Emporium

You can never satisfy everyone with remotes. If you make them big, people complain they are huge and awkward. Make them too small, people complain they are too tiny. My personal preference is the size of the BT100/200/250 remotes, but that is personal taste. The BT300/400 are a change, but not that bad. I have pretty big hands, and have no issue with the buttons. Even in the dark, you can easily feel your way around the remote, with the buttons having just enough of a bump to be able to feel your way around and distinguish the buttons. For the number pad, it is is nice that the "5" key has a little texturing, so you can orient yourself with that middle key. For the Dpad, it is about the same size (about 25mm). Maybe the BT300/400 is about 1mm smaller, but that may just be an illusion since it is white vs black (on the older remotes). The OK button on the older remotes is convex out, but the newer ones are concave in. Something that does take getting used to. Now the buttons around the dpad, are a little more spread out vertically on the newer remotes (BT300/400), but the buttons are further apart horizontally on the older remotes. You can always also choose to get something like an ARQ-100 remote. Or soon to be available ARQ 200 series https://buzztv.com/site/arq-200-series/ Some people used to swear by their Harmony remotes, but personally have never liked them.

Picture from channels on Antenna are clear: So the TV is not an issue. Netflix, Prime, Apple and Disney, Youtube are all very clear: So the box is not an issue Only thing left is the Source/Server that you are using for your TV channels that are the source if the issue. So If you are using an IPTV provider, then it is time to find someone new to get your service from since they are probably over compressing the streams and image quality is suffering beyond what you want. If you are using some free app (Redbox, LiveNetTV, or even Plex) to get your TV channels, then there is not much you can do, since you are the mercy of their stream sources. Many of the true free IPTV lists that are floating around on github, etc.. are far from 1080p. Many are even 480p (some even 360p). You try to scale 360p, 480p, 420p or even 1080p to 4k, you will NOT get anything SUPER clear.

Have you tried power cycling your router (not reset - just unplug power and plug it in again) ? I know you said other devices have no issue, but sometimes there are chipset incompatibilities so just trying to see if it may not like the WIFI chipset used in your router. You are not by any chance too close to the router (yes that is a thing) ?

Are you using suspend, or shutdown as powerkey definition. I know it is quicker when using suspend, but issues compound over time if you use suspend. Try using shutdown instead and see if it persists.

I just checked on my 4900 which has latest update and I checked 3 different servers and no issues with VOD. They are all fully populated. I even checked TV series and they are all also fully populated and I double checked my main service and the shows are all up to date (with shows that aired this week), so it is not cached. Considering you always seem to have issues (honestly, don't know why it's always on your box), I strongly recommend that you also install another app on your box (STBEmu, IPTVsmarters, etc..) and when something does not work, check also with another program to rule out the server and your ISP. Since I noticed you have a MAC connection, jut install STBEmu, configure for same MAC/Server ID (Remove the DeviceID fields from the profile, just in case). I know STBEmu does not have the best interface, but at least you can see if it works or not.

All my BT remotes have backlight, but I rarely use the backlight, due to it being a battery hog with light on (as dishuser mentioned). And I have gotten so used to the remote layouts, that I rarely need to even look at the remote. Can't say for sure if the BT-250 has a backlight. All the advertisement material for the BT-250 that I found does NOT list backlight as one of the options. So don't know it if was overlooked, or if it actually does not have it. Maybe if someone who has one, or knows for sure, could chime in on this.

You have MAC or XC/M3U style sub ? Have you asked your reseller to reset the MAC on his end if you have a MAC sub ? Sounds like your provider may be locking into something very specific and as soon as it notices a change it may be locking you out.

My favorite buzz remote is the BT200 (personal taste). Pretty sure it is obsolete, so the closest one would be the new BT-250. https://buzztvglobal.com/en-ca/products/bt-250-remote But honestly, other than the power button, the D-PAD, the 4 buttons in the top/bottom/left/right of the DPAD (menu, previous, channel flashback and info), and the channel +/- and volume +/- buttons I very rarely use the rest.

There are many factors that come into play here. You say you are using a 4K TV. What is the resolution you have set on your 4500 ? Are your streams true 4K ? If not, you are leaving it up to the box, or even your TV to do the upscaling. Native 4K should be crisp and nice. Any upscaling involved, will vary, since every device uses different upscaling algorithms. Like others have recommended, try Youtube, or if your service provider has a 4K VOD section, try to stream a few of those. Regular TV stations are often not from a 4k source, regardless if the service provider says 4k.

Are you sure subtitles are included in the stream you are using ? It won't pull them out of nowhere. In my case, some of my streams have subtitles available, and others don't. So it is spotty. But that is a server issue, not a Buzz issue (in my case at least). And I have another server which has 0 subtitles encoded in the streams. Have you tried with another player (like STBEmu if using MAC sub, or IPTV Smarters if using XC or M3U sub), to see if subtitles are available on your streams ?

