Iks Free to Air Satellite

Internet Key Sharing

IKS or Internet Key Sharing has recently been introduced in the field of Free to Air satellite and televisions.  But what is IKS?  How does it work and why do I need it?

FTA Keys in the Past

To explain, we need to go back in time before IKS.  In the past, when you bought a satellite receiver, it needed to have ‘codes’ imputed into it in order to be able to receive and display certain channels.  To do this, one usually brought the receiver to a dealer who would then start the arduous task of ‘programming’ the hardware.  This could take from a few minutes to a few hours.

As technology increased, and home tech became more prevalent, new methods of imputing FTA Keys were invented.  For the most part, if an FTA receiver owner could find the codes or keys necessary, they could input these codes manually using a variety of front panel button selections.  This too was quite tricky, and many people still took their receivers to authorized dealers for the upgrades.

Over time, satellite receiver companies made it easier to enter FTA Keys.  Multifunction remote controls, advanced LED displays and more automata in the receiver’s firmware made updating codes about as difficult as programming a VCR or DVD player.  At this point, FTA (free to air) television started to rise in popularity.  Some receivers were no long “set top” receivers, but actual PCI cards (DVB PCI) where FTA Keys could be entered via your PC (with the keyboard) which would automate the entire process and have your TV up and running almost instantly.  

Enter IKS

Nfusion was the first satellite receiver company to use the IKS system in their product line.  The NFusion Nova was released at a very reasonable price with the new IKS system.  Essentially, IKS means Internet Key Sharing, where the receiver can receive a ‘shared key’ from a server directly over the internet.  In the case of the Nfusion Nova, the receiver connects directly to your wireless router.  When an update is needed, the receiver simply accesses the key on the internet, downloads it and installs it – all automatically.  This is an incredible time saver and allows FTA receiver owners to have continuous television virtually all of the time.

One of the biggest reasons IKS technology has become so popular is a) internet speeds in the common household have multiplied exponentially and b) many people use IKs technology to decode ‘Pay TV’ channels.

The advent of IKS is comparable to card sharing.  In this sense it is very important to keep in mind that are legal and illegal uses of IKS technology.  If you are suing IKS to download a decoder word for PayTV or Pay subscription channels, you may be breaking the law.  IKS can be used to legally decode thousands of international channels which is especially useful if you work out of country or have recently moved away from your country.  The BBC and CBC are examples of free to air channels that can be picked up abroad.

The Future of IKS

IKS is very popular in Europe as well as North America.  People who use IKS illegally have seen some IKS downtime in the past leaving people wondering how safe IKS is.  The fact is, proponents of International Copyright and other ‘interested’ parties such as conglomerate Pay TV companies, are very aware of the possible illegal uses of card sharing or IKS technology.  Therefore, there have been compromised to certain IKS systems or nodes that have been proven to provide illegal decoder words.  Once the node (a secure first point of contact for the receiver requesting information over the internet) is compromised, everyone using IKS on that node can no longer view their channels.  Even so, it seems free to air viewing isn’t going anywhere, and there will always be technology make viewing free to air signals virtually maintenance free.  As it stands, IKS is the easiest and most convenient way watch.