Freview problems

[North]

Hi,

I live in a ex council state house and i share an aereal with about 10 neigbours.
I have been unable to watch the tv since the switchover a few weeks ago. I bought a freeview box from Argos (the cheapest model) and my tv is an old sony model with scart connectors. The aereal cable is splited in two inside the house, one for Internet (Virgin) and the other one for the tv. Can anyone give me a list of things to check before getting a technitian which I am trying to avoid at all costs?

 

[big-all]

virgin is cable freeveiw is aerial two seperate things freeveiw wont work on a virgin cable i dont think

 

[North]

The guys at virgin installed a splitter when they came a few years ago and I have one cable for the router and one for tv. So I believe that virgin is using the aereal cable.

 

[big-all]

you need an ariel for your freeview to work
unless the coax goes to an ariel on the roof or within the building it wont work

 

[plugwash]

So to confirm you are saying you have one cable coming into your flat and this was split with one cable from the splitter going to your cable modem and one going direct to your TV (without any kind of box)?

And this setup was working until recently?

If so it sounds like you had an analog cable setup and the analog cable signal has been turned off. If that is the case then you will either have to get a new connection to a terrestrial aerial or get a digital cable box from virgin media. If you already have phone and broadband service from virgin then I don't think adding basic TV makes any significant difference to the price.

 

[JohnD]

Can anyone give me a list of things to check before getting a technitian which I am trying to avoid at all costs?

1) ask your neighbours if their TVs work

if so, ask what decoder or digital box they have got, or is it a digital tv, and is it plugged onto the same cable layout as yours.

if they have got a Virgin box on it, then it is a Virgin cable not an aerial.

What day did your tv last work?

You say you bought a Freeview box. What did you do with it, and what happened?

 

[North]

Thanks for your answers.
The set up worked until the switchover a few weeks ago. Before I got Virgin broadband, my tv worked just fine although sometimes I could not see channel 5 . Then well before the switchover we bought an HD ready LCD TV and I tried to get the digital channels without success. We have now an old stile tv with the freebox connected but when I search for all the channels nothing comes up. My next door neighbour tells me that she could not watch freeview and that she uses a sky box with the satelite dish. I think I am going ot go with this option unless I can find out why freeview does not work.
Trying to answer all your questions, yes the cable splits into two, one for the modem and one for the tv without any boxes in between. Why would the signal be cutt off? I do not have a telephone line and I dont feel like paying extra to have tv.
I tried two different freview boxes and none of them work (both cheap) but my HD ready tv was also unable to get any digital channel before.
Would you consider a good option to connect a sky box to the satelite dish? Do I need a particular sky box or any one will do?
Thanks

 

[JohnD]

if you have Virgin Broadband, and one cable comes into your house carrying it, there is a fair chance that the other carries Virgin TV. It will however need a Virging decoder.

Where I live, if you have Virgin phone and broadband, they give you basic Virgin TV free, and charge only for some sport and movie channels.

log on to Virgin, https://my.virginmedia.com/home/index take the "Existing customer" page and look for "change my package" or "my offers" or something, see what they offer.

 

[North]

if I buy a virgin box decoder then would I have tv then or would I need to subscribe?

 

[JohnD]

subscribe, that's how you get the virgin box

but it might be cheap if you already have virgin cable broadband.

have a look at their website

 

[North]

Ok,I will see how much it cost.One last question,if I buy a second hand virgin box can I see free channels like bbc 1 and so without getting subscription?

 

[JohnD]

the basic version includes 1,2,3,4,5 and heaps of others. They will enable the basic version, or any other extras, on the decoder they send you, down the wires. Your decoder will come with a chip and pin card to identify you so it can be matched to the service you have paid for (or got free as part of the package). You can't buy a second-hand Virgin box with chip and pin card AFAIK it wouldn't work if you were not a customer.

have you looked at the virgin website yet?

 

[North]

OK, i went to the Virgin website and I can upgrade my package for an extra £10 a month plus £50 engineer charge. I will get lots of free channels this way but I can not afford it. I will try to connect the skybox to the satelite dish...

 

[JohnD]

you could also try your own aerial and use Freeview. I understand the Freeview Transmitters power went up when they stopped doing analogue. There is a chance an indoor aerial might work if you haven't got anywhere to fit an external aerial.