Intermittent picture pixelation and sound problems.

[Matthew161]

Hello, i've recently moved to EE TV after twenty plus years with Sky and i'm having a couple of problems that I hope can be fixed.

We have the EE TV Box Pro and a Mini, and both are showing the same problems. Both boxes are in internet mode and are connected by ethernet cable to the provided EE Smart Hub Plus router. We have had no problems with the internet connection, and are receiving the 300Mbps we are paying for.

First Problem - We are getting intermittent pixelating of the picture and a drop out of sound that lasts for just a second or two and then goes back to normal. Sometimes this doesn't happen for a while, then it will happen every ten minutes or so. 

I haven't personally used the TV service as much as others in the house as I mainly use it for the football and other sports, but yesterday I watched the Charity Shield on ITV and some of the Olympics on the BBC and it was happening on both channels. I then watched a League One football match on Sky Sports and MMA on TNT Sports through the box and didn't notice it on either. Small sample size but I thought i'd mention it.

The Second Problem - This may be linked to the first problem and is harder to explain. As a gamer, it sort of seems like when you get a momentary drop of frame rate, but it's a bit different to that, and is at it's most obvious when watching the football. For example, I didn't notice it much yesterday during the 90 minutes, but during every penalty in the penalty shoot out it was very apparent, i'll try to explain it better. In the player's run up it sort of seems to slow down on/around him where your eyes are focused but you still see the full penalty. Like I said, hard to explain.

Both these problems are happening on both boxes and they are both there in the same place when I rewind the box.

I tried to have a look around to see if I could solve these problems without having to make a thread, but most people who are having similar problems were using aerial mode and/or a wifi connection, which we are using neither.

I also haven't contacted EE yet, as having a look around some threads on here there seems to be some knowledgeable people who may know what the problem could be, @DarrenDev was a name in particular that kept cropping up, and he seems to have inside knowledge and know what he's talking about 😀.

Thanks.

[willcaddy]

Same problem here with intermittent pixelation and sound drops. Happened almost exactly when the original post was created. 

Im gunna try and contact customer service but I fear that will be an hour or my life wasted and not much improvement but here goes! 

I'll try a few other troubleshooting steps I've got in my head too on the off chance one improves it and I'll post back 🙂

[MartDW]

Hi, I'm a new EE user (coming from Sky). I've been through several hoops around boosting wifi to my Pro TV box and I'm reasonably confident there is no issue with the wifi or the 150 Mbps broadband.I get the momentary pixellation and sound loss plus frame 'jumping'. Its only a nuisance for me but it shouldn't be that way and I want to make sure that EE keep it registered as a fault.

Having read through this forum it seems to me that the box itself has software issues.

I note you suggest 'reverting' to BT. As a new EE user is there a route where I could request a BT box simply to replace the EE box?

Thanks

Martin

[Midnight_Voice]

@MartDW 

You can still, apparently, join BT and get BT Broadband plus EETV, though I suspect that they will push EE Broadband instead, and maybe that is what happened to you,

But the only physical difference is the Broadband and the router: EETV and the boxes that bring it are identical on both sides. And maybe not even the router; I moved from BT to EE, and the broadband still comes over the BT router.

I’ve seen pixellation once, just enough to know what it looks like, but that was on the BBC iPlayer, which was misbehaving that day, and it hung, so not the typical pixellation people complain about.

But if this is a software issue with the box, there’s nothing to be gained by swapping it, because it’s the same box either way 😢

EETV are certainly aware of the pixellation issues, but I don’t know of any remedy for this as of now.

[Stiltsel]

Annoyingly I have exactly the same problem but i did not have a problem with the BT box I had for many years. EE sent me a new box in case the original one was faulty but this is exactly the same. I am connected to a terrestrial aerial which works fine and if I am watching on catch up TV there is no problem as this comes from the internet which is connected by cable. If i watch live tv on using the ee box I have a problem and also when watching recordings made from live TV. Also get a blip noise and sound level dropping for a second or two. When checking the signal strength on the EE box I have 94% signal strength and 100% quality but then the quality drops temporarily to 50 or 60 and then comes back up to 100% again until the next blip a few minutes later. I regre5 3ver having changed from BT to EE!

[Katie_B]

Hi @Stiltsel. 

I am sorry to hear this has continued.

Since receiving your replacement box have you been back in touch with technical care?

Speak soon, 

Katie

[Stiltsel]

I have carried out more checks.

(1) The problem does not occur if I am watching using online iPlayers therefore the HDMI lead cannot be the problem.

(2) The problem does not occur if I am watching  live TV using the aerial passed through the EE box.

(3)The same program does pixellate whilst watching using HDMI input from the box but does not pixellate on the separate TV if viewed simultaneously  connected to the through box aerial.  This indicates that the box is the problem as the HDMI lead must be OK given (1) above.

(4)The problem does not occur if I just plug the TV directly into the aerial socket.

(5) The problem still occurs if the ethernet connection is disconnected. It still occurs if the Router and Wi-Fi are turned off and only the TV and box are switched on so Broadband/wifi/internet cannot be the problem, nor the ethernet cable.

(6) The problem still occurs if a power line adapter is completely disconnected. (Not actually used for the TV or box anyway).

My only conclusion is that the box must be fundamentally flawed. (I do not wish to connect just using the Internet rather than terrestrial aerial for a number of reasons). 

EE are sending an engineer out on Monday. It will be interesting to see what the conclusion is. Maybe give me back my fautless old BT YouView box?

[Stiltsel]

The engineer informs me that it is an aerial problem although generally the signal quality is 94% and the strength is 100% apart from its blips. I must admit that on a nice bright sunny day today I do not seem to be getting the problem. However I am reluctant to buy another aerial since the signal is just fine when watching terrestrial TV and not using the box. i am reluctant to buy a new aerial given that there is no guarantee that that will solve the problem!

My options now are to buy a new aerial (it is not long since I had a new digital aerial fitted) and hope that it solves the problem, or switch to internet viewing which I do not want to do as you cannot skip the ads on recordings and do not get all the programs.

I wish I had never upgraded to EE from BT since the BT You View box was obviously more reliable and far less sensitive  (and £7 per month cheaper) than this problem I have been landed with.....Not happy!

[Midnight_Voice]

@Stiltsel 

How long ago was ‘not long’?

I would be very inclined to get the fitter from that job back, and ask him to explain the deterioration, and fix it under the guarantee you got at the time.

[Stiltsel]

Aerial was fitted long enough ago for me to have forgotten who did it (several years). Aerial still looks good and I have no problem with it at all when watching TV using the aerial, (nor when using the BT You View box). It is only when I am watching TV through the EE box that I get the problem with this intermittent momentary pixilation and also squeak and momentary sound drop off. I will speak with an aerial engineer and see what he thinks but I am not sure what he will say when I present him with what appears to be a perfectly good aerial giving signal  strength and qualities of 100% and 94%. I do also have an aerial booster in the loft which has been there ever since I moved into the house. Maybe this is causing some conflict? It would appear that the EE box is maybe just too sensitive to ??????. It certainly was not a problem, or exceptionally rarely so, with the BT You View box.

[Timbo45]

@Stiltsel 

You mention signal strength as being 100% and also 94% so which is it?

If it's 100% then the signal is too strong and needs to be reduced to , say, 90% with a variable signal attenutor.