Comments on: Telstra T-Box. BigPond finds another use

By: AlanM

AlanM — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:23:49 +0000

Same here…box will not come out of stand-by, have to keep hitting the button hoping the thing will come back to life – annoying. This issue started right after the last update along with slow channel change, stare at a black screen for 5-6 secs – very annoying. I am on Elite 200GB with a Cable 3.0 modem which performs very well.

By: Az [Telstra Community Manager]

Az [Telstra Community Manager] — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 04:12:34 +0000

Hi Rob,
Sorry to hear you’re having problems with your T-Box. I’d recommend you give the T-Box Technical Support crew a call on 13 2200. They do care and I’m sure they will be able to assist you!
Az

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 03:28:09 +0000

I have had the T-Box for 18 months now and I am not happy with it. It will not start up when you start it up from ‘stand by’. You have to turn it off to ‘sleep mode’, but even thenit will not always start up. I can’t get some FTA channels even though they are fine on my other PVR. I can’t access the ‘weather apps’. It just freezes and you have to turn the whole box off. I have tried emailing Telstra, but they don’t care. I am sick of paying for a Box that simply doesn’t work. I would love to change it for a ‘new T-Box 2′, but they probably will not change. I just want to cancel the last six months because its a pain paying for a box that just doesn’t deliver.

By: Wanglese

Wanglese — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 07:24:30 +0000

I teach PC, Apple and Internet to seniors. Haven’t had to worry about them getting frustrated once I take them through my courses.

As for the T-Box, I have several seniors with T-Boxes, and my next door neighbour (a senior) has a wonderful PVR with all the bells and whistles. Guess who has the problems?

As for the T-Box, I’m not aware of any 1TB upgrade. I’m NOT a Telstra employee, but I can guarantee if there was such an upgrade, I’d be on it like a flash, and I would imagine I would be aware of it, because users on Whirlpool and CrowdSupport would have already reported it by now.

The reason for NTFS support, was simply that. An upgrade to the firmware was there to support NTFS, as many of us had larger USB drives.

USB3? Might be useful, but again, why? If you are playing back media to the T-Box, I’m not aware that USB 3 would give any benefit, since transfer of video/audio even at HD doesn’t use it.
Since the T-box can stream from network shares, most people (including the aforementioned seniors) can get their head around the concept of network shares, and use them, so USB3 on a server is probably more worth it.
Having said that, having a USB 3 on the T-Box in the future for archiving purposes wouldn’t be a bad thing.

However, I’m not aware of any smart TV sets with USB3 for recording or playback.
Might be a tad early.

Having said that

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 14:28:35 +0000

Well, spent just over an hour and a half reading through the comments on this blog.
Reason being my 75 year old techno neophyte father has just received his Telstra T-Box in the mail. From the comments above – it sounds as though he’s purchased a lemon and will shortly die of a T-Box frustration induced heart attack. (Old people and difficult technology = frustration, anger and failure.)
We’ll see what transpires over the coming days.

In the meantime;
So……Telstra, it’s been reported that the 320GB hard drive in the T-Box was, “quietly” replaced with a 1 TB hard drive in July of 2011. (This may account for posts I read above where people were surprised that the internal drive and external ones all of a sudden needed to be formatted in NTSF rather than FAT32)
Can Telstra or any one with a post July 2011 T-Box advise if this is true please?
If so …… why would my father have received a T-Box with a 320GB HDD?
Surely Telstra wouldn’t be foisting old superseded product (by over a year and a half) to a less techno savvy older generation.
For any one else wanting to check this ……avoid the frustration and don’t try. The user manuals “Technical Specifications” – aren’t. Approximately 5 or 6 lines with the longest line indicating the device needs to be plugged into 240 volts power. No mention anywhere in the manual of the hard drives size or hours of storage available if recording in SD or HD.
Also nothing about this on the Telstra web site – except for a vague one line reference that the T-Box has 220 GB of user storage.
You can only check the size of the drive by referencing the model information on the underside of the box.
At least – that’s what I think the number, “320″ in the model number refers too.
Also – given the T-Box has USB connectivity – are “new” T-Boxes shipping with USB 3.0?
Surely a device purporting to allow up to 8 TB of external storage would naturally have the faster data transfer rates provided by USB3.
Again – no information in the Tech Specs identifying if its USB 2 or 3.
Any information on either of these two items will be appreciated.
Will let you know in the next few days if my father and / or the T-box are still alive.

By: Ronald

Ronald — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 05:52:42 +0000

Problem solved with tbox, after many attempts at rectifying un synced remote, newt box, then very bad reception with new on and spending $169.00 on new antenna system have found that removing tbox and placing in bin solved all of my problems, sort of made me feel good after two years of problems with THub 1, first wifi modem and twomt boxes, learn’t the hard way buy stuff some where else. Tbox now if separate pieces. Does feel good to be able to watch tv without picture freezing. Now enjoying perfect picture.

By: Brendan - [Your Community Manager]

Brendan - [Your Community Manager] — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 04:54:52 +0000

Hi Michelle. I’ve organised a local T-Box specialist to call you.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:51:24 +0000

Why am I not able to register my TBox even though I was told over the phone that it was done, now I have since been on the phone with them numerous times and I keep on getting the ever popular “we are having tecnical issues” how do I complain please? I have added two packages which they said has been done but they can not be accessed due to the usual problem above

By: Lesley

Lesley — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:29:47 +0000

Thanks for your comment Andrew,

That is what I will have to do as we have stopped using it altogether, it was just too frustrating and just easier to use the tv directly connected to the aerial.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:04:58 +0000

Thanks Wanglese, I don’t mind anyone debating me. I’m no expert but I do, 1. fall victim to new gizzmos and 2. know waht I want from them. I was an early T-Box owner, but I can’t offer any advice as to what the shortcomings are with the box, but I do know it is just above being a toy. One needs two of them as book ends and not connected to anything. One day – as the saying goes, we’ve got to get a gem at an affordable price. Cheers