Apple TV and eero

[Kimbrich6]

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.

[stereohaven]

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.

[DarrenDev]

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.

[rbz5416]

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@Kimbrich6wrote:

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

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

[Kimbrich6]

Thanks. That’s what I wanted to hear 👍

[stereohaven]

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.

[Midnight_Voice]

@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?

[Ric81]

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. 

[daisymike]

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

[DarrenDev]

@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.