Owners of UK ISP BT’s latest set-top-box hardware for their broadband-based Pay TV (IPTV) service – TV Box Pro – have recently begun complaining about a series of new bugs related to problems with recordings (e.g. scheduled recordings failing to record) and some apps not working. But there’s a partial fix.

The new kit officially launched last June 2021 and brought with it various improvements, such as the addition of High Dynamic Range (HDR) video quality and WiFi connectivity, as well as 1TB of storage, Dolby Atmos audio, a Bluetooth remote and the integration of four TV tuners (i.e. allowing customers to record up to 3 shows and watch a fourth simultaneously).

However, toward the end of last month, a number of customers with the new kit began reporting problems (BT Community Forum) when trying to set future recordings on a schedule, which tended to fail with an error. Similarly, others who had previously been able to set scheduled recordings found that they were now showing with a “Scheduling Problem.”

BT appears to have attempted to resolve the issue with a “partial” firmware fix on 1st March 2022 (here), but some customers are still reporting issues, which in the odd case also appears to have made some subscription channels inaccessible.

A BT Support Agent said:

“A small number of customers using our BT TV Box Pro may be unable to record or set viewing reminders … Impacted recordings will, unfortunately, show as failed, however, the BT TV box will look to recommend if the programme is available elsewhere and catch-up services continue to be available. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this matter causes those impacted and can confirm recordings and reminders after 1st March will be unaffected.”

BT’s Community Manager, SeanD, has today posted an update for those still experiencing problems, which recommends that a reboot (power cycle) will resolve the issue. The easiest way to do this is just to switch the box off at the plug for a minute, or you can hold down the BT power button on the front of the box until it restarts.

“This will resolve all issues from today onwards, however, recordings from yesterday will still be affected. Please look back into the programme guide to see whether the programme you wanted to record is available on catch up. There will be a ‘play’ button to show if it is available,” said Sean.

not only the pro box , i have a t4000 and t2000 with similar problems an update come down but don’t know if it sorted out the problem as i only occasionally happened

Yeah this impacted my recordings on Saturday evening and again yesterday.

I was impressed with how this was handled, once it became clear the issue was widespread they (BT) sent a text message alerting me to the issue and potential fix. Having been with Sky for years and experienced their sheer unwillingness to admit to ANY problems, let alone fix them quickly; it’s refreshing to see a TV provider admit openly to an issue.

I will say that the BT Pro TV Box is quite a nice looking box as well. Shame you have to have BT broadband to use it though. At least they seem to have acknowledged the issue and tried to fix it yes.

BT have yet to fix the WiFi connection issues with the Pro Box which have been ongoing for several months. I just don’t understand why they seem unable to fix this issue.

Hi Jezza, what wifi connection issues are you experiencing that have been ongoing for months? Does it not connect, lose connection or is the quality just really poor when it’s connected?

i thought BT was doing away with this T.V lark?

Nope, I think you’ve misunderstood the stories about BT Sport .

I have not heard any stories about BT sport, but I thought with Plusnet doing away with their TV, BT would ad as well.

So it seems as if this new box is as bad as the old You view boxes.

Recording off air uses the DVB start sent by the broadcasters. So if schedule changes it’s picked up ok.

Recording from the IP stream I guess uses clock time to start the recordings. If the schedule changes, recordings will be impacted.

Especially noticed in last month or so with lots of changes to schedules due to current events.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.