IPTVSmart provides IPTV subscriptions to homes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, priced in pounds sterling. This page covers what you need to get started in the UK.
What you need to watch IPTV in the UK
Three things: a broadband connection, a compatible device and a subscription. There is no dish to fit, no engineer visit and no minimum-term contract with us beyond the period you choose to buy.
Broadband. Any reasonably stable connection will carry an HD stream. Allow roughly 5–10 Mbps per HD stream and more for 4K. If several people watch at once, add those figures together.
A device. Popular choices in the UK are an Amazon Fire TV Stick, an Android TV or Google TV set, or a Samsung or LG Smart TV. Phones and tablets work too.
A plan. Choose a duration and the number of screens that will stream at the same time.
UK broadband and IPTV
Whether you are on full fibre in central Manchester, cable in Birmingham or a part-fibre line in a village outside Cardiff, the principle is the same: stability matters more than headline speed. A 30 Mbps connection that holds steady will give a better evening's viewing than a 500 Mbps connection reaching your television over weak Wi-Fi through two brick walls.
Older UK housing is a common culprit. Thick internal walls and routers tucked beside the front door mean the signal reaching a living-room television can be a fraction of what you pay for. If your router is far from the TV, a wired Ethernet connection or a mesh Wi-Fi system usually solves more problems than upgrading your broadband package. Our buffering guide explains how to test this in five minutes.
Choose your UK plan
Prices below are in pounds and are totals for the whole period, not monthly charges. If you are visiting from Ireland, switch to euro with the selector.
Televisions and set-top boxes running Android TV or Google TV, including streaming boxes such as NVIDIA Shield, install player apps directly from Google Play.
A typical UK household might have a television in the living room, another in a bedroom and a tablet in the kitchen. Each one that is streaming at the same moment uses one connection from your plan. A one-device plan covers a single screen at a time; a three-device plan covers three together. You can install the app on as many devices as you like, but the plan sets how many can watch simultaneously. See how many devices can use IPTV at once.
The TV Licence
An IPTV subscription does not replace a TV Licence. In the UK you need one to watch or record live TV on any channel or service, or to use BBC iPlayer, however the programme reaches your screen. Check tvlicensing.co.uk for the current rules and fee. For the wider legal picture, read the legal section of our UK buyer's guide.
Getting started from anywhere in the UK
Because everything is delivered online, the process is identical whether you are in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool or Belfast:
IPTV stands for Internet Protocol Television. Instead of arriving through an aerial, satellite dish or cable, television is delivered over your broadband connection and played through an app on your TV, streaming stick, phone or tablet. Our plain-English IPTV explainer covers the detail.
Is IPTVSmart a review site or a provider?
IPTVSmart is the service provider. This website is where we publish our own plans, prices, device information and guides. We do not publish rankings of other companies, and we do not pose as an independent reviewer. Read more on our editorial policy.
What broadband speed do I need?
As a rough guide, allow around 5–10 Mbps for each HD stream and around 20–25 Mbps for each 4K stream, on top of whatever else your household is doing online. A stable connection matters more than a headline speed. See our buffering guide for how to test yours.
Why does IPTV buffer?
Most buffering is caused by weak Wi-Fi, a congested home network, an overloaded device or peak-time pressure on a connection. Work through the checks in our IPTV buffering guide in order: it starts with the quickest fixes.
Is IPTV legal in the UK and Ireland?
IPTV is a delivery technology and is legal. What matters is whether a particular service has the right to distribute the content it offers. Streaming content from a source that is not authorised by the rights holder can be unlawful in both the UK and Ireland. Separate television licence rules also apply in each country. We explain this in more detail in the legal section of our UK guide and on our disclaimer. This is general information, not legal advice.
How do I get help?
Start with the troubleshooting hub, which covers the most common problems. If that does not solve it, contact us with your device model, the app you use and a description of what happens.