QUOTE(joshhd @ Jan 5 2017, 07:11 PM)
Great explanation by CTU...
By the way, what kind of channels you would expect from IPTV? If you are referring to a underground IPTV service (not legal type), then you should be aware:
1) No guarantee that you can watch all channels without issues as the channel provider's server might be under maintenance or down occasionally, or there's large amount of users are watching that particular channel and the server became busy, hence you might not able to watch the channel.
2) If the channel provider gets the channel from Astro satellite, then if the channel provider's location is currently heavy rain, you will not able to watch the channel (you will see "Service currently not available" message until the whether over there is cleared.
3) Audio/video is not well synchronised (lip-sync issue)
Sometimes you might notice the audio/video does not match on what you see/listen. Such as the video is playing ahead over audio, or the video is playing slower behind over audio.
4) Some channels might occasionally buffering, or it will kept on Loading when switching channels
5) Some underground IPTV service does not have EPG service, means you can't get TV schedule like what you have on Astro, such as what programme is currently showing or showing next.
6) Don't expect for interchangeable audio/subtitle languages like usual pay TV. The subtitles you see on screen are most probably hard coded (permanently) and cannot be change or turn off like usual pay TV.
7) If your speed is not very high (such as 4Mbps or 8Mbps), and even if you can watch IPTV channel smoothly without or occasionally buffering, that doesn't means you can surf the Internet as usual. You may experience slow browsing speeds when watching IPTV channels. Don't forget that streaming IPTV channel also uses your existing Internet speed.
I'm telling you this is not to scare you. I'm telling you is because I hope you are aware of the disadvantages of underground IPTV service, besides knowing that you can get access of hundred to thousands of channels from local to international by subscribing to IPTV service at a cheap/affordable price.
P.S: I used before, that's why I know
Great advise and explanation again by the sifu
I'd just like to add a few more basic things for those who might be thinking of switching to android box or IPTV in addition to what has been said above. Just sharing the experience for others' benefit. For your info, I'm super happy with my IPTV subscription and below are not things I am scaring you with. Just for sharing only
1. First and most important, who are you staying with? Are you sharing ur Astro with with ur family with young kids? With ur parents? or u living alone and only u watch astro? The thing is, if u are staying with others who watch the same Astro, and suddenly you cut it saying ur IPTV will be as good and cheaper than Astro, then prepare urself for an endless war with complaints, bickering, whining and crying and so on. If u are already on Astro, consider IPTV as an alternative for your ownself. Maybe only u watch sports, or movies or drama series. Then maybe u can drop only those packages from Astro and leave the rest for those who watch the other programmes and packages. You do not, I repeat, do not take away Astro from those who rely on it. For example, I dropped my sports, movies, and mustika packages as I was the only one watching it. I could still get those packages from my IPTV so I left the news, kids and korean channels still on Astro for parents, kids and of course wife.
2. IPTV is not a direct replacement for Astro in terms of quality and content. Some IPTV service, both legal and illegal, can provide you some if not most of Astro channels. But don't complain if the quality is not as crystal clear HD as Astro. Maybe it is also in HD but there will always be that slight advantage to Astro because our eyes has been used to it so whatever the HD version IPTV has to offer, it will never be 100% as good as Astro. Like joshhd mentioned, you will not have the option of changing audio, subtitles. Some IPTV like mine, has EPG but not for Astro based channels. So don't expect the Astro 'feel'.
3. International or non-local/non-astro Channels on IPTV might same in name with Astro but might come from a different feed. Like I said above, if your family needs the Astro channels, then maybe you should stick to it because it might be impossible to have everything they have on Astro with what you will get through IPTV. Advantage of IPTV is that you will get hundreds of channels from around the world directly 'Live' to you. But beware, if you have channels from around the world, it means they could be uncensored or unfiltered for sex, violence and all those things that you will not get on Astro. For example, the IPTV I have used to have movie channels that were on a direct feed from the US like all those Cinemax, HBO, Showtime channels. These channels are uncensored and unfiltered to suit their adult audience from 12 am to around 6 am US time. That will be 12-6pm our time. You do not want ur kids with the remote at this time of the day as they might just fall on some 'wrestling' action. When I say 'wrestling' action, I mean full on wrestling action like you get in the back room of a cetak rompak DVD shop. so if you have kids or even parents around, you should take careful measures with these channels if you were on IPTV. I dropped these channels from my subscription as I could rely on movie apps from the android box. Much better than being unable to control what is shown on the tv with ur wife always at home, parents coming around and a kid growing up.
4. Not everything is bad if you switch to IPTV. The fee u pay is way cheaper than Astro. I paid a 1 year subscription which was the same as 2 months of payment to Astro. Not only am I happy about the fees, but it has what I want compared to what Astro was providing, namely sports, football content plus some entertainment channels. You might probably get much more than what Astro can give. The IPTV I subscribe to can be access through mutiple ways, meaning I can watch it on mobile phone, laptop, tablet and PC. Try to get something like that as an added bonus. These are some of the advantages of IPTV
5. Be sure to find a trusted and respectable IPTV dealer before you commit.My IPTV subscription is stable and the provider is always on hand to help fix any problems I or any of his subscribers encounter. Do not be blinded by cheap offers or a long list of channels. IPTV service providers like to offer Astro channels to get ur interest up. But be sure to ask for a trial and make sure what they offer is what you will get. If possible, get in touch with any of their current subscribers to see what their opinions are.
6. Finally, I would strongly suggest that anyone who has Astro but is thinking of getting IPTV, to consider IPTV as an investment, rather than a replacement. Nothing beats Astro even if their content is like a rojak, repeats after repeats, full of inhouse channels, they dont have what IPTV have and of course their fees are ridiculously high. We as Malaysians have been growing up with them since young and even if their service has gotten worse over the years, there will always be things that they have that we can't replace. Maybe we, the younger generation, like myself hehehehe can be a bit tech savvy and find alternatives to Astro. But like myself too, there will always be family members who need it like my grandparents, my parents, my siblings, my wife and now even my kids. So, get urself an IPTV subscription to maybe help you cut your Astro bills, but don't get it to replace Astro if you have others who rely on it.
sorry for my long post here. I'm 6 months into my experience with IPTV and Astro. So wanted to share it here for anyone who might need some tips. oh and by the way, I didn't even touch on the technicalities of the android box, software, and even internet speed. A lot more things to consider when you want to sign up for IPTV service other than just internet speed. Like I said, treat it as an investment, not a replacement until you get the hang of it and can say goodbye to Astro for good.
PS: I can recommend a good and trusted IPTV service for anyone interested in stable and uncountable sports channels for football. Also has UK and US channels too for movies, music, documentaries, kids, news, entertainment, some Astro, Singapore, Indonesian channels just to name a few.
This post has been edited by CTU: Jan 6 2017, 12:11 AM