Virgin Media Community

[GRW53]

I've never had a straightforward simple access to my Virgin programs while away from home....

Should be simple shouldn't it...?

Load the app select the program and watch.... until you find the app won't run on the device you have. so you try to access through a browser, only to find that browser isn't compatible with sky...so you then download another browser  or try to,  but because you are tethering to your virgin phone  it takes forever so you give up with that option.

You then decide to watch something that doesn't rely on a sky player, only to find that you're blocked due to copyright ...

You end up watching the channels that you don't need virgin for in the first place...

Why is Virgin so crap..?

Virgin shout about watching virgin wherever you GO......but in reality, Virgin rely on every other provider's software/apps and you never know whether what you have is end to end compatible until you try it and 9 time out of 10, it isn't....

I believe the packages offered by Virgin are probably the best value for money on the market BUT have always been let down by their amateur approach to TV on the GO....they have never got it right and they have never listed a compatible device from which all providers and all programs can be accessed from.....

[japitts]

What is it that you're trying to watch? Live channels, recorded programmes or OnDemand?

If live channels, which ones?

What devices are you having problems using with which app?

You haven't provided the detail to enable anyone to offer any substantial advice.

[GRW53]

Thanks for the reply..... However, all I can say is that if the solution to platform compatibility is dependant on the channel you watch then I rest my case. 

In addition, if I can watch channels through my virgin set top box, which I can't watch through TV Go on my lap top due to copyright blocking, then it's a Virgin issue.

As an aside, you would think that an  LG Smart TV hooked up to the internet would be ideal for watching Virgin online, until you find the app isn't in the app store and can't be loaded and the browser won't run live TV from the Virgin website due to incompatibility. Perhaps the Virgin solution is to replace the TV....?

[japitts]

Without any specific details of what your issue is, then as far as help is concerned, this thread will go nowhere.

If it is assistance you're seeking, please post some specifics.

[GRW53]

Thanks for the reply...

I did outline a specific example of what happened two days ago when I first tried to watch Virgin over the net, so I'll try and be more specific.

Example 1.

In our holiday accommodation there is an LG Smart TV.

I set my Virgin phone to hotspot and connect the TV to it over WIFI.

I then loaded various apps to check it was linked ok and yes Netflix, prime etc all working.

Tried to download the Virgin app from the LG app store but the app doesn't exist.

I then went to the TV's browser and got thru to TV GO through the browser and logged on to my Virgin account.

I then clicked on a programme to watch and received the message that I would need a different browser as it wasn't compatible with the Virgin player.

Shops were shut by now so starting a fresh and having a laptop with me, the next day I purchased an HDMI lead and connected the laptop to the TV.

I then loaded and logged onto Virgin on the laptop and accessed live TV which we could then watch on the LG TV.

I now selected Alibi HD to watch Major Crimes and received a Copyright infringement message. So couldn't watch that.

The program that followed was Death in Paradise which transmitted ok but was cut short at the end with another Copyright Infringement message for the program that followed ..Rizolli and Isles...

I then selected sky sports, still thru Virgin TV Go and was asked to exit Virgin to watch which I did. I logged in and then had to download a sky player... By this time I was losing the will to live.... 

After some faffing around, I then got the cricket up on my lap top.. however, despite having watched Death in Paradise completely ok, other than not seeing the end because of the copyright issue, the sky player proceeded to sway between a good picture to stuttering the sound, buffering and pixelation....

Got fed up with this so dumped Virgin and watched a film on Netflix.

So summary.... Virgin app isn't available on LG and the LG Browser isn't compatible with the Virgin player available through the Virgin website.

Major Crimes and Rizolli and isles not available due to copyright infringement 

The Sky Player seems to add so many layers the channels were more or less unwatchable.(although the quality is better today..not as good as watching a Virgin channel but better)

Why did I say Virgin TV GO is crap..?

Easy...if Virgin offer a platform to watch exactly what we get at home, while travelling away, then their software should take care of the different platforms it needs to connect to.....ALTERNATIVELY, everytime Virgin mentions TV GO, there should be attached pages of what it's not compatible with and also any measures the customer can take to overcome incompatibilities....

Graham

[japitts]

I've just tried watching those programmes on Alibi via TV Go and they've played fine. I suspect the problem here is that you're trying to (effectively) cast from the mobile device to another device - that's never been supported. Can you watch the programmes on the same device you are running the app on?

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@GRW53 wrote:

I then selected sky sports, still thru Virgin TV Go and was asked to exit Virgin to watch which I did. I logged in and then had to download a sky player...

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TV Go carries all supported channels apart from Sky Sports, for which it has a shortcut. Once the Sky Sports app is installed on your device, it's one click from TV Go to launch it. If you want to complain about why Sky Sports isn't available in TV Go, you'll need to direct that complaint at Sky. Historically Sky Cinema wasn't available in TV Go, but since a year or so it has been - this is/was a Sky restriction, not a Virgin Media one.

Your complications appear, to me at least, to be caused by trying to view programmes via a back-door method to your LG-TV - VM's app is not intended for this use. To watch VM's service on a TV, you need to connect a set-top-box to it by an HDMI lead.

[GRW53]

Thanks again for the reply but you've obviously not understood the hook up and you only seem to be focused on the copy right issue. 

However, focusing on your reply...I'm not casting anything and I'm not running the app. 

I have a laptop which is logged into a Virgin website and I'm running programs on my laptop from the Virgin website. As far as I'm aware, there is no app that will run under chrome or edge.

I've connected the lap top to the LG TV thru an HDMI lead.....

Hope that helps your understanding.

However why is there no app that I can download direct to the LG TV..?

Then I wouldn't need the laptop...

( NB. The only think the mobile is providing is the hotspot for broadband which isn't so broad)

[Ernie_C]

What you don’t seem to be accepting is that mobile apps such as the Virgin TV Go app are provided to give limited access to mobile devices, such as phones and tablets, not to provide additional TVs access to Virgin Media services. That is reserved for set top boxes, such as the V6 TiVo and TV 360.

Connecting a PC via HDMI to a TV is also not allowed because of the possibility of copying copyright material.

[GRW53]

What total nonsense..... If that's the case direct me to the 'limitation statements'that Virgin publish...

What we have is a half baked idea, poorly implemented and pushed out to Virgin customers as it's solution for flexible watching.

How do you think Netflix operate..?

You can download the app and watch anywhere you go. Virgin you can't....

Your shovelling the same pile as Virgin....

Thanks for your insightful insight.

Graham...

[Ernie_C]

Unfortunately, Netflix and Virgin Media are entirely different businesses.

For my last statement.

You can’t do what you want to do. If you don’t like that then you will need to go elsewhere.

I wonder if Sky Go allows you to do what you want? Mmmm…