Many Freesat users with Humax boxes have been reporting problems with the BBC iPlayer app, facing an error message when trying to stream on-demand programmes.
According to Freesat and the BBC’s iPlayer team, the affected Humax models include HDR1100S, HDR1010S, HDR1000s, HB1100S, and HB1000S.
The affected users are seeing Error Message 02001 when they try to watch on-demand content on the BBC iPlayer app, on their Freesat box.
- April 24 Update: According to Humax, the bug has been fixed. See their full response here.
Judging by complaints on social media and Humax community boards, it appears not all the customers with the aforementioned models are suffering from this issue – but many are.
Freesat has acknowledged the issue, with the BBC and Humax working on a fix (Update: We’ve added Humax’s response below).
Meanwhile, affected Freesat users will have to use workarounds if they want to watch BBC iPlayer (see below).
It’s important to note that, as far as we know, no other Freesat boxes have been affected by this issue, including the newer 4K Freesat recorders (however, there’s also an ongoing issue with BBC iPlayer on Amazon’s Fire TV sticks).
Freesat was established back in 2007, offering more than 200 free-to-air TV channels and radio stations, all transmitted via digital satellite.
Last year, a big shakeup was announced, when Freesat and Freeview came under the roof of a single company, Digital UK, which is owned jointly by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
To watch Freesat, you need a dish outside your house and a Freesat receiver (see our recommended Freesat boxes here).
Until 2020, Humax was the king of the Freesat world – until they stopped making Freesat boxes. At that point, Freesat launched a new set of boxes from Commscope (formerly Arris) – both regular and recording boxes that also support 4K.
However, although the old Humax Freesat boxes are no longer being manufactured, many people in the UK still own and use them.
Therefore, the BBC iPlayer problem is affecting many households.
Two months ago, Freesat viewers with Humax boxes suffered from another major technical issue, when scheduled recordings stopped working. That issue was fixed after a few days.
BBC iPlayer Not Working On Humax Freesat Boxes
Freesat users started reporting this new BBC iPlayer issue on social media and on Freesat and Humax online communities.
Any other FreeSat (Humax) bods out there whose BBC iPlayer hasn’t been working for days?
— J.J. Hooter (@JJ_Hooter) April 8, 2022
It seems the issue started popping up on Monday, April 4, and has been going on since.
While the BBC iPlayer app on the affected Humax boxes does run – it can’t play any programmes, giving out an error message on the screen:
Something went wrong loading this programme.
This is usually a temporary problem. If it’s a programme that’s just finished on TV, then try again shortly or try a different programme.
Error code: 02001
Other catch-up apps on the Humax box, such as All4 and ITV Hub, are working fine for the affected users.
@HumaxUK I have been unable to access bbc iPlayer since Monday . I use freesat humax 1100s. Itv hub and 5 on demand are ok . Please work on a fix pic.twitter.com/NjTOJBXUDD
— dave archer (@davearc07613733) April 8, 2022
April 14 Update: Humax sent us this statement:
“We are aware of an issue with BBC iPlayer on some Humax Freesat set-top boxes and we are working to resolve this.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will post on our social media channels as soon as we have an update.”
Earlier, Freesat and the BBC have both commented on the issue as well:
“Some customers with Freesat Humax boxes may be experiencing problems watching TV via the BBC iPlayer on demand app”, Freesat’s notice says. “Our teams are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible”.
The BBC iPlayer team set up a dedicated status page for this, which was (as of this writing) last updated on April 6:
We’re aware that some viewers are seeing a 02001 error message when attempting to watch programmes on iPlayer via a Humax/Freesat device.
This is currently being investigated and we will update this page with any new information.
Where Can I Still Watch BBC iPlayer?
While there doesn’t seem to be a direct solution for Freesat viewers with the affected Humax boxes – until a fix is implemented – you can still watch BBC iPlayer on several other platforms.
If you have a Smart TV, with streaming apps, it most likely has the BBC iPlayer app as well – so look for it, and as long as your TV is connected to broadband, it should work fine.
You can also watch BBC iPlayer directly on your browser, on any desktop PC/MAC or laptop.
BBC iPlayer also has an app for smartphones (both Android and iOS) and tablets.
You can also buy a cheap streaming device, such as the Amazon Fire TV, Roku or Chromecast, and connect it to your TV – as they all have a BBC iPlayer app (as well as apps for many other streaming services).
We will update once the issue is resolved. Until then, make sure you Subscribe to our free newsletter.
