How to Set up BT tv box with LG oled tv without aerial

[mulderstu]

Hi,

I am trying to set up my bt box that I received today with my LG television. I do not have an aerial and it seems that because of this I cannot get past the set up stage.

i was told my bt that I would not require an aerial to set it up if I did not want the Freeview channels, which I don’t! I just want to watch bt sport in 4K and the amc channel. 

Is there anyway of skipping the initial set up as it seems if I don’t have an aerial for this it won’t let me get any subscription channels at all? 

Any help will be much appreciated as don't want to waste money on getting an antenna set up in the house just to set up the bt box with an LG television.

Thank you

Stu

[Keith_Beddoe]

@mulderstu 

You do need a TV aerial, as this screenshot explains.

From this page FAQs

https://www.bt.com/tv/packages/

If you are in a strong signal area, you may get away with an indoor aerial.

[mulderstu]

Thank you for your reply. Just went out and bought a £30 aerial and no channels were picked up. Take it I would need an aerial places in the roof? 

[mulderstu]

*Bought an indoor aerial

[Keith_Beddoe]

You may get away with one in the loft, but its best to have a proper external aerial fitted.

This page may help https://www.bt.com/help/tv/getting-set-up/setting-up-bt-tv/about-the-aerial-installation-service-fro...

[Andy005 · Accepted solution]

Hi @mulderstu 

My T4000 does not have an aerial and set up okay without one. The down side is that it won't download the All4 and ITV Players.

Unless something has changed in the software in the last year to prevent it, which I doubt, you should be able to go through set up and just receive the subscription channels. It has to be a clean set up, if I retune then I lose the subscription channels and then have to go into Maintenance Mode to get them back.

[mulderstu]

Thanks for your reply Andy,

My wife and I were up until 12 last night trying to get it going but with no luck. I have read posts in the past like yours which stated that you still can get the subscription channels without the need for the aerial but you do loose out on the Freeview channels, so I am a bit perplexed as to why I can’t get past the set up stage and at least get the subscription channels. When I set it up it finds no channels at all even with this new fancy indoor aerial I bought. I don’t know if its an LG C9 tv problem though as once I go to the next step after that it won’t get me past the section where it has a graphic of the set top box and confirming that you have connected the Ethernet cable and aerial to the set top box to finalise set up. When I click on get started it just does not go anywhere. 

Think I may just have to phone bt and hope they send round and engineer.

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@mulderstu wrote:

Think I may just have to phone bt and hope they send round and engineer.

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They will expect you to have an aerial connected, as its a requirement of the service, as explained when you placed the order.

BT only ask Openreach to visit, if there is a problem with the broadband connection.

[Andy005]

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@Keith_Beddoewrote:

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@mulderstuwrote:

Think I may just have to phone bt and hope they send round and engineer.

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They will expect you to have an aerial connected, as its a requirement of the service, as explained when you placed the order.

BT only ask Openreach to visit, if there is a problem with the broadband connection.

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Unless something has changed recently it's not a requirement of the service to have an aerial. When I ordered mine 2 years ago I was told the same as @mulderstu  by BT that it works without an aerial.

Unless something has changed, I would say that you have a faulty box. I had a similar issue with a Humax Freesat box, it was hanging during setup and I tried it at two different properties.

The other thing to check @mulderstu  is whether your TV subscription has been setup correctly. Have you downloaded the BT TV app to a phone or tablet and checked that you can watch the subscription channels?

[JohnC2]

Hi @mulderstu I've checked and you should be able to get the box to complete the search for Freeview channels even if it finds none and the subscription channels should be found. Have you checked the App as suggested by Andy005 to ensure the channels are active?

cheers
John