Cutting the cord

Cutting the cord

I have blogged extensively about the history, legality and ethics of copying entertainment content, starting with wire recorders in the 1930’s, and tracking through to the present day.  This link refers.  http://raygruszecki.blogspot.com/2016/03/copying-of-entertainment-content.html


There is more and more dialogue about cutting the cord and getting rid of high priced and unreliable TV service.  Dish TV has not carried HBO channels since November, 2018 because of a pricing dispute.  Direct TV dropped Albany NY channel 13 and other CBS channels around the country because of a similar dispute.  And consumers are paying over $200 per month for full boat Dish TV and Direct TV packages, only to see favorite programming suddenly unavailable.  Similar disputes and high prices abound with various cable companies.


Many people have dropped their high-priced services gone to streaming TV over the Internet, now that fast speed internet is generally available in the country.  This was pioneered by Netflix and Amazon Prime TV, and now includes Hulu, Vudu, Sling, Fubo, Philo, Youtube and several other streaming services that charge $10-$15 per month for their services and provide a lot of entertainment for that price.


There’s another whole world of IPTV streaming services that are becoming more and more mainstream.  These are foreign based IPTV streaming services that literally open up the world of low-cost TV streaming over the internet.  These services accumulate TV signals from all over the world, including all of the American and British programming, put it out on the internet and charge a fraction of what the big commercial providers charge.  These IPTV services include, but do not feature, all of the premium American and English channels, (HBO, Showtime, Sky, etc).

Some of us have known about IPTV for years, and have subscribed to what I considered “experimental” services like IPTV4less, RapidIPTV, etc. With these services, there is no, or very rudimentary guide and DVR capability, and reception and customer service is not always reliable.  These “experimental IPTV services cost $60-$80 per year, and offer thousands of world-wide channels (including all of the “premium” channels), video-on-demand, etc.


  There are now more robust IPTV services, like IPguys, Helix and others that apparently offer guides and DVR type service, and charge upwards of $150 per year.  They seem to be a re-brand of earlier experimental IPTV services.  I don’t know how well their offered EPG’s and recording capability works.


Receiving IPTV is pretty straightforward.  A set top box is required, and there is a plethora of various types available.  The erstwhile Mag254 box with D-link wireless adapter has been replaced with the Mag324 with wireless embedded, for about $75 on Amazon.  The STB is connected to power, to an HDMI port on the TV, and to the internet.  Two USB ports are available, and presumably can be used on the Mag324 to save content.


After payment, an IPTV provider will recognize and authorize the set top box using the Mac address of the box.  That’s all there is to it.  The world’s TV programming is available, for a mere pittance compared to what providers like Dish and Direct TV, and the cable companies charge.  It’s a little raw, and I still consider the IPTV services “experimental”, but for $75 for the Mag STB, and $60-80 for a year’s subscription, there are not 200-300 channels available.  There are literally 5000 channels available.



Ray Gruszecki
August 3, 2019