Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[ExFlyBoy5]

Yes, it does. I have only used it with Roku and it's a great experience. I have not used it with Fire TV so don't know if that experience is comparable or not. And there is an upgrade to all Tablos in March that will allow commercial skip which I am really looking forward to. We have the 4-tuner Tablo so we can watch/record on 4 different channels simultaneously.

As I mentioned earlier, I am patiently waiting for the Tablo QUAD to be released in March. https://www.tablotv.com/blog/new-year-new-tablo-quad-new-commercial-skip/

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. I have been contemplating some sort of "solution" to the OTA dilemma with multiple TVs. Right now, we have 5 televisions and a couple of them are not within a good area for antenna reception. But, it appears that a good DVR/tuner will fix this issue since all TVs are equipped with FireTV devices.

Tablo looks pretty good, but ultimately, I think I am going to give the Fire Recast a try since our house is "Amazon Friendly". We are also in the process of integrating some other home automation upgrades that will interface with the Amazon infrastructure and it makes sense (to me, anyway) to try and keep it as simple as possible.

My SIL/BIL are also working on their home automation, but dislike Amazon, so are going the Google route...so will be curious how the systems compare.

 

[trapperjohn]

I will probably do a little more research on this, but was curious...does the Tablo also work with the FireTV/Stick?

Yes, I'm using Tablo with an Amazon Firestick. It works just fine.

 

[jim584672]

My antenna solution. Don't laugh it gets all the channels.

 

[RonBoyd]

My antenna solution. Don't laugh it gets all the channels.

 

[REWahoo]

My antenna solution. Don't laugh it gets all the channels.

And solves the age old question of what to do with all those used tinfoil hats!

 

[Ronstar]

I believe 300' is the limit for a cat 5 eithernet cable. If you are less than that, you may be able to replace the coax with cat5 and hardwire the router. You could then put another router in the workshop and go wireless or go direct to a roku.

I think this is the best way to approach this. I might be able to use unused conductors of my existing security line cable to serve as an ethernet cable. If not, I can run a new line.

Former coworker recommended beaming WiFi from a exterior house mounted transmitter to a workshop mounted receiver. That sounds expensive.

 

[DeborahB]

My antenna solution. Don't laugh it gets all the channels.

Is that infinity symbol thing for uhf?

 

[jim584672]

Is that infinity symbol thing for uhf?

Yes, some channels are VHF and some UHF. Found some wire and made two loops.

 

[DeborahB]

Yes, some channels are VHF and some UHF. Found some wire and made two loops.

Pretty cool! I remember antennas...

 

[simple girl]

A major concern is my detached workshop. I have a tv in there and it is on whenever I’m in there. Currently I have about 300’ of underground coax running to the workshop from a splitter inside the house. (House on Comcast). Once I pull the cord at home, I’ll need to figure out how to get tv to the workshop. I have no WiFi out there. An antenna seems like the best idea, but I’m about 50 miles from the transmitters.

My husband somehow used the cable wiring inside the house to route the signal from the antenna in the attic to all of our t.v.'s throughout the house. I have no clue how he did it, but it is possible.

 

[wmc1000]

My husband somehow used the cable wiring inside the house to route the signal from the antenna in the attic to all of our t.v.'s throughout the house. I have no clue how he did it, but it is possible.

Yes cable is coax the same as used for antennas. If your house is prewired it can make it fairly easy to hook up.

 

[simple girl]

Yes cable is coax the same as used for antennas. If your house is prewired it can make it fairly easy to hook up.

So couldn't Ronstar just connect it that way? Or maybe I misunderstood his issue. I'm definitely NOT savvy on these topics...hence why I am lurking on this thread, lol!

 

[wmc1000]

So couldn't Ronstar just connect it that way? Or maybe I misunderstood his issue. I'm definitely NOT savvy on these topics...hence why I am lurking on this thread, lol!

For OTA tv if he gets reception from an antenna yes he can although most likely would need an amplifier to boost signal from house to detached workshop. Getting internet is another matter however.

 

[simple girl]

For OTA tv if he gets reception from an antenna yes he can although most likely would need an amplifier to boost signal from house to detached workshop. Getting internet is another matter however.

Gotcha - thanks!

 

[Ronstar]

Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV)

Yes I’m trying to get internet out there. I have coax out there and the tv runs fine with it. But I’m going to get rid of cable. ’d like to eliminate the need to run 300’ of Ethernet cable. I see 2 alternatives that could work.

