TV Box Mini

[HolmesLane]

I recently received a new Box Pro (located downstairs) and a Box Mini which is in the study (connected via the network cabling).  The TV package is the standard one plus the Big Sport package for Sky/NOW sports.

The Pro Box is now working fine after a few hiccups with getting the billing correct, and on that I receive all the channels available, plus those I've subscribed to.

During the issues with sorting the billing out, BT had to cancel and set-up again the packages. During those calls, the sports package wasn't available on the Mini Box but eventually it was. I also thought while I was speaking with one of the tech team that they also sorted out ALL channels on the Mini Box. When I look now, all I can see are those listed here https://www.bt.com/help/tv/guide/ip-freeview-guide.

I don't think I was mistaken during those calls as I'm sure I read through the continuous list of available channels on the Mini Box to the advisor. But is it correct that you can only receive certain channels via Freeview? If so, how long before they all sign up? 

[stereohaven]

Hi @HolmesLane 

Unlike the Pro Box, the mini TV box does not have a Freeview tuner and therefore can only receive the channels delivered via IP mode.

When other channels will join that list is anyone’s guess, although some of the content can be accessed in other ways. For example, UKTV play contains content for Dave, W, Drama and Yesterday.

As a sports subscriber you will have also got access to Discovery+, that includes a wide range of live channels and catch up content in the app: https://support.discoveryplus.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360018482157-What-can-I-watch-on-discovery- 

[davidmbell]

Do you know if the Mini TV box can playback recordings that are on the Pro Box?

[stereohaven]

I do @davidmbell and the answer is no.

Buried somewhere in the forum you will find an explanation from BT along the lines of “with catch up services, they didn’t feel it was necessary functionality”.

I think they are wrong,  but it is what it is. Hopefully they will be able to deploy this functionality at a later date, but I don’t know if it is technically possible.

[Paul608085]

@stereohaven 

I thought, (though I could be wrong), that @DarrenDev said on these forums, some time ago, that it was a legal/contractual issue that was preventing this on BT TV - not a technical limitation?

[stereohaven]

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@Paul608085wrote:

@stereohaven 

I thought, (though I could be wrong), that @DarrenDev said on these forums, some time ago, that it was a legal/contractual issue that was preventing this on BT TV - not a technical limitation?

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When I posted the original rumour about a new box from ISPreview way back when (accessing recordings on a separate box via an app), the response was not about technical or licensing issues as far as I recall,  it was something they just weren’t going to do.

The reason stated was that data showed people “just used catch up”, so sharing recordings was not functionality that was needed.

If the included terrestrial catch up apps were any good on BT TV, I might agree. If you had a central shared watchlist across boxes I might agree. Neither is the case here.

Either way, the service doesn’t support sharing recordings currently.

[DarrenDev]

It's a bit of everything.
We proved we could technically do it years ago with the older boxes, but then weren't allowed to (by the content owners).
When designing the spec for the new boxes, it was then decided to not include the chip required for the video transcoding.

Thus we're not allowed, it's no longer technically possible, and the content providers have their own plans (see "Freely").

[Midnight_Voice]

Reminds me of a book - ‘Endless Streams’ by IP Freely 😛