The Best IPVanish Settings for Amazon Firestick (2026 Guide for Max Speed & Privacy)

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best IPVanish VPN settings Amazon Firestick

If you are using a Firestick without a VPN in 2026, you are basically driving a car without a seatbelt. We all know we need one—whether it’s to stop your ISP from throttling your movie night or to keep your private data actually private. This post will provide the best IPVanish Settings for Amazon Firestick!

But simply installing IPVanish isn’t enough. Out of the box, the default settings are “okay,” but they aren’t great. If you want zero buffering, instant connections, and a kill switch that actually works, you need to tweak a few things.

I’ve tested every protocol and toggle on the Firestick 4K Max and the Fire TV Cube. Here are the exact settings you should use right now to get the best performance out of IPVanish.

We also covered a beginners guide into how to setup a VPN on Firestick, you might find that useful too!

1. The “Secret” to Speed: Change Your Protocol

Most people install the app and never touch this setting. Big mistake. The “Protocol” determines how your device talks to the VPN server.

Go to: Settings (Gear Icon) > VPN Protocol
Change it to: WireGuard®

Why? For years, OpenVPN was the gold standard. But in 2025, WireGuard is king. It is lighter, faster, and uses less processing power than OpenVPN. On a device like the Firestick, which doesn’t have a ton of CPU power to spare, WireGuard is a game-changer. It connects almost instantly and significantly reduces buffering on 4K streams.

When to use OpenVPN: Only switch back to OpenVPN (TCP) if you are in a location with heavy censorship (like a school, hotel, or restrictive country) where WireGuard might be blocked.

2. The “Two-App” Kill Switch Trick

This is the most confusing part of IPVanish on Firestick, and most people get it wrong.

A Kill Switch cuts your internet if the VPN drops, ensuring you never accidentally leak your real IP address. Recently, IPVanish updated their app to include the Kill Switch toggle directly in the main menu—BUT there is a catch.

Due to Amazon’s Fire OS limitations, the main app controls the Kill Switch, but it still needs a helper app to do the heavy lifting in the background.

How to set it up correctly:

Open the IPVanish App and go to Settings.
Tick the box for Kill Switch.
If you haven’t already, the app will prompt you to install a second app called “IPVanish VPN Kill Switch” from the Amazon Appstore. You must install this.
Once installed, you don’t need to open the second app. Just leave it installed. You can now toggle the protection on/off directly from the main IPVanish dashboard.

3. Split Tunneling: Speed Up Your Local Apps

Do you really need to route your local weather app or your speed test app through a server in Switzerland? Probably not.

Split Tunneling lets you choose which apps use the VPN and which ones bypass it. This frees up bandwidth for the apps that actually need privacy (like Cinema HD, Stremio, or Kodi).

Go to: Settings > Split Tunneling
Select: App Filter > Select Apps
Action: Check the apps you want to exclude from the VPN (e.g., Netflix if you want your local library, or system apps).

4. Scramble: The Nuclear Option

You will see a setting under OpenVPN called Scramble.

My Advice: Leave this OFF unless you have to.

Why? Scramble obfuscates your traffic to make it look like regular HTTPS web traffic. It is amazing for bypassing strict firewalls (like in college dorms or countries with firewalls). However, it adds overhead and will slow down your connection. If you can stream fine without it, keep it off for better speeds.

5. Startup Options: Set It and Forget It

The number one reason people get copyright notices? They forgot to turn their VPN on before clicking “Play.”

Go to: Settings > General
Turn ON: Connect on Android Startup
Turn ON: Startup Connection Action > Connect to Last Connected Server

Now, every time you reboot your Firestick, IPVanish will launch and secure you automatically.

IPVanish Settings for Amazon Firestick 2026

⚠️ A Warning for “Fire TV Stick 4K Select” Owners

If you just bought the new 2026 Fire TV Stick 4K Select (the one running the new Vega OS), stop right there.

As of late 2025, Amazon has moved this specific device to a Linux-based system that is not Android. IPVanish (and all other major VPNs) currently have apps ready, but are waiting on Amazon to flip the switch to allow them to work on Vega OS.

If you have a “Select” model, these settings won’t work yet. Stick to the Firestick 4K Max or Fire TV Cube for now—they still run on Android and work perfectly with these settings.

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