Do BT YouView and EE TV remote controls interfere?

[DaveRo]

I have a BT 4K UHD YouView box, now out of contract, which I continue to pay for mainly to watch EE Sport. I understand that if I renew the contract I might be able to (or be required to) replace it with an EE TV Box Pro.

The BT YouView box has an irritating feature. It shares the same remote code as another Humax box, a French TNT Sat receiver (a TN8000HD). So turning the TNT Sat box on turns on the YouView box on and vice versa. (A third Humax box, a FoxSat, is unaffected because the remote code can be changed, but neither the YouView nor the TNT Sat box has this facility. I've got used to this; the TNT Sat box sits behind a metal shield when not in use, but when it is in use the Humax box switches on and off too - and changes the TV source! Irritating.

Now I understand that the EE box is not a Humax, so maybe getting one would eliminate this problem. So to my question: does the EE box remote interfere with the BT YouView Humax box? Do they turn on and off and select functions independently? If so it shouldn't interfere with my TNT Sat box and it might be worth getting one.

Anything worse about the EE box?

TIA

[edbostan]

I believe my EE tv box is made by Sagem

[Midnight_Voice · Accepted solution]

@DaveRo

Once paired with the Box Pro and the TV it is working into, the remote for the Box Pro will not affect any other YouView box. It communicates with the Box Pro only over Bluetooth, and only with the Box it is paired with.

It communicates with the TV by IR, though, so might interfere with a second TV of the same make in the same room. (I know that is not something you asked, but I’m covering all the bases).

However, here’s a gotcha - the remotes for the T4000 (if you were able to keep it - did you get it before 13/12/2019?) and for the TN8000D will still affect the Box Pro, as it has IR capability, and still responds to IR from a Humax remote even when paired with its own Bluetooth remote.

(Humax versus Sagem is irrelevant here, as the Sagem is programmed to respond just like the earlier Humax boxes when a Humax IR remote is used).

If you don’t want this to happen, though, and you almost certainly don’t, there’s an easy fix; you can cover up the square window just right of centre of the Box Pro, which blocks the IR, and makes it strictly Bluetooth only.

As to what is worse about the Box Pro - take care to connect the aerial before setting up, lest you get sucked into the wonderful world of IP Mode instead. While this has some theoretical advantages over Aerial Mode, I find the downsides too great for anyone with a decent aerial signal from a full Freeview transmitter.

You will see what I mean if you also get a Box Mini, with works only in IP Mode.

You will also find the Box Pro remote ‘simplified’, which is marketing-speak for reducing the number of buttons on it, so that some of the individual feature buttons of earlier remotes are now a long press on some other button, or they are in the hamburger, or they don’t exist at all. Generally making it more complicated to use, so I keep a traditional IR remote for it. Though you won’t be able to do that, so you would have to tease out all the features on the new remote.

[DaveRo]

Thank you for the comprehensive reply 🙂