Vodafone TV - new Gen2 box

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#2628805 1-Jan-2021 01:17

Just a little input after reading pretty much all of this long thread.

We killed our Sky subscription around 16 months ago. I elected to replace our MySky box with a DishTv satellite PVR box. I was aware of the SD limitation on the Freeview channels via the Sky dish, but figured we could live with it. We did until recently when I moved to a Panasonic HX950 4K TV. The SD Sky dish feed looked like complete sh*t.

Fast forward to the Boxing Day sales, Warehouse Stationary had the VTV box for $119, they were sold out but NL price matched. We're on fibre, connected via ethernet. Set-up took 10 minutes, the picture quality is stunning, the DRM recording restrictions are frustrating but not Vodafone's fault. We have Netflix, Neon, Amazon Prime and HDFY so movies and series not recordable on VTV are always available elsewhere.

After a week, we haven't had one glitch/issue/problem. The VTV box seems rock-solid, my wife loves it 😀

My legacy Logitech Harmony 785 remote wouldn't pick up the VTV box, the old Logitech Harmony remote software doesn't have the VTV box (NZ-512) available in the database. I spent a couple of hours trying to teach the 785 the VTV remote commands, but it just wouldn't happen. TBH the 785 remote was pretty tired, ready to retire, I had a new Logitech 650 tucked away from a bargain sale buy around 7 years ago. Set that up tonight with the MyHarmony app, working perfectly now on the VTV box.

For me the recurrent theme from this thread is Vodafone NZ's buy-in, their desire to listen, be involved and take on board suggestions and problems. For us personally it's early days but the VTV box is a revelation. It does what is sets out to do, is intuitive, and Vodafone NZ seem absolutely committed to making it work.

SteveC

stevec
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#2628858 1-Jan-2021 11:30

@kiwigeezer: After a week, we haven't had one glitch/issue/problem. The VTV box seems rock-solid, my wife loves it 😀

We have had ours about six months. There have been a few glitches, but no showstoppers. Far fewer glitches than our Dish TV terrestrial box in our bedroom (that we only use for an hour a day). (Having said that, the frequent glitches on the Dish TV box are each even less significant that the VTV.)

Does the Harmony 650 improve usability of the VTV? I have fallen in love with the Bluetooth remote, but really dislike the VTV user interface. If programming our Harmony could mean less than seven clicks to open Three On Demand or YouTube, then I might condescend to picking up the remote to point it at the TV again!
(We use the VTV for 80% of what we do, TV remote for everything else.)

I join you in hoping Vodafone Aotearoa will keep supporting and developing this device. DLNA / Chromecast / Miracast / whatever you call it is top of my wish-list.

Cheers! Steve

DjShadow

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#2628886 1-Jan-2021 13:30

SteveC:
@kiwigeezer: After a week, we haven't had one glitch/issue/problem. The VTV box seems rock-solid, my wife loves it 😀

We have had ours about six months. There have been a few glitches, but no showstoppers. Far fewer glitches than our Dish TV terrestrial box in our bedroom (that we only use for an hour a day). (Having said that, the frequent glitches on the Dish TV box are each even less significant that the VTV.)

Does the Harmony 650 improve usability of the VTV? I have fallen in love with the Bluetooth remote, but really dislike the VTV user interface. If programming our Harmony could mean less than seven clicks to open Three On Demand or YouTube, then I might condescend to picking up the remote to point it at the TV again!
(We use the VTV for 80% of what we do, TV remote for everything else.)

I join you in hoping Vodafone Aotearoa will keep supporting and developing this device. DLNA / Chromecast / Miracast / whatever you call it is top of my wish-list.

Cheers! Steve

They are about to change all the DVB-C users over to VTV so I can only assume they will continue to invest/support it. The big update I'd like to see is getting channels upgraded to HD which Sky/Freeview have already done

SteveC

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#2628897 1-Jan-2021 14:04

@DjShadow:
They are about to change all the DVB-C users over to VTV. --- snip ---

Has a T-Box termination day been suggested? We might need to finish watching a backlog of movies we have recorded on our legacy one that Vodafone let us keep watching recordings from!

I wonder what they do with all those 500 gig hard disks? 500 gigs has it place in the world of cloud-first storage.

:-)

DjShadow

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#2628907 1-Jan-2021 14:27

SteveC:
@DjShadow:

They are about to change all the DVB-C users over to VTV. --- snip ---

Has a T-Box termination day been suggested? We might need to finish watching a backlog of movies we have recorded on our legacy one that Vodafone let us keep watching recordings from!

I wonder what they do with all those 500 gig hard disks? 500 gigs has it place in the world of cloud-first storage.

:-)

Soon going by this FAQ: HFC TV Upgrade FAQ (vodafone.co.nz), this is also going to include removing any DOCSIS 2.0 and 3.0 modems as well so the only thing running on the Cable network will be DOCSIS3.1, no POTS or DVB-C

sansom

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#2628979 1-Jan-2021 18:11

Hi @SteveC and @DjShadow,

A technician needs to visit every house to remove the Tbox, remove any splitters, cap off any tails and install the DS3.1 modem and Gen2 VTV box, and provision their existing services at no cost to the customer and with no increase to their monthly subscription pricing.

