Humax, Huawei, BT, TalkTalk - what works with what?
I thought it might be useful to summarise in one place what we know about the various combinations of box and ISP.
Please contribute reliable information (in a simple non-technical way!)
Please contribute reliable information (in a simple non-technical way!)
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(Despite BT's repeated claims to the contrary!)
Retail Humax boxes can be used with BT or TalkTalk and if you have subscribed to a TV package these boxes will update to provide the additional content specific to the ISP - TalkTalk player, BT player etc.
(To receive internet channels with BT it is a requirement that you have BT Infinity i.e a fibre connection rather than ADSL.)
The new BT-branded DTR-T2100 available from retail can be used by subscribers to TalkTalk TV and will update to provide the TalkTalk player etc.
http://recombu.com/digital/news/new-bt-youview-box-talktalk-tv_M12743.html
But is this true? -
That article was what prompted this thread. I think I know the full answer but it would be more reliable if forum members with direct experience could add to this thread.
When I had a BT Vision package, I did try a TT Huawei box to see if it worked and it did, allowing me to update and access all the BT Vision package
But possibly if you meet their broadband requirements, but not their subscription ones, you will get their player downloaded to your YouView box. There just won't be anything much you can access in it.
The remaining question then, is do you need a box that only they supply, or will any YouView box do?
I think the design intention was that any box would do, and this will be the case completely when the codebases are fully merged.
Your YouView box will always have an identity based on who originally supplied it, and this will always (?) be used to mediate where you get your box updates from, and when.
But this identity is not supposed to mediate what you can and can't receive, and it looks as if the days when it did, perhaps unavoidably, are over, or at least starting to be over.
What puzzles (and annoys) me is why TalkTalk still have no pathway for enabling their TV content to retail box owners without first having to go through the stupidity of giving you one of their "free" boxes and extending your contract term.
Surely that's also true for BT?
Has anyone tried a different youview box on BT youview?
I have heard some people say that they have got this working no problem at all, even with a Talktalk box.
It is the talktalk box I am interested in as the second hand market is now flooded with used, but boxed, Talktalk youview boxes for as little as £40.
I would like to get one, put it in the bedroom, connect it via homeplugs and be able to watch the extra channels on it.
Has anybody done this? What are the pitfalls? Would BT care? Would they detect it?
...............................
...I went on gumtree today and found somebody round the corner who was selling the talktalk zapper box and 2 routers for £50.
Got it home, plugged it in, it updated to BT immediately. Everything works fine, including the channels.
What is depressing though is that it works better than the humax box that BT supplied me. Menus and everything else are much smoother and the remote is more responsive.
Also, the intermittent picture and sound break up that I have been experiencing on the internet channels, doesn't seem to happen on this talktalk box. That suggests to me that the youview box that BT gave me is causing the problems
...............................
I am stunned.
This is true multiroom. Just like Sky's, only free.
I now have the talktalk box in the bedroom hooked up via homeplugs and I have my main Bt box hooked up via ethernet.
Just now I was playing BT Sport 1 HD in the living room while simultaneously playing BT Sport 2 HD in the bedroom.
Also, as a test, I did a speedtest on my laptop while both streams were playing and I was getting near on 40Mbps at the same time.
What a fantastic system this is and my total monthly bill for BT is £52 and that includes infinity option 2 and the extra channels in HD. I won't be going back to sky ever unless they offered me it free...
I am davebaines from the BT forum. Thanks for copying that across. I have been meaning to join here but the rather...erm...unconventional software was putting me off. But I suppose this is a good time to jump in.
I get the feeling BT will have to act in the end. Imagine someone getting FTTP from BT with a full 300Mbps speed or more. They could actually wire up all their neighbours and everyone could share a single connection and get TV for next to nothing.
In the meantime I will make hay while the sun shines. I might get a few more of the talktalk boxes along with the TP link wireless bridge that is known to work on youview. Happy days!
