In short
- Providers change domain or port regularly. Your app then points to a dead server: everything fails, yet the subscription is valid.
- Edit the address in the existing playlist, do not delete it: that is what keeps your favorites, resume points and settings.
- With Xtream Codes only the server address changes; username and password stay the same.
On this page
This is a peculiar outage: nothing changed on your side, the subscription is paid, and yet not a single channel loads. The provider moved its server, by choice or necessity, and your app keeps knocking on the old door. This guide gets you to recognize the case in a minute, then fix it without breaking what you had set up.
Recognizing the case
Three signs that, together, do not lie:
- Everything stopped at once, often on waking up or coming home from work, without you touching anything.
- The checker answers "address not found" or "timeout" on the old address, while the subscription has not expired.
- The provider communicated: an email, a message, a note in the customer area, with a new address that looks like the old one but with a different domain or port.
If the checker says "online", it is not an address change: go back to the general diagnosis.
What changes, and what does not
With Xtream Codes, your access comes down to three details: the server address, a username, a password. An address change only affects the first. The other two stay valid, along with everything the server knows about you: your subscription, its expiry date, your number of connections.
With an M3U URL, the server address is contained in the URL itself. The new URL therefore has the same shape, with the new domain.
Updating without losing anything
The rule that avoids regret: edit the existing playlist, never delete it. Your favorites, resume points, hidden categories and settings are attached to that playlist. Deleting it to create a new one wipes everything, even though the server behind it is the same.
- Open your playlist settings.
- Replace the server address, or the M3U URL, with the new one. Paste, do not type: one extra character and nothing loads.
- Leave username and password as they are, unless the provider says otherwise.
- Save, then refresh the playlist. Channels reload from the new address, and your favorites find their place again, because they are identified by name, not by address.
Verifying
Start a channel, then test the new address with the checker: "online", consistent channel count, distant expiry. If the checker is green but nothing loads in the app, the address was pasted wrong or the refresh was not done.
On several devices
This is where the method matters. If your playlist lives in each device separately, the fix has to be repeated on each one: phone, Mac, TV, box. If it is attached to an account, as in IPTV Guard, you fix it once on the phone, and every device picks up the new address the next time it opens.
Not finding out in front of the TV
An address change is always discovered at the worst moment. IPTV Guard's playlist monitoring tests your server regularly and sends a notification when it stops responding, then another when it comes back. You learn about the change on your phone, during the day, and fix it before the evening.
What not to do
- Do not reinstall the app: the problem is the address, not the app, and you would lose your settings.
- Do not look for the new address anywhere but at the provider: it exists nowhere else.
- Do not change username and password unless asked to: an address change does not touch them.
In IPTV Guard
In IPTV Guard, playlist monitoring warns you when your server stops responding, before you sit down in front of the TV. And since the playlist is attached to your account, the address fixed on the phone shows up on the Mac and the Apple TV without typing anything again.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know whether it is an address change or an outage?
Test the old address with the checker: 'address not found' or 'timeout' on a subscription that has not expired is almost always a change. A temporary outage rather gives 'server error' and comes back on its own.
Where do I find the new address?
From your provider only: email, message, customer area. No app and no website can guess it.
Do I need to change my username?
Not in the general case. An address change only affects the server; username and password stay identical. If the provider sends new login details, that is a new account, not an address change.
Will I lose my favorites?
Not if you edit the address of the existing playlist. You lose them if you delete the playlist and create a new one.
Can it happen again?
Yes, some providers change address several times a year. Hence the value of an app that warns as soon as the server stops responding, and of a playlist attached to an account so you fix it once.