Airtel DTH - Internet TV

[mathrisk]

Does anyone uses Airtel's Internet TV stb ?
I have some queries about it.

• Does Amazon prime video works in there ?
• and Kodi ?
• How is overall experience ? (say compared to other DTH providers)

I am using TataSky HD now. And I normally do recharge for the whole year, for all the channels.
But TataSky annual packs comes for 8500 (less some 250 sometimes) and this Airtel's new box with annual pack comes for 6999. Plus this is got recording feature, and other Android TV stuffs.
My recharge is due in 3 weeks. So need to decide if it's worth switching.

Channel list I have yet compared side-by-side. But I have browsed Airtel's package - covers my watched channels.

For airtel : seems Airtel's annual recharge pack comes for 5990, pretty cheaper than TataSky. I have Airtel BB, so will get 10GB above FUP (not that I need those desperately though)
Against: Both, my and wife's mobiles are on Airtel, already have BB + Landline from them. So if I go for their DTH, won't it be all airtel-airtel at home.

Any info, comment, experience would be much appreciated.

TIA.

 

[indy1811]

Does anyone uses Airtel's Internet TV stb ?
I have some queries about it.

• Does Amazon prime video works in there ?
• and Kodi ?
• How is overall experience ? (say compared to other DTH providers)

I am using TataSky HD now. And I normally do recharge for the whole year, for all the channels.
But TataSky annual packs comes for 8500 (less some 250 sometimes) and this Airtel's new box with annual pack comes for 6999. Plus this is got recording feature, and other Android TV stuffs.
My recharge is due in 3 weeks. So need to decide if it's worth switching.

Channel list I have yet compared side-by-side. But I have browsed Airtel's package - covers my watched channels.

For airtel : seems Airtel's annual recharge pack comes for 5990, pretty cheaper than TataSky. I have Airtel BB, so will get 10GB above FUP (not that I need those desperately though)
Against: Both, my and wife's mobiles are on Airtel, already have BB + Landline from them. So if I go for their DTH, won't it be all airtel-airtel at home.

Any info, comment, experience would be much appreciated.

TIA.

I have been using the Airtel Internet TV since its launch.

To answer your questions:

• Yes, Prime video is there.
• Kodi works well.
• Overall experience of the box is average. The user interface is clunky and takes quite a while to boot up since it is like any Android device which takes a while to power on. Even after booting there is a bit of lag in the usage of the device. If you don't have a smart TV and are planning to buy a Firestick or Chromecast then the Airtel internet TV would be a better option. If you already have those features in built in your TV then i'd suggest you get the regular DTH box.

 

[Nolasco]

I upgraded to the Airtel internet TV box a couple of months from the regular HD box back when they offered it to me at Rs 750. My experience with it has
been quite terrible to be honest! The box was lagging a lot, I would keep getting msgs saying the Airtel TV app has stopped working after which I could not
watch any TV channels without restarting the box, changing channels takes about 5 secs (the regular HD box is much quicker), Prime video is practically
unwatchable due to a lot of stuttering, the box resets every day at midnight etc.

Got the box replaced however I still face the above issues and was much happier with the regular HD Box. Airtel has most channels so it would be a good option to switch over to the regular HD box. The Internet TV box, in my opinion, is still not up to the mark despite a few software updates. I havent tried Kodi yet. The only app on the box that works fine for me is the inbuilt youtube. Even the chrome casting has terrible stuttering. I'm yet to try the box with an ethernet cable but with wifi, Amazon prime and chrome cast is pratically unsuable (I have a 50mbps plan from Hathway and Prime etc all work fine on the phone as well as laptop).

I'd say get a chromecast or Firestick for the smart features and skip the Internet TV box. Its also useless unless you have an active Airtel subscription, which is
not the case with the Chromecast or Firestick.

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Does anyone uses Airtel's Internet TV stb ?
I have some queries about it.

