topic Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine in TV

Live TV will not work but apps work fine

pc98765 — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 11:06:27 GMT

I have recently changed from BT TV to EE TV and set up a pro and mini box in two rooms to receive EE TV via wifi. Neither TV has an aerial connection nor an ethernet cable connection. During the set up process each box 'found' 133 channels.

I can view anything via my apps so obviously there are no problems with the broadband speed , wifi or cable connections etc. However live TV does not work at all. I can see the guide with loads of channels but when I try to play one I just get a black screen initially which changes after some time to just a very heavily pixellated version of the screen with either no sound or an occasional squeak. Interestingly the black screen on BBC shows the green button in the top right hand corner but nothing else until the pixellated mess shows. I therefore cannot record anything on the pro box because it says it cannot record anything playing in an app. It is exactly the same problem with both the TV box Pro and the TV box mini.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

Chris_B — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 11:32:51 GMT

@pc98765 i’m just sort of going through this now as I’ve just got my pro box but my EE TV subscription should be activated tomorrow but I can sort of set things up with aerial mode. What I’ve read though is that the box has to be within 5m of the router in internet mode

You probably need to request THIS to help get WiFi access further from the router.

and might want to read THIS

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

pc98765 — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 13:30:33 GMT

Thanks Chris_B for taking an interest.

I don't think it is a wifi speed issue as I can watch programmes via my apps without any issues. I know from the instructions it says placing the box within 5m of the router and the router is indeed more than 5m as it is on the third floor of the house with one TV on the middle floor and the other on the ground floor. However the instructions also say but it can be within 5m from a smart wifi device. While I do not have BT's own smart wifi devices I already have netgear ones on the ground and middle floors and these are working well - the wifi signal strength next to both TV boxes is about -50dBm and the download speeds around 170 Mb/s. So I think there is some other problem.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

pc98765 — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 15:48:40 GMT

Can a member of the EE community team please respond to this as I do not yet have a solution

Thanks

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

DarrenDev — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 15:54:56 GMT

If the problem was with your activation date then it would show a subscription error.

The fact that it's showing a pixelated picture means it's active, but your WiFi solution isn't fast enough to support the channels you're trying to watch.

In the apps, if the speed isn't fast enough then the quality drops. With the channels, they only have a single quality level - if the speed isn't fast enough, then they'll just not play.

Unfortunately we cannot support 3rd party routers. Could you please try moving your box near your router to confirm that it works correctly when in range. If it does, then I'm afraid you'll need to address your WiFi issue yourself (or take a subscription for EE Smart WiFi, which guarantees a strong enough signal throughout the home).

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

pc98765 — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 16:18:39 GMT

Thanks Darren for this reply. As mentioned in my reply to Chris_B above I have tested the download speed at both boxes and it is around 170 Mb/sec which surely would be fast enough to stream a TV channel? I appreciate you do not support third party routers but the EE smart wifi solution would not give a faster download speed than this as this was the speed at the router itself at the same time as I did the download tests at the boxes (we have a fullfibre 150 subscription). We cannot move the box next to the router as the router is on the third floor of the house and the TVs on the middle and ground floors. Can there be another reason? I would not want to go down the route of setting up a smart wifi subscription to find that the wifi speed at the boxes is still 170 Mb/s and the problem is still there.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

DarrenDev — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 16:29:49 GMT

You could try using the Netflix app on the box to get a better representation of real network speed, however that's only testing TCP speed. The channels are delivered over multicast, which is UDP. One possible cause is that your routers aren't properly configured for multicast, causing them to distribute traffic to all nodes - this would flood your network, causing a lot of wasted bandwidth as well as WiFi contention.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

pc98765 — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 17:00:01 GMT

If that is the issue would I be correct in thinking that ee smart wifi extenders would not have this problem?

I see ee smart wifi comes with a money back guarantee but does this just cover download speed? ie If they give adequate speed but don't solve my problem would that be covered by the guarantee?

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

DarrenDev — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 17:14:26 GMT

Correct - EE Smart WiFi is guaranteed to work with EE TV.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

Chris_B — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 17:20:54 GMT

@pc98765 The guarantee is not download speed it’s Wi-Fi coverage.

