Mag 254

Started by willie5094, June 14, 2018, 13:09:02 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

willie5094

Looking to buy a Mag box to receive IPTV, anyone out there have any experience of them, the Mag 254 seems to be the most popular when reading reviews, but there are newer Mag models, any info please. Can the Mag boxes be purchased in FV.

Also what IPTV provider are people using, once again thanks. I'm not moving to FV till August so trying to get organised.

Johnrgby2

Quote from: willie5094 on June 14, 2018, 13:09:02 PM
Looking to buy a Mag box to receive IPTV, anyone out there have any experience of them, the Mag 254 seems to be the most popular when reading reviews, but there are newer Mag models, any info please. Can the Mag boxes be purchased in FV.

Also what IPTV provider are people using, once again thanks. I'm not moving to FV till August so trying to get organised.

We have tried a few IPTV suppliers, one to avoid is Expat vision, who will supply you with a free mag box, and 24/7 online support, the problem is you need their support almost constantly, we use a guy who has been on The Island for some years, cost is â,¬20 per month for which you get all UK terrestrial channels, nearly all the sky package including sport and films The BT package, plus many other channels, plus a film and Box sets package, with 7 days catch up on all the main channels and 3 day catch up on sports channels, downside most of the box sets come with |greek subtitles, { which does not bother us as we use a seperate android box with an app called terraniun TV qhich has liteally hundreds of films and TV series on it. }
He charges circa 150/170â,¬ for a mag box but will install on one of your own if you have one they can be bought on the internet. if you are interested closer to the time I can PM you his name and phone number.

willie5094

Cheers Johnrgby2, sounds like a plan, I'll get back to you closer to the time, if I remember that is. Much appreciated.

Willie.

Ducks

We got ours from our internet supplier; you can PM me fore details if interested. I think it might have been about â,¬200. That is on the higher side, but there's no subscription fee, which suited us better. (I always prefer a higher one-time fee as I can say with certainty whether or not I can afford it in that moment, and then I don't have to worry about affording it thereafter.) It was, however, self-install, which might not suit everyoneâ€" and I did have some teething problems getting the telly to accept it initially. Periodically it still insists there is no signal from the box when there plainly is, but I think that's a failure on the part of the TV rather than the box itself.

We have 60 UK channels, along with regular updates of recently released movies and TV shows, which always work perfectly. The live channels in highest demand (BBC, ITV, etc.) are pretty reliable, and usually stable. There's also 3 days catch-up on those.

The downside is that the less in-demand channels (E4, TLC, etc.) tend to be spottier, and sometimes there's a lot of stalling/cutting out on those, along with no +1 channels and no catch-up. It suits us until we can get a slingbox situation sorted out from home, though, which I think is going to be the best option for us in the long term, but might not be of any use to you if you are moving full time over here.

willie5094

Thanks Ducks, what is a slingbox, I would also be looking to get Sky and BT sports with my Mag 254 through a provider, I also understand that I will need a VPN to watch these channels...

Johnrgby2

Quote from: willie5094 on June 14, 2018, 14:46:53 PM
I also understand that I will need a VPN to watch these channels...

Not true.

Deso

Quote from: willie5094 on June 14, 2018, 13:09:02 PM
Looking to buy a Mag box to receive IPTV, anyone out there have any experience of them, the Mag 254 seems to be the most popular when reading reviews, but there are newer Mag models, any info please. Can the Mag boxes be purchased in FV.

Also what IPTV provider are people using, once again thanks. I'm not moving to FV till August so trying to get organised.

To go backwards a bit, how do you intend getting your internet, phone line ADSL or WIFI?

The MAG 322 is the update version of the 254, I have one and it works fine on ADSL hardwired to the router.

The IPTV supplier I use costs £16 (Pounds) and has all the channels you could want, 7 day catch up and thousands of Movies and Box Sets.

There are lots of fake MAG boxes on various auction sites so beware.  Below is a link to a genuine seller where I bought mine from...


https://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/media-players-and-streaming/IPTV-Set-top-Boxes/infomir-mag-iptv-stb
Regards, Neil
Looking forward to the day I tick the "One way only" box when booking flights to Fuerte. [:)]

Ducks

Quote from: willie5094 on June 14, 2018, 14:46:53 PM
Thanks Ducks, what is a slingbox, I would also be looking to get Sky and BT sports with my Mag 254 through a provider, I also understand that I will need a VPN to watch these channels...

