EE TV options, switching from sky stream.

[Hill1082]

Hello all, looking for some advice. I have quite a few questions. I have served 31 days notice to cancel sky. Prices going up to much and the admit on the call was clueless to help with my requests to downgrade to reduce costs. I see some benefits over skys offering, but doing some research. 

1. If I pick say entertainment bundle and add sky sport and take NOW boost, I assume this will give HD across all TV entertainment and sports?

2. If I pick the TV Box Pro, does this connect via WiFi or does it need Ethernet?

3. Can I watch using say Apple TV box on multiple devices simultaneously? Or do I need to pay for a multi room benefit?

4. Can I watch using an iPad when out of the house? Is there an iOS app?

5. If I want an extra mini box it costs £5 per month, but if I watch on Apple TV it is free? 
6. If I do go for extra mini boxes, do they connect via WiFi?
7. Can I turn off say sports for a few months and turn it on again? I only watch F1 on sky sports. 
8. Looks like I need EE or BT broadband, is that correct even if I only use Apple 4K box?

thanks in advance. I have a few weeks to get something organised before sky goes off. 

[stereohaven]

@Hill1082 

1. Yes, adding HD Boost will ensure you also receive the HD versions of channels in the NOW Entertainment and Sports packs. The range of Freeview channels (however delivered), are not impacted by this boost.
2. Either.
3. You can watch via the NOW app on an Apple TV box. The EE TV app is also available, but if you have only a single box subscription then watching that way will stop the channels from working on the Pro Box.
4. EE TV app or NOW. If you are expecting a comprehensive channel list in a single app like Sky Go, there isn’t one.
5. See answer 3.
6. They only connect via WiFi. You can pay for the subscription to enable viewing via your Apple TVs instead if you wish.
7. Yes, but only by getting on the phone, I don’t believe the option to do so online is currently working. You will also need to pay full ticket price for the flexibility (e.g. keep Entertainment as your base pack and turn on NOW Sports for a few months).
8. You can only access EE TV if you have EE or BT broadband.

I think the other thing you need to get your head around is that the full range of live channels in the EE TV app on an Apple TV 4K (Freeview + subscription), is only available on an EE supplied unit. You can only watch your subscription channels via the EE TV app on any Apple TV 4K you already own.

Hope this helps.

[Hill1082]

Thanks for the detailed information. Clears up a number of questions for me. 

regrading 3. Above, watching on multiple devices, if I buy the two extra boxes, so 3 devices in total, does that mean I can watch on any three devices anywhere. On iPad, on Apple TV, and on any one of the mini boxes? If a fourth device is used, will it block access or kick one of the other devices? 
hope that all makes sense.

thanks. 

[stereohaven]

@Hill1082 

Separate out watching at home live via a guide, using an app and on the move.

Maximum number of devices you can have at home on your account is 3 for live viewing via a TV Guide. So you might buy and pay for a Pro Box and 2 minis, but you could use the Pro Box and 2 of your own Apple TVs watching via the EE TV app.

The caveat remains that only an EE supplied Apple TV 4K will deliver the full live TV Guide including Freeview channels.

If you just subscribed to one device and got NOW Entertainment for example, you could watch the channels via that device, but could also use the NOW app on 2 further devices to watch live or on demand at the same time.

Another example would be, you buy an Apple TV 4K and a single mini from EE, you are watching Sky Atlantic live on both, but you can still watch 2 further streams on other devices such as a tablet or whatever via the NOW app.

Does that make sense?

[Andy_65]

Hi @Hill1082 

1. Yes but only for the subscription channels. If you connect the box via an aerial then channels such as ITV2/3/4 are SD regardless as they're Freeview. If you connect in IP mode then the same channels are in HD as standard but the channel list (free) is vastly reduced ie no U&Drama for example.

2. Yes it can connect via wifi.

3. I'm not sure on this, I think you can either have the Pro Box or the Apple TV Box, a mini box will only let you watch live TV - not recordings from your main box. I think you can have a maximum of two minis.

4. You would need to use the Now TV app for the Sky channels and the Discovery app for their suite of channels. There is no direct equivalent of the Sky Go app.

5. I believe you can only use the EE supplied Apple TV box, it is that or the Pro Box as your main box. You cannot use another Apple TV Box.

6. Yes they connect via wifi.

7. I think yes, have the Sports as an 'add on'.

8. Yes, BT or EE broadband only.

Depending upon what you watch and how much you value recordings, it may be worth just buying passes for Now TV. Whether you plan to connect solely via IP or an aerial is also important, IP has less free channels and using an aerial can sometimes  result in some pixelation due to the tuners in the Pro Box, it's been a problem with previous BT Boxes and the Pro Box isn't much different.

[Hill1082]

Thank you both for the replies. 
I was originally looking at nowTV and getting 3 device ultra boost, then discovered EE tv. I like the idea of recording.  
do you see other benefits of EE TV over just a NOW TV subscription. 
one other question, if a program has started and I switch onto it, do you get an option to watch from start? It then takes you to the on demand player, sky stream does this on a lot of channels. 
think I will sign up for EE Broadband anyway, then I have option of EE tv or just NOW tv via apps. 

[Andy_65]

@Hill1082 

On BBC channels there's the option to restart, I haven't seen it on any other channels. I use IP mode so I don't know if the restart option is available if using an aerial.

If you record BBC channels in IP mode it shows as a recording but playback is via the iPlayer app, which I assume is similar to the way Sky Stream works.

[stereohaven]

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@Hill1082 wrote:

I like the idea of recording, do you see other benefits of EE TV over just a NOW TV subscription.

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There are only 3 real benefits of taking EE TV over a direct subscription with NOW and plugging an aerial into your TV:

1. The ability to record
2. The shorter broadcast delay using multicast on the Pro Box (not that far off satellite) over the NOW app
3. The ability to have an aerial free, all IP set up including a range of Freeview channels

The caveats are:

• You can only record two channels at a time when in IP mode and will have to deal with recordings starting late or being cut short as the system used (ironically called Accurate Recording), relies on a start and stop signal being sent by the broadcaster
• In IP mode, BBC doesn’t record, it just plays iPlayer, so no point recording anything on a BBC channel, use the watchlist
• In IP mode, itv requires you to log in to the app to view channels and whilst you can record, you cannot skip adverts on recordings, even with an itvX Premium subscription (you had the option to pay £5 per month to skip all ads on Stream, that is the cost just for itvX with EE)
• The TV Guide on the Pro Box and Apple TV has it’s foibles, can be wrong and it is not EE’s responsibility ever when it is wrong
• ”Watch from start” only works on BBC channels as I recall, although a deeper red button integration with discovery+ on TNT Sports channels was recently released

Ultimately, it depends on what you want to achieve? Is it better than Sky? No. Is it cheaper? Probably, but it is close depending on deals.

Can you recreate the service with zero contracts, cheaper direct with NOW on a cracking device such as your own Apple TV 4K? 100%.

[Midnight_Voice]

@stereohaven @Hill1082 @Andy_65  

Not quite 100%. You cannot replicate the extended EPG with all the live channels in, and nor can you record the live channels except from that EPG, via a Box Pro or earlier recording YouView box.

But does this matter? For some ease of use cases, yes, and for time-shifting live sports, yes.

But I have these extra abilities to use the full EPG, and to record from it, and I have never done these things.