I will ask a "silly" question.. Are you using the Power supply that came with the U5, or are you using a power supply from a previou BuzzTV box ? Reason I ask, is that the xrs4900 and U5 use a 12V power supply (probably for compatibility with most SATA drives - SATA power spec includes 3.3V, 5V and 12V), compared to the 5V power supplies that all the other models use. The U5 will power up with the 5V power supply from other boxes (and the connector fits), but it will exhibit issues with the HDD. Another user in another forum was complaining about HDD issues and even had Buzz schedule to call him for remote support, until I asked him the very same question, and you can imagine what the answer is. I also have a U5 which came with a 1TB WD blue. However, I never installed the HDD that came with it, I ended up installed a 1TB SSD I had lying around.

Go down to the bottom of this page. You will see an option on bottom left for "Theme". Click on it, you will get a small dropdown, and select theme: 4.4 Default. The other theme seems to have a few issues.

Backing up your server settings and your favorites makes sense. But backing up the EPG is completely nonsense. You restore your server settings, and your favorites and as soon as you connect to your service it will download the latest EPG automatically. And EPG is dynamic and will change daily (if not every few hours, depending on the service). Backing up is an upcoming feature on the new Android 11 devices. When it comes, we will see what can or can't be backed up.

double posting and posting in multiple threads is not needed. backing up guide is useless. guide is dynamic, it is updated regularly, and if you loose your guide, you should complain to your service provider. That is pushed from them. When things get messed up, the best thing to do is honestly to "clear epg" to force it to redownload/refresh the contents.

Sorry dude, but that is completely useless ? Backing up list of favorites I can see, but the tv guide ? Takes just a few seconds to repopulate. And either way, it is completely obsolete in a few days.

For VOD, why do you restrict yourself to backup player ? I use primary myself and don't have issues with my providers streams for that. But if you prefer, now for VOD you even have the option to use an external player, so you can use whatever version of VLC you want, MXplayer, etc..

This is why I hate "this" thread. BuzzTV 5 is too generic and people mix replies from one device to another. This thread started about 4900 questions, and now we are talking about the x5. When you say you have issues on the X5, what firmware and buzztv version are you on ? Posting that you have issues, with no details, does not exactly help anyone.

Don't think there is a backup/restore option on the X5 (Android 11 boxes in general) at this time. They are working on one, but it is not ready for general use yet.

You should probably message allaboutbuzz and see if/when there is a plan to deploy the remote app on Android 9 devices. Or at least some limited version of the app to at least allow the backlight to be toggled on/off.

The BT300 remote backlight is controlled via an app which is only available (for now at least) on the Android 11 boxes. It is NOT available on the Android 9 boxes yet. The xrs4500 is typically shipped with a BT100 remote, who's backlight can easily be toggled by pressing and holding the blue button on bottom right of the remote. So unless Buzz makes the app available on Android 9 boxes, you will not be able to take full advantage of the BT300 backlight on the xrs4500. Would be nice if in a future remote firmware update, there is an option to use a remote shortcut (with no dependency on the app) to enable/disable the backlight (like the long press of another button).

The app, is only on the Android 11 boxes. The BT300/BT400 remotes were introduced with the Android 11 boxes and the app is available as Dishuser has mentioned above. Android 9 boxes were typically sold with the 100 or 200 series remotes (IR100/I200/BT100/BT200). The xrs4500 by default is packaged with a BT100, and on those remotes the backlight can be toggled by pressing and holding the blue button for 4 or 5 seconds. On older boxes you will NOT get all the features out of the BT300/400 remotes since the app, for now at least, is NOT available on these boxes. You should be able to pair it, and use the BT features of the remote, and the IR without an issue. But as far as I know, on this remote the backlight is only accessible via the app.

On the BT300 and BT400 to put it into pairing made it is slightly different (Simultaneously press and hold the OK button and the HOME button for 4 seconds until it starts blinking). It's in the manual I linked above.

When you say program, I assume you mean pairing it with Bluetooth ? Which remote did you get with your XRS4500 ? These were originally sold with the BT100. Nowadays I see many selling with the BT300. Typically first time you power up the box (when it's new), it will ask you to pair the remote. Remote is put in pairing mode (at least on the BT100) by pressing the "OK" button and then simultaneously pressing and holding the "VOLUME DN" button until the red LED slowly blinks. If you did not get this, you can go into settings, remote and accessories, and select "pair device". Then put the remote into pairing mode. Manuals (to program TV buttons): BT100 - https://buzztv.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/BuzzTV-BT-100-Remote-Manual.pdf BT300 - https://buzztv.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BT400-300_manual_WEB_v6_Compress.pdf on the BT100, backlight can be turned on my pressing and holding the blue button on the bottom right. On the BT300, I think backlight is controlled by an app, but that app is only installed on the newer devices (X5, U5, HD5). I don't think I have seen it on the 4500 (I could be wrong).

The message is from the Buzz box, but that is because it fails to connect/authorize using your MAC against the server. Sometimes there are locks in place or even other mechanisms (DeviceID, etc.. I won't go into many details). So if something changes enough, it may see it as a different device or hack attempt and will refuse to connect. That's where the MAC comes in handy.

Please remove name of service. we can't discuss specific services. Guess it is time to find new reseller. Guess we'll wait for him to do a reset. Or come up with an excuse. The one reseller of that service that I know, is usually pretty responsive and helpful.