Tvfox Antenna

[jean17]

Hi, I've received my indoor tvfox antenna. I saw an advert on Facebook for this product and stupidly sent off for one (could of got it a whole lot cheaper from Amazon) with this product I am receiving LESS channels than I was BEFORE and I even LOST MY FAVOURITE CHANNELS. I cant send it back because I also stupidly removed the label back of sticker on aerial and stuck it on my wall BEFORE testing and not its got paint plaster attached. I thought I would be able to get SKY channels with it, no. Can anyone tell me if I purchased a booster for this would it help me get more channels and not LOSE the channels I already have on Freeview,HD. Thanks in advance for any replies.

[Buenchico]

Despite all of the hype, it's just an indoor TV aerial with an integrated amplifier. If you were already receiving all of the channels indicated by the postcode search facility here
https://www.freeview.co.uk/channels-at-your-address
then no type of aerial is going to increase that number.

Youquote[might] be able to get back to where you were before by using an additional booster but the 'noise' injected into a signal by each of the two amplifiers you'd then be using could possibly be a problem. (The textbooks say that you should never have two amplifiers working together because of such 'noise' problems. However I've actually got three signal boosters in my aerial cable and I get a perfect signal, so you might also get away with it).

The only way that you can get a selection of Sky channels (without installing a satellite dish and paying for a Sky subscription) is to get a Now TV box and pay £7.99 per month for an 'Entertainment Pass'. (The box costs £19.99, including a free pass for the first 2 months: http://www.nowtv.com/box-bundles . There's no ongoing commitment to use the service). That gets you Sky 1, Sky Arts, Sky Atlantic and Sky Living, as well as Gold, Comedy Central, Fox, MTV, ABC Studios, Discovery Channel and Nat Geo Wild. (There are also other passes available for sports and films. Note that you need an 'uncapped' broadband service because the signal comes via your router, rather than through an aerial)

[Buenchico]

^^^ I've no idea how the word 'quote' got inserted there!

As I'm typing now anyway, I'll mention that I omitted ITV Encore from the list of channels you can get with a Now TV Entertainment Pass. I'll also mention that, even if you've not got any valid pass, the box also turns a 'non-smart' TV into a 'smart' one, by allowing you to view catchup services (such as BBC iPlayer) on your telly, together with other things (such as Youtube videos).

[hc4361]

Can you post a link to the advert? If it says you will get Sky you can get your money back whether you have the box or not. It is not as described or fit for purpose.

[sunny-dave]

I kept getting a pop-up on Facebook trying to sell me this aerial - making all sorts of wildly optimistic claims about pulling in extra channels.

So I had a good look at what it actually is and what the reviews say : essentially it's a not very special indoor TV aerial - without even any tricksy electronics, just a fairly standard bit of kit in a fancy design.

It will never be as good as any outdoor (or even loft) aerial that is pointed reasonably accurately at the transmitter. It will just be as good/bad as any other indoor aerial - highly dependent on trial and error positioning within your room.

As to whether a booster would help, it is very much 'suck it and see' - if you are getting a decent signal quality, but only a low signal power then a booster will help. If the quality is low then no booster can help you - you are just amplifying mush.

If you could get a booster on a 'free returns' basis then it might be worth trying, but otherwise probably not.

I personally think the TVFox is excessively hyped and oversold - I think they are (very) close to making unsustainable claims about the product - certainly the implication that you can get satellite channels is just rubbish - it doesn't work like that in the UK.

You should demand a refund on the basis of false advertising, even if you have removed the mounting sticker.

Dave

[Guilbert53]

Interesting that the "Jack" on the site who says he works for Admin, the same photo is used on many other sites, the sure sign of a "dodgy" web site.

Like here

https://www.elitesingles.com/mag/relationship-advice/dating-profile

And here

https://www.freelancer.com/community/articles/how-can-i-improve-my-profile-image

And here

http://philippines-saved.ml/weilyn/sample-good-male-dating-profile4329.php

[jean17]

Thanks to everyone who replied, the link, if anyone would like to look is http://hiigadget.com/tvfox/button-test. The ad. doesn't actually say you can get SKY, it does mention getting rid of Cable and subscriptions. I'm just going to put this down to bad experience, I've got an old tv I can put in my spare room, for any visitors stopping over, and use the aerial there. Thanks again everyone :)

[Buenchico]

Your link got corrupted by the full stop which you typed immediately after it. Here it is in a working format:
http://hiigadget.com/tvfox/button-test/

The main content of the ad is basically no different from all of the ads for Freeview which appear on the telly. (i.e. it's simply pointing out that the majority of channels which most people watch via Sky, or whatever, are available even if you don't subscribe to a satellite or cable service). So most of what's there appears to stay within the advertising rules. However this sentence seems not to:
"It is a new "super" antenna that can pick up over-the-air TV signals no other antenna was able to pick up before"
That definitely seems to imply that the antenna can somehow 'magically' bring in other channels which purchasers weren't already receiving.

The problem about complaining to the Advertising Standards Authority is that the website you linked to has hidden details of who owns it. (UK firms aren't allowed to do that but I doubt that there's much, if any, real UK involvement anyway). Further, I can't get details of who it is that orders are actually placed with because the links on that page don't work if the page hasn't been accessed via a Facebook account.

However if this is the page you ordered through
https://www.freeseetv.com/tvfox/order.html
you could try complaining to the ASA about Strong Current Enterprises Ltd, which has a registered address at Dept 706, 19-21 Crawford Street, London, W1H 1PJ. (However that's only a rented mailbox, provided by MailboxesLtd, and as the sole director of the company appears to live in Canada, having moved there from the Philippines, taking any effective action against the company might be tricky).

https://www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint.html

[christophermahon]

Do you think that getting rid of "Cable" means not having the need for Aerial Cable because there is no way logically that Sky, BT, Virgin or any other of these companies would just sit by and allow this to go onto the market without taking out an injunction or even buying out the company that is selling this item,if they thought that they were a threat.