Pixelating on new Virgin 360 box

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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I recently got a Virgin 360 box and some channels are pixelating.

Most are ok. Channel 4 and BBC 2 were very bad. There was a bit on RTE 1 but it seems ok.

I switched off the box and switched it back on, but the problem persists.

Brendan
 
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Try unplugging or switching off anything electrical near the Virgin box or TV.
Especially anything emmiting signals such as WiFi devices, Chromecast, mobile phones and chargers.

I recently had a pixelating problem which was being caused by a Chromecast.
 
If you ring them they can send a signal boost / refresh from their end which sometimes fixes weird quirks like that.
 
Thanks fizzy, I will do that tomorrow. I was hoping to avoid hanging on the phone for half an hour.

I did try this and my connections are fine.

Brendan

Troubleshooting help
Let's check your box's connectivity to our network by going into the diagnostics section of the box

You can get there by simply selecting settings and then diagnostics.There are two screens so ensure to scroll down

If you see a warning symbol on any of these connection steps then this is likely the cause of your fault A quick reboot is always a good first step to resolve any fault but if you have already done this and still have the issue then its best to contact us so we can help you resolve the fault .
 
If you ring first thing can be lucky and get through quickly.

I’ve fixed issues like this over X/Twitter DMs before which avoided ringing them.

They also have an online chat option now too but I’ve not had success with that myself as yet: https://www.virginmedia.ie/contact/

The general troubleshooting stuff has never worked for quirky issues like this for me. A refresh from Virgin’s end has worked alright or for problems that persisted they needed a new box (although that was older box types, have 360 box 3 years so far touch wood)
 
I rang at 9.08 this morning and waited 24 minutes for a response. (The message said that the wait was 10 minutes.)

They looked at the history of the signal over the past two weeks and could see that it was not "being pushed through to the box" so they are sending a technician out.

Brendan
 
They have just sent me a text with an appointment for the 13th March - two weeks away.

I don't think that there is anything I can do to get it done faster. I can't spend another 20 minutes on the phone waiting only to be told that this is the earliest.

Very poor from Virgin Media.

Brendan
 
That's very technical "not being pushed through to the box" - I wonder what it means?
 
@jpd

The signal into the yoke on the wall is ok.
But it's deteriorating between the yoke on the wall and the box.

I have an old NTL yoke on the wall so I suspect they will replace that.

Brendan
 
Have you tried a WiFi speedtest on your phone while standing next to your tv? It won’t help your problem, but in order to stream HD tv, you will need to be getting about 25Mbps. If you have a 4K tv, your phone will need to be showing about 40Mbps.

I recently switched to Virgin for tv and also have the 360 box. I had some buffering issues, but turning off the Google Chromecast, which I no longer use, and a couple of (automatic) firmware upgrades for the 360 seemed to have stopped it. When I do a speedtest I get about 45Mbps. My modem is in an upstairs office.

One thing I discovered today is that I can’t record programs unless I upgrade. I will be phoning them tomorrow. Not good.

D.
 
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Hi Dinarius

I saw a Virgin VAn next door, so I went in and they told me that there was a poor signal coming in to both houses. They said that was my problem despite the woman on the phone telling me that I was getting a good signal.

But the guy called out anyway on the 13th and tested the signal everywhere and said it was very poor. That when the "outside guy" comes and fixes the signal, it will be fixed.

Since I first posted about this, the problem has lessened to the point of my not noticing it.

Brendan
 
Hi Dinarius

It's a regular box connected to the router by a cable.

The Virgins came out on Friday and found a problem affecting the signal on the whole street. They fixed it.

But since then I have been seeing occasional pixelating again.

I rebooted the box so I will see if it's still happening.

Brendan
 
Brendan,

Thanks for the clarification. That's not what you would expect from a box connected by cable. Should be no issues given the strength of the signal the box is getting.

Would be no harm in doing a signal speed test by connecting a computer to the router by cable. We're signed up to 500Mbps BB and I have two computers connected by cable to the router in an upstairs office. (The rest of the house runs off WiFi, including the TV.) Speed tests on both show 500Mbps., so no issues there.

Our problem is occasional buffering TV and also, we can't record programs using our Apollo 360 streaming box, something they're "working on", but still charging us for.

Hopefully, they sort it for you.

D.
 
You might need your internal cable and old Ntl outlet box replaced. I wouldn't bother doing more tests - just get them back out if not happy.
 
theresa1 said:
You might need your internal cable and old Ntl outlet box replaced. I wouldn't bother doing more tests - just get them back out if not happy.
Click to expand...
Hi Theresa,

Not clear which of us you're referring to.

If it's me, the external cable and the entry point in the wall (in my upstairs office) were both replaced when I signed up to TV a couple of weeks ago. I've been with Virgin BB for years and I've never had an issue with it. Problems only started with the 360 Apollo TV box, despite 45-50Mbps speed test readings on my phone in the TV room - more than enough for 4K TV, never mind the HD TV we have.

Thanks.

D.
 
theresa1 said:
You might need your internal cable and old Ntl outlet box replaced.
Click to expand...

Hi theresa

The Virgin guy did replace these when he called.

I don't watch enough TV to know how persistent the problem is. So I won't report it yet.

It's painful waiting for half an hour to get through to them to book an appointment.

Brendan
 
en.wikipedia.org

BBC Four - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
On 26 May 2022, the BBC announced plans to discontinue BBC Four as a broadcast channel within "the next few years", as part of plans to streamline and modify services to create a "digital-first" BBC. In March 2023, it was reported that the BBC was considering a reversal of the decision, citing its viewership and low cost of operation, and concerns that the relaunch of BBC Three as a linear channel had not been successful: the aforementioned cuts to original programming had reduced its budget by half in comparison to 2017, and the channel's reach in February 2023 was 15.8 million—which was 50% higher than BBC Three in the same month.
Click to expand...
 
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