“Smart WiFi:
Smart WiFi devices pair with your Smart Hub to create a seamless connection that reaches every corner of your house. We will send you one Smart WiFi device to start with and if you still have WiFi blackspots you can order up to 2 more. If we still cannot solve any WiFi blackspots, then you can claim back a £100 on-off bill credit. See ee.co.uk/terms for full terms and conditions.

the problem could just be the configuration of the router as stated by @DarrenDev

”One possible cause is that your routers aren't properly configured for multicast, causing them to distribute traffic to all nodes - this would flood your network, causing a lot of wasted bandwidth as well as WiFi contention.”

You could always test this by moving a TV and Box to be near the router, ie on the same floor in the same room. . If you then still have issues then that will need looking at but if it works as intended then you’ll probably need the smart WiFi to help with the problem as your home is having an impact on the connection.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

pc98765 — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 20:56:24 GMT

Sorry for the slow response but in order to follow your advice of testing the box next to the main ee hub I had to remove one TV from the wall downstairs and set it up on the same floor as the hub. Initially I had the same issue but guessed the TV box mini was still paired with the netgear router downstairs so I did a factory reset on the ee box and hey presto it did work. So it seems you are right and the netgear routers aren't configured for multicast which is a pain as the are both hard wired to my EE fibre router. Do EE recommend/support any other routers which I can connect in this way to my main ee router or is the only option now to set up smart wifi?

If the only option is ee smart wifi how do I add this to my broadband package? There was no 'Get' button on my extras when I signed in to My EE so do I just ring up to upgrade?

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

pc98765 — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 20:59:04 GMT

Thanks again Chris

As mentioned above I did test a TV on the same floor as the EE router and it worked so thanks for the info about smart wifi which looks like it might be the only way to go.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

sodonewithee — Sat, 13 Jul 2024 15:15:20 GMT

I have this exact same problem. I have now had 2 engineers out and they, so far, have not found a solution or even the problem. I have had new boxes, (pro and 2 minis) and no difference. They have also run an ethernet cable from my main box to the router which is only 4 feet away, and still no difference. We can watch all other apps for e.g Netflix, Youtube, Prime, iPlayer and ITVx. It can't be a broadband issue.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

DarrenDev — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 12:02:39 GMT

Are you posting from the affected broadband line @sodonewithee ? I can see your BT broadband account, but there's no EE TV subscription on it (and no sign of there ever having been one in the past).

Could you please email me at tv.apps@ee.co.uk with your account details, and I'll check why it's not working.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

JohnWea — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 09:16:29 GMT

Very interesting
Recently change to full Fibre (4 days ago) and use the TV Pro and Mini boxes, NONE now show Live TV but all apps work just like others say
All boxes stopped at the same time and EE say its how there connected, well they worked fine before when not on Fibre

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

DarrenDev — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 10:22:54 GMT

Unfortunately I can't see why your service was failing as I can see that you've already cancelled everything this morning @JohnWea - it's already marked as deleted, so I can't see which system was at fault. Given my experience so far with these issues, it probably would have only taken a few minutes to resolve.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

JohnWea — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 14:50:01 GMT

thanks for the reply, sadly EE customer service failed to deliver.

I agree it should have been a easy fix, but they wanted to send a engineer out and wait FOUR Days

My cooling off contract period ends tomorrow so decided after many years to jump ship as the signed were not good, Upgrade to fibre failed from Day one!!!

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

DarrenDev — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 15:41:41 GMT

In your case, I can see a few errors had occurred during the order process, which I'm sure added to your frustration.

I can see that the helpdesk offered to refer it to our specialists, but you refused as they're currently busy and so would take a few days to get to it. It's just a shame that you didn't post here before cancelling @JohnWea - we could have extended the cooling off period, given that you hadn't had a chance to evaluate the product yet.

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

barbara011 — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 13:58:25 GMT

I am also experiencing this issue, BT:EE tv working via broadband without a problem, upgraded to full fibre on 26 July and live TV stopped working. Helpdesk failed to resolve and managed to disconnect new broadband in the process. That was reconnected on 29 July, still no live tv. New BT hub delivered and connected, still no live tv. I was sent a mini box in error when moving from BT to EE tv so currently waiting for that replacement to arrive, but given the other customers issue am not confident new equipment will resolve, it worked fine at lower broadband speed so why not now???

Re: Live TV will not work but apps work fine

Profile closed — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 14:08:20 GMT

@barbara011

Something has probably gone wrong with configuration/activation at EE's end when the broadband was cancelled.

Hopefully @DarrenDev can look into it for you and get things sorted.