Clampdown on TV 'Dodgy Boxes'

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503304#Comment_121503304

But it is a real risk.

Let's say you have Sky Q for all your Irish and UK channels.

It's also got built in apps but let's say you don't subscribe to any.

Rather than pay Sky the €40 odd a month for basic you go down the dodgy box route for €100 for the year, because not only do you have basic TV but you also get all sports, movies etc

And after 3 months it goes dark.

You are left with nothing, not even FTA Irish or UK channels.

That's a real risk.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503377#Comment_121503377

No its not. I have a dish and aerial mate.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503377#Comment_121503377

Why wouldn't they have FTA Irish channels? Surely they just have the rte player app that they can use. As well as the BBC iplayer app they can use.

It doesn't really sound like you know what you are talking about.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503381#Comment_121503381

But you're not everyone Guesser09.

Your original claim was that it was risk free for the user.

All you are doing is talking about yourself and how much of a hit you are willing to take.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503391#Comment_121503391

I think you are trying to conflate the issue. The reward of all content even for a short period of time far outweighs the perceived risk.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503388#Comment_121503388

Firstly BBC iPlayer doesn't work in the ROI.

Secondly not everyone has a antenna for receiving Irish FTA stations.

Rabbit ears plugged into a STB or TV may work but not in all cases.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503417#Comment_121503417

Bbc iplayer is available via a vpn.

Most people will have netflix, prime or disney as a backup until they get a new, easily sourced iptv package.

Nigzcurran

I've been using the likes of sky via all sorts of dodgy ways since the days of crappy upc boxes and the likes 15 years ago. Could never justify/afford the real thing but am using the official sky stream 4k sports pack at the moment on a free trial and the set up is muck but my lord the picture quality is outrageously good. I'll be getting sky q 4k in instead while also keeping the IPTV for 3pm kickoffs and the odd PPV boxing and the likes. Costs €80 a month for the full sky pack versus €10 a month for the dodgy stick but worth it if you can spare the few quid in my opinion

alzer100

How many illegal IP services available are there? My point being if one goes down, how many are there to choose from? I think most of them charge a monthly rate of 15 euros average. It would not be a huge financial burden if you were to sign up to one and then suddenly lose it.

Nigzcurran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503866#Comment_121503866

Thousands of them!

Mantis Toboggan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503866#Comment_121503866

15 a month would be pricey, mine is 6 euro.

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503878#Comment_121503878

Compared to 150 euros per month for Sky, I would still consider 15 euros a steal🙂 but I get your point.

dubrov

I think sky have already accepted that they are fighting a losing battle and are really just focused on targeting a couple of sellers a year and making sure that the associated court case is published as widely as possible

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503878#Comment_121503878

7 euro per month for me. Gona try stay up for the UFC later. Main card 3am.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503417#Comment_121503417

BBC I player works in ROI with a VPN.

I’d say most people have an antenna for a soarview enabled tv.

Potential-Monke

I can't recommend people never to get Sky Q enough. It's horrible. Unless you pay all the extras, you get a sub-720p picture. They are still charging €5 extra a month for last gen HD when it should be the standard. The planner constantly just forgets there's a series link. The downloading option is broken 75% of the time. They only recently added RTE Player and Q is here since 2017, during which time it appears they've never actually updated anything of use. The boxes are loud, and constantly spin up throughout the night. They charge €15 a month for extra rooms/mini boxes. It's designed to not work with the Sky Eye. There are thousands examples of complaints on their official forums in a web search, yet if you click into them you find out Sky has deleted them all very recently.

The ONLY reason I have it is because of the record function as it suits the mother. I'm looking into the recordable Saorview, but she mainly watches stuff on BBC/whatever channel 4 is these days. Sky have the market cornered and it gives little option outside of dodgy boxes. I wanted the Darts, but Sky wanted a minimum 6 month contract at €20 a month. DAZN offer it, but Sky have blocked them in Ireland and UK. I got the NowTV package for €22, but trying to show mam how to use it and it only for a month means it's not a great option for older people (and I have my doubts that they won't try and charge me for 6 months when i go to cancel). We had a dodgy box, €15pm, but could only watch live or go back 24 hours (on SD), so not great and the picture quality is... lacking for me.

I recently got a 55" LG C2, and no dodgy box looks good on it. I'm willing to pay for proper content, but the content is so diluted and everyone has their own charges now, I look for alternative means. I should have a working PC again soon, and I'll go back to torrenting what I want to watch at that point. Content owners are causing piracy, simple as that.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121504315#Comment_121504315

I agree Sky Q is a real mess compared to what Sky + was, missing series links etc as you say.

But you could always get your mother a combo box with satellite and DT-TV inputs that she can record both Irish and UK channels.

You don't need a dodgy box for that.

As for your darts, of course Sky blocks DAZN, Sky own the rights not DAZN.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503987#Comment_121503987

But they are not fighting a losing battle.

If they were they would not have agreed a new EPL deal for as much as they did a few weeks ago.

And it was posted on this or some other thread recently that Sky Sports subs actually increased in the last year.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121504315#Comment_121504315

Have LG CS6 55 inch myself. X96 Max+ android box picture is good with upscaling although SD content (mainly the music channels) is always rough looking. Everything else is at least FHD with UHD movies and UHD sports.

I imagine the picture could depend a lot on the IPTV android app and the player options available: opengl, hardware / software decoding etc. Once I tweaked the settings its very smooth and sharp.

X96 Max+ is a bit dated now running android 9 but still does a job. I'll be getting the upgraded spec version in new year (X96 X4 Android 11) unless I see something better...

jj880

For android I use these settings to make the IPTV app and android OS as responsive as possible.

Gusser09

I have a 65 inch nano cell lg tv. Picture quality from my " dodgy box" is excellent.

Can posters please stop sending me pm's looking for my sellers details. You can thank some of the curtain twitchers on here for that.

Sono

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121503273#Comment_121503273

It’s been going on years, you get past the risk element very early on.

Gusser09

There was a product called ccams years ago. It worked off your dish and needed minimal broadband to decrypt.

Such a pitty that was stopped. It was bullet proof.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121505330#Comment_121505330

Whats your box model?

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121505419#Comment_121505419

I dont use an android box. I use a firestick. I moved on from android boxes years ago.

Brief_Lives

Hi folks,

i just noticed this thread.

Does anyone know anyone that has been caught, prosecuted or their screen just went blank?

I have a fine package that i use through a jailbroken firestick.

thanks

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121505431#Comment_121505431

A few have been given a suspended sentence for selling them. No user has been arrested.

Btw you dont need to jailbreak a firestick.

batistuta9

Yeah I've had 3 or 4 providers go, it's just something that happens.

There's no such thing as a jailbroken firestick btw, just bullshit from guys selling them. You can add the apps yourself. Tivimate is the best app for IPTV

If your pic quality is crap, you need another provider. Try for a month to see

Brief_Lives

I've had a great service for the last 6 months. delighted not to be paying sky for essentially the cost of the premier league. I use it for rugby. and NFL. oh, and golf.

Picture quality is fantastic.

thanks for the replies.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121505423#Comment_121505423

Was there a reason for changing? A benefit? I always thought firesticks run a version of android...