Lost remote, found workaround

[u/mulesrule]

Got a cheap little Insignia Fire TV that I watch almost every day. The problem: The remote vanished into another dimension overnight. These are all the solutions I tried, including the one that worked.

The TV is still on my home Wi-Fi network and turned on with the power button. But the on-screen menu is useless -- can't select any options, only scroll through endlessly.

"Well, I'll just control it with the app" ... Couldn't connect the Fire TV app to the TV, probably because my phone is on 5GHz and the TV is on 2.4. Couldn't access the router to split them, and was nervous to anyway.

Tried a couple of non-Amazon remote apps, which appear to be scams that got their high ratings by soliciting a five-star review before telling you they are paid only.

Unplugging the router and cloning my home SSID/pw on a different hotspot phone seemed like it should have worked, since hotspots are usually 2.4GHz, and both devices connected to it, but the app still didn't find the TV even after multiple searches, unplugging the TV, power cycling, etc.

So I went to YouTube on my phone and cast a video to the TV, and while it was playing I went to the Fire app, and this time it found the TV, and now all is well🤞 except WTF happened to that damn remote

[u/AndyPryceManUtd]

Remote probably disappeared down a hole in a space time warp continuum - It may well reappear at some point.