Fix the clock first
Set the device time zone to the country you are actually in before you build the guide. Nine out of ten reports of a wrong programme guide are a device still set to the country it was bought in.
Install
Get it running, in whichever room you are in
Each guide is written the way we would talk somebody through it on a call across five time zones, with the awkward steps spelled out rather than skipped. Pick the device in front of you.
Fire Stick
Amazon Fire TV Stick
Small enough to live in hand luggage and cheap enough to leave at a second address. The setup takes a few minutes and the only fiddly part is the first download.
About 6 minutes5 stepsAndroidAndroid Phone, Tablet and TV Box
The most portable option, and the one to set up before a flight. The same installer covers a handset, a tablet and most Android or Google TV boxes.
About 5 minutes5 stepsiPhone & iPadiPhone, iPad and Apple TV
Apple does not allow installers from outside its store, so you take a player from the App Store and feed it your details. It is the fastest setup of all of them.
About 4 minutes4 stepsSmart TVSamsung and LG Smart TV
Nothing to sideload, which makes this the sensible route for a television you did not buy and cannot modify, such as one in a furnished let.
About 7 minutes5 stepsLaptopWindows and Mac Laptop
The one that travels with you anyway. It is also the quickest way to prove whether a problem is the subscription or the network you are sitting on.
About 4 minutes4 stepsMAG boxMAG and Formuler Set-Top Box
The kindest option for a relative in another country. There is no username, no password and nothing to remember, because the box identifies itself.
About 4 minutes5 stepsThree rules
True on every device, before you open any guide
Most of the problems that reach support are one of these three, and all three take under a minute to avoid.
Set it up before you fly
Sign in on your home connection and open a few channels. Discovering a typo in a password is a two minute job at home and a miserable one in a hotel at midnight.
Hide what you will not watch
A full international list is thousands of entries. Hiding the country groups you never open makes a slow television feel new and makes the remote usable by anyone.
Using something not on the list?
If the device runs a player that accepts Xtream Codes or an M3U link, it will work. That covers nearly everything sold with a screen, including boxes on sale in markets and electronics shops abroad that you may not recognise. Tell us the make and model and we will send the exact steps for it.
- Android and Google TV boxes bought locally
- Projectors and portable screens with an app store
- Older set-top boxes with a portal field