1. Use the unused conductors from my security system line to connect a new router in the workshop

2. Reconnect the existing workshop coax to a splitter before the house modem. Then install a second modem and router to that in the Workshop. The cable from the street is coax. I should be able to split off of that - I think.

 

[Uncle Lumpy]

Yes I’m trying to get internet out there. I have coax out there and the tv runs fine with it. But I’m going to get rid of cable. ’d like to eliminate the need to run 300’ of Ethernet cable. I see 2 alternatives that could work.

1. Use the unused conductors from my security system line to connect a new router in the workshop

2. Reconnect the existing workshop coax to a splitter before the house modem. Then install a second modem and router to that in the Workshop. The cable from the street is coax. I should be able to split off of that - I think.

Could you just put something like a coax to ethernet adapter on one or both ends and shoot your ethernet over the existing coax cable since it's already in place? Search "coax to cat6" in Google or Amazon to find examples. I've never tried this but can't see why it wouldn't work.


Lumpy

 

[stephenson]

OK - so after beating the indoor antenna possibilities to death, I think Ive decided to put a small antenna in the attic.

Ive consulted several of the location tools - all looked to generally be the same - there is only one VHF channel in my area of interest, and I don't care about it.

The GE 33692 or the GE 29884 - both are pretty much same design - appear to prioritize UHF frequencies (most common for OTA), are small, easy to assemble and to mount - and come with mounting hardware that work well in attics.

The flow would be:
- attic antenna (initially without pre amp since am only 20 miles or so from towers)
- coax to wall behind equipment
- inside the stud bay to exist in same area as coax from Cox
- out to the same shelf area as the cable model from Cox
- connect to tuner box (HomeRun or Tablo)
NOTE - we don't DVR anything
- Ethernet from Tuner box to router
- BIG QUESTION ... given I want to simply remote interfaces ... and the fact my Apple TV is 3rd gen so does not easily support OTA - do I get Apple TV 4K box, or Roku box
- whichever then log in to register and scan the antenna output for channels
- if working well and getting predicted channels, then, Apple TV or Roku should present the channels in real time with some form of thumbnail for programs
- what is not missing is a matrix based TV guide for OTA ... so, at least one choice is the Channels app which is $25 ... I am assuming Channels goes out to those stations your tuner is receiving and downloads their programming guides and presents them, allowing Apple TV to present them and select ... frankly, since there are so few new things even on OTA and so many nonsensical things on the "networks" we might be able to just select station we want at the time we want it - like PBS News at 6 pm our time

Was walking through this in case anyone else considering same thing - or, in hope of getting feedback about what sounds dumb

As always, thanks!

 

[Ronstar]

Could you just put something like a coax to ethernet adapter on one or both ends and shoot your ethernet over the existing coax cable since it's already in place? Search "coax to cat6" in Google or Amazon to find examples. I've never tried this but can't see why it wouldn't work.


Lumpy

Thanks Lumpy! I’ll try this first. This will be by far the best solution if it works. I thought I researched this before, but obviously I didn’t find this solution.

 

[NC 57]

OK - so after beating the indoor antenna possibilities to death, I think Ive decided to put a small antenna in the attic.

Ive consulted several of the location tools - all looked to generally be the same - there is only one VHF channel in my area of interest, and I don't care about it.

The GE 33692 or the GE 29884 - both are pretty much same design - appear to prioritize UHF frequencies (most common for OTA), are small, easy to assemble and to mount - and come with mounting hardware that work well in attics.

The flow would be:
- attic antenna (initially without pre amp since am only 20 miles or so from towers)
- coax to wall behind equipment
- inside the stud bay to exist in same area as coax from Cox
- out to the same shelf area as the cable model from Cox
- connect to tuner box (HomeRun or Tablo)
NOTE - we don't DVR anything
- Ethernet from Tuner box to router
- BIG QUESTION ... given I want to simply remote interfaces ... and the fact my Apple TV is 3rd gen so does not easily support OTA - do I get Apple TV 4K box, or Roku box
- whichever then log in to register and scan the antenna output for channels
- if working well and getting predicted channels, then, Apple TV or Roku should present the channels in real time with some form of thumbnail for programs
- what is not missing is a matrix based TV guide for OTA ... so, at least one choice is the Channels app which is $25 ... I am assuming Channels goes out to those stations your tuner is receiving and downloads their programming guides and presents them, allowing Apple TV to present them and select ... frankly, since there are so few new things even on OTA and so many nonsensical things on the "networks" we might be able to just select station we want at the time we want it - like PBS News at 6 pm our time

Was walking through this in case anyone else considering same thing - or, in hope of getting feedback about what sounds dumb

As always, thanks!

