17 out of 31 UK channels are down.....what is happening?

[waynemcke]

And before I get flamed by the rules police for my post not being in the Channel Issues subforum, I'm posting this post as a general issue for discussion (as well as a plea for help!) as it's been like this for weeks and of the channels that have been raised as issues on the Channel Issues thread, nothing seems to be getting fixed.

I subscribe to IKS66 to pick up the UK channels. I could get most mainstream UK channels through the free services like FilmOn but in particular, I want reliable streams for all of the Sky Sports and BT Sports channels and am happy to pay for them for the reliability. In the past, the IKS66 sports channel streams have been pretty stable and are worth paying the subscription for alone. For over a month now, that is no longer the case.

Of the hundreds of IKS66 channels available, I shortlist 31 IKS66 'mainstream' UK channels as visible on my Guide. Obviously this situation is fluid but as of 10.30am on Monday 26th Sept, only 14 of the 31 channels I watch are working and the majority that are down have been down for weeks. That isn't acceptable for a paid service, no matter how much you pay.

14 channels work - Ch5 (85), ITV3 (80), E4 (92), More4 (93), Gold (88), Dave (89), 5 Star (97), 5 USA (104), Sky Living (86), Sky Atlantic (91), Really (121), BBC News (228), MUTV (407), Sky Sports News (144),
1 channel works but shows the wrong channel - ITV2 (79) (showing ITV1)
1 channel works but audio is out of sync - ITV4 (81)
12 channels don't connect at all - BBC1 (100), BBC2 (101), ITV1 (78), Sky1 (90), 4Seven (83), PICK (96), Sky Sports 1 (410), Sky Sp2 (411), Sky Sp3 (412), Sky Sp4 (413), Sky Sp5 (414), BT Sports 1 (416).
3 channels play for a short period then buffer - Ch4 (84), Watch (87), BT Sports 2 (417)

IKS66 have a quote on their website - 'some channels might go down for some days, and then get back up.. but most important channels like movies, sports and porns are always up, remember IKS FTA is our job'. Frankly, that isn't true is it!

I've been a customer for almost 2 years and for the past month have waited patiently for the service to improve. I understand how channels can go up and down, blah blah and don't expect a 'perfect' service where all channels are up all the time as that's completely unrealistic. I even renewed a subscription a few weeks ago in anticipation the service would get better. My point is, I'm not whining because one channel has been down for 5 minutes. I'm complaining and frustrated because many channels have been down for far too long and I'm getting to the point where my loyalty in sticking with this service is almost gone. If I need to go and find another more reliable and possibly more expensive service, then I'll do that but I wanted to give somebody the opportunity to at least respond and update on why there are so many channels not working and when things will get back to how they used to be.

[ilan]

Your best bet is to write Papiao directly. No one at this end has control over or knowledge concerning what channels will be added, removed or serviced.

[waynemcke]

Thanks ilan.

This is one area I'm not too knowledgable about.

I pay a donation for 2 IKS66 routes at iks66.com and set up Stalker to connect to the IPTV66 server on my 2 devices........why would I email Papiao?
Do I send an email to [email protected] or is there an email for Papiao as I can't find much on their website and my login details (for IKS66) aren't recognised?

[ilan]

Yes, you can copy and send your post to that e-mail address or to the one below. At least folks at the backend will see your issues that way, which might not happen otherwise.

https://papiao.is/contact/

[waynemcke]

OK, thanks ilan. I've done that and also sent an email to the iks66 email address so we'll see what happens.

[waynemcke]

Your best bet is to write Papiao directly. No one at this end has control over or knowledge concerning what channels will be added, removed or serviced.

Hi.

Sorry for the inconveniences, please contact IKS66 (your Provider) for further help and support.

Best Regards.
PapiaoTV Staff.

[kroakie1]

I gave up on this service for the same reasons. Poor service zero support from providers ( not this forum admins, they do a good job). Got a UK provider sub. Similar price and reliable streams and great support. No more trying to deal with some unknown Chinese people for me.

[waynemcke]

Yeh, I've had no response from IKS66 at all and I'm not surprised as I've read about their poor customer service before. It's kind of the problem with this whole method of watching tv as nobody really seems accountable for it or comes forward when there are issues with it. Instead you get ignored or people pass the buck (see papaio response above).

As they've provided me with good streams for most of the past 2 years (until the last month), I'm happy to give them a chance to fix whatever needs fixing but if they can't even reply to my email giving me any reassurance of when the streams will be back up, they've left me with no choice but to look elsewhere. There's a point when the money you're saving is just false economy and I think I'm there with this now. I assume they do this for financial benefit so it just seems a really strange way to treat your customers in my opinion.

Can any Mods offer any help or shall I just move on?

[kroakie1]

You wont get an answer, I can assure you of that. The forum is full of posts outlining problems ranging from payments to no connections. I rely on iptv for my movie channels and sport so need reliability. I gave iks66 a year to get if sorted and to bd honest it was never reliable. Now I watch movies and sport in HD with rarely a glitch. How long for? I dont know but its been good for the last 2 months.

[mjznchloe]

EPG not working on STB Emulator IKS66