DVR for Antenna TV
For anyone desiring a low cost DVR for Antenna TV, Tablo offers one of the best, easiest to use solutions in the market today. Providing a comprehensive grid-style TV guide plus the ability to easily record shows, sports, news – these devices are great for cord-cutters. If you are looking for the best, least expensive way to cut the cord from overpriced cable and satellite, with Tablo and a properly installed outdoor HD Antenna, you can get 70+ HD local channels for free forever plus a DVR for antenna TV.
Other Tablo benefits
- Ease Of Use & Integration – Often overlooked, but just as important as a DVR, is having both free OTA and streaming services all in the same user interface & remote. If using your TV remote for Antenna channels, then using a second remote & changing TV inputs to get to streaming isn’t for your family – Tablo is your fix!
- Grid TV Guide – Almost as important as scheduling series recordings and skipping commercials, for some having a traditional 2 week Grid TV Guide is a necessity. If this is your family, read below about Guide Data Subscriptions.
- Go Wireless – No Coax Wall Jack Needed – An Antenna installation uses the coax wall jacks in the home. Some homes or rooms dont have live coax jacks, or have TVs on a different wall than where the wall jack is. Tablo solves this problem by sending the signal from the Tablo box to your streaming device via WiFi – see the diagram below.
Why Tablo is the Best DVR for Antenna TV
No DVR for antenna TV is perfect, but Tablo is the best OTA DVR for most Cord Cutters. We approach evaluating OTA DVRs based on five factors – low hardware cost, practical functionality, easy to use, support help and maximum savings. Here’s what you need to know about Tablo’s OTA DVR:
- Simple interface. One remote. No TV input changing
- Best integration with streaming devices and apps
- Easy setup (if you get our recommended hardware)
- Great help center including live support
- Free TV guide or low annual or monthly upgrade
Discover the money saving joy of cord cutting without the pain of trial & error:
How the Tablo DVR Works with Live Antenna TV
The Tablo Network DVR works by connecting the coax from your HD antenna (read more about properly installed & configured HD Antennas) to stream live and recorded OTA free TV via your home Wi-Fi (read about whole-home Wi-Fi) to your internet connected devices in your home (smart TVs, streaming media players, phones, computers, tablets, etc.).
A diagram of how the Tablo DVR works.
The Tablo Streaming OTA DVR requires a live Antenna coax connection and an internet connection (hardwired recommended). For ease of use and integrating all apps into 1 User Interface and 1 remote control for ease of use and no TV input changing. From our experience if you are going for the best performance we suggest using a newer 4K Fire TV Max on all TVs, although you can download the Tablo app on most internet connected devices.
Most people use a lot of different streaming apps and stream on multiple TVs in addition to free OTA. Where the Tablo box can really shine is behind the scenes. On the end user device, you simply install the Tablo app on your device (Smart TV, Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, etc.). A single Tablo OTA Network Streaming DVR pushes free OTA Antenna TV (live and recorded) to all your existing Smart TVs and streaming devices via the Tablo app! For those not wanting to use an Amazon Fire TV device, you can access the Tablo app on most Smart TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, etc.
Recommended hardware to buy for the best Antenna TV experience
- Tablo Dual Lite DVR or Tablo Quad (4 tuners to record more or have lots of TVs) – required
- USB External Hard Drive (for multiple TVs & DVR storage) – required
- Tablo TV Guide Annual Data Service – recommended for series recording
- Whole-home Wi-Fi 6 Mesh Network (faster & better Wi-Fi coverage) – highly recommended
- Fire TV Max or new Fire TV Cube – (buy for all TVs) – highly recommended
StreamWise Solutions can install Tablo DVR for you
For some, network DVRs, Wi-Fi and cord-cutting is just too technical and over whelming. StreamWise Solutions takes the fear and uncertainty out of cord-cutting because we believe everyone should pay the least possible for a great TV entertainment experience. Cord Cutting and doing it right the first time is not easy. If you are not techy and everything you have read in this blog is confusing, than its recommended that you order the recommended hardware and we can install it for you for a hourly fee on your install date.
Our StreamWise Solutions experts offer free whole-home TV and wi-fi consultations to discuss what cord-cutting alternatives are best for you. Should you decide you want our help, we ensure your Antenna, Network DVR, Wi-Fi and Internet are all working properly, plus provide personalized training so that you feel ready on day one.
Alternative ATSC 3.0 DVR & 4K TV tuner option
ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV is the new standard for 4K OTA – most TVs and DVRs are not ATSC 3.0 NextGen ready. The HDHomeRun 3.0 solves this problem and is a great option if you are techy. While the setup can be a challenge and the UI isnt the best, watching live TV is top quality. Here is all of the hardware you need to get to set it up right:
- HDHomeRun 4K ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV tuner & DVR (ONLY BUY THIS VERSION HDHR) – required
- USB External Hard Drive (for multiple TVs & DVR storage) – required
- Nvidia Shield (DVR server) – required for DVR
- Whole-home Wi-Fi 6 Mesh Network (faster & better Wi-Fi coverage) – highly recommended
- Fire TV Max or new Fire TV Cube – (buy for all TVs) – highly recommended
