Question:

I intend getting a package of two YouView Plus boxes from BT, so that I can watch and record independently in two separate rooms. Is there a wiring diagram available, as I would like to run the cabling in advance of the installation?

Should the home hub be located near to one of the TVs? Do both YouView boxes connect separately to the Open Reach box?

And, lastly, if I want a third TV, can it pick up the picture from one of the other TVs, or does it just run independently from the aerial?

As I have previously been wary of the reliability of signal through wireless connectors with BT Vision, I am therefore considering laying Cat5 wiring under the floor.

Answer

BT now offers Multiroom (called Extra Box) – This would typically mean having a standard YouView box in one room and a YouView mini box in a second room – See BT’s site for information on getting a BT Mini YouView Box: BT YouView Extra Box

Each YouView box requires the following:

– Connection to a BT Home Hub, either using Ethernet cabling or using a Powerline Adapter (networking over mains cable)
– Connection to a working TV aerial
– Connection to a TV set (typically HDMI)
– Connection to mains power

For the average size home, location of the Home Hub has little bearing, especially if using CAT5 Ethernet cabling. Very long cable runs may require thought regarding the positioning of the BT Home Hub.

Each YouView box needs its own connection to the BT Home Hub – two boxes don’t need to connect to each other

As far as we know, you can’t have three YouView boxes – but you could have two YouView boxes, and additional Freeview boxes (which can be used fore viewing live TV, but not BT’s Internet TV content).

The post Installing two BT YouView Boxes first appeared on YouViewing.

 “I have had bt vision for a number of years now and have really enjoyed its concept as well as its content. 

YouView seems to be an upgrade from bt vision offering as well as extended choice.

 Can my Vision box and my package with BT be transferred to the  YouView system and at what cost?”

Switching from BT Vision to YouView

The answer to this is “yes”. The old BT Vision boxes are different from the YouView boxes, and so it’s a case of getting one of the new YouView boxes from BT.

BT will send you a new YouView box by courier, and it’s a case of plugging it in. When one of our team did this recently, the box was delivered in a few days, and BT didn’t ask for the old BT Vision box back.

How to upgrade from BT Vision to YouView

Assuming you are out of contract with BT, it’s a case of ordering YouView direct from BT. Your BT Vision contract will be cancelled, and you’re re-contract with BT and get a YouView box.

At the time of writing, the cost is £49. To check the current price for YouView from BT, and to order YouView from BT, go here: Order YouView from BT

The post How do I switch from BT Vision to YouView? first appeared on YouViewing.

“To enjoy the On Demand Services, can the Youview box receive my home broadband wirelessly (I have a wireless router) or does it need to be connected by cable to my Broadband Modem?”

Connecting a YouView box to the Internet

To get on-demand content from YouView, you need to connect the YouView box to the Internet. Yes, you can do this wirelessly if you want.

There are there three main ways that you can connect a YouView box to your home broadband router:

1. With a cable connected from the YouView box to your router
2. Using devices called PowerLine or HomePlug – These plug into the mains and send your signal to your router without having to run cables
3. You can get a wireless adapter and use wi-fi

We have a page outlining these options in more detail here: How to connect YouView to the Internet

The post Connecting a YouView box wirelessly first appeared on YouViewing.

“I am thinking of purchasing a Youview box outright from a suitable retailer. Do I require a satillite dish of any description?”

YouView and Satellite Dishes

The short answer to this is “no”

The slightly longer answer is that YouView gets TV channels via the Freeview platform. To get live TV channels on a YouView box, you need to be in a Freeview coverage area, and have a suitable TV aerial pointing at a land-based transmitter. If you have a TV set or a set-top box that can get Freeview via a TV aerial, then you should be able to get live TV with a YouView box.

Satellite dishes are only required for watching TV from Sky or Freesat.

The post YouView TV with a satellite dish first appeared on YouViewing.

“We have a TalkTalk package plus Sky Sports Boost. As TalkTalk do not have the ability for us to record our sports boost channel, although we are able to record all other programmes, is there another way we could record the sports channel by adding another recorder device?  Or do you have any other idea?”

