How we test IPTV services

Every score on this site comes from the same process. This page describes it in enough detail that you could repeat it, and states plainly what we do not test.

What we test, and what we do not

We test the eight services we operate. We subscribe on ordinary paid plans, use them on real hardware for 90 days, and publish what we find including the failures.

We do not test the market services covered in our alternatives guides. Everything written about those comes from their own marketing and from third-party listings, and it is labelled as such on the page. A site claiming to have tested sixteen IPTV services for 90 days each has not.

The 90-day routine

Each service runs on a normal US residential connection for a full quarter. Sessions are scheduled deliberately between 7pm and 11pm, because peak load is when a weak service reveals itself and when most people actually watch. Daytime results are not used, because daytime distinguishes nothing.

Each one runs across a smart TV, a streaming stick, a laptop browser and a phone. Support is tested by opening real tickets about real problems and timing the reply. Guide and catch-up data is checked by sampling twenty channels at random rather than the popular ones.

How scores are weighted

Peak-hour stability carries the most weight, because a service that buffers at 9pm is unusable whatever else it does. Effective cost per month comes second — total price divided by months, not the headline monthly rate. Then support responsiveness, then guide and catch-up accuracy, then how much friction stands between deciding to try and having credentials.

What we deliberately ignore

Advertised channel counts. They are self-reported, unaudited, and a lineup padded with dead feeds is worth less than a shorter working one. We publish the numbers because you will compare them anyway, and we label them as claims.

Marketing phrases like anti-freeze technology. Nearly every service in this category uses it, it describes nothing measurable, and it did not predict performance in our testing.

What our testing cannot tell you

Whether a service is licensed for the content it carries. Whether it will still be running in twelve months. And how it behaves on your connection rather than ours — which is why every page here ends with the same advice: take the trial and test it yourself during the hours you actually watch.

Corrections

Prices and plan terms change. If something here is out of date, tell us through the contact page and we will fix the page and change the update date.