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BEV IKS Only Nagravision 3 Encrypted. No Standalone Fixes! DISH IKS Only Nagravision 3 Encrypted. No Standalone Fixes! IKS Working Most IKS Solutions Up and Running (-Nfusion SUNS) Check out our IKS Comparision Chart here. IKS Support Sites: Captain IKS CNX Dongle Coolsat Dongle Dreambox IKS Kbox Khub IKSlinger I-Link Neosat EKS Nfusion EKS Nfusion IKS Satzen z300 Sonicview iHub Sonysat Viewsat VLink

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Current Bins Official Reviews of IKS Solutions...

Latest Reviews of FTA IKS Solutions...

The Captain IKS solution (http://captainiks.org) was slated to bring some Captain receiver models back online using the R-Link, however the team behind this have yet to release it due to stability concerns. As it has been quite some time since the Coolsat support on the same product was made available and without any additional information, it may be that the Captain recovery may not see the light of day.

The CNX Dongle solution (http://cnxdongle.org) arrived giving the anticipation to many that the CNX would see life again. When it first came out, there was a BETA solution for the original version of the Nano. A BETA for Nano 2 was released shortly thereafter, prematurely and was immediately shut down. CNX Nano II users then resorted to converting to an I-Link, which worked nicely, until the South American I-Link server operators shut them down requiring a key for access. Not long after a new compatible IX-200 Dongle hit the market for the remaining CNX Mini, CNX Duo, and CNX Trio models. Many had a great deal of support issues getting things setup, especially since the server was down much more often than it was up. For several weeks the server was completley down but CNX eventually made a comback when all thought it was lost they came online again. After a few rounds of files things are beginning to stabalize for CNX users although there seems to be more problems with the Duo, Mini and Trio compared to the CNX Nano and Nano 2. CNX Nano and Nano 2 serial to ethernet intefaces do not require external power sources and may have some impact on performance. The CNX Nano uses the same IX-100/200 device without external power that the Mini, Duo and Trio require. The CNX Nano 2 uses its own serial-to-ethernet adapter without power. At some point the CNX Dongle solution had begun to offer some PPV movies on weekends, but since then we have not seen very much in the way of PPV movies. The have been very good at supporting most major PPV sporting events, but not all. They hade also launched support for some N3 encrypted Globecast channels, the first team to do so, however lately we have had reports of this not functioning well. Overall the CNX product is nice, however there are occasionaly server lockout issues which sometimes stop users from being able to access the server until a reset is done on the server. Also some models still have issues with freeze lockups requiring the unit power to be cycled.

The Coolsat Dongle IKS solution (http://coolsatdongle.org) has arrived on scene with support for only the Coolsat 5000 and 6000 FTA receivers using the R-Link Communicator R-10 Serial-to-Ethernet Adapter. Although the solution supports only a limited number of models right now with a limited range of available channels, the solution seems quite stable with very little downtime at all.

The Dreambox IKS solution (http://dreamboxiks.org) is now publically available for the Dreambox DM100 Satellite Receiver. This model is being actively tested now in our Lab and doing quite well on its available channels. This box is very small and lacks a channel display led and has a foreign power adapter, but the converter is included along with a SCART device. It is said this solution is very strong on International channels and we have now begun to propogate confirmed working channel lists so we can evaluate those claims further.

The I-Link IKS (http://ilinkiks.org) is not new to IKS and Nagravision 3. They were in fact used by CNX Nano 2 owners shortly before the noth american release of support for the CNX Dongle. These boxes are almost exact duplicates of the CNX Nano and now boast two newer models, the IS-8000 and IS-9000. Not HD as the title might suggest, the I-Link 8000 is the next model out of this manufacturing line as an improvement to the previous versions. Acquired in the lab in November 2009, we have launched support for another worthy competitor now coming in to the North American scene. Since it was placed in the lab the IS-8000 has been very stable when compared to other boxes from this manuacturer. There is some downtime and hardware lockups requiring power resets but overall its a very stable solution so far. The IS-9000 has also hit the streets and we have tested it to find a number of software problems. Since then several new updates have been released to fix some of the issues.

