Do TVs need to be next to an aerial socket? Stupid question I know...

Norman_Castle

We were totally baffled by this and asked our current builders to move it into the living room but they told us that modern TVs no longer needed to be next to the aerial socket.

You need to connect the tv to the aerial if you want freeview. The alternatives are satellite or cable tv which are not connected to the aerial. .Its ludicrous to have an aerial socket fitted in a hallway nowhere near the tv. Depending on what work is being done fitting a cable or cables to where you plan on having a tv should be cheap and simple.

HappyMJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

So only an option in areas of fast internet and where the user doesn't have a bandwidth cap.

The Internet is slow where I live....can't even watch Youtube as it buffers all the time.

Sounds like a great solution for the future though! Although maybe I'd need a newer telly as it'd need some slot.

I'm terrible now. I wouldn't even consider a property without the internet. A village near me still has not had the fibre rollout yet and speeds average 1.5Mbps which isn't fast enough for HD streaming requiring 5Mbps. I will not live in that village and all properties are off my search list although it is quite a nice village.

There's plenty of unlimited internet plans for a low price. I'm with talktalk pay just for the line rental of £16 something and internet is unlimited and free (for a year).

You need a HD telly capable of at least 720p resolution but 1080p HD would be better, they all have a HDMI slot.

shaun_from_Africa

As you are in the process of a complete refurb of the flat and as the builders are being paid to do the work that you want, you need to tell them that you want the aerial socket placed in the lounge in the position that you choose.

Yes, there are ways around not having a socket near to the TV but the fact remains that for the majority of people, an aerial and downlead is the normal way to get a signal to the TV.
You might opt to use one of the other methods now but at some time in the future decide otherwise and to get the aerial cable moved to a new location could end up to be expensive and messy.

Depending on where the aerial is and how the cable is accessed, there may not be any need to remove what's already there. The builders might be able to tee off the existing cable and simply run a new one to the lounge area.

[Deleted User]

PasturesNew wrote: »

The Internet is slow where I live....can't even watch Youtube as it buffers all the time.

Wow, that is bad. :eek:

I'm connected by a 3G Mifi Modem, and even I can watch Youtube without buffering.

enfield_freddy

the "builder" probably has virgin installed at his own house , therefore not needing a tv ariel

Ben84

qy206 wrote: »

they told us that modern TVs no longer needed to be next to the aerial socket.

Old TVs didn't care either, you could use really long cables without any picture or sound problems. The real problem however is the same if you're using a set from 1975 or 2015 - plugging it in to the aerial socket when it's the other side of the house.

googler

If the fitted socket is on a wall that borders the living room, and the walls are some kind of frame/studwork and plasterboard, then it's a simple matter to put a socket on the other side of the wall, and move the cable from one to the other.

Is this a possibility?

Is it a communal aerial or your own?

wongataa

qy206 wrote: »

Long story short, it seems that the old builders connected the TV aerial socket behind the main entrance of the property i.e. outside the lounge area and certainly nowhere near where anyone might legitimately think of putting a TV. We were totally baffled by this and asked our current builders to move it into the living room but they told us that modern TVs no longer needed to be next to the aerial socket.

You may well get away with a long aerial extension but it is a lot more convenient to have the TV by the aerial point so you don't have wires trailing across the flat/house. The builder's are being silly. Get them to put the socket in a sensible place as you want them to.