Freeview reception (or lack of)

[osprey]

Not sure if this is in the right category but here goes anyway. I live in an area in Swansea with excellent reception and can get 9 terrestrial channels, all with clear reception. I was considering buying Freeview but when I entered my Postcode it said reception would be poor to non-existent. I asked my neighbours but none had Freeview so I borrowed a box from a friend who lives in a poor reception area (she can get Channel 4 but not S4C WHICH IS CRAZY in itself) but her Freeview reception is wonderful. Lo and behold, I can't even get a signal on the box. I'm not sure if I have a question here or whether this is just a rant to get it off my chest but does anyone know the reason for this or who I can contact for an explanation.

[Ethel]

I'm in the same position - live in the middle of industrial West Midlands, between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, and can't get freeview yet.

We will have to be patient and wait for the transmitters to be turned on.

In the meantime you can get free freeview from NTL or Telewest, if you live in one of their areas.

[TEAK36]

Freeview only has about a 75% coverage of the UK, so there are lots of poor reception areas.I too live in one of the poor areas and cannot get a signal, yet my brother, who lives less than a quater of a mile away can get a perfect reception.I even purchased a new digital arial, but the reception was only slightly better.
If you dont want a contract with someone like Sky or NTL, then you could try Sky's Freesat.Its a one off payment of about �150 and you get about 120 TV channels.The �150 is all you will ever have to pay, and this includes the installation of the satellite dish.Freesat has a 98% UK coverage.