Clampdown on TV 'Dodgy Boxes'

Fyi for anyone thinking about getting a 4k Chromecast.

https://9to5google.com/2024/04/22/new-4k-chromecast-google-tv/

We’re now finally getting that Chromecast with Google TV 4K replacement. The model from 2020 has a 1.9 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A55 (Amlogic S905X3) with 2 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of storage. The latter spec has been a sticking point, while performance can only be described as fine.

What we’re getting this year will surely be an upgrade, but do keep in mind the price point Google is trying to hit with its streaming dongles. One possibility for the chip to be used is the Amlogic S905X5 announced last September. It’s two generations newer than the chip on the current 4K Chromecast, with a more efficient 6 nm process (from 12 nm) and AV1 support.

I contacted Xiaomi. They have no plans for another 4k stick. Chromecast upgrade could be a great and cheap device for IPTV to avoid any firestick lockdown.

When we got it first it was the high 50s but we had fierce trouble with speeds dropping and bad buffering on everything from YouTube to Kodi streams. When the engineer came out he said the lines couldn't take the speeds and that's why it was so unstable. He dropped it to a max of 50mbps so we were getting 40+ and still the same issues, he came back and set it to 40mpbs and we haven't really had any issues since bar a few dodgy modems. Like I said tho, a pretty stable 37mbps over WiFi and we have IPTV, Fortnite and either YouTube or netflix going at the same time and it works fine. If I got upgraded to siro 500mbps I dont think we'd notice the difference.

Lots of a talk about shutdowns coming in May. Could be interesting times ahead, hopefully not though.

what talk?

Can't post a link, it's from stuff posted on discord groups. Be interesting to see what happens.

Maybe.

Just said I'll be interested to see what happens. Didn't say anything about your IPTV at all.

What discord groups? Doesn't sound realistic.

Even if they could clampdown, it wouldn't happen in May

'Dodgy box' clampdowns are really just a PR exercise. The people who are serious about getting low-cost access to SKY and so on will continue to do so.

I don't think I'm talking out of school to say that torrents exist to procure all the boxset stuff you want to watch, and there are plenty of sites (not naming any names) that have links to live sports streams. The most badly affected people would be those without the will or knowhow to spend an hour or two on a weekend looking up what I've just described.

The two fast part is absolute bull **** - VPN may help but if its a **** supplier its a **** supplier.

There's a group of know-it-alls going around rubbishing the idea that IPTV will ever be clamped down on and that they'll be free to pay foreign criminal enterprises to let them stream any channel they want for a small fee forever. This is not realistic and they're likely going to be in for a rude awakening. It won't be like mp3s where the music industry tried to stop them but gave up, being able to reliably stream live video long-term is going to be a lot more complicated.

As with everything it all comes down to economics and politics. If the number of active sky subscribers falls under a certain threshhold, things are going to start happening. There's been a long history of pirate tv and they always clamp down or change things once they start losing too much money.

Know-it-alls? I think this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black