I have had 360 for a short while and to be frank I don't like it for umpteen reason including no SD channels, no way of going back on last channel, no wish lists and a bonkers remote that is not usable in the dark. Can I revert back?
Hi Arrgee1991
I wanted to take the time to reply to actually agree with you that I to, like you, don't like the new 360 Service and only "ended" up with it by accident as I didn't know that at the time of 'enquiring' it was an automatic sign up.
From day 1 of having the new service I officially hated it. Not only were all my pre-recorded, but not yet watched, programmes lost on the V6 Tivo Box but also any Series Links which meant I had to try and remember what they were and reset which is difficult when some of the programmes \ series have ended and not due again till next year.
I note that one of the replies to your question as to whether you can revert back is slightly wrong as yes you can revert back but it is not easy.
I say this from experience because as I said I absolutely hated this new System from day 1 and following lots of back and forth 'chats' on line with Customer Services and threating to leave I have finally managed to have my System reverted back to the V6 Tivo Box - which was welcomed with open arms :-).
This new System, whilst supposed to the big new thing and all encompassing is no way intuitive or user friendly and as mentioned in one of the other replies does not have a lot of the features, such as Wish Lists, finding deleted recordings, Series Links etc, as the V6 Tivo box.
I have, as I said above, preserved to get the System changed back otherwise despite the fact I would have to paid a "leaving fee" as my Contract is not due to expire yet I would have happily left.
The System is absolutely crap and useless.
I am person who is very IT literate and savvy so don't find technology and new Systems a problem but this one certainly had me frustrated from Day 1 and there were many times that I wanted to through not the Set Top Box and Remote through the window. A bit dramatic but that is how frustrated it made me.
I will say when; and if; you speak to Customer Services, either verbally via the telephone or the Web Chat, that you preserve and keep reiterating that you don't want this new System and want to revert back to the V6 Tivo System and don't take "no" as an option.
Happy to help again if you want.
There are some misunderstandings about VM's linear TV which is delivered over its DOCSIS networks, most of which is HFC whose cables into premises are coaxial, and using the V6 and 360 STBs. VM is undertaking a big project to overbuild its HFC network with fibre in order to run services using modern technology called XGS-PON, with a tight deadline of end-2028. However, there will then be an even bigger project to migrate everyone onto fibre and XGS-PON, and this won't be completed until around 2040. So, expect to see STBs for quite some time.
Although fibre and XGS-PON are undoubtedly superior to what we have today, there is a significant drawback for many, i.e. the loss of the decades-long facility to record any live TV broadcast. This is because films and TV shows which, rather than being broadcast will all be streamed (this is IPTV which doesn't work with legacy STBs), and in many cases streaming box will have no facility to make recordings. Just have a look at Sky's Stream box which enables you to (sometimes) make a cloud recording, other times you'll be directed to an app, other times you'll have nothing. The issue as I understand is that the content owner either does not permit cloud recording (typically because it has its own app) or does not have the VOD rights for that particular content to provide to Sky (and VM).
I think this is a good example of where a technology improvement of an all-IP platform is so substantial that every cableco and telco wants it but there is always a downside, and what matters is how it's dealt with.
"..the loss of the decades-long facility to record any live TV broadcast. "
One big reason I pay a small fortune for Virgin is I can record things when I go out. Not everything is on catch up/on demand. Without that, Freeview and my Fire TV stick with Now TV gives me everything I want. More, as I get Sky Atlantic that way.
If the TV turns into a streaming service, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives to Virgin.
arrgee1991 wrote:More, as I get Sky Atlantic that way.
Sky are putting increasing numbers of Atlantic shows onto Showcase the past few months.
Liberty Global will hardly want to extend TiVo's contract when it's been spending money for years in developing and supporting its Horizon 4 platform. There is bound to be a forced migration to the 360 before the end of the TiVo contract. There's nothing unique about forced migrations (VM has already done it regarding the old pre-TiVo STBs) and some will remember being forced to get a digital STB as analogue TV was being switched off.
there have been threads about forced migrations, apparent shortages of V6 capable boxes for years. If it was that costly to VM to have two platforms they would have forced the upgrade years ago.
If anyone feels like they have been misled into a move to TV360 I'd recommend raising a formal complaint as I was able to revert my boxes back last year.
wisedroid wrote:there have been threads about forced migrations, apparent shortages of V6 capable boxes for years. If it was that costly to VM to have two platforms they would have forced the upgrade years ago.
If anyone feels like they have been misled into a move to TV360 I'd recommend raising a formal complaint as I was able to revert my boxes back last year.
The maintenance of the Arris V6 box (the only one that is TiVO capable) is now reliant on the supply of spares VM can obtain to recycle them. They are no longer manufactured by Arris (courtesy of an industry insiders info). This same situation occurred with the V+HD boxes, that were in circulation for many years after they stopped manufacture.
The V6 and 360 boxes by Arris are exactly the same aren't they? Also I was under the impression, and I'm happy to be corrected, that although Humax made the early 360s for a while the only supplier now is Arris.
Not having the SD alternative is problematic as every now and again the HD Channel goes on the blink. Currently the Cricket looks like this (was fine earlier). I would record both SD and HD variants to guarantee I could watch a match.
