Alternatives to stream

[Ed.B.]

I see EE is relaunching the BT TV box Pro with the EE branding, and if you take the Pro box they don't charge extra for minis around the house. 

I'm seriously thinking of dumping the stream puck when my contract ends in the new year. I'm super fed up of it crashing, not playlisting sporting events and the ongoing sound issues. 

Anyone know if the EE box is an upgrade on the BT pro?

[Nigelb1972]

From what I've read, the EE box is just a Pro box in a different case. It's ok but the EPG is unreliable and often wrong. It also cuts the end of a lot of recordings and doesn't update when I live sport event over runs... Also, no UHD other than TNT Sport Ultimate. Various Streaming platforms missing and generally a bit **bleep**...

[Ed.B.]

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@Ed.B. wrote:

I see EE is relaunching the BT TV box Pro with the EE branding, and if you take the Pro box they don't charge extra for minis around the house. 

I'm seriously thinking of dumping the stream puck when my contract ends in the new year. I'm super fed up of it crashing, not playlisting sporting events and the ongoing sound issues. 

Anyone know if the EE box is an upgrade on the BT pro?

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Interesting, thanks.

Although it says here the EE box is an AppleTV 4k effort

https://www.pocket-lint.com/ee-apple-tv-4k-live-tv-eetv/

[Nigelb1972]

They seem to have a couple of options. One is a Full STB which is a rebodied Pro Box and the other is an Apple TV box which is locked to EE. There seems to be confusion within the BT/EE community as to what you'll actually get but it looks as if the Apple TV box is for their multi-room bit and works along side of the Pro Box. Tbh it sounds a bit of a mess which is typical of BT/EE TV. If you're not happy with Stream, go with Sky Q... 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Nigelb1972 wrote:

 the other is an Apple TV box which is locked to EE.

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That's an interesting departure for Apple: they typically regard their brand identity as being too precious to sully by permitting other suppliers to logo it (although I note references to an EE-branded remote rather than box ; )

https://newsroom.ee.co.uk/ee-launches-new-platform-for-uk-consumers-featuring-ee-id-new-tv-products-... 

[Ed.B.]

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@Nigelb1972 wrote:

They seem to have a couple of options. One is a Full STB which is a rebodied Pro Box and the other is an Apple TV box which is locked to EE. There seems to be confusion within the BT/EE community as to what you'll actually get but it looks as if the Apple TV box is for their multi-room bit and works along side of the Pro Box. Tbh it sounds a bit of a mess which is typical of BT/EE TV. If you're not happy with Stream, go with Sky Q... 

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I'm in a rented flat and can't get a dish. I wouldn't go anywhere near stream if Q was an option. 

[Gincap]

I used to have BT Pro box a neat piece of kit, the problems were a lack of apps which I believe still to be the case and those available were only 720p. 

Reading the article an Apple EE box does appear to be a standalone option that will access the EE app. Just a point here BT TV used to have an app on Apple although basic so it sounds more of an EE rebrand rather than reinventing the wheel but it does read that they intend to open up Freeview channels within the EE app for stream so the more niche channels could now be available through an EE Apple box. EE of course will offer Now TV for Sky content. 

To be honest all major content is already available via Apple actually more with BFI, Viaplay, Mubi etc. so why pay EE when you can do it yourself? Only time will tell what is actually on offer but I suspect it will be contract based as you have to take EE broadband too. 

[Ed.B.]

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@Gincap wrote:

I used to have BT Pro box a neat piece of kit, the problems were a lack of apps which I believe still to be the case and those available were only 720p. 

Reading the article an Apple EE box does appear to be a standalone option that will access the EE app. Just a point here BT TV used to have an app on Apple although basic so it sounds more of an EE rebrand rather than reinventing the wheel but it does read that they intend to open up Freeview channels within the EE app for stream so the more niche channels could now be available through an EE Apple box. EE of course will offer Now TV for Sky content. 

To be honest all major content is already available via Apple actually more with BFI, Viaplay, Mubi etc. so why pay EE when you can do it yourself? Only time will tell what is actually on offer but I suspect it will be contract based as you have to take EE broadband too. 

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Hopefully it'll be more useful than the latest EE mobile app update, which instead of saying my data refreshes in 7 days, it says it'll refresh on October 7...

 

[Gincap]

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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Hopefully it'll be more useful than the latest EE mobile app update, which instead of saying my data refreshes in 7 days, it says it'll refresh on October 7...

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It's very early days to surmise really, I'd want to see it in action before making a move not that I intend ditching my current Apple set up as it all just works. 

[Ed.B.]

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@Gincap wrote:

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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Hopefully it'll be more useful than the latest EE mobile app update, which instead of saying my data refreshes in 7 days, it says it'll refresh on October 7...

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It's very early days to surmise really, I'd want to see it in action before making a move not that I intend ditching my current Apple set up as it all just works. 

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Absolutely. I've got a few months left on the stream contract and no doubt EE will start bombarding me with offers...

[nmbailey]

Why not a Roku device or Firestick with NOW?

[stereohaven]

The new EE deal is the TV service in an app, on an Apple TV 4K, or using a more traditional box set up if you prefer, which as @Nigelb1972 says is the same BT kit in a new shell.

The problem with the TV box is it just doesn't have a decent range of apps, is not really a slick UX like Sky and it doesn't have voice search or control. But, it can be entirely powered by WiFi, the IP channels are multicast delivered so very robust and dare I say it does actually record?

Putting all the streamed channels in a TV Guide app on quality hardware like an Apple TV is a good compromise, because you get your live TV in one place, plus access to all the apps you can shake a stick at.

Time will tell if they can deliver a decent experience though. Advertising starts tomorrow so at least we should get some more info soon.

Some of the problems for me are BT/EE don't have a great reputation for delivering good apps (BT Sport really was an exception), you have to use their hardware (even if you already have an Apple TV or 2), no UHD Sky Sports as you get with Stream (as far as we know as they use NOW) and 2 year contracts with CPI + 3.9% price rises built in.

I do expect them to be quite aggressive with offers though, especially for existing BT Broadband and TV customers like me, they will want us to move at some point.

[Jason+Golding]

@Nigelb1972 There are two options as you say. However, the Apple TV box is in no way locked to EE. It will be the standard Apple TV box with a EE branded Apple Remote. The EE streaming service will be available via an app within Apple TV. The app will provide effectively a steaming platform for their customers. Apple would never produce a locked down version of any of their products. The special EE branded Apple TV remote will also feature an extra button to provide direct access to the EE TV app 

[Nigelb1972]

@Ed.B. on the BT forums, they're talking about some kind of lock to EE due to rights for the Freeview and other channel streams and carriage agreements. So the lock might be that you can only use an EE branded/supplied box for IP delivery on certain OTA channels 

[Jason+Golding]

@Gincap The Apple TV box that EE provide will be standard but have an adapted remote with a dedicated button for direct access to the EE app. There is a clear advantage here as the app will provide all linear channels, basic and premium through a tv guide.