IKS Channels Stopped Working? Check These Four Things First
Black screen or no signal on your IKS receiver? Most of the time it is not the plan. Here is how to tell which part has failed before you message anyone.
It happens to everyone who uses IKS sooner or later. You switch the receiver on, tune to a channel that worked yesterday, and get a black screen or a "no signal" message. Before you assume the plan has a problem, it helps to work out which part has actually failed. In our experience it is usually one of four things, and three of them have nothing to do with the plan.
1. Is it really the plan?
An IKS plan only decodes channels. The picture itself comes from your dish and your receiver. So try a simple test: switch to a free-to-air channel, one that never needed a plan. If that one is black too, the problem is the dish, the cable or the receiver, and renewing again will not change anything.
2. Signal strength and quality
Open the signal information screen on your receiver. Strength can look fine while quality is low, and quality is the number that matters. Wind, heavy rain, a loose connector or a dish that has moved by a few millimetres can all pull it down. If quality is weak on every channel of that satellite, fix the dish first.
3. Has the plan simply run out?
It sounds obvious, but it is the most common reason. A 3 month plan bought in the middle of a month ends sooner than people remember. If you ordered from us, you can look the order up on the My order page with your order number and email to confirm what you bought. For completed orders we also send a reminder email about a week before the plan ends and another the day before, so it is worth checking your spam folder too.
4. The receiver itself
Receivers sometimes need a fresh start. Switch it off at the wall for a minute, turn it back on, and give it a few minutes to reconnect before you decide anything. Make sure the serial number shown in the STB Information menu is the same one your plan was activated on.
When to contact us
If the four checks above do not explain it, message us on WhatsApp and include the receiver serial number, the plan and the date you bought it, the satellite or channel that is failing, and a photo of the signal screen. With those details we can usually tell quickly where to look. We reply as soon as we can.
One honest note: channel availability depends on the provider's servers, and now and then a package is down for a while. That is outside our control, so we cannot promise every channel every day. Once a serial number has been renewed the purchase cannot be cancelled, which is why we would rather you check the basics first. You can see how IKS plans work on the IKS servers page, or read the FAQ.