Having two BT TV Pro recordable boxes with independent remotes

[twangydave]

Hello there,

We're considering a move from Sky to BT for our TV services as our broadband is already with BT. We have a disabled adult in our household who lives in an annexe and needs his own recordable box that can be controlled with its own remote. Is it possible to subscribe to extra room and have an additional Pro box that can be controlled independently? When I check this on the web site it only offers the non-recordable box.  We have the required broadband speed and whole house wi-fi. Thank-you!

[rbz5416 · Accepted solution]

Currently not possible, at least officially through BT. This will allegedly change when the TV service is moved to EE, but no one knows when. or at least those that may aren't saying.

[twangydave]

Thank-you! Thought that might be the case but thanks for your time and expertise - much appreciated!

ATB

Dave

[TimCurtis]

@twangydave 

I'd say probably yes you can actually provided you purchase your own recording Youview box.

So you get BT TV & Extra Room and purchase a T4000 Youview box from various sources and use that instead of the non-recording box. Obviously for this to work you need an ethernet feed to the annex as it doesn't have wifi.

I don't suggest buying a Pro box as these are not available retail so any available aren't exactly legally available.

[Midnight_Voice]

@TimCurtis 

@twangydave  says he has whole house WiFi, and I think he means it will cover the annexe.

But if it doesn’t, or if he gets a DTR-T4000 or lesser YouView box for the annexe, that won’t work on WiFi anyway, unless it’s rigged with a nanorouter.

So the next question, if the WiFi doesn’t reach, is does the annexe share the house mains or has it got its own separate supply?

If the former, then the best answer it likely to be a pair of PLAs, one end having WiFi as well as one or more Ethernet ports, which will be much more versatile than an Ethernet cable, which will anyway have to be slung to the annexe.

Further details on request, @twangydave , if you want to explore these additional options.

[TimCurtis]

@twangydave 

It really depends on what you want in the annex so just a few questions/observations - I've probably missed some but you'll get a flavour of what I'm asking.

If you want subscription channels then Extra Room is required, if just freeview channels then not and buy your own recording box.

Does the annex or your main house have a TV aerial? If not then you either get one or use IP mode for the Pro box and then another Pro box for the annex as that's the only BT box that doesn't need a terrestrial aerial feed.

Is the annex on it's own consumer unit or on it's own half of a split load unit , if yes then PLAs won't work.

Will you be using BT SmartHub 2 or your own router? If your own then you'll probably need hard wiring to the Pro box as many routers don't support Multicast over wifi.

So have a think about this being in mind that BT TV is not on the same level as Sky-Q.

[DarrenDev]

Only 1 recordable box is available from BT on a BT TV contract - this won't change when moving to EE TV.
If you bought your own additional recordable box then this would work OK, but as already mentioned, if you need IP mode (due to not having a TV aerial) then it'd need to be a Pro box and there's no "legal" way to get an additional one. It's your choice whether you want to take that risk.
If you buy an older box with no Wifi, you could use your whole home wifi in bridge mode - i.e. connect the box to the ethernet port on the wifi extender. As long as the extender is within wifi range of the hub or another extender, this would work.

[Colin20]

Have you got a smart tv , put ee tv app on , and record 

[chrisjp]

"Obviously for this to work you need an ethernet feed to the annex as it doesn't have wifi."
Or you can get a WiFi dongle that connects to the ethernet port on the T4000 Youview box

[zulu17]

Hi @Colin20  you cannot record off the EETV app on a smart TV.. You would need a recordable EE/BT Tv box ,