• Does Amazon prime video works in there ?
• and Kodi ?
• How is overall experience ? (say compared to other DTH providers)

I am using TataSky HD now. And I normally do recharge for the whole year, for all the channels.
But TataSky annual packs comes for 8500 (less some 250 sometimes) and this Airtel's new box with annual pack comes for 6999. Plus this is got recording feature, and other Android TV stuffs.
My recharge is due in 3 weeks. So need to decide if it's worth switching.

Channel list I have yet compared side-by-side. But I have browsed Airtel's package - covers my watched channels.

For airtel : seems Airtel's annual recharge pack comes for 5990, pretty cheaper than TataSky. I have Airtel BB, so will get 10GB above FUP (not that I need those desperately though)
Against: Both, my and wife's mobiles are on Airtel, already have BB + Landline from them. So if I go for their DTH, won't it be all airtel-airtel at home.

Any info, comment, experience would be much appreciated.

TIA.

Using the box since nearly 8-10 months. The box initially was damn slow, now with updates has become quite usable.

I have a seperate fire stick for Prime, so not used. However, the last time I used Google Play, it was quite shitty.

Cost wise, yes, its quite a saver.

Channels - most of what my family needs - are present. initially, sun network channels were not visible, and a call to Airtel got them working, you need to activate them...

As for being all Airtel, ask for discounts/freebies, or tie all using a single number and see what benefits you can squeeze from the CC

 

[cute.bandar]

Plus this is got recording feature,

afaik the recording feature is just the usb port one, where it can't record one channel and play a live channel at the same time. Those who have the box please confirm

The box initially was damn slow, now with updates has become quite usable.

How slow is changing channels for you ?

Also does anyone know about the 'catch up live tv' feature ?

 

[vivek.krishnan]

afaik the recording feature is just the usb port one, where it can't record one channel and play a live channel at the same time. Those who have the box please confirm


How slow is changing channels for you ?

Also does anyone know about the 'catch up live tv' feature ?

Yes, its got only one tuner, so the same channel only can be recorded and played.

Slow - we have a second non Internet TV box. Even with updates, it takes about 1-2 seconds to change channels. With the non Internet box, its almost instant.... Earlier, it used to sometimes take upto 5 secs.

 

[mathrisk]

Yes, its got only one tuner, so the same channel only can be recorded and played.

Slow - we have a second non Internet TV box. Even with updates, it takes about 1-2 seconds to change channels. With the non Internet box, its almost instant.... Earlier, it used to sometimes take upto 5 secs.

Oh, I never thought of such lag during channel transition. 1-2 seconds could be pretty frustrating sometimes, specially if changed to 'incorrect' channel and need to tune back to correct one. (We had an old DishTV stb in home, which had become something like this over the time and we had to dump the whole thing)

Let me see, if I can get a hands-on demo somewhere before deciding.

Also, seems I can get a TataSky new connection + 1 yr at 7.7K (link)

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Oh, I never thought of such lag during channel transition. 1-2 seconds could be pretty frustrating sometimes, specially if changed to 'incorrect' channel and need to tune back to correct one. (We had an old DishTV stb in home, which had become something like this over the time and we had to dump the whole thing)

Let me see, if I can get a hands-on demo somewhere before deciding.

Also, seems I can get a TataSky new connection + 1 yr at 7.7K (link)

Yeah, it can be quite frustrating at times....

Cost is one place where Airtel is better...

 

[Harpy.eagle]

Anyone using Airtel dth in thane area? Preferably close to vartak nagar.

I need little help.

I bought xstream set top box from olx without dish and cable. And since I didn't want earlier owners data in it, I factory reset it.

Now it's default launcher is looking for dish and signal settings in initial setup. So before procuring dish etc I just want to get set top box started working in it's Android os.

I want to install this Airtel dth in Pune at my residence so can't just connect to dish here in thane by procuring it.

What I plan to do or expect help with is..

Visit the place where someone is already using Airtel dth. Just connect my set top box so it detect the signal. Once it boots to Android os, disconnect the set top box and be done with it.

 

[indy1811]

Anyone using Airtel dth in thane area? Preferably close to vartak nagar.

I need little help.

I bought xstream set top box from olx without dish and cable. And since I didn't want earlier owners data in it, I factory reset it.

