Network tuners — SAT>IP
Updated 25 Oct 2026Besides DVB cards installed in the server, Castreon can take a mux from a SAT>IP server on the network: a device or server with tuners that receives the antenna signal (satellite, cable or terrestrial) and sends the stream over the IP network. The Castreon server does not need any DVB card.
A SAT>IP adapter behaves exactly like a local card: scanning services, the TV guide from EIT, signal quality and alerts, retuning when the mux stalls and channels made from services all work the same.
Available from Castreon 1.9.0, in all plans. Castreon is a SAT>IP client: it takes the stream from a SAT>IP server; it does not become a SAT>IP server itself.
A SAT>IP adapter
DVB adapters → Add adapter, then under Mux source choose SAT>IP server. The fields of a local card (device, LNB, DiSEqC switch) disappear — the SAT>IP server takes care of them.
- SAT>IP server address —
rtsp://hostorrtsp://host:port(the default port is 554). You can also type just the IP address. - Search the network — finds SAT>IP servers through SSDP (UPnP) and lists them with their name and announced tuners; one click puts the address in the field. The search runs from the Castreon server, not from your browser, so it only finds SAT>IP servers on the same local network as Castreon (it does not cross routers or VPNs). If a server does not appear, type its address by hand.
- Server tuner —
0lets the server pick any free tuner; a number (1, 2, …) pins the tuner. - Transport — UDP (local network) for ordinary local networks; TCP over RTSP (NAT, VPN) when the SAT>IP server is on another network, behind NAT or a VPN, and UDP packets do not get through.
- Requested PIDs — Whole mux (default) or Only the ones in use, for servers that do not send the whole mux. In the second case Castreon asks for the mux tables and, for the running channels, their tracks; when you start another channel the list updates by itself in about a second.
Then System and the mux parameters, as for a card: DVB-S / DVB-S2, DVB-T / DVB-T2 or DVB-C (Annex A).
Satellite through SAT>IP
For satellite, enter the Transponder frequency in MHz as the operator publishes it, together with Polarization, Symbol rate, modulation, FEC, roll-off and, if needed, the Input Stream ID — as in Satellite reception.
Instead of the LNB and DiSEqC fields you choose the Satellite position (Position 1 – Position 4): the satellite input of the SAT>IP server. The LNB type and the switch are configured on the SAT>IP server.
What you see in the panel
- In the adapter list,
SAT>IPand the server address appear instead of the card (plus the tuner, if you pinned one). - In the adapter panel: SAT>IP server, the tuner in use, Transport and which PIDs are requested, plus RTP packets lost — packets that did not arrive over the network between the SAT>IP server and Castreon. These are network losses, not antenna problems.
- Signal level and quality come from the SAT>IP server (its RTCP report). If the server does not send them, the panel says so, and the signal is judged only by the data that arrives.
If the SAT>IP server answers that it has no free tuner (RTSP code 453) or the connection breaks, Castreon retries by itself, as with a local card.
How much is verified: the protocol (RTSP, RTP over UDP or TCP, tuner state from RTCP, discovery through SSDP) follows the SAT>IP specification and is verified in automated tests against a simulated SAT>IP server: tuning, keeping the session alive, losses, "no free tuner", reconnection, TCP transport and the PID list. If a particular SAT>IP server does not work with Castreon, open a ticket with its model and software version.
What it does not do yet
- DVB-C Annex B / C, ATSC and ISDB-T over SAT>IP (the SAT>IP protocol does not have them);
- SAT>IP reception over multicast;
- Castreon as a SAT>IP server for other devices.