Apple TV - EE App WiFi

[Reign_in_Beard]

Hello.

Been with EE since October on 900mbps. Took the TV box pro and the Smart Hub Pro. The hub wasn’t working out for me. For example my PS Portal kept dropping out and lagging. Bit the bullet and bought an Asus router. Portal now runs smooth and doesn’t lose connection at all. Only issue now is on the box pro only the aerial channels work properly. Configured the multicast settings in the router but whilst I get picture and sound the extra channels keep dropping occasionally and pixelating. Thought I’d see if I can swap to an Apple TV 4K instead. Can anyone confirm if it works well with third party routers? I get conflicting messages on Reddit. For example some saying the EETV app only works hardwired etc. Is this the case?

Thanks all and Happy New Year!

[Chris_B]

@Reign_in_Beard    The EE TV app works via WiFi or hardwired.  The router needs to be within 5m of the TV box.  Have you read THIS 

[Reign_in_Beard]

Yes I’ve read it, and thanks for your reply. I think I was more concerned because I read on a BT forum that Darren from here had posted that the TV app only works hardwired.

[Chris_B]

@Reign_in_Beard  You only get all channels on the EE TV app if you use an aerial.  Using WiFi you don’t.   

please read THIS 

[Reign_in_Beard]

Sorry I should have made it clearer. The Apple TV box doesn’t have an aerial socket. Darren had posted on a BT forum earlier this year that the EE TV app within the Apple box would only work connected to EE broadband. Which obviously should be fine as you can change the hub pro SSID to anything so any router should be fine. So what I need confirming before I can see if I can swap is whether the EETV app in the Apple TV 4K  works normally if I connect via WiFi rather than Ethernet as there is conflicting information everywhere.

[Profile closed]

@Reign_in_Beard 

The EE TV app on an Apple TV 4K supplied by EE will show the live TV channels when connected to EE broadband and the correct subscription is in place.

It shouldn't matter if you use WiFi or Ethernet or change router as the live channels via the app on an Apple TV 4K are delivered via Unicast, unlike the live channels on an EE TV Box Pro which uses Multicast. 

EE use the TV Provider functionality within an Apple TV 4K to determine what you should be able to access through the EE TV app, hence why you can get some subscription channels on your own device, but not the live Freeview based channels, which is locked to an EE supplied device.

The Apple TV 4K literally checks the line it is connected to and gets permission (or not), to display content in the EE TV app.

[Chris_B]

@Reign_in_Beard   The EE Apple TV is different in how it receives EE TV compared to the Pro box.    A Pro box needs an aerial for every channel and via WiFi it loses some channels, but all programs are shown within an EE supplied Apple TV be it via WiFi or Ethernet.   The EE supplied Apple TV is setup and registered to receive everything.   hence if you purchase your own Apple TV you don’t get everything via the EE TV app as it’s not registered to receive EE TV. 

[Midnight_Voice]

@Reign_in_Beard @Chris_B 

You can see here how these confusions spread 😢

You get all the channels on a Box Pro even if you use WiFi, as long as you use it in Aerial Mode. Just like you do if you use.a wired Ethernet connection. (i.e. here we are contrasting WiFi with Ethernet).

But the alternative to Aerial Mode is IP Mode; a Box Pro without an aerial plugged in, or a Box Mini or an AppleTV always, as these have no aerial connection.

And so the channels come over the internet, and yes you are ‘using WiFi’ to get them (unless you are using the box wired, where the result is the same). But the key differentiator here is the lack of an aerial, not the WiFi.

(i.e. here we are contrasting  WiFi with broadcast, and omitting that we likewise need to contrast Ethernet with broadcast in the same situation, but wired).

TLDR; I don’t think Darren said what he was interpreted as saying - using an EETV AppleTV gets over any multicast issues, as multicast isn’t in the equation here, and any router that can sufficiently well emulate the supplied BT or EE router should be fine.

But do note the bit about Digital Voice; no third party router currently supports that, and it’s proprietary, so if you want or need VOIP, you will need to factor something in to cover that.