Recording TV in 2 Rooms?

[rob879]

Now that we have FTTP available in our road, I'm considering moving to BT  Broadband/TV from VM. One feature that VM has - which BT appears to lack - is the ability to watch and record  TV from 2 separate rooms. 

I read an earlier post which suggested that I could purchase the BT TV Multiroom option and then buy a BT YouView DTR-T4000 box for the 2nd room. I'm not sure if this is an 'official' option, however?

Is there a particular technical reason why BT do not simply rent a second BT TV Pro box to customers?

Finally, whilst searching on Ebay for new/used BT TV DTR-T4000 boxes, I came across a lot of BT TV Pro boxes for sale !? I assume these are 'dodgy'?

[Midnight_Voice]

@rob879 

You can indeed do as described, but last I heard, you have to nominate one of the two recording boxes as the primary, BT TV, one, if you want to watch or record the BT-provided IP channels from 300 upwards, or to watch such recordings later.

And I don’t think having multi-room gets you over this. But it is very easy to swap back and forth between the two boxes.

The un-nominated box can still record all the terrestrial channels, though.

As regards ‘dodgy’, any YouView box supplied for BT TV use after Dec 19th 2019 is ‘dodgy’ if offered for sale, and this will likely include quite a few T4000s, as well as every Pro box. But the financial risk remains with the BT TV customer who sold the item. Technically, I guess, you would be handling stolen goods, but unless and until BT/EE warn off CeX from offering them, you would be quite safe as the ‘unregistered keeper’ of such a box.

As to whether the reasons for not allowing multiple recording boxes on one subscription are technical or commercial, I’d like to think they are technical, but I suspect they are commercial 😢

[Brucemeister5]

BT/EE are very particular about line speed when it comes to maintaining the quality of their tv service, although those with FTTP won’t appreciate what the issue is. You can’t get access to channels 433 & 465 ( TNT Sports Ultimate) unless you get a minimum of 44mbps.

As for the BT Pro boxes being available on eBay, you might consider them dodgy if they had previously been loaned out to customers and were never returned, as they would still be considered BT/EE property. However, many of those available on eBay have the remote control with the voice search icon on them. As far as I’m aware these have never been loaned out to customers and it’s unclear where these would have been sourced from. If you do obtain an additional recording box from elsewhere we’ve been told on here that BT/EE will not attempt to block it and it will still function as normal, although I’m not sure what the position is with recording the subscription channels on both boxes.

[stereohaven]

@rob879 

As you have worked out, EE TV does not have recording sharing across devices.

You can indeed have their multiroom add on with BT (free if you move to EE), and swap the non recording box with a self purchased version that would enable local recording in that room.

The T4000 by Humax is the older box and is fairly likely to be an owners to sell. Pro Boxes are loaned and should be returned at the end of a contract, so really shouldn’t be for sale and could legitimately be blocked by BT/EE from being used, but they do not do this currently.

I highly recommend Openreach FTTP over VM, but BT/EE TV is a terrible service compared even to VM and that is a very low bar.

[rob879]

Many thanks for your prompt reply (and to @Midnight_Voice & @Brucemeister5).

I don't particularly need to share recordings over devices - I'm happy with my current VM arrangement of 2 separate boxes with independent recording facilities.

I also don't particularly relish buying 2nd hand recording boxes - because of their dubious legality, the lack of formal technical support, & because they could be blocked by BT at sometime in the future - but I will if I must.. 

I'm glad you've endorsed Openreach FTTP but you worry me when you say "BT/EE TV is a terrible service compared even to VM"!!

I see you have Sky Q for your TV & BT for Broadband. I don't want a Sky dish, however - and I think Sky Stream is expensive - particularly with their sneaky addons.

My VM contract doesn't finish until September - so I have a little while to consider my options.

[stereohaven]

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@rob879wrote:

I'm glad you've endorsed Openreach FTTP but you worry me when you say "BT/EE TV is a terrible service compared even to VM"!!

I see you have Sky Q for your TV & BT for Broadband. I don't want a Sky dish, however - and I think Sky Stream is expensive - particularly with their sneaky addons.

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I have EE TV as well.

The fact the kit has been factory reset and put back in the box ready to be returned even though my contract runs until April 2025, should give you an idea of what I think of it these days. Hence I removed it from my signature.

I only use the Discovery+ app for access to TNT Sport.

I have been a long term user of YouView and BT TV and I have 3 Humax boxes here, as well as a Pro Box. It’s now just overpriced Freeview with some apps, decreased flexibility and a poor UX.

I still have Sky Q because I got an offer I couldn’t refuse after giving notice last time I went to leave. I doubt I will get one this time round and I agree Stream is overpriced. Don’t even get me started on Glass.

I used to be a VM customer but the family didn’t warm to their kit and I didn’t like their ideas around customer service.

[rob879]

Thanks for your reply.

To clarify: If I took out a BT/EE TV contract, I would be supplied with one recordable  BT TV Pro box. I could sepa4ately purchase a second recordable box (eg DTR-T4000) in addition to the BT TV Pro box. Although both boxes would be able to record the Freeview channels , only one box would be able to record the subscribed channels (ie Channel Nos 300 upwards).

Is my understanding correct?

[Midnight_Voice]

@rob879 

At a given time. You can swap which one carries the BT TV capability more or less at will, though you do have to be careful not to swap away from one with a 300-plus channel scheduled to record while it is swapped away from.

[Brucemeister5 · Accepted solution]

@rob879  I think that there might be some slight confusion here. I believe that @Midnight_Voice does not have an EETV subscription and the situation that he is describing refers to a situation where you have 2 recordable boxes and only 1 EETV subscription. If you take out the second box subscription and replace the mini box that you are sent with a recordable box then I’m reliably informed that you might be pleasantly surprised 😉

[Midnight_Voice]

@Brucemeister5 

Yes, I did wonder that, but replied in the context of @rob879 ‘s summary that didn’t include the second box.

If what you hint at is true then, the reasons for not supplying second recording boxes must be entirely commercial 😛

You are, by the way, quite right in your assumption that I don’t have a BT TV or EE TV subscription; but even if I did, I wouldn’t trouble myself with a second subscription.

Come to that, I don’t even have a Pro box, though I do have five YouView boxes; three in active use, one in its box, and one that has just been involuntarily rendered a museum piece.

It’s still a bloody nuisance that I have to go into the room  where the box with a particular recording is if I want to watch it, and/or that all three boxes are filling up with the same long-term series recordings to partially obviate this 😛