How to Set Up STBEmu and Any IPTV Player

STBEmu does not use a username and password. It imitates a MAG set-top box, and MAG boxes identify themselves to a provider with a MAC address: twelve hexadecimal characters that look like 00:1A:79:12:34:56. Every fresh install of STBEmu generates its own MAC, so a phone and a TV are two separate devices even when the same person owns both.

The portal URL is the address of the channel list on our servers. It looks like http://portal.example.com:8080/c and that trailing /c matters, because it is the path the portal software answers on. Typing the domain without it produces a loading error every time.

Setup is therefore two fields and one message. You copy your MAC from the app and send it to us on WhatsApp, we bind that MAC to your line and send the portal URL back, and you paste the portal into the app. Nothing loads before the binding, so if the app is empty it usually means the MAC has not reached us yet.

Check the Fire TV model and its app store first. The STBEmu developer's current download page points to Google Play, not a direct Fire TV APK. On an Android-based Fire OS device, sideload only if the developer supplies or authorizes a compatible package. An Android APK is not an installation route for a Vega OS Fire TV Stick 4K Select. The Firestick guide explains the source check, remote controls and Fire TV-specific fixes.

On an Nvidia Shield, a Chromecast with Google TV, a Xiaomi box, or a Sony, TCL or Hisense television, STBEmu installs from the Play Store on the device itself. There is no sideloading.

The phone version installs from the Play Store like any other app, and the steps match Android TV exactly: install, open Settings and Profiles, read the MAC from STB Configuration, send it to us, paste the portal we return, restart.

Remember that this MAC is different from the one on your television. A subscription streams on one device at a time, so watching on the phone means the TV pauses. Sending us the new MAC switches the line over at no charge, and there is no limit on how often you do it. To watch on both at once, a 2 device plan is the answer.

STBEmu is an Android app and Samsung Tizen and LG webOS are not Android, so there is no STBEmu on these televisions at all. You do not need an extra box either. Both stores carry IBO Player and ELK Player, which run the same subscription.

These apps do not use a portal and MAC. They show a device ID and a device key on first launch, and we activate that pair from our side. Send us both values and the channel list appears.

One thing to know before you start: these apps carry their own trial, usually 7 days, and then charge a one-time activation to the app developer. That is separate from your 24 hour STBEmu Pro trial and it is not our fee. If you would rather not deal with it, ask us and we can cover the activation for you. There are also free players on both stores, so tell us your television model and we will point you at one.

There is no STBEmu on Apple hardware and there never has been. Install IPTV Smarters from the App Store instead. It takes Xtream Codes: a server URL, a username and a password, which we send on request in place of a portal.

Setup is one screen. Open the app, choose the login with Xtream Codes API option, paste the three values we sent, and the channel list, EPG and VOD library load together. AirPlay from an iPhone to an Apple TV works, though installing the app on the Apple TV directly is steadier.

IPTV Smarters has a desktop version for both Windows and Mac and takes the same Xtream Codes details as the phone app. It is the option to use if you watch on a laptop regularly.

For a one-off check, VLC opens an M3U link on any computer without installing anything else. Ask us for the M3U and open it under Media, then Open Network Stream. VLC has no EPG and no VOD browser, so it is a test tool rather than a daily player.

A real MAG box needs no app. The portal field is built into the firmware, under Settings, System Settings, Servers, Portals. Enter a portal name, paste the portal URL, save, and reboot the box from the menu rather than the plug.

The MAC is printed on a sticker underneath the box and also shown in the System Settings information screen. Send us whichever you can read clearly.

Formuler boxes run Android, so they take either route: the built-in portal player, or STBEmu, TiviMate and IBO Player from the store. If you already own a Formuler, its own MyTVOnline player is usually the smoothest choice.

The subscription is one line on our servers and each player asks for it differently. Tell us which player you are using and we send the right format in under 10 minutes. Moving between them later costs nothing.

Almost every STBEmu error is one of four things, and the message tells you which.

Everything above needs a live line behind it. Send us the MAC address or tell us which player you use, and we bind it in under 10 minutes, daily, usually within the hour.

New here? Start with the 24 hour trial, no card needed. Ready to subscribe? Every plan and price is on the pricing page.