This topic

Recordable boxes

kim7 — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 17:44:49 GMT

Can anyone tell me why EE won't let me have 2 recordable boxes,as I have had (with BT) for years until EE came along.

Re: Recordable boxes

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:21:59 GMT

@kim7

This is the BT Retail forum.

Try posting on the EE forum https://community.ee.co.uk/

Re: Recordable boxes

Midnight_Voice — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:41:40 GMT

@kim7

We are told BT TV is now EE TV, just a name change, but when you dig, you find there is a variant EE TV, who offer you an Apple box that can’t record, with an EE TV app on it that about does what a Mini box does, and maybe a bit more, but only if you leave BT broadband and adopt EE broadband.

Though we were told that BT broadband was going to become a business/professional service, and consumer broadband was going to be EE. So are BT going to move us all across? No sign of it yet…

But you can still get the Pro box, from BT, and as far as I know from EE, though there it’s either/or with the EE TV Apple box, but not both.

But I don’t know when BT ever supplied two recordable boxes. Yes, you could get a box from BT, and source a second YouView box elsewhere for yourself, and swap the ‘BT TV-ness’ between them at will, though only one at a time could access the BT TV stuff.

Or you could get an Extra Room Minibox from BT TV, for a price, but it couldn’t record. Though if you then swapped in your non-BT TV YouView box for that, it would become a full-blown second recording BT TV box, apparently, though this was something which, perhaps understandably, wasn’t exactly shouted from the rooftops.

But the change from BT TV to EE TV is just a name change (except where it isn’t), but the ‘isn’t’ doesn’t include stopping you having two recordable boxes where you could before.

Unless you know different, BT TV never have supplied customers with two recordable boxes; and the workaround you could do to get a YouView box from elsewhere working as a full-blown second recordable BT TV box still works, I am told.

Re: Recordable boxes

kim7 — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:51:16 GMT

Thanks for that.

I have definitely had 2 recordable bt tv boxes for years.

1 upstairs and 1 in the living room

Re: Recordable boxes

zulu17 — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:54:33 GMT

@kim7 BT TV since 13 December 2019 adopted a loan only approach to boxes supplied with TV packages and their TV packages included a loan recordable box and if the extra box subscription taken a second non recordable box. They have never specifically provided two recordable boxes as part of their advertised service although to date substituting your own recordable box for the loaned non recordable box would be possible.

EE have their own conditions (which subject to line speed) for upto 2 extra boxes although their loaned extra boxes would be the non recordable type. (primary box would be either the Box Pro recordable box or the customised Apple TV device).

Re: Recordable boxes

Midnight_Voice — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 21:16:29 GMT

@Keith_Beddoe

Thanks for that suggestion.

But have you looked at the name of this board?

Re: Recordable boxes

zulu17 — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 21:27:17 GMT

@Midnight_Voice Keith's direction/suggestion was correct.

as the OP asked why EE wouldn't allow ,

Re: Recordable boxes

Midnight_Voice — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 21:29:46 GMT

@kim7

Yes, but were both supplied by BT on one BT TV subscription? And will both, at the same time, allow access to, and recording of, the BT-supplied channels that appear in the EPG from 300 upwards?

I have three recordable YouView boxes in use in three different rooms, two of them BT models, but all were sourced from outside BT TV, and none of them will play, let alone record, the video channels from 300 upwards, as I don’t have, and have never had, BT TV; but all of them can record the terrestrial channels, which amply suffices for my recording needs,

Re: Recordable boxes

Midnight_Voice — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 22:01:37 GMT

@zulu17 @Keith_Beddoe

Yes, but is that what @kim7 meant?

Does ‘EE came along’ refer to the name change from BT TV to EE TV, or has @kim7 been seriously contemplating a move to EE broadband, and has discovered this limitation?

I understood the mention to be the first of those interpretations, but perhaps I am wrong.

But when someone is asking about EE, in whatever context, on a board whose name begins with EE, and where all sorts of EE-specific questions have previously been asked and answered, and it is suggested they are asking in the wrong Community, then this engenders a confusion that isn’t likely to go away 😢

The root problem seems to be that BT TV has changed its name to EE TV, but it turns out that the EE TV on BT broadband Isn’t the same as the EE TV on EE broadband. It looks like badge engineering has fallen foul of real engineering….

Re: Recordable boxes

DarrenDev — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 07:08:41 GMT

Just to clear up a few points here:

BT has never offered 2 recordable options for BT TV, and it's still not available for EE TV. If you had BT TV before Dec 2019 and then renewed your box afterwards, the previous box would have been yours to keep and a new box would be offered on loan. Only one box could be used for subscription content at a time. If you took out a multiroom subscription at the time, a Z4 non-recordable box would have been offered - this is now replaced with the TV Box Mini.

If you have 2 recordable boxes (either through history, or you've bought one separately), there's no restriction on using them - you may be prompted to switch your subscription back and forth between them, depending on what service you have.

BT TV rebranded to EE TV last year. It was just a rebrand at the time - nothing else changed. There have been a few system changes in between, but the service we offer now is still the same EE TV service that was available last year, and it can still be bought on BT Broadband or New EE Broadband. The TV Box Pro or TV Box Mini that you receive when you order EE TV now is the same box, whether you order it on BT Broadband or EE Broadband.

