How to setup PVR IPTV Simple Client

[paulrhyan]

Here is what I have:
Windows 10 laptop
50 Mbps broadband internet
Kodi V16.1
I installed/activated the PVR IPTV Simple Client using a tutorial found here:
https://seo-michael.co.uk/how-to-setup-livetv-pvr-simple-xbmc-kodi/

Here is my goal:
I want to receive LIVE broadcasts of OTA networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, & FOX). An added bonus would be to receive feeds from multiple markets (Chicago, Indianapolis, Fort Worth and/or San Diego).

Here is/are my problem(s):
The tutorial said that the URL for the playlist probably would not work. They were correct. I tried googling for a playlist and stumbled on to Pastebin. I have tried several playlists from Pastebin and NONE OF THEM WORK. I can load the playlist in the settings and I restart Kodi. When I restart and click the TV link on the dashboard I can see a nice neat list of channels but when I click on one either A) nothing happens, B) "WORKING" shows down in the lower corner for a while then nothing or C) "WORKING" shows in the lower corner and never goes away and still no feed and Kodi is locked up.

Questions:
Have I configured the app correctly (using the above tutorial)? Are there more configurations that I need to perform? Do I need a companion app or something? Does PVR IPTV Simple Client even work? Should I use something else like Stalker? If Stalker is a better option please point me to good tutorial for install/setup/config.

Other Notes:
I live in the United States and I really only want simple OTA networks (in English). I don't really care about premium cable/satellite channels or foreign stuff. Right now I can't afford cable TV and I live too far from any broadcasts. I was hoping to get some TV from the internet.

Thanks in advance.

[cwh060]

You do realize you are writing on a forum which is used to support three paid types of IPTV services. (Rocket/NFPS & IKS66)

PVR IPTV Simple client does indeed work. The M3U channels you are trying to receive are not likely going to work. Start reading Kodi forums, look for a USTV plugin and get a subscription (it's free).

cwh

[paulrhyan]

You do realize you are writing on a forum which is used to support three paid types of IPTV services. (Rocket/NFPS & IKS66)

PVR IPTV Simple client does indeed work.

Nope, I didn't realize I was in a forum for paid services.


The M3U channels you are trying to receive are not likely going to work. Start reading Kodi forums, look for a USTV plugin and get a subscription (it's free).

cwh

I have the USTV NOW plugin. It works okay. I get a reasonably reliable feed from Harrisburg, PA. When I stumbled on the whole IPTV thing I was merely looking to expand on that. For the record though, Kodi forums will not offer support for USTV NOW as they regard it as a pirate app.

For now I have pretty much given up on the whole IPTV thing. I can't seem to get reliable information and I just don't have time to mess with it any more. I think it would be easier to find my binoculars and watch TV through my neighbor's picture window.

[dells]

Best bet would be to donate to nfps/rocket/66 which has plenty of live channels and is supported at this site, if you are going to rely on free apps than it is hit and miss and you could end up spending a lot of time trying to get a channel to work

[satmam61]

Using free apps for live TV is pretty much on par with this paid for service. ..I gave my mag to my sister because of all the problems with nfps iptv...I moved on to a better service ....plus some of the free apps for Android work better than this service

[expatter]

Here is what I have:
Windows 10 laptop
50 Mbps broadband internet
Kodi V16.1
I installed/activated the PVR IPTV Simple Client using a tutorial found here:
https://seo-michael.co.uk/how-to-setup-livetv-pvr-simple-xbmc-kodi/

Here is my goal:
I want to receive LIVE broadcasts of OTA networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, & FOX). An added bonus would be to receive feeds from multiple markets (Chicago, Indianapolis, Fort Worth and/or San Diego).

Here is/are my problem(s):
The tutorial said that the URL for the playlist probably would not work. They were correct. I tried googling for a playlist and stumbled on to Pastebin. I have tried several playlists from Pastebin and NONE OF THEM WORK. I can load the playlist in the settings and I restart Kodi. When I restart and click the TV link on the dashboard I can see a nice neat list of channels but when I click on one either A) nothing happens, B) "WORKING" shows down in the lower corner for a while then nothing or C) "WORKING" shows in the lower corner and never goes away and still no feed and Kodi is locked up.

Questions:
Have I configured the app correctly (using the above tutorial)? Are there more configurations that I need to perform? Do I need a companion app or something? Does PVR IPTV Simple Client even work? Should I use something else like Stalker? If Stalker is a better option please point me to good tutorial for install/setup/config.

Other Notes:
I live in the United States and I really only want simple OTA networks (in English). I don't really care about premium cable/satellite channels or foreign stuff. Right now I can't afford cable TV and I live too far from any broadcasts. I was hoping to get some TV from the internet.

Thanks in advance.

Simple Client PVR works just fine within KODI. As you have found, just about ANY IPTV list you find online will be crap as they are almost never maintained and what works today will likely not work tomorrow or even later today. This is because as more people publish these lists, servers take a massive hit and links are changed.

Free lunch is like pie in the sky; you can't grab a rainbow.

When you DO try and use a publicly found IPTV list and you click on a link and nothing happens, the link is already dead. If you get the spinning working icon and no stream, you can either click on stop or press 'X' to kill the stream from loading.