Now it's default launcher is looking for dish and signal settings in initial setup. So before procuring dish etc I just want to get set top box started working in it's Android os.

I want to install this Airtel dth in Pune at my residence so can't just connect to dish here in thane by procuring it.

What I plan to do or expect help with is..

Visit the place where someone is already using Airtel dth. Just connect my set top box so it detect the signal. Once it boots to Android os, disconnect the set top box and be done with it.

Doesn't work that way, at least the Internet TV box which i have (similar to XStream) doesn't.

The STB is bound to the dish and has to be activated for use. It won't cross the settings screen without activation.

You won't be able to access any apps etc. if you don't recharge the connection.

 

[Harpy.eagle]

Doesn't work that way, at least the Internet TV box which i have (similar to XStream) doesn't.

The STB is bound to the dish and has to be activated for use. It won't cross the settings screen without activation.

You won't be able to access any apps etc. if you don't recharge the connection.

Once antenna is set up with signal detection it starts working normally. One can remove antenna and continue using it.

I tested it at owners place without antenna only. It was perfectly working fine.

Recharged and active account is completely different matter which I will deal later on.

Not sure whether stb is bound to dish or not though. But I doubt that will be the case. Because owner can always upgrade the set top box or get dish replaced over the period of time.

 

[indy1811]

Once antenna is set up with signal detection it starts working normally. One can remove antenna and continue using it.

I tested it at owners place without antenna only. It was perfectly working fine.

Recharged and active account is completely different matter which I will deal later on.

Not sure whether stb is bound to dish or not though. But I doubt that will be the case. Because owner can always upgrade the set top box or get dish replaced over the period of time.

Well, that's how it is for me. I can't use it without an active DTH subscription. Also, when the box developed problems and had to be changed it wasn't a simple matter of just connecting the new box. The service guy had to call the support team, give them the serial number of the new box along with my customer ID, get it mapped and only then it started working.

 

[Harpy.eagle]

Well, that's how it is for me. I can't use it without an active DTH subscription. Also, when the box developed problems and had to be changed it wasn't a simple matter of just connecting the new box. The service guy had to call the support team, give them the serial number of the new box along with my customer ID, get it mapped and only then it started working.

Ohh. So my set top box won't work I guess without the final on site installation in Pune.

Shouldn't have formatted set top box then. This sucks.

Btw if I get complete set from another olx user which includes antenna, cable and set top box and get it relocated to my location with xtreme box, that should work, I hope.


Your box is with card or without card, with inbuilt customer id?

 

[indy1811]

Ohh. So my set top box won't work I guess without the final on site installation in Pune.

Shouldn't have formatted set top box then. This sucks.

Btw if I get complete set from another olx user which includes antenna, cable and set top box and get it relocated to my location with xtreme box, that should work, I hope.


Your box is with card or without card, with inbuilt customer id?

With card.

I'm really not sure if it will work with a different set of antenna's etc.

Also, won't it show up on Airtel's system that you're not the owner of the box/dish and that you never bought an Xstream box from them or their distributors. Do check with customer care before deciding to spend more money.

 

[Harpy.eagle]

With card.

I'm really not sure if it will work with a different set of antenna's etc.

Also, won't it show up on Airtel's system that you're not the owner of the box/dish and that you never bought an Xstream box from them or their distributors. Do check with customer care before deciding to spend more money.

In worst case scenario I shall just continue using old owners account which he has given details. I am just concerned with antenna binding nonsense. Because antenna I would get would be from one owner and set top box from another. And installation will have to done from Airtel staff.

 

[adder]

Antenna has nothing to do with STB, you can use any make Ku band dish antenna , but without active subscription you cannot use the airtel intenet tv box. The first thing it checks is for active subscription.

 

[Harpy.eagle]

After coming to Pune, I connected my stp to aunt's Airtel dth set up and initial signal sensing setup completed loading home screen of xstream stp.

So first hurdle is over.

So it's safe to say, any Airtel stp will work with any other compatible Airtel dish installation.