It's a system that allows you to connect a device to your TV box at home (Sky/Virgin/whatever), which will then connect to your home router and send that signal online so you can log in via your phone or another device here, and receive the signal coming from your home box. There's a decent explanation here which covers most of the basics.

However, you will need:

1. a UK/Irish home which will have a TV subscription for the channels you want
2. a decent internet connection there, and
3. to be leaving the power on while you are out of the country, as well as
4. a decent speed of connection here in Fuerte.

It's not a viable option for everyone, but if you do have those things, it's quite simple to buy the device and connect it, and then you can access it via your phone or buy something like a Chromecast or Roku for your TV here. No VPN or subscriptions required.

willie5094

Thanks again guys for all the really helpful info.

Deso, not sure what you mean about how I intend getting my internet, I guess it would depend if I got the Mag 322 box with wifi installed but as you say you have yours hardwired to the router so may go down that route. Are you at liberty to let me know what IPTV provider you are using and can you get Sports, and many thanks for the link to buying a Mag box, I'm always wary of buying something that could be fake.

And Ducks, I had a wee look online at slingbox, I'm afraid it won't be for me as I'm leaving the UK for good, house sold, so no TV in UK to have a subscription on, but many thanks anyway.

I also mentioned further up the post do I need a VPN to watch the channels particularly Sky/Bt sports, Johnrgby2 says no, any thoughts.

Johnrgby2

Quote from: willie5094 on June 14, 2018, 17:13:52 PM
Thanks again guys for all the really helpful info.

Deso, not sure what you mean about how I intend getting my internet, I guess it would depend if I got the Mag 322 box with wifi installed but as you say you have yours hardwired to the router so may go down that route. Are you at liberty to let me know what IPTV provider you are using and can you get Sports, and many thanks for the link to buying a Mag box, I'm always wary of buying something that could be fake.

And Ducks, I had a wee look online at slingbox, I'm afraid it won't be for me as I'm leaving the UK for good, house sold, so no TV in UK to have a subscription on, but many thanks anyway.

I also mentioned further up the post do I need a VPN to watch the channels particularly Sky/Bt sports, Johnrgby2 says no, any thoughts.

Johnrgby2 says no because I know you do not need one, you need an internet connection with a download speed of 2.5 Mbps+ a mag box, or even an android box will suffice an IPTV provider, end off.

willie5094

Cheers again Johnrgby2, sounds good enough for me....

TamaraEnLaPlaya

I have a supply of MAG254s on FV for sale and a partner who can install/set it up for you if required. No tie to any particular IPTV supplier but can recommend a couple if you are interested. Please PM me if you would like more info.

willie5094

Thanks TamaraEnLaPlaya once I am over in August I'll get in touch then, cheers Willie..

jimbews

If in Caleta look into Fuertewifi.com

As well as installing broadband (via a wireless link) they sold us a Mag322.
This provides about 60 free channels and some (24 hour) catchup.
Also option for some paid channels (which we don't have).

Works reasonably well with a 4Mb broadband link, but we're changing to 10Mb (which doesn't cost that much more) for next broadband period to allow for other concurrent network use.
The broadband can be bought in periods of a week, 2 weeks, month, etc, etc.

Quote from: willie5094 on June 14, 2018, 13:09:02 PM
Looking to buy a Mag box to receive IPTV, anyone out there have any experience of them, the Mag 254 seems to be the most popular when reading reviews, but there are newer Mag models, any info please. Can the Mag boxes be purchased in FV.

Also what IPTV provider are people using, once again thanks. I'm not moving to FV till August so trying to get organised.

Johnrgby2

Quote from: jimbews on June 15, 2018, 09:59:02 AM
If in Caleta look into Fuertewifi.com

As well as installing broadband (via a wireless link) they sold us a Mag322.
This provides about 60 free channels and some (24 hour) catchup.
Also option for some paid channels (which we don't have).

Works reasonably well with a 4Mb broadband link, but we're changing to 10Mb (which doesn't cost that much more) for next broadband period to allow for other concurrent network use.
The broadband can be bought in periods of a week, 2 weeks, month, etc, etc.

Quote from: willie5094 on June 14, 2018, 13:09:02 PM
Looking to buy a Mag box to receive IPTV, anyone out there have any experience of them, the Mag 254 seems to be the most popular when reading reviews, but there are newer Mag models, any info please. Can the Mag boxes be purchased in FV.

