Support for DVB-S2 / Freesat - When...it's really time

Yes, please support DVB-S2. Satellite is the most Antenna in the world with most FTA Channels. What is the problem? Plex only support DVB-T or cable TV. This is mostly not free. you need often extra packages or smartcards to activate it. Satelite has the most FTA channels in the world. please support it

I’m to intrested here in DVB-S as here in Luxembourg you can forget all the rest…

DVB-S2 Stick 460e Is as example supported by my Synology NAS but not Plex :frowning:

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it can’t be emphasized enough i suppose :

don’t try to use Plex as your tuner for DVB-S2 directly, even in the rare case that you’ll get it to work it will be a mess because of DVB-S2 muxes changing quite often.

use an intermediary solution that delivers the streams prepacked to plex (that would be something like tvheadend to create m3u playlists of your satellite channels and then feeding those to plex via xteve).

mark my words : if you’re trying to get your satellite tuner to work directly in plex, assuming you get it to work at all, you will be disappointed with it’s stability/functionality.

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I have a Hauppage USB satellite tuner hooked up to the laptop I use as a Plex hub - and it works fine. Did you get the Starburst Hauppage device?

Interesting. Could you provide a link to the specific DVB-S tuner that you are using with Plex?

Hi, it’s this one. Have had it I think about 18 months now. Still works well, and it was about Ā£65 or so:

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That’s interesting. Gonna try to get my hands on one of these.

But how do you setup the tuner? Do the settings (select satellite frequency, unicable…) show up right inside of the Plex interface?

Hey. It was actually really straightforward to set up. I should mention I am in the UK - not sure where you are located - so this was the process I followed accordingly.

After you connect the device (satellite cable at one end, USB to laptop at the other), verify your product key code and install the bundled software from Hauppage. At this point, in the Win TV software (the bundled software) allow a full channel scan. Then edit what channels you want and get rid of the others - doing this now will make the setup within Plex easier.

Then in Plex, Head to Live TV & DVR in settings. I can’t remember if I had to manually scan for the device or it recognised it automatically (think it was the latter). It will tell you it’s not an officially supported device and ask you if you want to enable a community supported tuner - say yes. Plex will then give you the options for location of satellite (it’s Astra 28.2E in the UK) and a couple of other things. I just took the defaults at the top of the list.

It then does its own channel scan and presents its list to you for the next step - mapping channels. It will ask you for your postcode so it can give you options for satellite channel setups. At this point you need to Google current channel numbers for the one you want (I used Freesat, but there are others like Sky Q/HD). This step can take a while, and you need to double check the channel numbers it gives you against the current ones in the channel guide you have found online - there will be mistakes in the channel mapping list Plex gives, but they’re usually minor and not that many of them.

Once you have done this, Plex will refresh and grab guide data for your chosen channel setup. Let it do it’s thing and you are basically done by this point. I found it straightforward as I said, and fairly intuitive to setup. Hope this helps :grinning:

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VBox claim to have a PMS DVR compatible reciever (XTi 4134 for DVB-S/S2). I really wish Plex would just procure one, or speak to VBox and request a test device to see if this really is compatible like they claim, and add it into their officially supported list.

That way Plex can finally say they have a supported DVB-S\S2 route for it’s customers to follow. Considering it looks like VBox has done all of the hard work this should be an easy win for Plex.

NOTE: It is important to note that Plex should really also request the DVB-T\T2 and DVB-C versions as well, so there is an up to date list of supported VBox devices. The two on their list are not supported and have been deprecated by VBox, I think.

I’m trying to see if I can connect my Plex Server running on Synology DS918 with a freesat tuner like the Hauppage one @mcewan71 mentions. But I don’t want a PC/laptop in the chain.

Is this possible? Basically, want my plex to serve recorded freesat programmes to any device and cannot believe how hard this is to find out about in the UK. I get my freesat via my old Sky dish. Binned my SkyHD subscripton and use NowTV instead but feed freesat to 2 tvs. Trouble is I can’t record those programmes from my TVs unless I’m watching them and the VoD apps like ITV Hub serve me hours of annoying adverts. I feel like I’ve gone backwards since a DVR box and Plex ought to be my solution!

Is it possible?

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Hi,

I know nothing about Synology, but just Google’d DVB-S, USB and Synology - think it’s possible: https://www.synology.com/en-global/knowledgebase/DSM/help/VideoStation/tvrecording.

I need to have a look at this myself. When my Windows laptop packs in, I would likely be thinking of a NAS or similar.

Did anyone manage to get DVB-S2 / Freesat to work with Plex DVR?

I managed to get it to work using VBox android gateway (dvb-s2)
However, I’m facing some issues from time to time (playback error: Source Unavailable, playback error: Could not tune channel. Please check your tuner or antenna.)

I managed to get it to work using VBox android gateway (dvb-s2)
However, I’m facing some issues from time to time (playback error: Source Unavailable, playback error: Could not tune channel. Please check your tuner or antenna.)

Have this box improved since you first tried it?

No, I’m still having the same issue (and I can’t record through plex).
I think the issue is from plex’s side because it works flawlessly when using the device with their app or the m3u8 file.