The K-Box K-Hub (http://kboxkhub.org) was not nearly as popular as other IKS solutions, and suprisingly it appeared to be one of the most stable solutions tested with very minimal downtime and quite an abundance of channels to enjoy. In December of 2009 however that all changed when Kbox along with Nfusion and IKSlinger also went down. Kbox had shown signs of life up only for a single PPV event but then came back with a Beta release in January. While the Kbox is still up on the Beta, channel availability is still very weak.

The Limesat solution (http://limesat.org) expects to be in stock and ready for shipping near February 15th, 2010 and we have already placed our early orders for the receiver to be tested in the lab. There are standard and HD models expacted and are even rumoured to feature WI-FI support, which would be the first brand to offer such a feature. As always we will report more on the Limesat line of products once they arrive for testing.

The Neosat EKS solution (http://neosateks.org) is a PAID solution for Neosat Ipro 2000/+ users (and Nfusion/See Below). It has been designed from the ground up to us an advanced method of IKS known as "Extreme Key Sharing (EKS), that will support additional brands and models in the future. We were happy to be a part of the initial test group for this solution, and it definitely will get the Neosat Ipro 2000/+ working, however there are several issues that concern us. First and foremost is the complexity some are having getting things setup or activated with the EKS support group at ExtremeDVB. A PayPal donation system is used to authorize your account on the EKS servers. Since its public launch, there have been many ups and dows. Freezing is just as much a solution for private solutions like EKS as they are for Free IKS solutions. EKS is unfortunately plagued with constant downtime, freezing and software revisions that complicate the viability of the solution.

The Nfusion EKS solution (http://nfusioneks.org) is a PAID solution for Nfusion Ipro 1000/+, Nfusion Nova, Solaris and Phoenix users only (No HD) at this time and from the same group previously supporting only the Neosat Ipro 2000/+ above. They share the same problems including downtime, software complications, etc. They have been making progress but so far they still have a way to go.

The Nfusion IKS solution (http://nfusioniks.org) was first to give many users access to N3 content on the popular canadian BEV service. First in North American support for N3 via IKS, it was expected that they would do very well in providing a DN solution. And for a while they did just that. There were some big issues such as dropped support for the Nfusion Nova, but the solution did very well for the Solaris, Phoenix and HD models. On December 3rd however Nfusion SUNS left the scene following a DN event that left many solutions with dead subs used to seed IKS. While many claims have been made from many groups supporting Nfusion SUNS, there has been no signs of life whatsoever for any return of an Nfusion SUNS based solution any time soon. From our own research the technical ability to restore Nfusion on IKS is not the issue. Legal and management concerns seem to be taking center stage for this brand and its associated coding teams. It may be sometime before such issues are resolved before a public IKS solution returns for Nfusion owners. As such many have converted to private paid solutions including EKS.

The Satzen z300 solution (http://satzenz300.org) was introduced into the IKS arena in late November of 2009. This box is very much like an I-Link or CNX in the way it looks and functions and the servers its uses. The channel lineup curerntly mirrors the CNX lineup. The stability of the Satzen is comparable with the CNX Nano 2. This entire group of servers does a fine job of staying up for the long hual and quickly recovering from DN events. The lineup available changes every now and then but they do have Bev and DN channels available most of the time including many DN international channels.