Also what IPTV provider are people using, once again thanks. I'm not moving to FV till August so trying to get organised.

I have a friend who had this installed, and is no very flattering about it if memory serves he was charged circa 180â,¬ installation the mag box was extra then anything up to 55â,¬ per month, depending on what d/load speed you want, and you only get 24 hour catch up and that is only on some channels, please correct me if I am wrong.

jimbews

Quote from: jimbews on June 15, 2018, 09:59:02 AM

I have a friend who had this installed, and is no very flattering about it if memory serves he was charged circa 180â,¬ installation the mag box was extra then anything up to 55â,¬ per month, depending on what d/load speed you want, and you only get 24 hour catch up and that is only on some channels, please correct me if I am wrong.

From memory:
Installation was one-off cost of 180â,¬.  Wireless receiver on roof. Cabled to living room where router and PoE (for receiver) installed.
Then recurring costs which can be for periods as short as a week.
Think our latest charge was 47 for 4 weeks at 10 Mb.
For intermittent users this seems ideal. Probably not what you want for permanent residence.
Last period was 4Mb. Certainly got that (possibly fractionally more) on speed test sites.

The Mag (I think cost 130â,¬) box worked well most of the time on 4Mb but did occasionally break up for very short periods: probably when various phones and tablets decided to do updates. Hence reason to go for 10Mb next period.

Suits us: may not suit everyone.

willie5094

Thanks guys just gonna buy a Mag 322 box from the link that Deso posted and bring it over with me in August, seems a good price and a chance to try it out before leaving Scotland..... I will do a wee bit of research when over about which broadband and IPTV provider to go with, but will definately look back on this thread to help me make a decision as you have all been so helpful...

Cheers the noo
Willie.

Deso

Quote from: willie5094 on June 14, 2018, 17:13:52 PM
Thanks again guys for all the really helpful info.

Deso, not sure what you mean about how I intend getting my internet, I guess it would depend if I got the Mag 322 box with wifi installed but as you say you have yours hardwired to the router so may go down that route. Are you at liberty to let me know what IPTV provider you are using and can you get Sports, and many thanks for the link to buying a Mag box, I'm always wary of buying something that could be fake.

And Ducks, I had a wee look online at slingbox, I'm afraid it won't be for me as I'm leaving the UK for good, house sold, so no TV in UK to have a subscription on, but many thanks anyway.

I also mentioned further up the post do I need a VPN to watch the channels particularly Sky/Bt sports, Johnrgby2 says no, any thoughts.

What I meant was, are you having a landline with broadband or using one of the local wifi suppliers. I have a landline and broadband with Movistar which is â,¬50 a month but I also get a mobile sim with calls and 5Gb data thrown in.

If you use wifi internet you need a good steady signal for streaming, preferably around 4-6meg minimum.

I have sent a PM with contact mail of my supplier.  :)

Regards, Neil
Looking forward to the day I tick the "One way only" box when booking flights to Fuerte. [:)]

Johnrgby2

One of the major deciding factors will be where on The Island you are going to live, the internet is patchy all over the Island with the exception of Rosario and Corralejo where they are installing fibre optic, Movistar could only offer e 8/10 Mbps, which in reality turned out to be 6/8 until late afternoon and then anything from .6 to 2/3Mbps, which makes it impossible to stream adequately, so before you do anything please ensure you have sufficient d/load speeds. 

MandK

Find yourself a good IPTV supplier and load straight onto your smart tv .......

Deso

Quote from: Johnrgby2 on June 15, 2018, 13:57:19 PM
One of the major deciding factors will be where on The Island you are going to live, the internet is patchy all over the Island with the exception of Rosario and Corralejo where they are installing fibre optic, Movistar could only offer e 8/10 Mbps, which in reality turned out to be 6/8 until late afternoon and then anything from .6 to 2/3Mbps, which makes it impossible to stream adequately, so before you do anything please ensure you have sufficient d/load speeds.

Quite right John, I get 17Mbps out of a possible 20, but then I am only a couple of hundred metres from the exchange.   :D
Regards, Neil
Looking forward to the day I tick the "One way only" box when booking flights to Fuerte. [:)]

Ducks

I actually am with FuerteWifi myself. I found the MagBox's box this morning when I was cleaning, and it was actually only â,¬130â€" but again, you have to self-install.

