Sundtek Media TV stick for CI+ channels, does that work?

[Koen]

Hi

Back in 2012, I bought a Sundtek 'MediaTV Digital Home' stick for DVB C/T, which I have been using for years to watch free to air DVB-T signals through my VU+ Duo.

A few weeks ago, I learnt it should now be possible to watch CI+ encrypted channels using, amongst others, a VU+ Duo2 running VTi 8.2.2 or higher or Open ATV 5 or higher. This seemed rather interesting to me because Telenet, our local cable provider here in Belgium, offers a CI+ module that can be used to watch their Nagravision encrypted channels.

I now have bought a Duo2 as well as a Telenet CI+ module, made by a company called SmardTV. (From online reading I get the impression they produce all CI+ modules, but I may be wrong about that.)

The module works fine in a DVB-C/CI+ compatible TV set, but not in my Duo2 in combination with my 2012 Sundtek stick. The module is identified correctly in the common interface menu of the receiver and I can scan all channels, but I'm not getting a picture on encrypted streams. A handful of channels are unencrypted and those I can watch without problems (except for the current problem that motion is not as fluid as it should be, but I understand that's a VU/Sundtek compatibility issue that will be resolved as soon as possible).

There is one (just one...) report from someone using a Duo2 with an internal DVB-C tuner who says Telenet works for him. That doesn't seem much, but: a) Vu+/Telenet is a combination that has only been possible since Vu CI+ support started four months ago; b) we're talking here about a group of six million users at most (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium); and c) I haven't seen a single report from anyone experimenting with what I am trying to do, telling people it didn't work. In other words, it looks like I'm one of the first people to try this.  

Could it be that somewhere in the combination VU+/CI+/Nagravision/Sundtek there's some kind of imcompatibility?

Reading online, using my limited German skills, I came across this thread from 2011, which seems to confirm it was not possible/viable for Sundtek at the time to offer CI+ support. Things may have changed since then, but it wouldn't surprise me if the concerns mentioned in the spring of 2011 would still prevent support for CI+ in a stick I bought about 18 months later.

http://support.sundtek.com/index.php?topic=585.15;wap2

In short: my impression is that Sundtek, at least when I bought my stick, did not support CI+. Could you confirm this is indeed the case? Then I can stop worrying and just buy an internal DVB C tuner for my new receiver. :-)

By the way, I would also be interested to learn whether new Sundtek sticks support CI+. I mentioned my troubles on a Dutch forum and there's a reaction from someone who couldn't help me with my question, but he did wonder whether he would have the same troubles when buying a USB tuner for his local Dutch cable provider.

[Sundtek]

This is a hardware issue of Broadcom settopboxes. The tuner retrieves the data stream - whatever you do with the stream (modify, decode, etc.) is up to the software or hardware which is used with this tuner.

You write that you are using CI+ Module with a Broadcom settopbox - this is not legal nor officially supported by VU+ because those Box families are not able to get the official CI+ certification. If you need further information about your settopbox you better look in another forum - due legal reason we cannot really help anyone with getting CI+ modules work with PC based systems.

CI+ (especially the PLUS) gives the content provider the ability to control what your settopbox is allowed to do and what not with particular TV streams - eg. which TV show you are allowed to record and which not.
With Enigma and Broadcom based settopboxes the content provider has no such option - because of that they will never receive the official CI+ certification.

Of course it's possible to get around that but manufacturers are not allowed to help with that - manufacturers supporting this officially risk to get sued and might have to take the products off the market.

[Koen]

Thanks for your answer. Very quickly - much appreciated!

Allow me to modify the question in such a way that you may be able to answer it without legal concerns. If I understand you correctly, getting a picture on the screen from a CI+ channel that is being received with a Sundtek stick would require changes to the Sundtek drivers/Sundtek software and/or the part of the receiver software (VTi, Open ATV, whatever) that allows the receiver to make contact with USB tuners in the first place, which, as far as Sundtek is concerned, is not going to happen because of the legal situation you described. Is that about right?

Out of interest, can Sundtek sticks (especially those as old as the one I have) be used for channels that can be decoded using an 'ordinary' CI module?

[Sundtek]

The CI interface seems to be tied to the internal tuners only and cannot be used with external tuners or network tuners.

Due legal reasons (as explained before) it's better to check in another forum which is specialised about those settopboxes, I'm sure they can give you more information about that.

To make the CI interface work it would need a hardware modification on the settopbox side.

Technically speaking the boxes are capable of doing things another way.

[Koen]

The CI interface seems to be tied to the internal tuners only and cannot be used with external tuners or network tuners.

Due legal reasons (as explained before) it's better to check in another forum which is specialised about those settopboxes, I'm sure they can give you more information about that.

To make the CI interface work it would need a hardware modification on the settopbox side.

Technically speaking the boxes are capable of doing things another way.

Thanks for that, that's actually all I wanted to know for sure before spending money on an internal tuner.

I am aware there are people - especially in Germany, it seems - using a softcam solution for Sky Deutschland, which may be the 'another way' you're referring to, but I won't pester you by trying to go into details about that here. Besides, a) I'm not all that technical, and b) as I understand it, in the specific case of Telenet cards pairing between card and module is inevitable anyway which, as far as I understand it, would mean tinkering with config files, blocking updates etc. wouldn't work anyway.

You have helped me as much as you could within the limitations you have to take into consideration, and I thank you for the time you took to reply to me. I'd heard before about Sundtek's excellent online support, and I'm certainly most happy with your replies. Thank you, and have a nice day. :-)