I was actually thinking about encouraging you to share your thoughts over here!
So welcome!
(I've made amends here.)
I was very surprised to connect this BT-branded device to my TalkTalk line and hey presto it changed it's identity.
As you say, "will this last?"
You would have thought that BT would want to use their new box to attract customers to BT - maybe they just assume that most people won't realise that it will work with TalkTalk.
Having said that there is a label on the box that says it works with any ISP.
I don't think BT's concern will be about which boxes are used, it will be the fact that they can't monetise multiroom and people could exploit it commercially on a private line.
I know for the Google Fiber service in the US, which I think is 10Gbps or something like that, the customers have to sign an agreement saying that they won't sell the connection on to anybody.
A similar situation could occur with the TV. If I lived in a block of flats or house that was separated into student flats etc, I could resell my own BT TV service to other people in the block. Or we could all club in together for just one connection.
The reason Sky has been so successful is because of how tightly controlled everything has been from the beginning.
BT need to control the number of devices that can stream channels from one line. Otherwise it is a free for all.
Don't tell them.
They eventually sorted multiroom for BT sport out on sky. They actually did it within their timescale too. In august they said they would have a solution by christmas and they launched it a few days before, I think.
It would be a product worth paying for anyway.
I fix people's computers and often go to houses to do so. The number of people who tell me about the joys of their Sky F5 box is incredible.
Where there is an opportunity, people will exploit it. It is unfortunate because the way the system is at the moment is excellent but BT will have to change it eventually.
Fortunately google's image search has just come to the rescue.
Wicker Man ---> police man etc.
So Haribo you've just encountered one of this forum's more challenging aspects - figuring out Roy's references and sense of humour.
The worrying thing is that he doesn't need encouragement.
I'm concerned that you might be a new source of stimuli for him.
We have the 'free' youview 500gb box in my bedroom connected via homeplugs
We bought a second youview 500gb box connected by CAT5 ethernet cabling (bought via ebay)
We also have the talktalk 320gb box connected by CAT5 ethernet cabling in mothers bedroom (bought via ebay)
All have full access to extra internet channels (i.e. TLC, BT Sport 1HD, E!, Fox etc.) all at the same time.
To be honest, the fastest box out of the lot of them is the talktalk one in Mothers bedroom.
Someone on the Digital Spy forum who is a TalkTalk TV subscriber has reported that with
"...a BT Branded YouView box (Humax) from John Lewis, ... believe it or not, we can watch ALL the same programs from TalkTalk, and it RECORDS all our SKY Boost channels..."
I also posted on Haribos/DavidBaines thread over on BT Community forums. I've just installed a talktalk DN370T but no BT content yet. Any ideas? I'll copy my BT post below.
Thanks
--
John
Ok
then an update, box installed using an ethernet cable. It updated the
software immediately, I retuned the antenna channels, turned on the RF
loop-through, updated my postcode but its been up and running for 1.5
hours now and its still not liisting BT Sport - Eurosport - ESPN or any
of the extra internet channels I get on the Entertainment package.
Am I missing a trick, anything I need to do?
then an update, box installed using an ethernet cable. It updated the
software immediately, I retuned the antenna channels, turned on the RF
loop-through, updated my postcode but its been up and running for 1.5
hours now and its still not liisting BT Sport - Eurosport - ESPN or any
of the extra internet channels I get on the Entertainment package.
Am I missing a trick, anything I need to do?
From the BT forum it looks like John's problem is solved.
The box has now updated and the BT Sports channels can be accessed.
then an update, box installed using an ethernet cable. It updated the
software immediately, I retuned the antenna channels, turned on the RF
loop-through, updated my postcode but its been up and running for 1.5
hours now and its still not liisting BT Sport - Eurosport - ESPN or any
of the extra internet channels I get on the Entertainment package.
Am I missing a trick, anything I need to do?
Has anybody tried a BT supplied humax 1000 and a new humax 2110 to see if they can be mixed