It is totally and utterly bonkers. If I watch the stream from earlier, it is perfect. If I watch the stream of the current broadcast, it is defective! Just checking and the stream starts to be defective at 8:45:10. In the past I was told it was my box was the issue, but unless a 9 hour stream is stored on my box, that cannot be the case.
I think this is a national issue. Mine is doing this along with 527 and 104 all pixelating and breaking up. Also reports from Edinburgh area that 103 and 104 are breaking up.
For mine, I've checked diagnostics (on V6) and there are no RS errors indicating its a problem with the broadcast /transmission and not a local signal issue.
Update: Service status on the app is reporting the breaking up issue and it now appears to have been resolved at least on my setup.
Oh and on the subject of 360 I refuse to move until the most useful functionality I currently have on the V6 is available on the 360. I'm not interested in a pretty interface or the novelty of talking to my remote, functionality should be the main aim. I just want to hear that 360 finally has:
1. Series link options and behaviour that is the same as V6.
2. Wishlists - these are the most useful feature available on any platform and Virgin should be implementing and promoting this excellent feature. I would argue its actually better than having series links to be honest. For instance one of the wishlists I have setup for my father is to record all live football matches on any channel that involve West Bromwich Albion. How would you do that on 360?
3. Mini boxes - ludicrous that you can only pause for a few minutes. I have 3 V6 boxes so I would have to have an agreement that I would be able to keep all 3 boxes so that we can pause for a long time, record locally and still be able to access the recordings on the other boxes pretty much as we do at the moment.
arrgee1991 wrote:Not having the SD alternative is problematic as every now and again the HD Channel goes on the blink. Currently the Cricket looks like this (was fine earlier).
That's a service fault all day long, if happening on the live TV feed.
Check Eurosport-2HD, Sky Family HD, Sky Comedy HD, TLC-HD, Quest HD. These are all on the same broadcast mux and would be equally affected by a signal fault.
Is Sky Sports SD impacted? If not, then why can’t I watch that?
Surely it would make sense to have both SD and HD variants available for Sports channels when this happens. It is not a rare occurrence. I can live with "poorer" picture quality, if I can watch it.
Re: Eurosport-2HD, Sky Family HD, Sky Comedy HD, TLC-HD - I don’t have them.
Must be a way out of the 360 hell.
Watching Sky Sports Cricket. See below. In the past I could switch to SD. But with 360, it is NOT POSSIBLE!
Why isn’t the SD Sky Sports available? I would be better off without the HD upgrade.
Cant watch live darts, can’t watch rugby, can’t watch cricket, can’t watch F1, can’t watch racing, can’t watch Sky Mix, can’t watch TNT 1.
Status
A problem identified and an engineer has been dispatched
Estimated fix time
19 July at 23:07.
Details
You might find that some Sports Channels are freezing and going blank on your Virgin TV, V6, Virgin TV 360 or TiVo® service at the moment. We are sorry and working to resolve this as quickly as possible
I don't believe that Sky has terminated any of its SD to VM unless VM agreed to it, and why would VM want to disturb this feed which has worked for several years.
Was Sky Sports SD working whilst Sky Sports HD was failing?
And why was my post on the issue removed? Very Orwellian.
The 360 experience…. (Though ir would also happen on V6 https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Virgin-TV-V6/Sky-sports-main-event-hd-badly-pixelated/td-p/5378453). At least the 360 streams prove it isn’t my box.
Almost all problems occur between your box and cabinet, with a large percentage within the home itself (e.g. dodgy cable connections, faulty box, faulty splitter, faulty cable). However if none are applicable and you only get pixellation on channels of a particular mux, then the problem probably needs to be resolved at the central headend if stat-muxing isn't working properly.
It happens a lot with Sky Sports HD. All fine when I am there watching it, but recordings in interim mysteriously unwatchable. I then try test recording, all fine. I turn box off and on again yet every now and again the same thing happens. So on V6 I recorded sports on main event Hd and SD along with premier league HD/SD. Ditto TNT recording UHD and HD. At least this time the ropey stream proved it wasn't my box. Not much consolation though as I didn't get to watch cricket highlights.
arrgee1991 wrote:Not much consolation though as I didn't get to watch cricket highlights.
Yesterdays test match highlights are available on Sky Sports Cricket via the EPG (look for the catchup symbol next to the program title)
The highlights are also on BBC. Yesterday they were on BBC2 however today they are on BBC4. They can be accessed using the catchup feature from the EPG or via iPlayer.
Tomorrow, Sunday and Monday the test match highlights will again be on BBC2
Roger_Gooner wrote:However if none are applicable and you only get pixellation on channels of a particular mux, then the problem probably needs to be resolved at the central headend if stat-muxing isn't working properly.
Indeed so - but worth reinforcing that problems at the central or regional head-end will affect all boxes downstream of that.
Such faults tend to attract widespread attention and cause large volumes of posts on this forum. The majority of signal faults are caused by issues either in the streetcab or downstream of that.
Well I am without every channel since I updated my V6 box this morning to 360. It is very clean UI and the remote is nice but lacks the buttons that the old remote had.
Will take a while to get used to it. But basically I had so many issues upgrading my V6 box to 360 and once it was done, I had zero channels issue. Some catchup content works,, apps work fine, only thing that is not working is all of the channels!
I am seriously not happy about this.