If you want the least amount of headache then perhaps just watch USTV Now from a browser. It is in no way considered a pirate app by KODI as one of their members maintained it until about a month or so ago. USTV Now doesn't actually support KODI as a valid way of using their service. They do support other apps, like Roku and others though. So it can be frustrating (as you have experienced).

As others have indicated, it would be best to read (a lot) on various forums and learn about KODI. There are plenty of US channels you can watch from within KODI if you simply browse through the video addons in their repo.

If a station provides an online streaming version then there is likely an app for watching via android or an addon to view through KODI. These would be legitimate ways to view streams. It is when someone re-streams and tries to get others to 'donate' for this 'service' that things go south. Many networks now offer an OTT option to stream their content for a few dollars a month if you want to have a truly tailor-made viewing experience. Again, not really any such thing as a free lunch, other than USTV Now, as far as quality and ease of use goes.

That said, I ditched cable about 4 years ago and took the time to learn about option available for watching online. It took many months before I had anything I was content with. It was a lot of work and required reading on many different forums as well as trying different options. It was only with my last move a few months ago that my ISP provider insisted that I had to have a very basic pared down TV service in order to get the broadband speed that I wanted for my internet. I really only use that to record the news each night and on Sundays to keep up with what is going on in the US. Everything else I get online. While I don't really care for live TV anymore due to too many commercials (especially with news networks) the benefit has been finding that there is a wealth of online content. If you look at the content available from sites like filmon.com and catch-up from places like the UK, then a whole new world opens up. In fact, when you go to other countries you will be amazed that you CAN actually get a REAL picture of what is going on in the US without having any left or right leaning skewed views. Between what I get from Canada and the US, it is amazing to see what is available if you are NOT subject to the crap news from the US. I couldn't believe how much I learned from Russia Today, BBC, ITV, CTV and CBC!

This has been my experience and I have the same internet speed as you.

[paulrhyan]

That said, I ditched cable about 4 years ago and took the time to learn about option available for watching online. It took many months before I had anything I was content with. It was a lot of work and required reading on many different forums as well as trying different options. It was only with my last move a few months ago that my ISP provider insisted that I had to have a very basic pared down TV service in order to get the broadband speed that I wanted for my internet. I really only use that to record the news each night and on Sundays to keep up with what is going on in the US. Everything else I get online. While I don't really care for live TV anymore due to too many commercials (especially with news networks) the benefit has been finding that there is a wealth of online content. If you look at the content available from sites like filmon.com and catch-up from places like the UK, then a whole new world opens up. In fact, when you go to other countries you will be amazed that you CAN actually get a REAL picture of what is going on in the US without having any left or right leaning skewed views. Between what I get from Canada and the US, it is amazing to see what is available if you are NOT subject to the crap news from the US. I couldn't believe how much I learned from Russia Today, BBC, ITV, CTV and CBC!

This has been my experience and I have the same internet speed as you.

Expatter,

This last paragraph is so spot on in my eyes. Everything you said echos my sentiment. I ditched cable almost 10 years ago. I originally 'cut the cord' because of the expense. At that time I lived near the Chicago market and a $40 set of rabbit ears were working just fine. For the last decade I have been able to acquire TV shows (sitcoms and dramas) commercial free. I truly loathe advertising. Over the last couple years I realized how much I miss watching live football & baseball. That is pretty much what started this quest for live TV over the internet.

I'm guessing you are in the UK. I've never really though about getting American news from an overseas source but I think I'll look into it. I've noticed for years how the major news outlets seem to lean hard one way or another. This has always bothered me. I feel that the news should be told from an unbiased point of view. To quote Joe Friday: "Just the facts please...".

Is filmon.com your primary source for your entertainment needs or are you using other sources? If you are using other sources can you share them with me? I'm still not sure about Kodi yet. I have to admit that it seems like a confusing piece of software and with my work schedule, figuring this stuff out isn't as fun as it used to be.

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

[expatter]

Expatter,

This last paragraph is so spot on in my eyes. Everything you said echos my sentiment. I ditched cable almost 10 years ago. I originally 'cut the cord' because of the expense. At that time I lived near the Chicago market and a $40 set of rabbit ears were working just fine. For the last decade I have been able to acquire TV shows (sitcoms and dramas) commercial free. I truly loathe advertising. Over the last couple years I realized how much I miss watching live football & baseball. That is pretty much what started this quest for live TV over the internet.

I'm guessing you are in the UK. I've never really though about getting American news from an overseas source but I think I'll look into it. I've noticed for years how the major news outlets seem to lean hard one way or another. This has always bothered me. I feel that the news should be told from an unbiased point of view. To quote Joe Friday: "Just the facts please...".

Is filmon.com your primary source for your entertainment needs or are you using other sources? If you are using other sources can you share them with me? I'm still not sure about Kodi yet. I have to admit that it seems like a confusing piece of software and with my work schedule, figuring this stuff out isn't as fun as it used to be.

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

I'm not in the UK, but Canada. I use Filmon quite a bit due to reliability (unlike so many/most IPTV services, including this one) but I also fire up my vpn and use catch up services from ITV and BBC and even some stations in AU from time to time. Of course, there is USTVNOW that I have enjoyed for many years now. I like documentary-type channels so History, H2, Smithsonian and Science pique my interest and all have addons that work within KODI and others like ROKU.

Probably my favorite choice for daily viewing would be the Channel 4 channel group from the UK. They are the public tv stations (like PBS, only much better) and have content that I find very enjoyable.

Cheers!