Signal Issues on Multiroom Box

[BWV]

Hi,

We had BT with multiroom for watching TV. 

The signal on the upstairs multiroom BT box was always terrible, sometimes making watching live TV on it pretty much impossible. It was better on SD channels but even then touch and go. Phone, laptop, Amazon Firestick and even the apps on the box itself generally all worked fine but the multiroom box kept having these picture issues.

After months of issues and constant reboots and resets we eventually got round the problem by acquiring  a booster box. Google tells me that the correct name of this device is a "Smart WiFi" box.

Anyway, picture was now much better and few problems for some time.

Had to update phones, they advised that to do so we should also "upgrade" our TV package, and change from BT to EE. 

Multiroom EE box is much worse than BT box, it doesn't have a record option. Not sure how they can sell that as an upgrade when it is clearly a downgrade, but never mind. Spoke to them on phone and they said I was fine to keep old BT multiroom box.

Anyway, fast forward. The picture problems from before are now back. Virtually impossible to watch an entire football match on multiroom box as signal keeps going. SD a bit better but still goes. Apps generally fine.

I tried plugging the Smart WiFi box back in, and it works fine... for just under two minutes. Then it keeps saying it has lost signal so you have to change channel and then change back... then do the same roughly every minute and 50 seconds (I timed it).

So, if I don't use the Smart WiFi box the picture goes. If I do use it, it blocks the signal every minute and fifty seconds.

I just want to use the Smart WiFi box but without it keep breaking all the time. I have two of the Smart WiFi boxes (can't remember why) and get the same result with both of them. Have tried rebooting, resetting ad nauseum, same result.

Anyone got any ideas, please?

Apologies for the long post wanted to explain the issue and couldn't think of a more concise way of doing so.

[Kodikid]

Sorry but what's the actual point of the muti room box?

Just use a streaming device,  more services  ..Disney Now UHD and obviously vastly superior streaming. 

Struggling to find one single benefit from paying extra every month for this product 

[Hunter2660]

BT/EE use multicast to stream to your extra box. The Firestick and other devices use unicast. The basic difference is that the Firestick will buffer the stream so any loss of packets are unnoticable, (providing the stream is fast enough). BT/EE's multicast stream does not buffer so any packet loss results in the issues you are seeing. Unless you really desperately need to record something, (and as the EE box doesn't record anyway), just use the Firestick.

[BWV]

There's lots of programmes that aren't available for streaming. You also can't watch full NFL matches unless you watch live or record and don't want to stay up until 5am three days a week. Streaming is also about a minute behind live TV so I usually know a goal has been scored before I see it, which is rubbish.

[Kodikid]

In the days before I give up on home recording I quickly realised that the mini boxes were useless. 

So I bought a pro box from e Bay so I had pvr's upstairs and downstairs. 

The realisation that I'd moved on from recording is when I went into my tv on the pro and realised I hadn't watched a recording in literally months. 

Have you noticed Sky and VM also no longer offer pvr's. How long before EE follow suit?