Almost nothing lives on the old device
This is the reassuring part. Your channels, the on-demand library and the guide are not stored on the stick under your television. They come down from the provider every time you open the player. The device holds only two things of its own: the credentials you typed in, and the local preferences you set afterwards.
That means a move is not a recovery operation. You are not rescuing data from failing hardware. You are re-entering a login on something new and rebuilding a handful of preferences, which is why a device that has completely died is an inconvenience rather than a disaster — as long as you still have the login.
The preferences worth noting before you start are your favourites list, any channels you had hidden, and the two or three playback settings you changed. Our guide on backing up your player setup covers what is worth writing down and how to read it back off a device that still works.
Have these three things in hand first
- Your login: either a username, password and server address, or the playlist URL you were sent
- The guide address, if your provider gave you a separate one
- A note of your favourites, or at least a willingness to rebuild them
If you cannot find the login, get it before you dismantle anything. On a device that still works you can usually read the details back out of the player’s account screen, and that is far easier than doing it after the old stick has been wiped and passed on.
The move, in order
1. Install the player on the new device
Use the same player if the new device supports it, because everything you already know still applies. If it does not — moving from a Fire TV stick to a Samsung television, say — you will need a different app, which is covered further down.
2. Enter the details exactly as they were sent
Type them rather than trusting your memory of them. The server address is the field most often entered slightly wrong, and an address that is nearly right fails in exactly the same way as one that is completely wrong.
3. Let the first load finish
A full channel list and a week of guide data is a real download, and on new hardware it is always the slowest it will ever be. Wait it out before deciding anything is broken.
4. Rebuild favourites and hide what you do not watch
Twenty minutes here is what makes the new device feel like the old one. Our guide on organising favourites and channel order covers doing it efficiently.
5. Reapply your playback settings
Usually just the decoder setting and the buffer. Change them one at a time and watch a live channel for a few minutes after each, rather than setting five things at once.
Sign the old device out — this is the step that matters
It is the easiest one to skip and the one with real consequences.
If your plan limits how many streams can run at once, a device still logged in may keep counting against that limit even when nobody is using it. You then hit a connection error on the new device and assume the subscription is faulty. Our guide on how concurrent streams work explains where that limit comes from.
The security side matters more. A stick that leaves your house with working credentials on it is a live copy of your subscription in someone else’s hands. Before you sell, donate or bin any device, remove the account inside the player and then factory-reset the device itself. Our guide on keeping your account secure covers why a playlist URL should be treated as a password.
When the new device is a different platform
Moving between two Android-based devices — a Fire TV stick to an Android box, say — is the simple case. The same players are available, so you reinstall what you had.
Moving to a Samsung or LG television is a bigger change, because those platforms do not run the Android players at all. You will be setting up an app that works through a web portal instead, which is a different process rather than a harder one: our guides to Smart IPTV and IBO Player cover it, and the Smart TV guide covers what each platform can run.
Moving to Apple hardware is its own case again, covered in our Apple TV guide. In every case the subscription itself is unchanged — only the app around it differs.
What moving will not fix
People often replace a device hoping it will cure stuttering, and are disappointed. It is worth being clear about what new hardware actually solves.
A new device does help when the old one was genuinely underpowered: a very cheap stick struggling with a large channel list, or an older model that cannot decode newer streams smoothly. Our guide on why some channels struggle on older devices covers that case.
A new device does nothing at all when the cause is the network, which it usually is. If the picture breaks up at peak times, or only on some channels, or on every device in the house, the hardware was never the problem. Start with our buffering guide and the comparison of Ethernet and Wi-Fi before spending anything.
If the login is rejected on the new device
Retype it by hand rather than pasting, and check the server address character by character. Then check whether the old device is still signed in and holding a connection.
If it still fails, confirm the subscription itself is current before assuming the new hardware is at fault — an expiry that happens to land in the same week as a device change is a coincidence that fools almost everybody. Our step-by-step troubleshooting guide works through the layers in order so you are not guessing.
The ten-minute version
- Read your login off the old device while it still works
- Install the player on the new device and enter the details by hand
- Let the first load finish completely before judging anything
- Rebuild favourites, hide the groups you never open
- Reapply your decoder and buffer settings, one at a time
- Sign out inside the player on the old device, then factory-reset it
Done in that order, a move takes an evening at most, and the last line is the one to write on your hand. If you are moving because you are changing what you pay for rather than what you watch on, the plans page sets out what each option includes.
Frequently asked questions
Will I lose my channels if my streaming stick dies?
No. Channels, on-demand titles and the guide all come from the provider each time you open the player, not from the device. The only things stored locally are your login and your preferences, so a dead device costs you a rebuild rather than your subscription.
Do I need a new subscription for a new device?
Normally not. The same credentials are entered into the player on the new device. What can catch you out is a limit on simultaneous streams, if the old device is still signed in and counting against it.
Why does the new device say too many connections?
Usually because the old one is still logged in. Sign out inside the player on the old device rather than just unplugging it, since an account left active can keep holding a connection.
Can I move from a Firestick to a Samsung TV?
Yes, but the app changes. Samsung and LG televisions do not run the Android players, so you set up a portal-based app such as Smart IPTV or IBO Player instead. The subscription itself is unchanged.
Will a newer device stop the buffering?
Only if the old device was genuinely too weak for the job. If the picture breaks up at peak times, on several devices, or only on certain channels, the cause is the network and new hardware will not change it.