We're doing this using a suburb-by-suburb approach and Downers supply our techs. We are contacting all Tbox and DOCSIS 2.0 broadband customers using a direct mail letter the month prior to when the techs will be in their suburb. We then call the customer to arrange the technician visit date and time. This programme of activity will ramp up between February and May, but we have started small with a January upgrade run for customers in Miramar, Wellington and customers near the New Brighton suburb in Christchurch.

Given this is off-topic for Gen2 VTV could one of you kindly raise a new question thread on GZ and I'll re-post this response and manage this topic separately there?

Hamish

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DjShadow

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#2631099 6-Jan-2021 12:14

@sansom can you by chance provide an update on getting channels upgraded to HD that Sky/Freeview already have in HD?

pristle

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#2631794 7-Jan-2021 15:17

Had a very weird glitch last week where exiting the Netflix app, VTV was unable to show any channel, just a blank screen. I could browse the guide, open Neon, Netflix etc. Just not watch TV.

Power cycled it from the remote, nada. Power cycled with removal of power pack, still nada. I then figured if I can't watch 'live' TV, perhaps I can catch up with a 'recorded' program. That worked. I then pressed exit to return to 'live' TV and hey presto! we were back in business.

Just a little FYI should anyone else find the same quirk, which I suspect may be the case.

Now all I need to sort is the billing, since I did the switch over from Sky I've been billed without loyalty discount being applied. I queried it the first month and the team member said that they'd made the change to my account. They then applied the credit against my BB account and not my VTV account (weirdly forced to be separate as part of the switchover deal).

Also since the switch over I also seem to paying $30 more for internet and Sky. Sick of trying to resolve it over the phone, perhaps a change is in our future.

IvanPiacun

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#2631956 7-Jan-2021 17:57

pristle:

Had a very weird glitch last week where exiting the Netflix app, VTV was unable to show any channel, just a blank screen. I could browse the guide, open Neon, Netflix etc. Just not watch TV.

This would have been when all the channels stopped working for a while for everyone.

Ivan Piacun CITPNZ

Baldrick

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#2634786 13-Jan-2021 12:20

Any answers yet on the rest of Sky's HD channels being rolled out?

pristle

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#2634815 13-Jan-2021 12:57

IvanPiacun:

pristle:

Had a very weird glitch last week where exiting the Netflix app, VTV was unable to show any channel, just a blank screen. I could browse the guide, open Neon, Netflix etc. Just not watch TV.

This would have been when all the channels stopped working for a while for everyone.

No. Have experienced a few times since then. It seems to happen when we've watched two different shows on Netflix and then exited back into 'normal TV'.

Pick a show in the 'Recordings' list, then exit and then all returns to normal.

Quic Broadband

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SteveC

stevec
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#2634836 13-Jan-2021 13:55

@pristle: No. Have experienced a few times since then. It seems to happen when we've watched two different shows on Netflix and then exited back into 'normal TV'.

Pick a show in the 'Recordings' list, then exit and then all returns to normal.

This 'feature' has popped up a few times in the preceding 158ish pages! We have had it two or three times in six months and we don't have any paid subscription services, but might have been related to using One or Three on-demand apps.

Thanks for the tip re opening and closing a recorded show. Will try that.

Steve

rugrat

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#2634843 13-Jan-2021 14:03

I have started using VFTV again. TVNZ have moved backwards on it, but looks like TV3 have become better on it.

Quite a few movies on TV 3 are recordable and to my surprise Tin Star season 3 is as well. Didn’t realise it was on so catching up with three now, and will watch rest from recordings.

Also Netflix runs good on it, so is a reliable way to watch as well as AppleTV since wifi has gone to crap on TV (another thread).

Kickass

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#2636367 16-Jan-2021 09:22

Baldrick:

Any answers yet on the rest of Sky's HD channels being rolled out?

I would also like to know this. I also see Vodafone globally has updated the interfaces in Romania and Hungary which recently launched the same VFTV TV service - is there any news on any major updates coming soon to NZ?

Other items on my wishlist - OnDemand 5.1 Sound? VFTV App has not been updated for over a year now - any news on this?

Thanks

sansom

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#2636409 16-Jan-2021 11:50

Hi ,

We don't have a date for additional HD channels beyond the current lineup. It's a large cost in a year where we have to prioritise other significant investments (eg replacement VTV boxes for T-Box users). Another large investment is the migration of all the various ways we deliver TV at Vodafone (Sky Reseller, T-Box, older VTV bundled with broadband) to all use VTV managed on a common IT stack. Once we've achieved this consolidation of all TV products to one system (which will take the better part of this year) further investments in the VTV platform will be much easier to justify.

Despite all of this, we are seeking to be able to perform a VTV platform upgrade (which will be to the same version @Kickass has observed in Hungary & Romania) later this year. This will include an update to the mobile app also.

Finally, The On Demand movies and shows are provided pre-encoded in Stereo 2.0 by Sky. This is Sky's choice, but I'll ask them again to review their decision.

Hamish

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