What Is the Fire Cube Ethernet Speed?

written by

Doug Stevenson

updated August 04, 2023

An ethernet port on a device like the Fire TV Cube promises the absolute best internet bandwidth your Internet Service Provider (ISP) can provide, thanks to its wired implementation.

But ethernet does have its set of standards and protocols, which determines the maximum bandwidth that can be utilized by any connected device.

So with this article, I will further elaborate on the internet speeds you can get with an Amazon Fire TV Cube when connected via an ethernet cable, along with a few related queries.

The Fire Cube ethernet speed is rated to be 10/100 Mbps. While this is the theoretical maximum speed, a realistic link speed of Amazon Fire TV Cube would be around 80 Mbps.

Does Amazon Fire TV Cube Have an Ethernet Port?

If you take a look at the body of the Amazon Fire TV Cube, you will notice that there is no dedicated port for plugging in an ethernet cable.

This would lead many to just believe that the Amazon Fire TV Cube unfortunately only supports WiFi and not a direct ethernet plug-in.

But in actuality, if you look deep in the contents of the box that the Amazon Fire Tv Cube came in you'd notice a dongle adapter that has an ethernet port.

This is an ethernet adapter that connects to the micro USB port of the Amazon Fire TV Cube. This dongle addition is done simply to save the space and aesthetics of the Cube.

The dongle also has a micro USB port on its side, so you can connect a micro USB device directly whilst plugging in with the ethernet at the same time.

Amazon Fire TV Cube Ethernet Speed

The maximum rated Fire TV cube ethernet speed is 10/100 Mbps.

The 10/100 terminology basically means the Amazon Fire TV Cube can opt for either the 10Mbps old school transfer speeds or the maximum 100 Mbps transfer speeds.

But after considering factors like interference, the realistic Amazon Fire TV ethernet speed will be around 70-80Mbps.

Although newer ethernet technologies have a rating of 10/100/1000/10000 Mbps, the current implementation of 10/100 Mbps is enough for most users.

This is because the Amazon Fire TV Cube is mostly used for streaming media content, and a 100 Mbps bandwidth is plenty enough.

Of course, this also depends on the specifications of the ethernet cable used, as well as your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

So if your internet plan provides you speeds of 80Mbps or more, you can fully utilize that 80 Mbps speed directly on your Amazon Fire TV Cube without a drop in speed.

Ethernet vs Wifi Speeds of Amazon Fire TV Cube

The Amazon Fire TV Cube is specced to support 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac standards of WiFi, with the 802.11ac standard being the fastest amongst the group.

802.11ac is a WiFi standard that supports up to a theoretical max link speed of 7 Gbps, which on paper dwarfs the 100 Mbps speeds of the ethernet port.

But this does come with its caveats in that WiFi has a lot more factors that can hinder the speeds when compared to an ethernet connection.

For example, since the connection is wireless the obstacles in its link path can deteriorate the connection speeds even further.

There is also the case of jitters in the connection, which leads to even higher ping, something that is not an issue in ethernet connections.

All these factors severely hinder WiFi speeds. But even with all this deterioration in speeds, the 802.11ac standards can reach a theoretical maximum link speed of up to 2.4 Gbps.

This is still an insane value, even after considering the occasional network fluctuations while on wireless, clearly determining the WiFi category to be the clear winner here.

But this still means you need an 802.11ac-certified WiFi router for fast WiFi transmission. 802.11ac routers are much more expensive, compared to the other a/b/g/n standards.

The most common router people use is still the 802.11n standard with practical link speeds up to 150Mbps, which brings it more in line with the ethernet speeds.

So unless you upgrade your WiFi router to an 802.11ac router and your internet plans to match that speed, both the ethernet and WiFi will provide a very similar experience.

The ethernet connection might be a bit more reliable in terms of connection, but the convenience of WiFi stands strong too.

How to Speed up Amazon Fire TV Cube

Even though the Amazon Fire TV Cube only supports an ethernet standard that needs a refresh, you can still speed up a Fire TV Cube that is running slow.

Even though these hacks can ensure faster speeds, it still doesn't mean you can ignore the hardware limitations set by Amazon.

Check the Cables and Connections

Check the ethernet cable for any wear and tear. A slight deformity in the length of the cable can mean a potential point where a drop in speed occurs.

Also check the ethernet adapter for any damage, while looking for wear in the ports and jacks of the cable and adapter.

Change the cable and adapter if you notice any issues. Make sure you buy replacements of a reputed brand from a trusted seller.

Check Router Speeds

Connect your Amazon Fire TV Cube to the 5Ghz WiFi band for maximum speeds. The conventional 2.4 GHz band only provides speeds up to 50Mbps.

Although the 5GHz WiFi band has a significantly reduced area of coverage than the 2.4GHz, it is what enables the WiFi router to push out the 150Mbps link speeds.

Connect your phone or laptop with the ethernet cable and check your internet speeds. Make sure to switch to the 5GHz band for maximum speeds.

You can check your internet speeds by simply heading over to speedtest.net

If you feel the speeds are much lower than the speeds you are supposed to get based on your internet plan, contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Factory Reset

A factory reset can help clear up any software clogs in the system that might have prevented the applications on your Amazon Fire TV Cube to utilize the speeds it receives.

Although it wipes off all user data, it is the best way to clean out your Amazon Fire TV Cube from the inside and make sure the device operates as intended.

To do a factory reset on your Amazon Fire TV Cube, simply follow the following steps:

Navigate to the settings menu of the Fire TV OS.
Select the Device settings.
Select the Reset to Factory Defaults option.
Tap on Reset.

Use the play/pause button on your Alexa remote to confirm the selection, beginning the factory reset process.

This might take a few minutes, and your Amazon Fire TV Cube will reset to just like it was when it was unboxed.

Final Thoughts

Even though the Amazon Fire TV Cube has an inferior ethernet implementation, the 10/100Mbps speeds it boasts do get the job done for streaming media without any issues.

The inferior ethernet is probably due to the ethernet adapter plugging into the 480Mbps link transfer speeds of the micro USB port.

This all leads to the strict aesthetic rules Amazon put up on their Fire TV Cube lineup.

But there is room for improvement for future generations of the Amazon Fire TV Cube by simply sticking in a USB type C port that has much higher transfer speeds for better ethernet.

I hope my article on the internet speeds you can achieve with an ethernet connection on your Amazon Fire TV cube and related queries has been a good read for your needs.

Have a good day!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is the Fire TV ethernet adapter speed lower than the ethernet plug-in speed?

Since the fire cube ethernet adapter is an added component, there will be a loss in speed in the connection compared to a straight ethernet plug-in. But the speed difference would not be that noticeable.

Does the Amazon Fire TV Cube support Gigabit Ethernet?

The Amazon Fire TV Cube does not support Gigabit ethernet, and only supports theoretical link speeds up to 10/100 Mbps.

Is Ethernet more secure for Amazon Fire TV Cube compared to WiFi?

Ethernet connections are generally more secure than WiFi signals due to the nature of data transfer being linear and confined to a cable.

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Doug Stevenson

Hey! I'm Doug, My passion for tech started by fixing phones and computers for my friends and family.

I started Blinqblinq to give reliable tech advice to anyone who needs it, for free! If you have questions on anything tech-related, feel free to contact me.

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