A VPN on a TV box: which boxes work and how to install it

If your TV itself cannot run Mayak, a set-top box is the shortest way to get it onto the big screen. Below: how to tell whether your box will work, how to install Mayak from Google Play or as a file, and what is known about operator boxes, Sber, Yandex and cheap boxes from China. Where our testing ends, we say so.

Which set-top box works with a VPN

A set-top box, a smart box, a TV box — for Mayak they are all the same. What matters is neither the brand nor the price but two things: the Android version and whether the box lets you install your own apps. Go down the list.

• Android TV and Google TV — suitable. Mayak installs from Google Play, shows up on the home screen next to the other apps, and you can sign in with a code from your phone. Examples: the MTS and Beeline boxes and Xiaomi sticks.
• Plain Android — suitable, but it looks different. Many inexpensive TV boxes are built this way. Mayak installs as a file (or from Google Play if the box has it) and shows the same screen as on a phone. Sign-in is also with a code from your phone: since version 1.0.0 Mayak shows a QR code on a box with no touchscreen. More.
• Their own system built on Android: SberBox, Yandex, WinkBox. Here the owner of the system decides whether third-party apps are allowed. Sber allows them, and Mayak works for people on SberBox. Each one — below.
• Not suitable. Boxes on Android 6 or older: Mayak will not install. Apple TV: there is no Mayak app for it. And boxes with no Android inside at all.

A projector running Android is set up the same way as a box: a VPN on a projector. An Android car head unit follows the same logic: a VPN on an Android head unit.

How to find out what is inside your box

1. Android version. Settings → “About”, “Information” or “System”. You need 7.0 or higher.
2. Is there Google Play. Look for the store icon among the apps. If it is there, install from it. If not, install the file — that is step 2 below.
3. Android TV or plain Android. It does not matter for installing, but it decides how you sign in: on Android TV and Google TV Mayak shows a code to confirm from your phone, while on a box that does not tell the system it is a TV it shows the email-and-password form, as on a phone.

How to install a VPN on an Android box: four steps

Step 1. Create an account on your phone

Sign up in Mayak on your phone or on your account page. Signing up on a box is awkward: sign-up asks you to pass a “not a robot” check, which only works where Google services or a browser are present, and on a box it may not open.

Step 2. Install Mayak on the box

From Google Play. Open Google Play on the box, search for “Mayak Networks” and press “Install”. People have already installed Mayak on boxes this way — for example, on a Mecool box.

No store, or Mayak is not in it? Install it as a file from our website:

1. Open a browser on the box.
2. Type mayak.ws/dl/app into the address bar — the Mayak file will download.
3. Open the downloaded file. The box will ask whether apps from this source may be installed: allow it and press “Install”. On Android 8 and newer this permission is given to the app you open the file with — the browser or file manager; on Android 7, by the general “Unknown sources” switch under “Security” (as Google describes it).

No browser on the box? You can download the file on a computer, copy it to a USB stick and open it with the box’s file manager. We have not gone down this path ourselves.

The Google Play and website versions cannot be installed over each other: to switch, remove the first one — details. If the file will not download or open, that article covers it too. Installed from the file? Mayak offers updates itself, with an “Update available” window.

Step 3. Sign in

On Android TV and Google TV — with a code. Open Mayak on the box: the screen shows a QR code and an eight-character code. Confirm it in Mayak on your phone (Settings → “Sign in a TV” → “Scan QR”) or in your account from any browser: the “Devices” section, “TV sign-in”. The box signs in by itself in a couple of seconds. In detail, including what to do if the code changed — in the TV article.

On a box with plain Android — also with a code, if the box has no touchscreen (boxes usually do not). Since version 1.0.0 Mayak shows such a device the same “Sign in from your phone” card as on Android TV: a QR code and an eight-character code. Point any phone’s camera at the QR code — our page opens, and from there you confirm the sign-in in Mayak on the phone or in your account right in the browser. The box signs in by itself in a couple of seconds. We checked this on an emulator of a box with no Google and no touchscreen on 28 September 2026. The code signs in to an account you already have: creating an account from the box by QR code is not possible yet — do that on a phone or in your online account.

The usual sign-in form stays below the card — the remote moves down to it. If your box claims to have a touchscreen, Mayak opens only this form, as on a phone. The remote reaches every field and the “Sign in” button, but typing is another matter: in our September test the standard Android on-screen keyboard ignored the remote, while a keyboard connected to the box typed the email straight away. In that case plug in a USB or wireless keyboard.