The only current differences for EE TV are:

If you order on New EE Broadband:

* you also have the option of an Apple TV or TV Box Mini instead of a TV Box Pro

* you can have up to 2 TV Box Minis in addition, at no extra cost

If you order on BT Broadband:

* You can have 1 additional TV Box Mini, but it will cost you monthly

There is currently no push to move customers from BT to EE. There are incentives (e.g. the faster broadband package, and the free multiroom), but you don't have to change if you don't want to.

You're welcome to discuss EE TV either on this forum, or the EE forum. Many of the moderators are active on both.

Re: Recordable boxes

Brucemeister5 — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 07:57:58 GMT

@DarrenDev If you think that there is currently no push to move customers from BT to EE, then I’m afraid that my experience when I phoned to renew our broadband and tv recently was rather different, and resulted in me hanging up and putting in a formal complaint. EE mobile is also pushed at every opportunity, even when you’ve called about something else entirely, and this has been happening for over 3 years!

Re: Recordable boxes

DarrenDev — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:02:53 GMT

By "no push" I mean that no-one is bring proactively contacted, to switch from BT Broadband to EE Broadband.
We stopped selling BT Mobile a while ago, so yes - there's a push to move customers across to EE Mobile. You can still have EE Mobile as a BT Broadband customer though.
At renewal time, you'll be offered the chance to move to EE. I'm not aware of it being mandated though - I'm sorry to hear that you've had a bad experience with your renewal.

Is there a reason that you don't want to move across?

Re: Recordable boxes

Brucemeister5 — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:16:02 GMT

No worries. We’ve renewed our broadband & tv now after being offered a deal that was too good to refuse on both from Executive Complaints.

We can’t get FTTP in our village, and although we have an Alt Net here, we are happy with our 51 Mbps as it meets our needs. We’re not interested in the Apple TV or free multi room boxes on new EE, and have been very satisfied with the Pro tv box. We are staying out of contract on BT Mobile until we are told otherwise as it still has free roam like at home.

Re: Recordable boxes

RussK — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:18:09 GMT

@DarrenDev

Hi Darren,

I'm going to have to disagree with you on one point.

There was a product called “TV Everywhere with Extra Box”. It is still showing on my bill to this day and I have 2 recordable boxes. It was on offer pre-2018 (I can’t remember exactly when).

I am an ex-BT employee, but am unable to say whether this product was only for us or for all customers.

Presumably my recontracting over the years has kept the product alive.

@kim7 - check your bill to see whether there is a product listed like the one mentioned above.

Re: Recordable boxes

DarrenDev — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:32:11 GMT

@RussK "TV Everywhere with Extra Box" is just the regular extra box subscription, and should have resulted in you being sent a Z4 in 2018. I can't go back that far to see why you were sent a recordable box, but it wasn't standard - employee orders were manual back then, so could have been a mistake.

Re: Recordable boxes

Midnight_Voice — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:35:45 GMT

@RussK

I found this 2014 posting, which bears out what you say, and would confirm it wasn’t just an employee-only offer.

https://vodzilla.co/blog/vod-news/tv-everywhere-bt-tv-buy-to-keep-films-now-available-on-other-devices/

I think the designation YouView+ denotes a recording box.

I am also assuming the journalist posting had their facts straight 😛

Re: Recordable boxes

DarrenDev — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:44:27 GMT

"TV Everywhere" was the name for the apps we launched in 2014 for mobile devices (later followed by apps for Apple TV, Fire TV, Samsung TV, and Chromecast).
All YouView boxes were known as "YouView+" boxes (to align with the "Vision+" name for the previous boxes). The Z4 (non recordable) box launched as part of that multiroom offer in 2014.

Re: Recordable boxes

RussK — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 09:03:29 GMT

Hi @DarrenDev,

It was prior to 2018, more likely to be between 2014 and 2016. I don’t recall the Z4.

I don’t think that it was a mistake, because at some point between having the extra box and now, I’ve had them all replaced due to faults. Unless that was a fortunate mistake for me! 😁

Re: Recordable boxes

DarrenDev — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 09:14:09 GMT

It's not a mistake that would ever have been corrected - a box swap would always swap for equal or better.
I tell you what ... just to close this pointless topic down, I'll correct my previous statement:

BT has never offered 2 recordable options for BT TV, and it's still not available for EE TV. If you had BT TV before Dec 2019 and then renewed your box afterwards, the previous box would have been yours to keep and a new box would be offered on loan. Only one box could be used for subscription content at a time. If you took out a multiroom subscription at the time, a Z4 non-recordable box would have been offered - this is now replaced with the TV Box Mini. Some users may have received a second recordable box by mistake many years ago, however this was never a standard product offering, and this hasn't changed as a result of the move to EE TV.

Re: Recordable boxes

zulu17 — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 09:57:58 GMT

Upon further research back in October 2016 I note that the BT Consumer Price Guide does say

“TV Everywhere with Extra Box is a multi-room subscription and requires a second set-top box. If your main set-top box is a YouView + Box, you can choose to take either a YouView + or YouView Box as your second set-top box. If your main set-top box is a YouView Box, you can only take another YouView Box as your second set-top box.”

So it does appear that a pricing option for two Recordable devices did exist back then. How long Bt actively marketed/sold that option is unclear and most posts on the forum from that period will have been archived. (Having a price point doesn’t necessarily imply that a package was actively promoted.)