The Now TV stick has definitely increased in popularity over the last year or so. It’s a good rival to the Amazon Fire stick, and not many people know you have the ability to download a whole host of apps with the Now TV stick too.
There are some great channels on Now TV. It actually uses the same software as the Roku stick, which is one of the most popular streaming methods in the US. But like any streaming stick, you can have issues with them from time to time.
So if your now TV stick isn’t working, we’re going to run through some troubleshooting steps you can try to get it back up again.
Now TV stick not working? Here’s what to do
There are various different things to check with a Now TV stick. A few different things could be causing the issue.
Most commonly there’s an issue with your internet connection. if you keep getting the message to “restart your device”, then it’s likely an issue with the ability to connect to wifi. You can clarify this within the Network > About section of your account, as you can see how many bars of wifi you have.
There’s also the potential that it could be a hardware fault with the device itself. If this is the case, your best bet will be to send it back for a new one. Now TV are usually pretty good about replacing their device if they’ve stopped working through no fault of your own.
But before you consider doing this, let’s run through a troubleshooting process to see if we can fix the problem.
Restart your device
Okay first things first we’re going to try a simple reset of the device. This is straightforward enough to do, and it might just fix your problem.
Simply take the stick out of the back of your television for 5-10 seconds. Alternatives, you can also turn it off at the wall too. You need to give it a few seconds to clear and not just turn it back on straight away.
If your device is frozen and you don’t want to take it out, enter the following code in order; Press Home 5x. Up 1x, Rewind 2x, Fast Forward 2x. This should restart your device, even if it’s crashed.
After 10 seconds, turn the stick back on or plug it back into the wall. Give the stick a few minutes to load up, as it may take some time. In many cases this can fix an issue with your Now TV stick. If not, keep going.
Check your internet
You’d be surprised the amount of times the actual problem lies with your internet and not your streaming device. Your Now TV smart stick will need to have enough bars of signal to connect securely.
If your Now TV stick hasn’t got a good connection to the internet, it won’t work properly. It needs the internet to function and work, so it’s important that you’ve got a good enough package.
Turn your router off and on again and let it load up. It can take a few minutes to do this. After it’s loaded, try and connect your Now TV stick to the Wi-fi router.
It’s worth checking that there’s not too much distance between your Now TV stick and the router itself. Make sure there’s no devices in between that could be causing interference too.
Other things that can be causing an issue are entering the wrong password and simply the distance. Oh, and connecting to the 5.0 GHz wifi band could cause an issue too.
The 5.0 GHz band is faster but less reliable than the 2.4 GHz band. If you can, split the two bands out and ensure that your stick is connected to the lower frequency range (2.4 GHz).
You shouldn’t really have to do this with a wireless router, much less an internet hub (which most of us based in the UK will be doing). But it can be a good way to ensure that the band you’re connected to isn’t the root cause of all your internet issues.
Override your data consumption
If you have a lot of devices in your home, then there’s a chance that your Now TV device is trying to use too much data. And if it’s sharing with your phone, laptop and whatever else, it may not work.
Now TV remotes actually have a sneaky way that you can check and adjust the amount of data your box is using. Follow this sequence to access your settings; Press the Home button 5x, then press Rewind 3x, then press Fast Forward 2x.
This will bring you up a menu of the bitrate you’re streaming. You can try adjusting this up if you’re just getting a really bad picture quality. You could also turn it down if you want your Now TV stick to use less data from your internet provider.
Try a factory reset
Now, I usually don’t like factory resetting a device. But in some cases, you may not have any other choice. Doing this will take it all the way back to its factory settings, so it should probably be used as a last resort. Otherwise, you’ll need to enter your username, password and preferences all over again.
You can factory reset your Now TV stick within the settings of the device. Go into Settings, and then into System. Then, you’ll find the Factory Reset option within Advanced System settings. A 4-digit code will pop up on your screen, which you’ll need to enter to complete the reset.
You will lose all of your saved settings on your Now TV stick. But, you can just sign back in afterwards to your account and you’ll still have access to the same shows and movies. So whilst it’s not ideal, it eliminates there being a chance of software causing your problem.
Update your Now TV stick
Remember the button code we entered in earlier to change the data we’re consuming? We can switch these buttons around to bring up the option to check our device for updates
So on your remote go ahead and press the Home button 5x, but then press Fast Forward 3x, then press Rewind just 2x. Entering this combination will instead will give you the opportunity to update your Now TV stick.
Making sure that your device is updated is vital to ensure that it’s working properly, even with something as simple as a Now TV stick. You’ll want to check this every few months to make sure that your smart stick is fully up-to-date.
It could be the hardware
After checking all the above, if nothing has worked then it may be a problem with your HDMI port or the streaming stick itself. Trying a different device with the same HDMI port can rule out that, and can at least narrow it down to the stick alone.
Aside from this, there isn’t a whole host you can do to get it working again. You’ll need to get in touch with Now TV for a replacement or to get an advisor to help you out.
