Root Hosting Review

by annnoy

So I've been testing these guys for a while now and here are my thoughts:

##Channels:

Mainly UK channels, all the usual plus a few random extras, all SD with a a bunch of "FHD" but I found that around half of the FHD were not actually anywhere near FHD and usually just SD but for the price which I will get into down below wasn't a big issue, some of the channels had incorrect names for the steam being shown but again not a big issue, bit of tiding up could be done to keep everything uniform.

No 50 fps channels when writing this review.

##Service: My setup's: magbox (via lan), GSE IOS, web player & vlc m3u, 50mb down, 20mb up.

Overall I experienced a channel freeze around 50% of the time during an evening of TV, now this wouldn't be constant but still noticeable, I had better performance on the real FHD channels than the SD so my guess would be down to the feed provider for these channels.

There were some issues with the last PPV fight for the first part my guess server overload, again for the price nothing major.

##Support:

They only let you report issues by logging a ticket on their website which can be a pain, tickets are picked up usually within the hour which is good, the usual response is no one else has reported issues so it must be you..... or reboot your router..... but for the most part it gets resolved, may take a little time.

##Extra / VOD / Catchup:

Catchup is brilliant, the best I've seen, nearly every channel is covered and with fast seek times so top job on this!

VOD is good, plenty there to keep you going, VOD should not be something you should be looking for when picking a IPTV supplier, its just an extra.

24/7 Channels brought in last week so all good there.

##Price / Value:

The price is good for what you get! Decent backup provider I would say, they just need to sort out a few kinks in the road and they would be a main provider for me.

They accept paypal as well.

##Update: They have recently changed servers and performance is hit and miss right now, lots more new channels including 50fps will write a 2nd review soon.

Bernienojobtill40

If it’s freezing and buffering 50% of the time it’s rather useless.

das-monk

Been using root in the past 20 days. Almost every time i need to watch something, a movie on sky, snooker on Eurosport, soccer on bt or sky sports, i get occasional buffering.. not impressed.

I have a cheaper backup which i check when buffering happens on root, and almost always the backup would out perform it.

Not renewing.

holidayinning

So, how much is it?

tartantips

Root was great for a long time but went downhill over last six months.

Business was sold recently an new owner has tried to improve things (catchup being much improved)

Though there are issue with football being very unstable some weekends of late and owners insisting on submitting a ticket rather than just giving updates on FB, whatsapp or telegram like other sellers.

hinge1

Taken out the 24 hour trial today and no FHD channels (sports,movies) are working.

Armitage_Shanks70

Been having problems recently, looks like uk people will have to use a vpn by default

Dugg

DO NOT USE THEM!

Long story short I was after a cheap provider just to get some basic viewing. After I paid my invoice they deleted my account and wont respond.

chrispy1973

Has Root changed hands again?, within the last few days all of the channels are grouped completely differently, for example Root used to have UK Freeview and UK Entertainment as two separate categories, now both sets of channels are lumped together in "UK Entertainment", the TV series choices are all completely different and a lot of previously stable channels (for me) are now buffering and unwatchable. I also have a Helix sub for use as a second provider and Root now looks very much like Helix with the same Channel categories, VOD line up and the TV series' grouped in alphabetic sections, so I wonder if Root have dropped their previous provider and are now just reselling Helix?. If this is the case does anybody know who Root were reselling for before?, as it worked very well for me and I'm considering dropping Root and moving on to another reseller who carried the same service as Root previously used. Unfortunately using Helix as a back up provider for Helix via a second sub isn't going to work out for me.

Myoldeelephant

Agree since the server move, not as good, used to be relied on to get 6 or 7 streams for the 3pm matches now down to just one.

Service with a ticket is poor, it's always your fault and not theres, not sure they actually understand IPTV too well, but what do you expect for £3 month !!

Armitage_Shanks70

Looks like unless you have a vpn (in the uk at least) Root is no longer an option.

It’s being constantly blocked. Had no service for a week

I appreciate its cheap and they are pretty quick at replying to issues but with their own cost and adding a vpn cost each month I’m going to look elsewhere

carlvb321

Root is a excellent iptv sine takeover. Lots of channels real value