, to resolve this issue, you’ll have to dumb down your router by disabling the Smart Connect feature.
Follow these simple steps to do it:
- Open your home router’s login page.
- Using your router and a laptop, connect to your WiFi.
- Enter your IP address in the web browser.
- Log in to the router’s settings page and the Wireless settings.
- Disable the Smart Connect option
- Restart the router to activate the changes and connect your Fire Stick to your network.
The Amazon Fire Stick might say that the WiFi is not in range due to a weak WiFi signal, wrong IP address configuration, or Fire Stick hardware issues. To quickly fix it, factory reset your Fire Stick, try a 2.4 GHz network, or disable Smart Connect.
Read Next: DIRECTV Stream App Not Working on Firestick? (Fixed)
Bottom Line
As far as matters to do with tech go, the Amazon Fire Stick WiFi not in range issue is one of the simplest to resolve at home.
Generally, all devices from Amazon are usually of top-notch quality compared to those of their competitors.
However, like any other tech device, they can also experience issues, so you shouldn’t cut ties with all Amazon devices just because of the Fire Stick WiFi range problem.
Now that we’ve looked at why you are experiencing the problem and the various solutions, I trust that you can quickly fix it. Contact Amazon customer support if you tried everything, but the issue persists.
Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.