A television showing an evening horizon, with a phone, tablet, laptop and streaming box below it
A television showing an evening horizon, with a phone, tablet, laptop and streaming box below it

How to set up your IPTV subscription on any device

Setting up Northlight TV takes about five minutes. You don’t need an engineer, a dish or a set-top box, and there’s nothing to plug in. You install our app on a device you already own, sign in with the details we email you, and start watching.

This guide covers every device we support. Jump straight to yours below, or read the short checklist first if you’ve only just signed up.

What you need before you start

  • Your welcome email. This has your username and password. It arrives within [INSERT TIME] of your payment clearing. If you can’t find it, check your spam or junk folder before contacting us.
  • A broadband connection. We recommend at least [INSERT] Mbps per screen for HD. If two people will watch at once, you need roughly double that.
  • The device you want to watch on. See the full list of supported devices if you’re not sure yours is covered.
  • A TV Licence. You need one to watch or record any channel live in the UK, whichever service you use. You can check your situation at TV Licensing.

That’s it. The steps below are broadly the same on every device: install the app, open it, sign in.

Samsung and LG smart TVs

If your TV is connected to the internet, you can install Northlight TV straight from its own app store. There’s no need for any extra hardware.

On a Samsung TV

  1. Press the Home button on your remote.
  2. Open Apps, then select the search icon in the top-right corner.
  3. Search for Northlight TV and select it.
  4. Choose Install, then Open once it has finished.
  5. Enter the username and password from your welcome email, then select Sign in.

On an LG TV

  1. Press the Home button to open the launcher bar.
  2. Open the LG Content Store and choose Apps.
  3. Search for Northlight TV, then select Install.
  4. Open the app and sign in with the details from your welcome email.

Supported models: [INSERT SUPPORTED SAMSUNG AND LG MODEL YEARS AND MINIMUM FIRMWARE VERSIONS]. If your TV is older than this, a streaming stick is the cheapest way around it, and the picture is usually better too.

Fire TV, Android TV, Google TV, Apple TV and Roku

Streaming sticks and boxes are the most reliable way to watch, because they get software updates for longer than most smart TVs do.

Amazon Fire TV Stick and Fire TV

  1. From the Fire TV home screen, select the search icon on the far left.
  2. Type Northlight TV, or hold the voice button and say it.
  3. Select the app, then choose Get or Download.
  4. Open it and sign in with your username and password.

Once installed, hold the Home button and choose Apps to move Northlight TV to the front of your app row. It saves scrolling every time.

Android TV and Google TV

  1. Open Google Play from the home screen.
  2. Search for Northlight TV and select Install.
  3. Open the app and sign in.

Apple TV

  1. Open the App Store on your Apple TV.
  2. Go to the Search tab and search for Northlight TV.
  3. Select Get to install, then open the app and sign in.

Roku

  1. Press Home on your Roku remote.
  2. Scroll to Streaming Channels to open the Channel Store.
  3. Search for Northlight TV and choose Add Channel.
  4. Return to the home screen, open the channel and sign in.

Minimum software versions: [INSERT FOR EACH DEVICE].

iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets

Handy for watching in bed, in the garden or on a train, and the quickest way to test that your login works before you set up the television.

  1. Open the App Store on iPhone or iPad, or Google Play on Android.
  2. Search for Northlight TV and install it.
  3. Open the app and sign in with the details from your welcome email.

On mobile data, the app will use a fair amount of your allowance. If you’re on a limited plan, watch over Wi-Fi where you can.

Windows PCs and Macs

There’s nothing to install on a computer. Northlight TV runs in your web browser.

  1. Open Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox.
  2. Go to [INSERT WATCH URL].
  3. Sign in with your username and password.
  4. Press F11 on Windows, or Control, Command and F on a Mac, for full screen.

Keep your browser up to date. Most playback problems on computers come down to an old browser version.

Xbox

  1. From the Xbox dashboard, open the Microsoft Store.
  2. Search for Northlight TV and select Get.
  3. Launch the app from My games & apps and sign in.

[CONFIRM WHICH XBOX MODELS ARE SUPPORTED]

Casting from your phone with Chromecast

If your TV isn’t supported but you have a Chromecast, you can send the picture from your phone to the TV.

  1. Make sure your phone and Chromecast are on the same Wi-Fi network.
  2. Open Northlight TV on your phone and start watching something.
  3. Tap the cast icon, usually in the top-right corner of the player.
  4. Choose your Chromecast from the list.

Casting counts as one screen, the same as watching on the phone itself.

Watching on more than one screen

You can install the app on as many devices as you like and sign in on all of them. What your plan limits is how many screens can play at the same time.

  • On a 1 screen option, starting playback on a second device will stop the first.
  • On 2 or 3 screens, that many devices can watch different channels at once.

If you see a message about too many screens, close the app properly on the device you’ve finished with rather than just turning the TV off. You can also change your screen count from the plans section when you renew.

If the picture buffers or freezes

Nearly every playback problem is a network one, and these four steps fix the vast majority of them. Try them in order.

  1. Restart the app. Close it fully rather than leaving it in the background, then open it again.
  2. Restart your router and your device. Unplug the router for 30 seconds. It clears most temporary slowdowns.
  3. Use a cable if you can. An Ethernet cable from the router to the TV or streaming stick is far steadier than Wi-Fi.
  4. Move to the 5 GHz network. If your router offers both, 5 GHz is quicker over short distances. 2.4 GHz travels further but is slower and busier.

Still buffering after all four? Run a speed test on the device itself, not on your phone in another room, and send us the result. That tells us straight away whether it’s the connection or the account.

Still stuck?

If you’ve worked through the steps for your device and it still isn’t playing, get in touch. Tell us which device you’re using, what you see on screen and which of the steps above you’ve already tried, and we’ll pick it up from there.

Our UK team is available [INSERT HOURS], and you can reach us by [INSERT SUPPORT CHANNELS]. You might also find a quick answer in the frequently asked questions.