Prime Video app broken after switching to EE

[u53rn4m3]

I have recently switched from PlusNet to EE, during which time my Humax DTR2110 Youview box was updated to include EE branding.

Since then, the Amazon Prime Video player doesn't work - more specifically, the app loads and I can select a programme to watch - but as soon as it tries to start playback, it craps out back to Youview.

I've tried resetting the router, power-cycling the Youview box, factory-resetting the box (albeit with "keep recordings") - none of which makes any difference. Other apps seem to be unaffected, it's just Prime Video.

None of this was a problem before the Youview box was updated - and I must add, without warning or permission.

Not happy 😞

[Peter_W]

Welcome to the Community, @u53rn4m3 

Thanks for taking the time to flag this, too.

Just so I can be sure we've got all the right details here, am I correct in thinking you had one of the Youview boxes from the period when Plusnet offered a TV service?

Also have you taken out a TV plan when switching to EE, or have you just been using this as a generic DVR since the Plusnet service ended several years ago?

Peter

[u53rn4m3]

It's actually a BT-branded Youview box 😉

Which worked absolutely fine under BT (natch) and subsequently with PlusNet - but the update pushed by EE has broken the Prime Video functionality.

There's no active TV package in play - it's just used as a standalone Youview DVR / PVR.

[Peter_W]

Cheers, @u53rn4m3 

If you haven't already, I'd recommend checking out some of the troubleshooting steps listed here, including trying a reboot and reset.

Also connecting to EE broadband will switch the skin of your box's UI to the EE branding, but this hasn't been a direct change to the software otherwise. 

As we no longer directly support these boxes though, we can no longer guarantee all apps and features will work as they did originally.

Peter

[u53rn4m3 · Accepted solution]

Running with the theory that the OTA update pushed to my Youview box only updated UI components, the only other variable is the new router  - EE Smart Hub 6 Plus.

After a bit of digging (and indeed, further to what others have reported) it seems the problem lies with DCHP - specifically the DNS.

Manually configuring the Youview box with a static IP and using a third-party DNS (ie: Google or Cloudflare - 8.8.8.8 (or 8.8.4.4) and 1.1.1.1 respectively) not only seems to fix the issue, but significantly speeds up the loading of the various apps (ie: iPlayer, 4OD, etc.)

tl;dr

There's some odd interaction between the Youview box and the EE router, regarding the latency of DNS lookups - using static IP with a manually configured third-party DNS fixes it - for me, at least 🙂 YMMV