What to have ready
- A MAG box or a Formuler receiver, any current model
- The MAC address from the label on the underside of the box
- An Ethernet cable, which is the whole point of this hardware
- Your Tivo8k portal details, which differ from the username and password
No account yet? Open the 24-hour trial, or look over the four terms.
Setting it up, in order
Understand why this setup is different
Every other guide here has you typing a username and password into a player. These receivers work the other way round: the box is identified by the MAC address printed on its underside, and we register that address against a portal at our end. Nothing is typed into the box except the portal address. That is why the MAC address is the first thing to find, and why it must be exact.
Send us the MAC address
Turn the box over and read the label. It is twelve characters, usually beginning 00:1A:79 on a MAG. Send it to the WhatsApp chat exactly as printed, including the colons. A single wrong character produces a box that sits on a loading screen with no useful error, which is the most common support conversation on this hardware.
Plug it in properly while you wait
Use the Ethernet socket. This is the one category of device bought specifically for wired decoding, and putting it on Wi-Fi discards the main reason for owning it. Connect the HDMI to the television, and if you have a receiver or amplifier, run the box into that rather than into the television, so the audio reaches the amplifier first and undiminished.
Enter the portal address
On a MAG, Settings, System Settings, Servers, Portals, and put the portal address we send into Portal 1 URL. Give it any name you like in the field above. On a Formuler running MyTVOnline, the equivalent is under the portal settings of that application. Save, then restart the box from the menu rather than by pulling the plug.
Let it load the line-up
After the restart the box fetches the whole line-up from the portal. This takes longer than a player on a phone does, sometimes a minute or two, and the screen will look static while it happens. Leave it. When it finishes you will have the groups, the guide and the on-demand sections.
Set the audio output to pass through
This is where this hardware earns its money. In the system settings, find the audio output or HDMI audio option and set it to pass through, AC3 pass-through, or whichever wording your model uses. That tells the box to hand the audio stream to your amplifier untouched rather than decoding it to stereo first. A MAG or Formuler set up this way gives the best surround of any device covered on this site, and left on the wrong setting it gives you the worst of both worlds.
Check the guide and the sound together
Open a familiar channel and confirm the guide is populating with programme names, which tells you the portal is fully connected rather than merely playing. Listen to what the amplifier reports. Then find a channel you know carries a second language and confirm you can reach it. If the guide is filling and the amplifier is reporting surround on a surround channel, the box is set up correctly and will stay that way.
When something is wrong
The box sits on the loading screen and never finishes
Nearly always the MAC address, either mistyped when sent to us or not yet registered at our end. Send it again exactly as printed and we will check it against what we have.
The portal loads but every channel fails to play
Usually the portal address rather than the registration, particularly a missing character at the end of it. Re-enter it carefully, save, and restart the box from the menu.
The amplifier reports stereo on a channel that should be surround
The audio output is still set to decode rather than pass through. Change it in the system settings as above. If it is already on pass through, the feed itself is stereo, which is normal for a large part of any line-up.
Everything worked and then stopped after a power cut
These boxes occasionally lose the portal setting when power is pulled rather than being shut down from the menu. Re-enter it and shut down properly in future, which takes a few seconds and prevents the whole problem.
The picture is perfect and the guide is empty
The line-up loaded but the guide data did not. Restart from the menu, and if it is still empty after that, tell us and we will look at it, because that is at our end rather than yours.
The remote is unresponsive after the portal loads
Give it a moment: these boxes are busy while the line-up and guide download and the remote can lag noticeably during it. If it persists past a couple of minutes, restart from the menu rather than pulling the power.
Players worth trying on this hardware
TiViMate
Set TiViMate up properly with 25,000+ channels, working guide data and groups, and understand what the paid Companion tier does and does not add.
The full guide index
Every screen and player we cover, in one list.
Does it sound right on your MAG and Formuler box?
Terms start at $15. The login lands in under 15 minutes over WhatsApp, and the trial is there so you can check the audio track and the subtitles before you commit.
MAG and Formuler box IPTV FAQ
Is a MAG or Formuler worth buying?
If you have spent money on speakers, it is the device that justifies them, because it passes audio through cleanly and decodes in hardware over a wired connection. If you are watching on television speakers, a cheaper stick will do the same job.
Why does this use a MAC address rather than a password?
It is how the portal system these boxes were built around works. The account is tied to the hardware rather than to credentials you type in, which is convenient day to day and means telling us if you replace the box.
Can I use the same subscription on a MAG and a phone?
Yes. The portal registration and the username and password refer to the same account. Use whichever suits each device, and stay within the number of simultaneous feeds your term allows.
What happens if I buy a second box?
Send us the new MAC address and we register it. Whether both can play at once depends on your term rather than on the boxes, so check the feed count if two televisions will be running together.
Do I need the newest Formuler model?
No. Any current MAG or Formuler decodes these feeds comfortably and passes audio through. The newer models are quicker in the interface rather than better at the thing that matters here.
Can I move the box to another house?
Yes, and nothing needs changing. The registration follows the MAC address of the box rather than an address or a connection, so it works wherever you plug it in.
Why does this hardware still exist?
Because it does one job properly. A wired decoder that passes audio through untouched is exactly what somebody with an amplifier wants, and no general-purpose streaming stick quite matches it. For everyone else it is more box than the job needs.