Amazon Prime Video Australia not working? Here’s what to do

You’ve finally found time to catch up on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but your Amazon Prime Video does not want to play along. What do you do when your Prime Video is spitting out error codes?

Here are some basic troubleshooting steps you can follow to get back on your Good Omens game.

There are a ton of different error codes you might see pop up on your Prime Video screen. We’ve compiled a list of the most common codes, so you know you’re not getting a weird one.

If you want to know exactly what all those codes mean, you’re a bit out of luck— Amazon doesn’t publish a guide to its error codes. And your screen probably just says something like, “Video Unavailable”. But there are some general guidelines you can follow no matter what error code you’re getting.

If you haven’t already done it, try the first step in solving any IT problem: turning the thing off and on again. Refresh your browser window, restart the app, turn off your TV: you get the drill. However you’re trying to consume your Prime Video content, turn that baby off and then switch it back on.

Still not working? At least you did Roy from The IT Crowd proud.

Some codes, like number 7031, appear when you’re using a specific browser (like Chrome). And for whatever reason, Prime Video and Chrome aren’t getting along that day. (It wouldn’t be the first time Amazon and Google have made their differences our problem.)

Try switching to a different browser, like Firefox or Safari. And no matter which browser you’re using, make sure it’s up to date. If you’ve pressed that “update later” button too many times on your software, your browser might not be up with the times anymore.

Streaming video takes a lot of bandwidth, and if your internet connection isn’t fast enough, then you’re not going to have a good experience.

Use our speed test tool to check what download speed you're getting. We recommend that you have reliable download speeds of at least 25 Mbps for streaming video.

Keep in mind that if you or your partner or kids or relatives or all of the above are working from home or stuck in the house, and you’re all trying to run Netflix, Stan, and Prime Video (just in the background while you work, of course, we get it), then you’re probably going to have bandwidth issues.

If the real problem is that you need a better, faster internet plan in general, check out these plans with the fastest peak speeds on the NBN 50 (Standard Plus) speed tier. We've only included plans with unlimited data, so you'll never have to stop streaming. Unless, you know, you need to sleep or something.

Make sure the HDMI cable you’re using to connect your TV to your streaming device has the right compatibility. Your cable needs to work with either HDMI 1.4 or HDMI 2.2 (depending on if you want to stream regular ol’ high-definition content or if you’re going full 4K).

If you have a full-on smart TV, then you can ditch your streaming device entirely and avoid any HDMI debacles. Just download the Prime Video app from your TV’s app store.

If you still have that hand-me-down router you got from your friend six years ago, it might not be up to the task of streaming HD video. You can try moving the router to a better position or hardwiring the router to your TV, but at the end of the day, you might just need a better one.

If you have a big house, then you might also need better network coverage. In which case, Wi-Fi range extenders can help with that.

Finally, we know it’s really convenient to watch all your favourite shows on US Netflix from the comfort of your Australian living room, but Prime Video doesn’t always play well with VPNs.

Disconnect your VPN and accept the fact that, at least with Prime Video, you’ll have to stick to shows available in your own country.

You might want to jump ship to another streaming service entirely—at least for the day. You can also check out our guide to the best TV streaming services for a full rundown of the best streaming providers out there.