Clearly i’m not so smart as to figure this out, so please can you tell me the benefits of having an aerial for a smart TV.

We’ve just brought our first smart TV.

Our old TV had an indoor aerial, I’ve set the new smart TV up without the indoor aerial, its connected to the WiFi.

So, what benefits would having an aerial on our new WiFi connected smart TV give me ❓

Many thanks.

So, what benefits would having an aerial on our new WiFi connected smart TV give me

To watch live broadcast TV. What else?

If you don’t want to do that then don’t bother. I have an aerial but rarely watch live TV anymore.

Can still watch live tv over the internet.

Depends on how fast/reliable your internet connection is.

To watch live broadcast TV. What else?

I know i can do this with iPlayer, not checked with ITV yet. I don’t think 4OD offers it, dunno about 5. But, noted, ta.

It’s still a TV. Just with online smart stuff added on so if you want to watch all the available freeview stuff live then you need to receive TV broadcasts.

If you only want the online content then don’t bother but the choice is limited (live and what can be watched on catch up) and you will very quickly go through GB of internet allowance so check for any usage caps.

also depending on the TV not all have all the main channels on their apps but that can be fixed with an external box or a smart bluray from a different brand.

It just seems somewhat limiting to not have access to Freeview.

I wouldn’t want to be without “live” TV personally.

As above – to actually watch tv 😉

FWIW in France all TV channels are available through internet subscription and the router box – not the case here . Effectively the tv smarts are adding extra features (like iPlayer) in parallel to digital broadcast tv

Thanks all.

Ok, i think we’ll get an aerial. I’ll seek out a local guy. Any “what aerial” tips. ?

😉

Anyone from screfix or Argos and fit it yourself, mine is in the loft so I didn’t need to climb on the roof.

Any “what aerial” tips. ?

Use satellite!

We moved in to house with old dodgy aerial and a sky dish.

The sky dish is now repurposed for freesat.

I know i can do this with iPlayer, not checked with ITV yet. I don’t think 4OD offers it, dunno about 5.

What Smart TV have you got that has BBC, ITV, 4 and 5 via on demand apps ?

Freeview Plus offers most of the TV channels on demand through the TV guide. But not sure if that works without an aerial being plugged in and your TV tuned, at least in the first instance.

There will be some channels that aren’t on demand or live streaming over the Internet. Depends whether you want to watch those.

Also it’s going to depend what your bandwidth is and any caps on data.

Of course if the interweb were to suddenly stop working, you know like if some virgin/sky/open reach technician went rummaging in the local box and bolloxed your connection* then at least freeview can reassure you that it’s not the apocalypse…

*(every couple of weeks round our way).

Can you not just connect your old indoor aerial?

We have a TV upstairs which has no aerial, use it with an Amazon Fire stick thing and WiFi, loaded with apps like iplayer and the ITV version. There’s also an app that does live TV, that works most of the time. On the whole it works, but I’ll be fitting an aerial sooner or later.

I wouldn’t do it yourself as that is what killed emu.

Emu survived as Rod Hull broke his fall.

The smart tv will have freeview already installed. You’ll need an aerial for that. If you have have sky or virgin media it won’t matter

Also consider a Humax Freeview box (or similar). This allows you to record (and watch) live TV.

Useful for things like Match of the Day which doesn’t appear on iplayer for days after.