I followed a similar approach and it worked beautifully (with a few minor mods). I used the GE 29884 in my attic. I did use a pre amp. I used an extra coax run to an unused 2nd floor bedroom outlet I accessed from my attic to carry the signal to the first floor box where the cable line comes into the house and is split to the individual rooms. I disconnected the cable coming into the house and directly hooked it to my cable modem since I was continuing to buy internet from the cable company (Spectrum). The cable modem was then connected directly to my Linksys Velop mesh wifi network via ethernet cable.

The cable coming from the attic (the one from the bedroom I use to carry the signal from the antenna in the attic) was disconnected from the splitter from the incoming cable and hooked to a Silicon Dust Homerun Quatro I purchased from Best Buy. It has 4 TV tuners built in and broadcasts to TV's in the house via the Linksys Velop wifi network. The Homerun Quatro connects via ethernet cable directly to the Linksys node in the closet where the cable inters the house. The other two Linksys nodes are set in other parts of the house.

I have Apple TV's (I bit the bullet and upgraded to 4th generation) at each television in the house to receive signals via the Linkysys Velop wifi network. The network carries internet signals to and from the cable modem as well as antenna signals from the Silicon Dust Homerun Quatro. I have the $25 Channels app installed on each Apple TV (only one purchase require for all TV's). It provides a TV guide I can scroll through and connect to one of the 35 TV channels I'm picking up on the attic antenna. I use individual apps for Hulu, YouTube, PBS and Amazon Prime to receive other streaming content over the internet. In return for a $60 annual contribution to my state's PBS organization I receive access through the PBS app to hundreds of PBS shows on demand.

Why Apple TV? We have all Apple devices (phones, computers, tablets) in our home. Our Apple TV's work seamlessly with our other Apple devices. Sometimes we even take one of our Apple TV's with us in our RV. The Channels app works great on the Apple TV.

I've had this system over a year. Occasionally a streaming channel freezes. Usually all I have to do is click the Apple TV remote, back out of the streaming app, restart the app, and continue with the show. During the day the most distant television channels aren't receivable over the antenna. However those channels are nearly 100 miles away and the content is duplicated via closer stations which can be viewed over the air during the day.

Likely I will drop Hulu due to the price increase. We use Hulu to access a few cable networks (news, sports, and HGTV) not available over the air. However, our viewing habits have changed dramatically since we cut out regular cable. We never use the Hulu movie/show library and we rarely watch cable news or sports anymore. We can live without HGTV and cable news so Hulu goes away. Many of the cable news highlights can be streamed off of regular free YouTube (we don't have the YouTube subscription service).

Today nearly 100% of the content we watch is streamed on demand, not live. We watch television shows, movies, YouTube instructional videos, and a few PBS series. Streaming allows us full control over when we watch and most streaming shows/movies do not have commercials. We can pause a show to take a break and resume in minutes or days later, resuming exactly where we stopped. We can start watching in the den, pause it and resume watching in the bedroom. We do not miss cable television.

 

[stephenson]

NC 57,

Thanks - very informative!

Your system and needs sounds like a bigger version of ours!

We have one tv (actually only a monitor since it does not have a tuner (Vizio was cutting production corners and cut a bit too tight), one A/V receiver/amp, and a DVD player that I am not sure why I bought - oh, forgot, we have some DVDs

We tested our needs prior to cutting Cox out of $80 a month - started at lowest channel and said ... no, no, no, no, no as we went through the channels until we got to 150 channels later ... only interest was PBS (we too subscribe) and home repair shows.

Our gen 3 ATV box works great - except to port an OTA app to it requires near coder level effort ... so, we'll just get an ATV 4K and sniffle a bit at the Apple Tax ... yeah, two iPhones, to iPads, to MacBooks ... would be silly to buy Roku box just because is cheaper (although I do own ROKU stock ).

No regrets on the SiliconDust tuner? My understanding is you plug it into the OTA antenna, then run ethernet to the router, then search for channels using a PC or iPad, etc ... or, does the Apple TV recognize it and allow channel search via a Tools icon of some sort?

