How to Watch Live TV in Your Vehicle using the Amazon Firestick

Want to know how to watch live TV in your vehicle?  Here’s how we did so using the Amazon Firestick.

Please note: This post contains affiliate links so if you click on a link and make a purchase I will receive a portion of the sales from Amazon if you choose to buy the items needed to watch live TV in your vehicle… if your significant other is a tech junkie…you may even have some of this stuff on hand already.

Psst… Want to do this with a Roku Stick instead?  Click Here

We recently went on a 10 hour drive to the beach and anticipating a long 10 hour drive, my tech-junkie husband purchased an Amazon Fire Stick.  While I originally thought he wanted it to replace one of our Chromecasts, it turns out he wanted it so the kids could watch live TV in the van to keep them occupied on the trip.  While we did create some vacation binders and have other in car activities to keep them busy, the TV, was definitely a help.

We have lots of DVD’s but over the many trips to grandma’s and grandpa’s over the years they have seen them…alot, so they don’t hold quite the stay power that they used to.  Plus, some of my son’s favorite shows now that he is almost 8 are not necessarily DVD’s that we own.

We also used the Firestick at the beach house to provide some entertainment when we just wanted to veg out in the evenings.

So, how did we modify the van for live TV?  It’s actually pretty easy once you get the right equipment.  Here’s how to add live TV to your car, van or SUV, that already has an entertainment system, using the Amazon Firestick.

First,  what you will need.

Here’s what you need in order to use the fire stick to get TV in your Van or Car:

1. 1. 1. 1.  Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote | Streaming Media Player
         2.  HDMI to RCA Converter Adapter (if your van/car doesn’t already have HDMI input)
         3.  Fast USB Car Charger Adapter

Once you have these four items then it’s time to get to work.  If you have a tech-savvy hubby like I do… he may have some of this already.

All of this should run you about $60, about the price of 3 -4 new DVD’s but will have a lot longer entertainment value on your next trip.

A couple notes before we begin setting the system up.

Before anything else, you vehicle will already need to have an entertainment system built-in… I am sure they is someway to fanangle something if you don’t, but this tutorial is for those who already do.

You will also need a hotspot to connect to once everything is set up.  Streaming the show therefore will also run up your data plan so please make sure to account for this before deciding to create a set-up.  We watched the TV quite a bit on a 10 hour drive and back and used about 5 gig of data in the process.

Finally,  make sure to review the Fire TV stick manual to set up so you kids are spending money on on demand content while you are driving… hard lesson learned for us after our son chose 4 episodes of Star Wars Rebels to buy.  Luckily, he unknowingly only spent about 12 dollars, but still, didn’t make my husband or I really happy and essentially it was our fault for not checking this setting sooner or giving him better instructions before letting him use the remote.

Now that you have all that, let’s get started with the set-up.

Step 1:

First, you will need a power source.  To do this, plug the Dual USB Plug into a cigarette outlet.

Step 2:

Connect both the Fire TV Stick and the Convertor to the dual USB plug.

Step 3:

Plug-in the Fire TV Stick into the HDMI port in your vehicle.

Step 4:

Connect the Composite Cable to the vehicles entertainment system, making sure to match the colors on the cord to the colors in the entertainment system

Step 5:

Plug the other end of the composite cable into the converter, again, making sure to match up colors.

Step 6:

Turn on the entertainment system and then connect to your own personal hotspot.

Step:7

Connect to the personal hotspot, sign into your providers and your backseat passengers can enjoy live TV on the road!

Read more: How to Use Tech to Get Kids to Do Their Chores

This post is not promoted by Amazon.  Opinions are my own and if you click on a link to make a purchase I will receive a portion of the sale as am Amazon Affiliate.