Step 4. Connect

Choose a country and press the connect button. The first time, the box asks for permission to connect — press “OK”. When “Protected” appears, you are done. The very first connection can take up to 15 seconds.

An operator’s box: Wink, MTS, Beeline

Operator boxes differ, and what decides is the system inside. There is not a single such box in our data about people’s devices yet, so here is only what the operators say themselves.

• MTS. The box runs Android TV, and apps are installed on it from Google Play (MTS blog). So the usual path: look for Mayak in Google Play, and if it is not there, install the file. We have not tested an MTS box ourselves.
• Beeline. The Beebox is a Google-certified Android TV 9 box with Google Play (Beeline’s page). Same path as MTS.
• Wink by Rostelecom. WinkBox runs its own system, Wink OS based on Android 11 (Hi-Tech), and apps are installed from its own store (Wink help). Mayak is not in it. Whether an APK file can be installed on a WinkBox, Wink does not say, and we have not tested it.

Keep one thing in mind: only what runs on the box where Mayak is installed goes through Mayak. If the operator’s box does not allow third-party apps, the option left is a second, ordinary Android box — and watching through it.

SberBox, Salute TV and the Yandex Module

SberBox and Salute TV devices are suitable. They run their own system, built on the open part of Android, with their own app catalogue; Mayak is not in that catalogue. But Sber officially allows installing APK files: on SberBox and Salute TV sets with firmware 1.81 or newer, on SberBox Top and SberBox Time from 1.82 (Sber help). The file is uploaded in your Sber account at apps.sber.ru/my or downloaded with the box’s built-in browser; the Mayak file is at mayak.ws/dl/app. If installation does not start, check parental controls: according to Sber’s help they can stop third-party apps from being installed. As of 24 September 2026 people with SberBox and other Salute TV devices kept a connection to our lines.

Yandex — it depends on what Yandex allows. Its YaOS system is built on the open part of Android, without Google services (iXBT).

• TV Station and other brands’ TVs on YaOS. Yandex allows installing APKs from a USB stick or from the cloud, but warns: this is not possible on a device bought on subscription, and some files fail its check (Yandex help). On 28 September 2026 Mayak from our site passed it on someone’s TV Station — step by step in the Yandex TV article.
• Module with Alice. Yandex’s help mentions only installing from its app store (help), and Mayak is not there. It says nothing about APK files for the Module, and about the 2020 Module Yandex answered plainly: apps cannot be installed on it as files.

Apart from one TV Station, there are no Yandex devices with Mayak in our data yet. Whether it worked or not — write to us: we look into such cases and add them here.

Cheap TV boxes: X96, Tanix, H96 and the like

Such boxes most often run not Android TV but plain Android from the open sources — that is what the makers of Tanix (Tanix site) and H96 (H96 site) say themselves. Google Play does appear on them, but Google warns that on devices without its certification Google apps are unlicensed (Google help). Tanix, H96 and X96 boxes are not on Google’s list of certified devices as of 24 September 2026.

Mayak works on such boxes. As of 24 September 2026 people with X96 and Rombica boxes kept a connection to our lines.

What to check before installing:

• the Android version in settings — you need 7.0 or newer;
• whether there is Google Play. If you are unsure about the store on the box, install Mayak as a file from our site: it is the same Mayak, signed with our key;
• the Mayak version: signing in with a code from your phone on a box with no touchscreen arrived in version 1.0.0. If the box still opens only the email form and the on-screen keyboard ignores the remote (in our September test it did), plug in a USB or wireless keyboard.

Which VPN to choose for a TV box: three questions

We do not make “best of” lists — we have nothing to compare other apps on boxes with. But there are three questions worth asking any app before you install it, and here are our answers.

• Can you drive it with the remote? Check that the remote reaches every button. Mayak on Android TV is built for the remote: the selected button has a visible frame, and the screen edges are left empty so the TV does not crop anything.
• How do you sign in without a keyboard? Typing a password with the remote is slow. Mayak signs you in with a code from your phone — on Android TV and, since version 1.0.0, on a box with no touchscreen.
• How many devices does the plan cover? A box is one more device. In Mayak it takes one slot, like a phone, and you do not pay for it separately — more below.

A box for YouTube: what a VPN changes

Video is a common reason to buy a box, most often YouTube. Let us say it up front: a tunnel changes the path of your traffic, not the width of the pipe. The stretch from our server onwards becomes ours, while the stretch from the box to us stays yours: Wi-Fi in a far room and the evening load at your provider do not go anywhere.

We have not measured speed on boxes. Nor do we promise that any particular service will work. Why video is a special case and what to do if it stutters — in “Why YouTube video stutters” and in the section about video on a TV.

