Before you start
- A MAG 3xx, 4xx or 5xx, or a Formuler Z8, Z10 or Z11
- The MAC address printed underneath the box
- The IPTVNinja portal address, sent after you share the MAC
Nothing to sign in with yet? Ask for a 24-hour test line, or read what the plans cost first.
Doing it, one step at a time
Locate the MAC address
You will find it on the sticker beneath the unit, and also under Settings, About device. A MAG's begins 00:1A:79. Take a photograph of the sticker instead of copying the characters out by hand — one wrong character derails the entire setup, and a photograph makes that impossible. Send the picture over WhatsApp and hold off on everything else until we confirm it is done.
Decide which of the two you actually have
MAG and Formuler are often discussed as one category and they do not behave alike. A MAG is portal-only: it needs an address bound to its MAC and cannot take an ordinary login. A Formuler will accept a portal, an Xtream login, or Android players including TiViMate. Knowing which box is in your hand determines everything that follows, and reading the wrong half of this page is a common way to lose twenty minutes.
MAG: put the portal address in
The path is Settings, then System settings, then Servers, then Portals. Name Portal 1 whatever you please, enter the address we sent you, save it, and then restart the unit. Nothing will work until that restart has happened, and a sizeable share of the problems reported to us turn out to be precisely this step left half finished.
Formuler: go through MyTVOnline
Launch MyTVOnline 2 or 3, select Add Portal, and give it a name along with the address. There is a second option: choose Xtream Codes and sign in the conventional way instead. Formuler units will additionally run Android players such as TiViMate, and that flexibility is a genuine advantage they hold over the MAG range.
Let it load, then use the remote properly
After the restart the box pulls the 25,000+ channels with its built-in guide. The coloured buttons on the remote handle favourites and the EPG. These remotes are the real reason people buy this hardware, so spend five minutes learning which button does what — it is a markedly better experience than a stick once you have.
Keep the box on a wired connection if you can
These units are usually bought for a main television, which is usually the one where a dropped stream is least tolerable. They have Ethernet ports and the cable is worth running. Wi-Fi is perfectly adequate for HD, but the whole argument for buying purpose-built hardware is steadiness, and leaving it on a distant wireless signal gives most of that advantage straight back.
Decide whether the box was worth it
Honestly assess this in the first week, while the refund window on the hardware is still open. On a main television used daily, a MAG or Formuler is better than a stick: quicker guide, better remote, nothing to sideload ever. On a second set, it is money that would have been better spent elsewhere, and nobody in the house will notice the difference.
When it does not work
The portal shows STB blocked, or a blank screen
Two possibilities: we have not yet switched your MAC on, or one character came through wrong. Photograph the sticker and send the image instead of typing the address out again, which clears it up inside a few minutes in very nearly every instance. It is not a fault with the hardware, and reinstalling things will achieve nothing.
The box loads the portal but channels are missing
A portal delivers the categories assigned to your line, so gaps usually mean the line is set up for a different package rather than that channels have disappeared. Message support with an example of what is missing and it is generally corrected the same day.
Everything is slow after a firmware update
Infomir and Formuler both push updates that occasionally need a cache clear afterwards. Clear it from the system settings and restart. If a box is several years old and struggling with 4K, that is age rather than a fault, and no setting will recover it.
The remote stops responding after a while
Almost always the batteries rather than the box, and these remotes give very little warning. Where a Formuler remote has been paired over Bluetooth, re-pairing it from the system settings restores it. Neither has anything to do with the subscription, though the timing can make it look otherwise.
Apps worth trying on this hardware
TiViMate
Adding your subscription to TiViMate on Android TV, a Firestick or an Android box: the Xtream login, the guide, and what Premium is actually for. 25,000+
Every guide
The full list of hardware and apps, on one page.
Try it on your MAG and Formuler box before you pay
A test line costs nothing and settles whether the channels you want are really there. Plans open at $15 a month for the same 25,000+ line-up.
What people ask about the MAG and Formuler box
Is a MAG box better than a Firestick?
For a main television in daily use, yes — the remote is better, the guide responds faster, and there is never anything to sideload. It also costs a hundred and twenty to a hundred and eighty dollars where a stick costs thirty to fifty. Put that box on a spare bedroom set and the stick was the better buy, because nobody in the house is going to notice what you spent the difference on.
Why do I have to send you my MAC address?
Because a portal is bound to the box rather than to a username, which is how this hardware was designed to work. It means we have to enable your specific box at our end. It also means the portal cannot be shared around, which is part of why these boxes were popular with providers in the first place.
Can I move my subscription to a new box later?
Yes. Send us the new MAC and we move the portal across, generally within the hour. Do tell us rather than assuming it will follow automatically, because it will not — the binding is to the hardware, and a new box is a new binding.
Are these boxes still worth buying?
On a main television watched daily, yes. The remote and the guide are genuinely better than a stick's, and there is nothing to sideload. Against that, they cost three to four times as much, they are updated less often, and the Formuler is the more future-proof of the two because it will also run Android players.
Which should I buy today, MAG or Formuler?
Formuler, for most people. It accepts a portal, an Xtream login or Android players including TiViMate, so it keeps its options open in a way a MAG does not. A MAG is the simpler device and perfectly good if a portal is all you will ever need, but the flexibility is worth having and the price difference is small.
How long do these boxes last?
Several years of daily use is normal, and they tend to become obsolete before they fail. The limit is usually software: an older unit stops receiving updates and eventually struggles with newer codecs or with 4K. A box bought today should comfortably outlast the subscription you buy alongside it.
Can I take it abroad?
Yes. The portal follows the box rather than the address, so it works anywhere with a decent connection. Some channels are geographically restricted at source, which is a broadcaster decision rather than ours, and a VPN is the usual answer where it matters.