This topic

Apple TV and eero

Kimbrich6 — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 16:59:32 GMT

At the moment with pro boxes you need the bt router to use the paid for channels as eero doesn’t support the correct protocol.

however with the Apple TV being app based does it have the same constraint?

would like to move tv over to ee with Apple TV box and get rid of bt router.

Re: Apple TV and eero

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 17:50:22 GMT

As far as I can remember from previous replies, the EE TV app on Apple TV picks up the “same multicast channels as a Pro Box”, which to my mind means you will need a router that can handle it.

Having researched eero previously, I believe you can plug the first one into a BT/EE hub and then turn off the WiFi so that the eero handles it.

This does introduce double nat or you can switch to bridge mode, but I have no confirmation this works robustly with BT/EE TV. I guess BT/EE would prefer you to buy more of their kit if you need better WiFi coverage.

Re: Apple TV and eero

DarrenDev — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 17:59:40 GMT

EE TV on Apple TV has all the same channels as the TV Box, however they're not delivered over multicast - so you'll not have any issues using any router you want.

Re: Apple TV and eero

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 18:36:55 GMT

@Kimbrich6wrote:
would like to move tv over to ee with Apple TV box and get rid of bt router.

If not obvious, doing so would lose the ability to record.

Re: Apple TV and eero

Kimbrich6 — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 22:55:30 GMT

Thanks. That’s what I wanted to hear 👍

Re: Apple TV and eero

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 07:10:25 GMT

Now we know the channels don’t use multicast (which brings the benefit of shorter broadcast delay), you could of course just buy an Apple TV and use the TV Launcher app as a TV Guide instead of committing to a 2 year contract, then just buy access to the content you really want more cheaply by going direct.

Every single channel offered by BT/EE TV is available through an app, TV Launcher is configurable and gives you a 7 day EPG and you can use any ISP or kit you want.

Each to their own obvs.

Re: Apple TV and eero

Midnight_Voice — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 09:18:40 GMT

@DarrenDev

Wo, that’s huge.

Does it reflect that multicast is so much trouble that it’s actually easier to serve up live TV as if it were on demand, with all the bandwidth implications of that, than get the theoretical benefits of a single stream for everybody?

Re: Apple TV and eero

Ric81 — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 10:24:05 GMT

From the perspective of someone who doesn’t utilise the record function much but values the reduced lag from live sport associated with the multicast broadcasts available via the Pro Box, the EE Tv via Apple TV had piqued my interest. However, from a personal perspective, the Apple TV option is nowhere near as attractive if it utilises the uni cast streams. As noted above there are more cost effective options to closely replicate (albeit with some limitations) what EE TV can provide on the Apple TV.

The Apple TV 4K is a superb bit of kit which I tend to rely on for playback of all my streaming subscriptions (Netflix, Disney, Prime etc and YouTube) and the ability to consolidate this with multicast sport streams from Bt/ee TV would have been ideal.

Unfortunately the TV Box Pro just has too many niggles (Flaky frame rate matching, lip sync issues in surround mode, temperamental remote control, missing apps etc) to cater for all my streaming needs.

Re: Apple TV and eero

daisymike — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 12:02:02 GMT

I use an Apple TV box with the TV Launcher app, it really is good !

Re: Apple TV and eero

DarrenDev — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 12:29:18 GMT

@Midnight_Voice Search Google for "MAUD multicast" - it's possible to get the bandwidth benefits of multicast without clients being able to handle it directly.
As for why the decision was taken not to use it - I'm not sure.

Re: Apple TV and eero

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 12:40:13 GMT

@daisymikewrote:
I use an Apple TV box with the TV Launcher app, it really is good !

The dev, Adam is really responsive to changes, updates and ideas as well.

I did struggle with the sensitivity of the remote on the TV Guide itself as it can slide about a bit, but you can just turn off the trackpad on the Siri remote or buy a Function101 version if you want to get closer to the EE offering.

Re: Apple TV and eero

Midnight_Voice — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 12:46:11 GMT

@DarrenDev

Thanks - can’t wait for it to come into the garden… 😛

Re: Apple TV and eero

Kimbrich6 — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 14:58:44 GMT

Cheers. Will give it a go

Re: Apple TV and eero

Kimbrich6 — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 15:05:14 GMT

Tv launcher just crashes on iPhone. Latest update and software.

Re: Apple TV and eero

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 15:14:14 GMT

@Kimbrich6wrote:
Tv launcher just crashes on iPhone. Latest update and software.

Great start! 🤣

Re: Apple TV and eero

Kimbrich6 — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 15:36:08 GMT

Think it does it while it populates the epg. Got it working by going on the app a few times

Re: Apple TV and eero

ptrduffy — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 11:49:05 GMT

@DarrenDev thanks for the pointer to "MAUD multicast" - as a former network software engineer it's very interesting. For those interested in the technical details, I found a paper presented at IBC 2023 linked here.

[Edit - clicked Post too soon] However, from what I read in that paper, the "Edge Proxy" is implemented in a "home gateway" and needs to participate in the multicast stream. In order to minimise multicast complexity in the home network, this would therefore need to be implemented in the Hub - and, since one of the EP's functions is caching of video segments, trhis would suggest a possibly significant new inrement in Hub complexity.

Do you know if this is implemented in current Hub software? I'm asking purely out of curiosity.

I suppose it's also possible that the EP functionality is instead implemented at the very edge of the BT network instead of the Hub (although this might introduce further complexity).

In the trial reported in the linked paper, the EP was implemented on a Raspberry Pi, so it may not be a significant processing load.