Rented accomodation - improving freeview?

RandomTom · 18 Sep 2009 at 20:50

Hi there,

Have moved into new accomodation today and am sat watching analogue TV due to freeview being unwatchable (good picture quality, poor signal strength).

We were supplied with an old aerial cable - would a new one improve things or not?

Are signal boosters worth it?

Have read a few threads, but I appreciate any advice.

Colbaker · 18 Sep 2009 at 21:20

I doubt you would get much boost from a booster on digital to be honest, I didn't when i tried it years ago i actually found that some channels were worse, If i were you i would either pay for a new aerial to be fitted, or check if you have any Cable tv (virginmedia for instance) in your area, Or have you thought about Freesat?

Caged · 18 Sep 2009 at 21:27

Isn't it your landlord's problem to get sorted?

RandomTom · 19 Sep 2009 at 10:14

Well it's student accomodation, and I know for a fact another building literally about 100metres away gets a watchable freeview signal so who knows what's going on there.

There are about 300 students in the same block as me so I'm sure I can't be the only one to have this problem.

Will have to talk to them but I doubt they'll do much tbh.

Caged · 19 Sep 2009 at 11:53

In reality there's only so much a booster will do if the original signal isn't good enough; they are really designed to split a healthy signal to feed more than one device. This is more important with digital reception as boosting the signal simply increases the noise with it, so is unlikely to fix much.

If you aren't getting a usable signal straight from the wall then something is wrong either with the aerial, the distribution system, or the cabling. No amount of signal boosters will help you in this situation.