NTL box won't work while TV is on - heard of this problem???

rossyl · 26 Jul 2007 at 08:52

Hi,

Got a Sharp 42 XD1E and a Samsung NTL box (the silver one).

The box is extremely tempramental and will sometimes work for a day then not work for a week. However whenever an engineer comes around it works! Sod's law i guess.

Today it was working when the engineer came round, but then stopped when the TV came on and later started working. He said it was due to maybe the TV warming up that it started working. Yet sometimes after 4 hours of the TV being on the damn box won't work.

I'm not entirely convinced as sometimes the box won't work for days on end, every other remote controlled item in the same location as the NTL box works perfectly.

Anyone else heard of this problem?

Thanks

Thebug · 26 Jul 2007 at 09:03

I would demand it to be replaced, afterall the engineer has seen the fault.

Or tell them you are going to cancel your subsciption as you cant use it when you want to.

rossyl · 26 Jul 2007 at 09:05

the engineer said getting a V+ box would fix it! Suprisingly that costs £150 to install, and £5 per month.

But thinking I may have to demand one, and say we'll pay the £5 a month but not the installation.

Thebug · 26 Jul 2007 at 09:07

Its worth a try - just keep on to them, they can be prety good at times.

Dave M · 26 Jul 2007 at 09:18

Document every failure including date and times - if they won't give you satisfaction this will be the basis for you cancelling the contract (due to their breach).

InsomniaCalls · 26 Jul 2007 at 10:16

rossyl said:
the engineer said getting a V+ box would fix it! Suprisingly that costs £150 to install, and £5 per month.

But thinking I may have to demand one, and say we'll pay the £5 a month but not the installation.

They used to be free. Can't be that difficult to get one for nothing nowadays.

Werewolf · 26 Jul 2007 at 10:27

When you say everything else with a remote works, is it the box not responding to the remote?

IIRC it's a known issue with some IR receivers and some LCD back lights (not to mention energy saving bulbs).
The Cable boxes use a slightly different frequency to a lot of other IR remotes, and use a version of IRDA (computer IR comms) which unfortunately tends to make them a bit more sensitive

As Telescopi says, if you document everything you should have a good chance of getting out of the contract if it doesn't clear up.
One thing I would suggest (and this will sound mad), if it is the remote not working, try putting something just about the IR sensor on the cable box to see if shielding the sensor from the TV help.

I doubt changing to a V+ box would help, as if it is the IR signals from the remote being interferred with, the V+ box uses the same basic remote/codes (indeed you can use the same blue V/ntl box remotes to control basic functions on the V+).

whitecrook · 27 Jul 2007 at 22:26

If you have a DECT cordless phone nearby move it at least a a few metres away, these can cause problems with boxes, more so with the Samsungs.

View the diagnostics :

Unplug the cable feed first, then hold down the CH+ & CH- keys while the while plugging in the power cable (i.e boot up)
When the display shows Ld14 let go of the keys and the STB wil go into diagnostics mode. Press the buttons and look through till you find the log.

Might find something that indicates the problem there. Note you aren't supposed to be doing these things, so don't mention it to the engineer .....