The Sonicview iHub solution (http://sonicviewihub.org) was the first N3 solution we tested for DN. The Sonicview iHub offered a large number of channels on both BEV and DN, however stability issues from its inception to even today have been of great concern to many of its product owners. Sonicview USA had also been named in a lawsuit last year resulting in concerns by some about this solutions future. The Sonicview iHub solution is plagued as well by a large number of testers who jumped on this offering as it was the first DN solution to hit the streets in Late June of 2009. Continued sales means more and more uses every day. When the system is stable it works beautifully with a great number of viewable channels (Bev unfortunately has been down for several months). When its not working, the FTA community goes into an uproar. Earlier fixes for the iHub introduced an unhealthy dose of confusion in accurately setting up the product, with network configuation issues being at the heart of all the problems facing this solution and errors in updating the iHub version itself. Most of these issues have been addressed. In September of 2009, security enforcement was enabled and no one is working without having the correct and sometimes hard to read serial number entered accurately within the Network Config menu screen. Many have problems using the Wiznet application and some wind up having the Network menu area dissappear. Most of these issues can be resolved with the help of many great people in the community who offer assistance. Very unfortunately, Sonicview does not keep a scheduled maintenance window and can be up or down any time of the day or night and battles freezing issues on an almost daily basis. Sonicview was considered one of the least stable solution of all and they still have much to do to restore faith in end users. We were sorry to see Sonicview continue on a downward spiral and in mid November a resurgence of the Sonicview with new files and new servers with great performance was widely recognized. However since the latest DN events, the performance has again seen a substantial decline. Most issues right now concern massive freezing and channels not work for Dish HD channels on the HD 8000. The Elite and Premier still see their fair share of freezing, and Bell is gone yet again until these issues are resolved. The coders have been working to take most of the network configuration options away from the end user. They also ran out of serial numbers so they had to start issuing a new serial number series which has confused many as these new iHubs require different files at this point throwing more confusion into the pot that is Sonicview iHub IKS. Still however Sonicview remains the only solution actively working on an HD Model, even if its only for short burts of time.

The Sonysat solution (http://sonysat.org) has been doing IKS well before Nagravision 3, and despite a long initial downtime following the public IKS release for N3 they have made tremendous strides in stability since then. While all solutions eventually struggle as the user load increases, the Sonysat team has been very active in making any necessary improvements to the servers supporting the solution. However the ShowMe X2 dongle like the Sonicview iHub requires an update process using the Wiznet application. The most recent updates have unfortunately resulted in version 82 issues and non working dongles for a great number of users. We do hope a full 100% fix will be coming out to repair "broken" dongles. The brand is also coming out with new models soon that include support for 8PSK HD and integrated ethernet. Many are looking forward to such models that exclude the frustrations of the external dongle.

The Topsat TS-5000 solution (http://topsatfta.org) is now available to the masses. This box strongly resembles the I-Link IS-9000 receiver and uses the same server gateways for IKS as the CNX, I-Link and Satzen solutions for its codeword transport to TS-5000 equipment owners. With the same Bev and DN available channels and a low price they are starting to fly off the shelves. They have an integrated ethernet port so there are no dongle concerns. The initial software releases had several major bugs that have all been addressed with new files.

The Viewsat V-Link solution (http://viewsatvlink.org) is coming soon with already released loader software but no publically available units or public software yet available. Stated information claims that the V-Link solution will support all previously N2 supported models of Viewsat receivers. We will provide more information on this solution as it becomes available.

As time goes on we still expect other coding teams to begin testing additional IKS solutions as standalone fixes will likely not arrive anytime soon. While some may claim progress, absolutely nothing has been shown to us as evidence that any progress has or is being made on standalone solutions for any North American brand or model, We suggest to members of the community that now is the time to consider some of the available IKS options, or continue to watch a blank screen. Before making the decision to invest in any additional equipment for testing, we do advise that you do as much research as possible and realize that when testing any of this, there is always a risk that solutions will fail. If you are a hobbyist with funds to play with, an investment in an IKS solution is sure to keep you entertained. However do the complexity of IKS solutions and its networking components, you may also wish to consider redundant solutions from more than one solution provider.

We will be working to improve the new IKS scorecard ratings soon as well as offering more in depth support for each available solution. Your continued support of our operations allows us to test all of these solutions on your behalf and report our findings. If you would like to contribute, please use any of our Donate buttons strategically located near the top of our web pages.

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