Why you can’t record Sky Sports

We understand that the reason why it’s not possible for you to record Sky Sports Boost on a TalkTalk TV YouView box is because the channel is delivered over the Internet, and not over Freeview. It’s possible that this functionality may be added at some point in the future.

It’s been suggested that although you are not able to use the YouView box hard drive to record Sky Sports, connecting a DVD recorder might be an option. We understand that this functionality is not possible either, and that if you try to record the output of your YouView box onto a DVD recorder, you’ll get a “no record” message preventing you from doing this.

In theory, by converting the SCART output of the YouView box to a composite signal, it might be possible to make a recording of the box output – you’d need an RF modulator box to do this, and then to get your recorder to record the video as an analogue TV channel (i.e. not via a recorder’s Line In). Not ideal, and we’ve not tried it, but it might work. Or it might not.

If anyone has any thoughts on this subject, please add a comment in the box below.

The post Record Sky Sports on YouView TalkTalk first appeared on YouViewing.

YouView with BT

BT launched its YouView service in October 2012. At launch the service doesn’t support any of the Sky Sports channels

This is because the Humax YouView box being used by BT cannot record the Sky Sports channels yet. BT hopes to be able to offer Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2, plus access to the Barclays PremiershipFootball and Aviva Premiership Rugby that BT has recently bought television rights.

At the moment, we’re not aware of the date for when BT will start offering Sky Sports on YouView, but it’s a safe bet that BT’s working hard to get this sorted.

HOWEVER: The BT Vision box is still available from BT, and this does offer Sky Sports and ESPN. More on BT Vision

YouView with TalkTalk

TalkTalk launched its YouView service in October 2012. The service does offer Sky Sports – In fact it offers Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports 3, Sky Sports 4 and Sky Sports F1. To get this, you’ll need to purchase the “Sky Sports Boost” on top of your TalkTalk YouView package.

The Sky Sports Boost costs from £30 a month.  More: TalkTalk YouView Sports

Standard YouView box

The standard YouView box that you can buyt on the high street does not offer Sky Sports.

The post Sky Sports on YouView? first appeared on YouViewing.

NOW TV is the first content provider to join the YouView service and boosts the amount of film content on the YouView system. The service has two options:

• “Pay and Play” – Watch movies on-demand on a pay-per-view basis – Movies start from 99p up to £3.49 for a blockbuster
• “Sky Movies Pass” – £15 a month gives you full access to hundreds of movies without restriction

The NOW TV movies service offers movies that aren’t available on rival services such as LOVEFiLM and NetFlix, and includes up to five new blockbuster movies per week (typically movies available on the Sky Movies Premiere channel on Sky’s satellite TV service.

Oddly, the £15 a month subscription doesn’t give you access to the full range of movies on NOW TV. At launch, the “Sky Movies Pass” offered access to around 600 films, but over 1,000 movies were available to those looking to watch a film on a pay-to-view basis.

Now TV is also available on laptops, desktops, smartphones and tablets, but the best way to watch movies is on your telly, so it makes sense for the service to be available to customers of the YouView service.

More details on the service can be found here: nowtv.com

Value for money?

Whilst NOW TV’s service offers a solid range of movies on-demand, there are other options. Instead of paying £15 for the 600-or-so movies offered with the ‘Sky Movies Pass’, you could opt for LOVEFiLM Instant – This offers access to 5,000 movies and TV shows, for just £4.99 a month. LOVEFiLM is available on many Internet-enabled TVs, as well as tablets, X-Box 360, PS3 as well as desktop and laptop computers.

The post Now TV launches on YouView first appeared on YouViewing.

The team behind YouViewing has been involved in helping to answer questions on all things related to digital TV for some years, and as the launch of any new TV service brings its own challenges, we thought we’d help out by offering some information and advice on what to expect with YouView.

If you have any comments or questions about the YouView service, then we’d like to hear from you, as it’ll be your questions that help to drive the site forward.

Just for the record, this site is not run or operated by YouView. It’s an independent site.

The site is now live at www.youviewing.co.uk

The post YouViewing Website Launched first appeared on YouViewing.