A TV box?

Discussion in 'Yellow Pages' started by zztop, Jan 5, 2018.

  1. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    Being a bit of an old fart and because I use smart tv's normally so have never tried anything other than the usual Sky and BT boxes, I have no experience of the "sticks" and "boxes" on offer, so I need what is probably very basic advice/help.

    In one of our rooms I want to set up a spare TV (not smart). But there is no aerial outlet, and portable aerials do not provide a stable enough picture of the normal terrestrial stations - have tried auto tune and manual tuning - but no good.

    But there is a good broadband wifi signal there. So my question is, would something like Roku or Amazon Fire stick enable the tv to show the normal terrestrial channels in a convenient manner (like a normal TV), changing channels etc, via a remote preferably - or not.
     
  2. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Not all terrestrial channels are on streaming boxes (legally) although most are. I have a fire stick which is bloody good especially if you have Amazon prime.

    Do you have sky however? Might be worth you upgrading to Sky Q and you can get extra boxes that only use wifi for not a lot. The ability to access all of your channels and recordings is great.
     
  3. Moose

    Moose First Team Captain

    I have a ROKU for a spare TV, was cheap and it's pretty good. You can watch Netflix/Amazon through it and with iplayer you can watch the BBC live, which let's face it, is all you need.
     
  4. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    Unless it's BBC news, of course. o_O
     
  5. nornironhorn

    nornironhorn Administrator Staff Member

    I use a firestick for things like netflix and the on demand channels like iplayer and 4od, etc,

    I've also got kodi on it for movies and tv shows but I don't watch terrestrial tv through it
     
  6. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Live TV is vastly over rated. Anything really worth watching is available via what the chaps have already mentioned. I'd recommend an Amazon Firestick.
     
    nornironhorn likes this.
  7. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    Won’t ZZ want to watch the royal wedding live?:D
     
    Clive_ofthe_Kremlin likes this.
  8. Hornet4ever

    Hornet4ever WFC Forums Last Man Standing Winner 2018/2019

    Had a similar situation recently, when I looked into to it all, none of the sticks & boxes will give you barely any of the Freeview/terrestrial & that's all we wanted. To me all they really seem to be mostly are gateways to subscription based services like Netflix/Amazon Prime etc & maybe a few extra gizmos. If I want films I can just connect my PC to TV via USB & stream it that way.

    In the end we got FreeSat supplied & installed for £99 from Maplin Watford & a Humax box in John Lewis for about £150 which is a recorder box. Gives you all the Freeview channels/Built in TV guide etc & no ongoing costs thereafter.

    Link here https://www.freesat.co.uk/
     
  9. LutherB

    LutherB Academy Graduate

    I've got an m8s+ box in the lounge that through Kodi gives access to every channel on the planet, including ALL sports in HD. Was £35 from Amazon.

    I have a firestick in the bedroom, but that's another story
     
  10. LutherB

    LutherB Academy Graduate

    Here it is

    M8S+ 2G/8G TV Box 1000M Ethernet XBMC Android 4.4 Amlogic S812 Quad Core 2.4G 5G WiFi Bluetooth HDMI https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0151D7D2S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_lDbuAbZP3GB7M

    It's android so you can install anything from play store like iplayer and Netflix etc.
    Also Google photos etc so if you've got an Android phone you can view all Ur pics on the TV.
     
  11. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Does anyone actually do this other than for novelty value the first time?
     
  12. NemoNemo

    NemoNemo Reservist

    A now tv box has all the standard channel apps such as iPlayer, 5demand, 4od, and itv player which you can watch live tv through depending on the show. Plus you can get passes to the sport which I think is good value if you only want to watch selected sporting events. If you want movies and sport streams Kodi on fire stick is an easy and portable solution
     
    LutherB likes this.
  13. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    Thanks for all the replies. I already use various methods to watch all sorts of things, it was just this one TV for mother-in-law, who just tends to watch the normal stuff, the soaps, etc.

    So I think I understand that there is nothing available that would provide the terrestrial channels live without going through iPlayer, ITV Hub, and All4, etc - which isnt what I really wanted.