I'm on the â,¬55 per month package, which might be a bit spendy for some, but I would live on beans and toast before I would voluntarily take a slow internet speed. It's still only 15mbps, but I appreciate that there's no contract and that I'm not paying for it when I'm not here, and it's the best that's readily available outside of Rosario at the moment. Apparently, they will be expanding their offerings again soon with faster speeds, but I can only imagine it will cost even more.

I find that our speed is consistently over 12mbps, even at peak times, and it's fine for both the MagBox running and watching Netflix on another device at the same time, which was what we required. I'm on wifi now a fair distance from the router, and just tested it; it went up to 16.5, then came back down to 14.2 and stabilised at that, which is good enough for me. They will also install a secondary router for you at a cost of â,¬70 if you are having trouble getting signal in some areas of the property because of the concrete walls we have out here.

My only real complaint is the MagBox, which (as I said before) sometimes stutters and hangs, and they seem to have trouble finding reliable streams for some of the less popular channels, but considering it's a non-sub model, I can live happily enough with that.

They're not available island-wide, though, so location is definitely something that will play big in what's available to you when you come here!

Johnrgby2

We are with a company called Tiekom and have 4G we get anything between 12//20Mbps anywhere in the property and on some parts of the terraces, costs 59â,¬ cost nothing to install, and for an extra 20â,¬ I have a sim card with free Spanish calls and 5 hours a month free International calls, may seem pricey, but it works for us.

beachlife

I was using a 250 mag box on the island and was so pleased with it, I decided to get a box  for the UK. I read that the 256 mag had a faster processor so thought that as it was faster than the 250, I would take the 256 box out to the island and use the 256 mag on Fuerte.

I set everything up on the 256 in the UK so it should have been plug and play when I got to the island. However, once I connected it to the movistar router when I arrived back on the island, it would not connect to the internet either wifi or with ethernet. I researched it and it seems that a number of people have had issues with the router used by telefonica. I tried with different security settings on the mag box and tried to change the movistar router settings and configuration for it to connect with the mag 256, with no luck. I went back to the 250 mag and the router had no problem with connecting with that to my iptv service. I took the 256 back to the UK and am sitting watching the world cup with it now.

So be careful which mag box you get. With hindsight I should have got a 254 mag for fuerte as I believe that the software on both the 250 and the 254 are very similar with just slight differences on the hardware. The 256 has different software hence why the movistar router seems not to talk to it.

Not sure if the 300 mags have the same problem with a movistar router that I had, but be interesting to know if anyone has used any of the 300 mags with a movistar router

Ducks

Quote from: Johnrgby2 on June 15, 2018, 16:27:20 PM
We are with a company called Tiekom and have 4G we get anything between 12//20Mbps anywhere in the property and on some parts of the terraces, costs 59â,¬ cost nothing to install, and for an extra 20â,¬ I have a sim card with free Spanish calls and 5 hours a month free International calls, may seem pricey, but it works for us.

Is there a monthly usage cap with that?

willie5094

So much choice from everyone, thanks.....

Johnrgby2

Quote from: Ducks on June 15, 2018, 17:20:41 PM
Quote from: Johnrgby2 on June 15, 2018, 16:27:20 PM
We are with a company called Tiekom and have 4G we get anything between 12//20Mbps anywhere in the property and on some parts of the terraces, costs 59â,¬ cost nothing to install, and for an extra 20â,¬ I have a sim card with free Spanish calls and 5 hours a month free International calls, may seem pricey, but it works for us.


Is there a monthly usage cap with that?

Not with the internet, as I have said 5 hours International calls, and I think it is 100 mins local calls which we rarely use anyway, plus I get 1/2 GB allowance on my mobile again which I never use.

Deso

Quote from: beachlife on June 15, 2018, 16:30:55 PM
I was using a 250 mag box on the island and was so pleased with it, I decided to get a box  for the UK. I read that the 256 mag had a faster processor so thought that as it was faster than the 250, I would take the 256 box out to the island and use the 256 mag on Fuerte.

