V+ Can i get freeview on a V+ box by rooftop aerial?

hoffy12 · 11-03-2011, 21:10

Hi, i left Virgin about 6 months ago, and i own the V+ box. I have moved into a house with no virgin connected to the house, but have noticed on the back of the V+ box that there are 2 aerial ports, 1 for the Antenna/aerial, and one to connect to the tv, which i assume can be used for freeview.

I have connected the aerial lead from my rooftop, as if it was a freeview box, connected a scart from the box to the tv, pressed reset on the front of the box, but no channels come up, just the 'Virgin Media' sign! Does this box need to be connected to a Virgin Fiberoptic connection for this to work, or am i doing something wrong.

Thanks in advance
Hoffy

Stephen · 11-03-2011, 21:27

No you can't get freeview on a V+.

Also you don't own the V+ Virgin should have collected it and may charge you for it.

Peter_ · 11-03-2011, 21:29

It will not work on an Aerial it has to be connected to the Virginmedia network and even then the is no guarantee that it will work and if it does you will not receive many channels.

Go to ASDA or similar and buy a cheap freeview box and connect it to your aerial.

Also with it being a V+ box it will not work as it needs the V+ service to active on a Virginmedia account.

hoffy12 · 11-03-2011, 21:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

No you can't get freeview on a V+.

Also you don't own the V+ Virgin should have collected it and may charge you for it.

I do own it, paid Â£35 for it, and have the purchase on a bill to prove it. Heard that alot on this site, but there are people like myself who have actually purchased the V+ box from Virgin, to stop being charged Â£5 a month for the rental, that was about 1-2 years ago.

Oh well,, shame i cant get freeview,not sure why the sockets are on there in the 1st place, i'll have to go out and buy a Freeview box!

thanks for you help.

**Chris** · 11-03-2011, 21:54

The reason you hear it a lot on this site is that the overwhelming majority of cable boxes, whether branded Virgin, NTL or Telewest, were only ever rented to their users and not sold or given away.

VM muddied the waters when they started charging people a contribution towards the cost of certain boxes. As the cost of your box was way in excess of the Â£35 you paid, I would personally be looking to satisfy myself that I did actually buy it, and not just pay a one-off rental charge.

Not that it matters much either way ... It's as useful as a doorstop without a cable point to connect it to.

Stephen · 11-03-2011, 22:08

You don't actually own it, all you paid was effectively an up front charge to avoid the Â£5 a month. The stb is still property of Virgin Media.

The stb costs a lot more than Â£35, to purchase.

moowow! · 11-03-2011, 22:23

i always wondered how much it actually cost to make these set top boxes

Stuart · 12-03-2011, 00:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoffy12

I do own it, paid Â£35 for it, and have the purchase on a bill to prove it. Heard that alot on this site, but there are people like myself who have actually purchased the V+ box from Virgin, to stop being charged Â£5 a month for the rental, that was about 1-2 years ago.

Oh well,, shame i cant get freeview,not sure why the sockets are on there in the 1st place, i'll have to go out and buy a Freeview box!

thanks for you help.

As I undsetand it, these Â£35 charges operated in a similar way to the lifetime subscription on Tivo Series 1.

With that, you paid Â£200 as a one off fee, instead of the Â£10 per month. This was after you had already purchased the box (which was another Â£200 IIRC).

VM's charge was instead of their Â£5 per month charge and, in the same way as the Tivo box, did not include the purchase of the box. After all, why would you want to purchase something that if you stopped paying the subs to Virgin, you'd be unable to use?

Yes, I know that VM haven't stated that you can't use the VM boxes with no subscription, so a lot of people assume it it will pick up freeview signals (in much the same way as if you cancel your Sky subscription, the box will still pick up FTA satellite broadcasts).

RobboEdin · 12-03-2011, 12:59

This thread does not make sense as there was never a Â£5 charge for V+ which could be waived by paying some sort of one-off charge.

When V+ first came out there was a monthly charge of Â£10 per month on TV XL and Â£15 on lower packages.

When the pricing was changed, allowing existing customers to pay a 'conversion' fee, the monthly charges became (and still are) zero on TV XL and Â£5 on lesser TV packages.

There was NEVER a Â£5 per month charge for V+ which could be waived by paying some fee.

Lew · 12-03-2011, 17:39

I think the people who were able to pay up-front and waive the fee were Telewest customers with TVDrive boxes.

RobboEdin · 12-03-2011, 18:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lew

I think the people who were able to pay up-front and waive the fee were Telewest customers with TVDrive boxes.

Not true. There never was such an option. It is as I said in my previous post.

BTW I am a TeleWest customer with a TVDrive, installed at general release in March 2006.

**Chris** · 12-03-2011, 19:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobboEdin

It is as I said in my previous post.

Why are you so sure of that? The OP is equally sure that he paid VM for the V+ that is in his possession. He even says he has paperwork to prove it.

The OP may well be misunderstanding what that Â£35 entitles him to, but I don't see anything here so far that justifies you claiming that the thread does not make sense.

pythagoras · 12-03-2011, 19:30

You could have the Â£10 fee waved if you had the xl tv package and paid a fee of Â£150. I went through retentions and they charged Â£150 and then credited Â£150 as a sign of good will to save me Â£10 a month.

Heres others that got a similar deal:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34...fair-deal.html

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/11...ge-page-3.html

Regards

John.

Just found proof:

http://replay.waybackmachine.org/200...rs/v_plus.html

RobboEdin · 12-03-2011, 21:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

Why are you so sure of that? The OP is equally sure that he paid VM for the V+ that is in his possession. He even says he has paperwork to prove it.

The OP may well be misunderstanding what that Â£35 entitles him to, but I don't see anything here so far that justifies you claiming that the thread does not make sense.

Sorry perhaps my English was not good. The part that does not make sense is that there has never been a Â£5 charge for V+ that could be waived by paying a one-off charge.

Those that claim they have bought a V+ are indeed misunderstanding and, although many say they have documented proof, no-one has ever come up with this proof when asked to provide it as corroboration on fora such as this.

WillPS · 14-03-2011, 12:17

Just my view - but I think the 'having their cake and eating it' method VM employ at the moment is seriously screwy; charging a fee for the equipment upfront (or 'activation' or whatever) and also charging a rental in a bill is wrong.

Charge for installation - fair enough.
Charge for the equipment month by month or upfront - fair enough.

Charging for "activation" of HD - total ********.