How many plan slots a box takes

A box is an ordinary device on your account: one slot on the plan, like a phone. As of 24 September 2026, “Start” is up to 3 devices for 300 ₽ a month, “Family” up to 5 for 500 ₽, “Max” up to 10 for 700 ₽.

The trial covers two devices. A phone and a box both fit. There is no room for a third: if both slots are taken (say, by a phone and a TV), the box will say all devices are taken when it connects. Free a slot in Settings → “My devices” or in your account, under “Devices”, or choose a plan.

What we tested

• With real people, on real boxes. As of 24 September 2026, according to our data about the devices on accounts, people with X96, Rombica, Mecool and Xiaomi boxes, with SberBox and with Salute TV devices kept a connection to our lines. The oldest system among them is Android 7.1. On the Mecool box Mayak was installed from Google Play.
• On an emulator of a box with plain Android and no Google (Android 15, 1920×1080 screen, no touchscreen, remote buttons only), 24 September 2026. The file from our site installed, the icon was in the app list and opened with the remote. There was no sign-in code then — the usual form opened. The remote reaches the email, password, “Sign in”, “Create account” and the language choice. The standard on-screen keyboard ignored the remote, while text from a keyboard went in. In this test we went no further than the sign-in form. We fixed that: on 28 September, on the same emulator, a release build showed a QR code and a code for signing in from a phone, and the remote moves down past them to the form. This reached the app in version 1.0.0.
• On an Android TV emulator (Android 14, 1920×1080 screen, release build): install, sign-in with a code from the phone and a connection up to “Protected” — in early September 2026; installing the website version and signing in with a code — once more on 16 September.
• On Android without Google services — on a phone emulator with Android 15, 24 September 2026: the file from our site installed, the app signed in and connected. That is the same case as a box without Google Play — but the screen was a phone screen, not a box.

What we do not know

• What happens after sign-in on a box with plain Android. Choosing a country, the connect button and the system “OK” prompt with the remote on such a box we have not tested — only the sign-in screen. People connect with Mayak on inexpensive boxes such as X96, but which screen they signed in on, the code or the form, our data does not show, and we have no real box in hand.
• Which sign-in screen your box will show and what keyboard it has. The code appears if the box’s system calls itself a TV or reports that it has no touchscreen. Usually that is so, but what yours reports, we cannot tell in advance: we tested on an emulator, not on a real box.
• Whether Mayak shows up in Google Play on your box. People already install it from there on some boxes and TVs, but what a particular device is shown is up to Google. Not there? Install it as a file from our site.
• Operator and Yandex boxes. None in our data, and we have not tested them ourselves. What is allowed on a WinkBox — we do not know; Yandex’s file check Mayak has passed so far on one TV Station.
• A USB stick. We have not gone down the “download on a computer, carry it over on a USB stick” path ourselves.
• Video speed on a box. Not measured — on any box.
• Which box to buy. We do not recommend models and have not measured prices: anything we wrote would be a retelling of someone else’s shop window.

Short answers

Can I install a VPN on a TV box? Yes, if it runs Android 7.0 or newer and lets you install your own apps. Mayak installs on both Android TV and plain Android.

Which VPN should I put on an Android box? One you can drive with the remote and sign in to without a keyboard. What to ask before installing — the three questions above.

How do I install a VPN on a box without Google Play? As a file from our site: type mayak.ws/dl/app into the box’s browser and open the downloaded file.

Does Mayak work on SberBox? Yes: people run it on SberBox and Salute TV devices. It installs as a file; Sber allows that from firmware 1.81.

And on the Yandex Module? We do not know: Yandex’s help for the Module mentions only its own store, and Mayak is not there. There are no Modules with Mayak in our data.

Can I use a Wink box from Rostelecom? WinkBox has its own system and store, and Mayak is not in it; whether a file can be installed, Wink does not say. MTS and Beeline boxes have Google Play — the usual path there.

Will the TV itself go through Mayak if Mayak is on the box? No. Only what runs on the box itself goes through Mayak: watch through the box.

Do I need a special “box with a VPN”? No. An ordinary box on Android 7.0 or newer will do: you install Mayak on it yourself. We do not sell boxes and do not recommend models.

Is there a free VPN for a TV box? We have no free plan. There is a trial with no card, so you can check Mayak on your own box, and then a plan from 300 ₽ a month covering several devices at once.

And for Apple TV? There is no Mayak app for Apple TV.

Does the box take a slot on the plan? Yes, as one more device. The trial has two slots for the whole account: a phone and a box both fit.