What a disaster!!

[l0586]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has had similar issues..

I took out my BT TV shortly after choosing BT for my broadband, one of the main reasons I chose BT TV was because I was promised that I could view Freeview channels over broadband…. What I later found out was not the case and that the update was meant to come in Match but now they don’t know when it’s coming. 

I decided to continue with my order and when by initial Pro Box arrived I could not view any NOW channels due to it not being set up correctly, to solve this BT had to order me another box what arrived today, prior to this arriving I linked NOW to my BT account and it all looks 100% 

it arrived today and guess what… no NOW channels showing in the program guide!!!

NOW is signed in, Box is up to date, Connecting over Ethernet makes no difference neither does a reset  

it looks like I will be returning it - not impressed!

[zulu17]

Hi @l0586 Well  I'm not convinced as to why a second box needed to be sent out.

Looks like an issue on setup either from the process you followed  or from the BT setting up your package. Did any of the setup steps get skipped or fail  (are you doing setup without an aerial connection ?)

[MNroshandel1]

This is not the first time I have heard people being told that BT TV freeview channels come down the Internet instead of the Aerial but this is the main reason why I will not take BT TV.

I have a Now TV box that I bought from Sainsburys for £10 a few years ago and I pay for Entertainment each month which is about £9.99 per month, you get the live channels Sky Max,Sky Showcase,Sky Crime,Sky Documentaries,Sky News,Sky History,Sky Arts,Sky Atlantic,MTV and a few more.

You can watch ITV channels live within the ITV hub on the box, same with BBC channels inside BBC Iplayer on the box and same with channel 4 and Channel 5.

If BT provided all the channels down the Internet then I will order it literally tomorow until then I'm holding back. 

The whole point of pay TV like Cable and satellite and IPTV is to get access to more channels and solve the problem of poor reception.

The problems you're experiencing with Now channels on BT TV is that it hasn't been set up correctly on their end and there is no fault with the equipment, whoever you spoke to sounds like they automatically assumed the box was faulty and I guess they sent you a returns pack what a waste of time!

[l0586]

Totally agree about the channels over internet and that was one of the main reasons I wanted it because that what was I initially promised.

I am more than happy with my Apple TV but wanted the freedom of Freeview and more importantly a programme guide, I know I can get things like HDHomeRun to get that option on the Apple TV but that's another £100, with everything going over internet and streaming I might hold off with some hope around a genuine Freeview streaming program guide/app or might reconsider if BT actually puts the programs over the internet or revamp their Apple TV app

[MNroshandel1]

I don't know why they won't just broadcast all the channels over the Internet because people like me are doing it anyway using other equipment like Now TV boxes, if it's to do with bandwidth then like I said people will stream anyway using other methods. BT needs to offer a pay TV service on the same level as Virgin Media Cable TV, with all the live channels,on demand and streaming all in one box then BT would become big in pay TV.

Once you get the Now TV issue fixed you will get all the Now TV channels on the normal EPG without having to go into the Now TV app, this is something TalkTalk TV does not offer and they use YouView too so it's just freeview with access to Now TV and TalkTalk even have the cheek to charge £4 per month for the box.

[stereohaven]

If you use the forum search you will find that @DarrenDev has already confirmed that BT will be delivering Freeview channels over the internet and plan to do so soon.

Unfortunately, some sales/customer advisors don't know rollout is delayed, so they are still telling people it is happening soon. That may have been the original timeframe but there is a blocker currently. It is coming though.

[PJCORNELLY]

In addition to the comments I've also been told that the BT TV app is to get a revamp with additional functionality for Apple TV but what that is I don't know or when 🙄.... Internet streaming of Freeview would be amazing!

All these providers are the same, it's always coming but never quite here. Sky are as bad they announced an ITV HUB app a year ago and it is still not launched, I suspect holding off for ITVX.

My biggest gripe is picture quality of content with BT, well youview just live in the crazy grey world of SD even with their apps, will an over the net rather than aerial change this? They could do it now but haven't.

If Apple had an EPG app like Freeview Play these providers like BT would be over because what they offer is actually very little for your money.

I dumped Sky a month ago as costs were crazy £71 a month, no sport in that. I can't get Virgin so it was BT, but as I've posted before I'm not happy with it really. I could be if only the apps ITV HUB, ALL4, MY5, UKTVPLAY were in Full HD..... its 2022, 4K TV manufacture is pretty standard all TV are HD and still SD broadcast or streamed - shameful!

[DarrenDev]

Channel availability is based on the line the box is connected to - your subscription needs to be associated with your broadband connection. It sounds like that hasn't happened - one way to check is to try launching the BT TV app. It should fail to even launch. If that works, and you can play video in it (e.g. try a movie trailer) then the line is associated ok, but your profile is missing your subscription.

Either way, it needs be fixed by BT. Call BT again and if they can't sort it on the phone then ask for a ticket to be referred to TMC to investigate.

[DarrenDev]

Regarding broadcasting channels over broadband:

When using an app, you get variable quality - it adapts to the speed of the line. This is an expensive way to deliver video though - every customer gets their own copy of the stream, meaning the network is put under more strain. This is alleviated somewhat with the use of CDNs to cache content on the network, but they're also not cheap.

When watching channels on the BT TV box from the main channel list, they use multicast. The channels are broadcast at the same time to everyone, so if you and your neighbour watch at the same time, you receive the same stream. The problem with multicast is that it's fixed bitrate - if the bandwidth isn't there, nothing plays.  In order to support every possible channel being watched at the same time, a massive slice of bandwidth is reserved across the core network. Every channel added means that slice needs to get bigger. Streaming every channel in HD or higher means a bigger slice too. Thus decisions are made based on the content and the audience.

[l0586]

Thanks, tried all you suggested and strongly I can use the BT app. I think im going to return it at least until the Freeview channels over wifi are sorted and the BT TV app gets a revamp for the Apple TV to hopefully make that an option for 2nd screen, part of me is thinking to just go with Sky Q as its more reliable, yes more expensive but seems more reliable.