Really disappointing

[Anonymous User]

I've bought my father in law a NowTV Smart box and have had nothing but issues.

Connected to the WiFi network without problems, tuned the box to receive TV channels, tried to watch some freeview TV and... nothing. Plenty of channels displayed but as soon as I try to watch one, I get no image on screen. The box still works, I can go back or to through the channels just fine, interact with all menu options, I just see no TV. 

I've changed the coaxial cable for a brand new one, no change. Both cables work fine straight into his TV so I'm assured the is no issue there. I've tuned the box, factory reset the box and tuned again. Still no TV.

I'm also getting similar problems with the NowTV channels themselves. Also tried iPlayer - looked like it was going to work, then nothing. Father in law is paying Sky for 8Mb DSL, so should be able to watch standard definition web content at least, but apparently not. I don't think it can be his broadband anyway as I can stream iPlayer to my tablet just fine, even say next to his NowTV box to rule out distance from the DSL router. The router is only 12 feet away, in the same room with LoS to the box.

To top it off, I tried a live chat with one of their advisors, who told me that he was cutting me off about a minute after asking me what the issue is. I'm typing on a tablet so pretty slow but the adviser gave me very little opportunity before cutting me short. Very frustrating and frankly I will be complaining about the individual directly to NowTV.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I believe I've tried everything I can short of taking the box to my house and trying it with my gear.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Hi @Anonymous User,

Personally, I'm not a big fan of using WiFi connections. I guess you could be getting interference. Maybe. Probably 😉

[Anonymous User]

Perhaps. I've just taken the box to my house plugged it in and connected to the WiFi and found that it works just as it should. 

Is there a particular version of HDMI that the box supports? Father in law's TV is a few years old so I wonder if the HDMI technology is incompatible. I didn't try switching the HDMI port over but I'm going to go back now, swap it over and cross my fingers.

[Anonymous User]

It seems that the Smart Box only likes the first HDMI port in my father in law's TV. The second port doesn't work with it at all. Fortunately the DVD player didn't seem to have any trouble with it so I've swapped the ports around.

[Anonymous User]

Still having issues. A number of times a day the box stops sending a broadcast signal to the TV and it doesn't work until it's been rebooted. Same in both FreeView and SmartTV.

[Anonymous User]

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@Anonymous User wrote:
Still having issues. A number of times a day the box stops sending a broadcast signal to the TV and it doesn't work until it's been rebooted. Same in both FreeView and SmartTV.

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@Anonymous User

Hi

Is the issue occurring on nowtv content and freeview channels?

Thanks

Aaron

[Anonymous User]

He's, the problem affects both the FreeView broadcast and iPlayer/Sky
Sports app.