TELEVISION TECHNOLOGY
IPTV GUIDE – TELEVISION TECHNOLOGY
IPTV GUIDE – TELEVISION TECHNOLOGY
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IPTV
Subscription Free IPTV
Subscription free IPTV, is reliant on what is freely available on the internet.
Content is what is freely available on the internet at the time and you are not paying for a service or a company to host the content.
With this type of service, there can be no genuine guarantees given.
Companies often supply equipment offering services and have no control over the actual content provided, so any promises made of channels or content given on an ongoing basis cannot be accurate.
Often these type of Kodi
shared services are overloaded as those wanting (for example) to watch free sports, all connect to servers which quickly have more people trying to use them than their maximum capacity allows.
This causes pictures stuttering, freezing & blank screens. These are generally the most reported type faults with these services.
These type of systems need multiple applications to receive different content, many of which need frequently updating & as such as generally not suited to many homes users looking for a simple and stable service. Free IPTV is not comparable to Free to air Satellite - so each needs to be reviewed individually.
Subscription based services
With these type of providers, you are paying a provider to host the content and to provide a standardised quality of picture and specific content from that provider.
With a reliable provider and stable internet you will get the type of TV service you would expect.
Service providers offer services at quite a variety of costs. Generally if offered 1000's of live channels for very little money, you are likely to be using an overshared and unstable service. There are a huge amount of services offered and it can be a little overwhelming. Any good company should offer you some form of trial.
All IPTV & streaming services are fully reliant on the internet. If your internet has an issue, then so will your TV. Review our help guides
for further information.
What is catch up on live TV?
This type of service may be familiar to UK users, however those expatiates overseas have traditionally been locked out of these due to geographical internet regional blocking from the UK service providers - for example BBC & their iplayer.
IPTV services allow you the freedom away from a TV schedule.
There is no need to be in at 8pm to watch Eastenders or your favourite program. You can watch the TV programmes the following day or a few days after if you have missed with the catch up services. No recording or remembering to is neccessary.
Wi Fi or Cable connection?
When using IPTV the fastest internet connection possible is the most important factor for picture quality and stability. We recommend using equipment that can accept a hard wired direct ethernet Cat 5 cable connection – same type as your router / PC. A direct cable or extension from your router, will give you the fastest performance.
Whilst in most applications WiFi will work ok, as long as you have good speed to start with and not too many walls or distance between the box and the router.
If you have a long distance between the router and the TV box, then you may find performance can suffer. You can either upgrade your WiFi signal, by using (*for example) a 'MESH' based system - boosting signal around the house. The MESH systems perform far better than the small home WiFi type booster plugs.
If it is difficult to get a CAT 5 / Ethernet cable connection, it is also possible to use ‘home network plugs,’
which send the internet signal around your mains power loop.
IPTV – subscription-based services & hardware used
These type of systems are closest in use to a traditional type set top box (UK Sky, Freesat or similar) & easiest to use. A receiver is supplied, which you connect a cable directly to your router & TV. Boxes you can usually buy yourself online or they are often supplied & sold by the service provider.
This is a paid for & hosted service, so streams should be stable and certain boxes will also auto update, making this the most simple to use & basic way of receiving UK & other Northern European TV without a satellite dish in most locations throughout the world.
Pros: The easiest system to use. Ideal for all users wanting a simple interface. As streams are paid for & remain the same, they should be stable. Multiple language options. Good for those looking for an easy to use, TV solution. No requirement to be technically minded. 7- day program guide, similar to UK Sky or Freesat Catch up TV and on demand is also available with some services.
Cons: You pay a yearly or monthly fee for the service provided. Usually €15 – €40 per month depending on the package, some offer just the UK free to air terrestrial channels, other packages offer premium content.
Boxes are available - From generic Android boxes, to more specific hardware designed to be used with subscription based services. Choice of hardware is important as will give you differences in performance, use and flexibility with different service providers.
Subscription boxes - examples
Infomir Mag boxes - 250, 254, 256, 322, 349 were popular boxes, but now out of date and should not be supplied as no longer supported by the manufacturer. Infomir provide newer model 522/524 & 540/544 - though these lack the ability to add other software. Only for single TV services, no other software or applications.
Formuler - Has proven one of the most popular manufacturers of recent time for online TV & streaming set top boxes. Offering good consistently good hardware and support from the manufacturer. Combined with high level performing software and flexibility, this manufacturer, is currently offering some of the best equipment available. Models include Z10 & Z11
Octagon - More a budget option, SX88+ this combines Satellite + IPTV
Subscription Free IPTV & Amazon Firesticks
This equipment is more technical to use than the subscription-based options.
Those selling 'fully loaded' Modified Amazon Firesticks are running the KODI service do not operate in the same way originally as supplied by Amazon.
They run the Android modified software and combined with the KODI applications and functions make the Firestick a very different device to use from its standard Amazon format.
Issues with stability and performance exist with all of these type of service, due to the unmonitored nature and overshared streams or content which they access.
KODI media application uses secondary applications within, to allow access to content. Often these applications are written by small teams or individuals, not updated and frequently with this type of service you are dealing with two main issues, updating software and stability of live content. Can be technically complex, so not suited to all home users.
Subscription TV based compatible emulators are available such as Smart STB
Smart TV’s, Mobile & Tablet
Streaming and IPTV applications now are available for some smart TV's the two most popular being Samsung and LG which have their own app stores. Example SmartSTB is one company that provides apps for both TV's https://www.smart-stb.net/ this specific application is also available for Android devices.
For ipad / iphone / imac / apple TV stbEmuTV is one example of an application which works well with most service providers.
For those considering using UK smart televisions in Spain, this will not allow you access to BBC iPlayer or the other UK catch up TV services as these are geographically blocked. As soon as the TV is connected to the internet in Spain, the Spanish IP address will be detected. However as various IPTV services offer the likes of catch up TV - the majority of content is available still to watch.
