topic Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources in TV

EE TV remote can’t select input sources

jimasee22 — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 21:57:19 GMT

Just got a new Hisense TV and plugged in a new EE TV Box Pro for the first time. EE remote control paired with the TV perfectly and can control TV volume just fine. But when I try to select another input source, the source button on the EE remote opens up the Hisense home screen and input list, but EE remote doesn’t control the input list (directional buttons and OK button do nothing). I need to use the Hisense remote to select a source. When I return to the EE TV hdmi source, it seems the directions I’ve been pressing are just controlling the guide on the EE TV box. I’ve tried looking through various settings on both the EE box and the Hisense TV itself but can’t figure out if there’s a way to get EE Bluetooth remote to control the sources list or if I’m just doomed to using 2 remotes! Any ideas if I might be missing anything?

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

manatarms84 — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 09:47:41 GMT

One thing that may help if you go to settings then Bluetooth remote there is an option for select volume and source and make sure this is set to set top box and not tv other than that not alot which can be done

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

jimasee22 — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 10:29:27 GMT

This has the opposite effect of what I’m trying to do. Changing that setting to set top box doesn’t allow EE remote to control the TV at all. When it’s set to TV, I can control the TV volume and power on/off, I can even open the list of input sources with the source button. But once there I can’t actually navigate the list or select a source using the EE remote. So I have to use the TVs native remote for that instead. It’s just bizarre how I can use the EE remote for pretty much everything, except for swapping sources if I ever want to switch to games console on hdmi2

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Garethrprice — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 17:55:48 GMT

@jimasee22 Are you trying to navigate the input source list by using the directional buttons?. Have you tried pressing the source button again on the remote when the source list is open to sequentially step through the inputs.

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

jimasee22 — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 22:13:01 GMT

I tried both. Direction buttons don’t do anything on input list. Pressing source takes me to the “home screen” of the TV. I guess because it’s a smart TV with loads of pre installed apps, it has its own operating system and insists on behaving like a fancy computer, rather than an old school telly! When you press source again, all it does is show/hide the input list however many times you press it, rather than cycling through the items. I guess it’s just a quirk of the TV, not really an issue with the EE remote. Pretty annoying really but I guess I just have to put up with it!

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Garethrprice — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 23:11:15 GMT

@jimasee22 It was worth a try. It’s how my Panasonic works, but then it is a few years old and maybe not as smart as today’s models…or maybe it’s smarter 🤔 😛

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Alip87 — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:38:29 GMT

Hey. I'm having this same issue. Did you ever figure it out ?

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

jimasee22 — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 16:53:21 GMT

Nope sorry. If I ever need to switch to inputs, I have to use the TVs native remote for that one purpose! Oh well

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Peter_W — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 07:24:17 GMT

Good morning @Alip87.

Welcome to the Community 😊

As was mentioned earlier, the remote is designed so you can cycle through the input options via repeatedly pressing the button; this is definitely how it works on my LG TV.

Due to the wide range of OS and software options between manufacturers though, we can't always guarantee things will work identically across models.

Peter

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Alip87 — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 08:56:12 GMT

Yeah, its really annoying. When I spoke to someone at EE about this , they took the make and model as they're trying to get to the bottom of why some TVs do this.

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Alip87 — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 08:57:14 GMT

Hi Peter. Thanks. Yes , I've tried this, it doesn't work. Someone at EE took the make and model of my TV. Think they're trying to figure out why some TVs have this issue

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Peter_W — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:22:35 GMT

Thanks @Alip87, I'm glad to hear that you've managed to check in with our team and it's been fed back - I'll flag this with some contacts at our end too.

I know on my LG TV the input menu is separate to the main TV guide and app menu, so if these are totally integrated I can see how it would prove a bit more of a technical challenge.

Peter

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Alip87 — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:50:23 GMT

Yes, mine is a Hisense and I can see another person on here has the same issue with their Hisense TV

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Peter_W — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:59:47 GMT

Cheers @Alip87.

Out of interest is there a dedicated inputs menu, or is the only way to change input via the main menu?

Peter

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

DarrenDev — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 10:18:44 GMT

Just to explain the situation here:

The TV Box receives information from the TV via the hdmi cable. It uses this to identify make and model of the TV (depending what the TV sends - some don't send model, and don't always correctly report the make).

The TV Box uses that information to determine the best configuration.

Sometimes there is more than one matching result. When this occurs, it selects the most common configuration. There is no way to make it select the alternative - if yours isn't the most common configuration, or your TV doesn't correctly identify itself, there is no way to use the EE TV remote for it.

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Alip87 — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 10:25:41 GMT

You have to press the source /input button. Then the various inputs come up on the left hand side. When I press the input button on my EE remote, it brings me to the input options and my home screen - not the main EE home page - so it's as if I pressed the input button on my old remote for the TV. So once that is pressed I cant even get back on to my EE home page without turning off the whole thing and turning it back on again. Its as if the main tv takes over once that input button is pressed. If there was a way to select inputs , without it changing over to the TVs home screen, then this would solve the issue.

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Peter_W — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 11:00:37 GMT

Thanks @Alip87, it's definitely a case of what @DarrenDev mentioned in this being down to how the box interprets the settings of your TV.

Sadly with such a wide range of TV models, manufacturers and software setups out there, we're not always able to guarantee full compatibility with the EE TV remote.

Thanks for taking the time to highlight this, though.

Peter

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

jimasee22 — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 12:26:51 GMT

Hi there, sorry to jump in, only just because this is all in reply to my original post! What Alip87 describes is also my original issue. When pressing input on the EE remote, the Hisense TV interprets that as bringing up the Hisense home screen, and it’s impossible to navigate with the EE remote any more. The work around I’ve found is enabling CEC on a games console, so now when I switch that on, the TV automatically jumps to that input source. It’s not perfect but it works just about. Appreciate that the EE remote can’t override the TV’s specific OS though. The perils of modern technology 😅

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

Alip87 — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 12:37:49 GMT

Hiya. To be honest, we only use the other input for the playstation, so what you've described could help us. How do you enable CEC please?

Re: EE TV remote can’t select input sources

jimasee22 — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 17:01:18 GMT

Can’t remember exactly how I did it, but on PS5 system settings, there should be an option for HDMI device link, so make sure that’s turned on. And on the TV there’s a setting for HDMI & CEC, make sure CEC control is turned on. No idea what CEC means but, magic happens, and it works. Only annoying thing is when I’m done with the PS5 and want to go back to the EETV input, I need the old remote to switch inputs. Or turn the TV off and on again 😆