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HOW I USE...
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WHAT I’D LIKE TO SEE IN EXPRESSVPNNext issue: How I use... Google Drivecountry I want to connect to. There
are three options for the UK at the
time of writing (Docklands, London,
and East London), plus many more in
other countries. ExpressVPN regularly
changes the servers it uses to avoid
detection by streaming services.
Once connected to a different
server, I can try my app again.
Sometimes, apps are cached and
remember the original location.
When this happens, I clear the cache
by restarting the Fire TV Stick (press
and hold the Home button, then select
Settings, followed by My Fire TV, and
then click Restart).
Because ExpressVPN starts
automatically and remembers its
connection state, I have to remember
to turn it off when I return home.
Open the app and click the power
button to disconnect. Again, some
apps may not work and the Fire TV
Stick may require another reboot.25 May – 7 June 2022 • Issue 632ExpressVPN sends a notification to
say it’s connected, but this is buried
inside several menus. I’d like to seethe connection status shown on the main
screen at the top, and have an option to
more quickly turn the VPN on and off.David selects ‘East London’ on ExpressVPN to access UK TV when abroadAs we explored in Issue 631’s Cover
Feature, VPNs are a great way to watch
what you want wherever you are in
the world, beating international
restrictions. I don’t usually bother
accessing content from the US, but
when I’m on holiday or on a work trip,
I do sometimes catch up on UK TV
using a VPN.
I was pleased to see ExpressVPN win
Computeractive’s Gold Award. I love
not only its speed and ease of use, but
also because it’s available for all Fire
TV Stick devices from the 2nd genera-
tion onwards, including my Fire TV
Stick 4K Max (£55 from http://www.snipca.
com/41839). I can plug it into any
TV, hook it up to the local Wi-Fi, and
watch content that would otherwise
be blocked, such as BBC iPlayer. It also
bypasses any services that a hotel has
restricted.
To install ExpressVPN on my Fire TV
Stick, I had to click the top-right icon
on the home screen (three squares and
a ‘+’ sign), then select Appstore. I then
searched for ExpressVPN, selected it
and chose the install option.
Once installed, select Open to
launch it. At this point, it’s worth
finding out where the app lives on
the Stick so that you can find it again.
Select the same icon as before (three
squares) then choose My Apps – you’ll
see ExpressVPN there.
After signing in and confirming that
it’s allowed to monitor my network
traffic, I selected where in the worldI want to connect to. For watching UK
TV, this needs to be a UK location (East
London normally works for me – as pic-
tured); for US TV, you’ll need a US server.
Click the power button icon to connect,
and the screen will go green.
Next, I click Home to return to my
home screen, and launch any other app
that I want. When I start playing content,
it’s streamed from the UK automatically
via the VPN without restrictions.
That’s the theory at least. Some streaming
services try to detect and block VPNs,
so ExpressVPN doesn’t work all of the
time. When I get any error messages, I go
back to the ExpressVPN app and change
the server for an alternative one in theKeen to watch what he wants where he wants, David Ludlow installed his
favourite VPN on a Fire TV Stick
ExpressVPN