I set everything up on the 256 in the UK so it should have been plug and play when I got to the island. However, once I connected it to the movistar router when I arrived back on the island, it would not connect to the internet either wifi or with ethernet. I researched it and it seems that a number of people have had issues with the router used by telefonica. I tried with different security settings on the mag box and tried to change the movistar router settings and configuration for it to connect with the mag 256, with no luck. I went back to the 250 mag and the router had no problem with connecting with that to my iptv service. I took the 256 back to the UK and am sitting watching the world cup with it now.

So be careful which mag box you get. With hindsight I should have got a 254 mag for fuerte as I believe that the software on both the 250 and the 254 are very similar with just slight differences on the hardware. The 256 has different software hence why the movistar router seems not to talk to it.

Not sure if the 300 mags have the same problem with a movistar router that I had, but be interesting to know if anyone has used any of the 300 mags with a movistar router

The 250 and 254 are obsolete now, the 322 is the replacement for the 254. I have taken my Movistar router out and put in a TPLink VR600 to give better WIFI coverage but I'm sure my old 254 used to work fine with the Movistar one although I did have a Smart DNS set up with that so as to have BBC and ITV players available as a back up.
Regards, Neil
Looking forward to the day I tick the "One way only" box when booking flights to Fuerte. [:)]

beachlife

#28
Quote from: Deso on June 16, 2018, 00:31:36 AM
Quote from: beachlife on June 15, 2018, 16:30:55 PM
I was using a 250 mag box on the island and was so pleased with it, I decided to get a box  for the UK. I read that the 256 mag had a faster processor so thought that as it was faster than the 250, I would take the 256 box out to the island and use the 256 mag on Fuerte.

I set everything up on the 256 in the UK so it should have been plug and play when I got to the island. However, once I connected it to the movistar router when I arrived back on the island, it would not connect to the internet either wifi or with ethernet. I researched it and it seems that a number of people have had issues with the router used by telefonica. I tried with different security settings on the mag box and tried to change the movistar router settings and configuration for it to connect with the mag 256, with no luck. I went back to the 250 mag and the router had no problem with connecting with that to my iptv service. I took the 256 back to the UK and am sitting watching the world cup with it now.

So be careful which mag box you get. With hindsight I should have got a 254 mag for fuerte as I believe that the software on both the 250 and the 254 are very similar with just slight differences on the hardware. The 256 has different software hence why the movistar router seems not to talk to it.

Not sure if the 300 mags have the same problem with a movistar router that I had, but be interesting to know if anyone has used any of the 300 mags with a movistar router

The 250 and 254 are obsolete now, the 322 is the replacement for the 254. I have taken my Movistar router out and put in a TPLink VR600 to give better WIFI coverage but I'm sure my old 254 used to work fine with the Movistar one although I did have a Smart DNS set up with that so as to have BBC and ITV players available as a back up.

The 254 should work with the movistar router, as it has the same architecture as the 250. You can still get 250/254/256 on ebay. If you go to Informir site you can still get 254/256 so they are not obsolete.

Just didn`t want anyone buying a 256 and then trying it with a movistar provided router and wondering why it didn`t work.Changing the DNS doesn`t make any difference when using a 256 and a movistar router as its the security that seems to be the problem. As I said tried going into router portal and changing setting with no luck. Only way would be to flash the router but wasn`t worth the effort as the 250 worked for me on the rock and 256 worked in the UK. Only difference the DNS made using 1.1.1.1 was download was quicker, so certainly recommend changing DNS to go faster, although know you were doing that to get UK channels. No need to use a VPN or anything but with Beams iptv. Also Beams allow you to watch EPL when in UK without it being cutout at kick off.

MAG256 has 1 Gb ram, MAG322 has only 512 Mb ram. Reports that the 322 is slower than the 256. Also where subtitles are provided the 256 shows them whereas the 322 doesn`t.

Interesting that your 322 works with TPlink V600 will bear that in mind if I have to upgrade the mag box to a 300 series box. Or I may consider to change to a different router and use a 256 mag due to its faster processor.

Did you get the Tplink router in on the rock or bring it from overseas ?

Globetrotter

Quote from: willie5094 on June 14, 2018, 14:46:53 PM
Thanks Ducks, what is a slingbox, I would also be looking to get Sky and BT sports with my Mag 254 through a provider, I also understand that I will need a VPN to watch these channels...
Been using a Slingbox for a long time, while the picture quality is so so at times it rarely loses a signal, will work in Fuerte as low as 2mb, tried everything else and settled for this system, best of all costs nothing except your Wifi,