    Thanks again, it is appreciated.

    But as an aside, I also think there is plenty of really good stuff on terrestrial, particularly the dramas on both ITV and BBC.


    I
     
  14. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    In that case you're better off installing a proper Ariel for her. I did similar and it gave me an excuse to purchase a 48cm long drill bit to go through the wall, DIY tools are fun.:p
     
    zztop likes this.
  15. Meh!

    Meh! Pre-Dictator

    I used to use tvcatchup.com.

    Just checked and the site is still live but less channels than it used to have.

    As long as you have an internet connection (firestick or chromecast I guess) then you can create an account and use it.

    All free and legal if you have a tv lisence.
     
  16. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    I think somebody mentioned above, Sky Q would do it, as the mini boxes run off your internal WiFi (or a sky provided booster) alone. So all you need is hdmi into the tv from the mini box and power to get all the terrestrial channels, plus whatever you subscribe to sky for. You can watch and record completely independently from the main sky box. I appreciate it means subscribing to Sky which may not be worth it just to keep your Mil happy. FWIW I love ours and so does my wife. We previously had a Roku stick in the bedroom, then freeview play and a now tv box in the lounge. It was just too much for my wife to deal with and remember all the different apps, so we went back to sky. We’ve got a mini box in the bedroom and the conservatory, previously we had the same issue as you in the conservatory but now we can get everything from the main box in there.
     
  17. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    You can use a firestick with an app like TV Player which I believe offers free viewing of 77 channels (usual terrestrial and a bunch of freeview) for free or a premium service for 5.99 (or thereabouts) per month with a few extra channels, which is probably not worth it in your situation.

    I've used it and my broadband speed is not that great.
     
    zztop likes this.
  18. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    Get a firestick. It's fairly simple to use, set up, cheap and reliable
     
    folkestone orn and zztop like this.
  19. Meh!

    Meh! Pre-Dictator

    I'm on virgin and want to change. I'm out of contract so can move whenever.

    Thing is I'd like to move to their full house or vip bundle but they wont offer it to me as an existing customer. Infuriates me that there is no loyalty in these contract type things any more. Been with them 5 years and they refuse to offer me an intro offer, instead seemingly willing to loose me (or hope I just do nothing).

    Anyway, I will be leaving. Not sure what to go for yet but I want bt and sky sports as fed up of looking for poor rivers.

    Prob end up on sky or bt, but rumour is by the end of the year they'll be offering each others channels so guess I'll wait until then.

    Virgin I guess keep me for now.
     
  20. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    They are about to offer their V6 box to all existing customers, do you have one?

    It's always been my understanding that if you threaten to leave strongly enough, they cave in on these intro offers.
     
  21. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    Just give notice to cancel. They'll ring you a couple of days later to try and keep you. Then you get the better offers / people more likely to have the power to do a deal. If you get no joy but you're not ready to move in a couple of weeks just rescind your cancellation and stay put.

    If you're serious about moving to Sky though I wouldn't hang about waiting for the BT Sport/Sky Sports deal. You can still get BT Sport through a Sky box now without any fuss - you just have to deal with BT to get it as Sky don't sell it directly.
     
  22. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    This.
    Cancel and they will get back in touch with a final offer. before the cancellation actually happens.

    It is frustrating that there is no loyalty and it;s not limited to just Virgin.

    When I moved house there was a dish already installed. I bought my box and did a self installation so saved them sending a chap out (that I had paid for). Despite me being on the top package and rejecting a free replacement box due to a recall. when Me old dish went phut I had to moan to get a free replacement.

    I keep meaning to revisit my sub because I'm not on any discount at all.

    Sky offer the best deal on TV
    Virgin offer the best BBand

    There's really no other options. I know most channels can be found through various methods which may or may not have legal implications but at the end of the day the hassle and quality is probably nto worth it unless you;re on a very very tight budget.

    In your situation I'd cancel see what they offer but be prepared to move to Sky. If all the Sports in HD isn't an issue for you switching back to virgin in 24 months will mean you should get the new customer deals.
     

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