As soon as the TV goes off, logic would dictate it is the TV companies get contacted first. No streaming or IPTV service will work without stable internet.

The most common initial test people use to check their internet, is the most commonly used tool – a speed test. Unfortunately, this can also be misleading. A speed test is a 30 second or so ‘snapshot’ of the internet. It is not a measure of continual speed or stability. It is also detectable by the ISP’s in the manner it collects the data. When you watch TV, you can do so for a few hours continuously, if at any point in time the internet drops below the threshold, this will cause instability on any IPTV or streaming service. By the time you have run the speed test afterwards, either the problem has passed or is unmeasurable by the speed test as this cannot check instability or drop off.

Most hardware is now supplied with Wi-Fi option. Whilst convenient, depending on the location of your IPTV device in proximity to the router, this will affect the signal. The further away you are & with walls in between, this can reduce speed & other electronic devices such as home portable phones, can interrupt Wi-Fi.

Home network cable – direct ethernet cable to any set-top box, is the fastest & most stable. If Wi-Fi weak and it is not possible to run CAT5/Ethernet network cable, then there is the further option of using ‘Home network plugs’. This type of equipment is readily available from electronics retailers.

Pixellation, picture freezing or stuttering, temporary pausing, blank or black screen. Picture disappearing or screen error message – ‘page loading error’.

If you do see a picture freeze for more than a few seconds, it is always good practice to unplug any hardware from a power source and allow to cool off for a few minutes before switching on again. This allows the processor to cool down.

It is also good practice to turn any hardware off from the mains, when not in use, such as overnight, as this can also help with hardware/box reliability. The hotter processors get (in any hardware), the more the equipment can have issues. This advice becomes more important the hotter climate you live in.

Initially reboot router, power mains off. Also power off (power out, not standby) IPTV set-top box. Power up the router first, 3-5 minutes before the IPTV box, as this allows time for the router to establish the internet connection.

These allow the memory on the box to buffer in advance to compensate for a degree of internet instability. From factory they are not set up & the buffer and a number of other settings need to be updated to maximise performance of the box/service. 

From main menu screen Scroll with left or right arrows to ‘settings’ icon, press ‘ok’ to select. Scroll down until you see ‘Advanced settings’. ‘OK’ to select. At the top of the newly opened menu screen, you will see the buffer settings, set to maximum.

There is also a further buffer settings menu. As above to the ‘settings menu’, then scroll down to option of ‘Inner portal’. Once box has booted the inner portal (a black screen with a number of smaller icons), bottom right is a gear/cog with ‘settings’ below, press ‘OK’ to select. Next page, please select ‘system settings’, please select. Next page select ‘advanced settings’, with this you will find the buffer settings which you can increase.

Go to settings icon within menu

Scroll down to ‘inner portal’, select ‘ok’.

Select settings icon.

Select ‘System settings’ again.

Advanced Settings (below video icon)

Time zone, alter to Europe / Madrid or your specific location.

If you now exit, should save and when reboots, should be on correct time.

MAG – IF YOU CANNOT ACCESS INNER PORTAL FOR TIME SETTINGS – IF YOU CANNOT ACCESS, YOUR SUPPLIER MAY HAVE ALTERED SOFTWARE. 

Go to settings icon within menu

Scroll down to ‘inner portal’, select ‘ok’.

Select settings icon.

Select ‘System settings’ again.

Select ‘Servers’

Under general – NTP server should read (zero) 0.europe.pool.ntp.org once you have entered, save and exit.

Within the EU, there is a ‘net neutrality’ directive. Your ISP is not allowed to prioritise their own services internet traffic. The difficulty is knowing how to spot this, if you believe you have an ISP service issue.

Service providers have to balance the purchase of data bandwidth, which they then distribute to their client base. As with all businesses, calculations are made as to the amount of overall data needed for the amount of customers online.

In locations of tourism, service providers can see an increase of 50%+ use over the summer months and sometimes companies struggle with the flow of data as there is not enough, at the right time, when needed.

When this does occur, ISP systems are in place to establish ‘data leaks’ – which can be identified for each customer.

For example if a company is struggling to provide a stable service, they can use a number of methods to balance their system.

Portal throttling – Targeting the specific portal the IPTV or streaming service is using. Video can use 30-40 times the amount of data someone browsing the web does. If ISP struggles with resources, they can throttle the specific portal your TV or streaming service is connection to. To summarise, you can have 300Mbs fibre optic connection, same reading on a speed test, yet your TV service is seeing 1Mbps! ISP’s are aware that people cannot easily check or measure this & as we all know – an hour or two later, things get better – usually when less people online!

Unfortunately software to test for this type of throttling or traffic shaping, which is deliberately controlling the flow of data for your specific service, is commercial type software and not something easy to use or readily available like a generic speed test.

What can you do to check? Take your set top box or logged in streaming service to a different internet connection for a temporary test. If for example you have friend or family nearby, give them your box or service for the night and see if it behaves in the same manner – must be a different internet service provider.