Virgin Media Community

[gingamonkey]

Hi,

Over the Christmas break, a problem has developed with my V6 box, whereby the image is corrupt and pixelates heavily, making some channels (but not all!?) unwatchable. Audio is fine, but the image is mashed entirely. 

Of the channels I watch, the free ones appear to work fine, such as BBC and ITV, but the channels I pay a premium for are unwatchable (*most notably the Sky Sports HD channels), meaning I've missed out on the bumper haul of football over the Christmas break. 

I've just got off the phone to technical support, who were no help whatsoever, asking me to switch HDMI ports, etc, even though the issue is obviously network side as it only affects certain channels.

I've repeatedly tried rebooting the box, even leaving it unplugged overnight and trying again the next day, etc - Still the same issue remains. 

After having broadband issues around a month ago (*which were fixed thanks to the intervention of the forum mods on here speeding up an engineer visit - Many thanks!), I'm really starting to lose my patience with the service, which up until recently has been pretty much perfect. 

The engineer who came out to fix the broadband only a matter of weeks ago, checked connections, wiring, etc, so pretty confident the issue is not on our side.

Subscription to Virgin Media services isn't cheap, and I've had nothing but trouble over the past  month, during the time of year where you rely on it more than any other. 

Hoping someone on here can help, as the call centre were pretty much no use whatsoever! The guy I spoke to on the phone was completely stumped and brushed me off by saying to try again in 24-48 hrs, even though I'd already informed him that I'd gone through this process through the online service status tool. 

Currently paying for a service that I'm not receiving. 

Any help much appreciated. Thanks!

[japitts]

Pixellated pictures on live TV are often the sign of a signal fault. If you've rebooted your box once, then there's likely a fault somewhere, so this will need VM to intervene. You're likely to need either an engineer visit or a replacement box, depending on what VM's remote diagnostics turn up.

First check the automated faults line for any existing issues in your area that could be the cause: 0800 5610061. If nothing's reported, assume VM don't know about your fault and ideally you'll need to call them.

150 from a VM phone, 0345 4541111 from any other phone - choose the options for "I have a fault with my TV service". Alternatively you can wait on here for staff to respond, which may take a day or so.

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @gingamonkey

Thank you so much for your post and welcome back to the forums, it's great to have you with us.

I am so sorry to hear that you have faced this issue with your services! I have checked and cannot see an outage in your area that could be causing this? 

Have you made sure all cables etc are secure and connected tightly? Are you able to pop the box on for us so we can run some diagnostics on our side as well? 

Thank you again. 

[gingamonkey]

Hi Ashleigh, 

Thanks for looking into this for me. I’ve power cycled a few times since I first spotted the issue, and checked connections - All good. Box is now on if you want to access it 👍🏼

What’s strange is that it’s only certain channels. For example, #501 Sky Sports Main Event HD seems fine, but #502 Sky Sports Premier League HD is a garbled unwatchable mess. 
I’d guess that if it was a connection issue, this would affect all channels?

Many thanks!

[gingamonkey]

Here's a quick snap of what I'm seeing on Channel #502 (Sky Sports Premier League HD)...

[insx]

Not sure if I'm allowed to comment as the well meaning mods around here seem to think it's a problem to sympathise with others having the same problem. Anyway, I share your frustration as someone who's been trying to get someone to do something about this all week.

[japitts]

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@gingamonkey wrote:

I’d guess that if it was a connection issue, this would affect all channels?

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Not necessarily. Digital TV platforms carry groups of channels on different frequencies - a signal fault may only be affecting certain frequencies, and so only the channels carried on those frequencies will be affected.

In your example - Sky Sports PL-HD is on a different multiplex to Sky Sports Main Event HD. If PL-HD is affected, check the following - Sky Sports Action HD, Sky Sports Football HD, More4HD, Sky Documentaries HD, Animal Planet HD, Sony Max HD, Sky Thriller HD & MTV HD

[Robert_P]

Thanks gingamonkey, from looking at the set top box it currently shows as offline. You messaged us on Thursday and we're sorry for the delays in getting back to you but is the box currently on?

Rob

[gingamonkey]

@robert_p Thanks. The box is now on again.

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @gingamonkey I'm so sorry we keep missing you when the box is on, I'm going to pop you a PM so we can arrange this a bit quicker and make sure the box is on and we can run checks for you. 

Please keep an eye out for the purple envelope in the top right corner of your screen alerting you to a new message. 

Thank you