 

[NC 57]

Stephenson -

Cable from antenna goes to the Silicon Dust router which connects via ethernet to the wifi router.

We access the over the air channels, broadcast from the Silicon Dust router, through the “Channels” app on the Apple TV. Open the channels app and there is a matrix TV guide of OTA channels. Scroll and pick what you want to watch. You can also pay something to Silicon Dust to get TIVO like recording ability. Recording isn’t important to us so I don't know the details.

We bought the SD Quattro which allows 4 simultaneous sets to be using the antenna. We’ve never used more than 2 sets at one time so the Quattro was overkill. We have 5 total TV sets - den, MBR, kitchen, my workshop, and extra bedroom. I watch YouTube instructional videos in the shop if I have the TV on at all. Usually I have streaming music playing in the shop. Wife and I never have more than 2 TV’s in the main house running at the same time.

Cutting Spectrum saved us $110 a month for TV services (with taxes) and we were not buying any premium channels. I now spend $45 per month on Hulu, $60 per year for PBS (effectively $5 per month), and $119 per year (effectively $10 per month) for Amazon Prime which we subscribed to for other reasons (free shipping, books) before we cut the cable. We had never watched Amazon Prime video until we cut the cord.

We may take advantage of the YouTube premium service and if I like it ditch Hulu. Then again, maybe not.

 

[stephenson]

Guess what I’m asking is if you don’t have Channels app does the Apple TV still allow you to “see” the Homerun and initially search for available channels and then select them to watch - without any sort of matrix guide?

 

[NC 57]

Stephenson -

The HD Homerun app is available on the Apple app store. It works on iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) and Mac computers. It does not yet work on TVios but is supposed to be coming. Before we bought the Channels app for the Apple TV we streamed over the air content broadcast from our antenna to the HD Homerun app on an iPad to the Apple TV using Airplay. After a couple of weeks I bought the Channels app for the Apple TV's to eliminate the need to use the iPad or iPhone and Airplay.

 

[stephenson]

NC - thanks ... I think I see the answer, but ... so, you did Scenario 1 initially. Then, did you leave the channel tuning previously done in place on the Homerun box, or did you re-search once you downloaded Channels?

Scenario 1 - antenna to Homerun box, Homerun box ethernet cable to router, router allows wireless access on the wifi network, download Homerun app to iOS device, iOS device uses app to connect to Homerun box to search for channels and select channels, iOS device uses Screen Mirroring to get received channel onto the TV

Scenario 2 - antenna to Homerun box, Homerun box ethernet cable to router, router allows wireless access on the wifi network, download Homerun app to iOS device, iOS device uses app to connect to Homerun box to search for channels and select channels, download Channels to Apple TV, use whichever remote control you have to control Apple TV to select Channels which shows the matrix schedule for the channels the Homerun provides.

Scenario 3 - antenna to Homerun box, Homerun box ethernet cable to router, router allows wireless access on the wifi network, download Channels directly to Apple TV (does the new Apple TV download apps this way?), use whichever remote control you have to control Apple TV to select Channels which shows the matrix schedule for the channels the Homerun provides.

I'm showing my lack of knowledge on how these exactly work together ...

 

[NC 57]

Stephenson -

Yes. I employed Scenario 1 first. The Homerun app allowed me to select channels on my iOS and MacOS devices. Click on the app, using any of those devices and view the over the air channels on the device or use Airplay screen mirroring to project the received channel onto the TV through the Apple TV attached to that TV. Once Homerun app is available for the AppleTV, it won't be necessary to use mirroring or buy the Channels app.

Scenario 2 didn't exist. I went directly to scenario 3 as follows:

Next step was to buy and download the Channels app to my Apple TV's. All hardware remains in the same configuration. When watching over the air TV now I click on the Channels App on my Apple TV home screen. It presents a matrix menu of stations and programs. I scroll to the program I want to watch, click, and the program appears on the screen. For an extra charge a DVR capability is available but I have not purchased it.

The new Apple TV (Gen 4) downloads apps from the TViOS App Store. I have about 25 apps on my Apple TV's (Channels, PBS, CNN, NBC, ABC, SkyNews, Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Photos, Apple App Store, Vimeo, Accuweather, ESPN and more). All of these apps (most were free) were downloaded to the Apple TV by clicking on the App Store App on the Apple TV home screen. I have 5 Apple TV's, one for each television in the house. They are all on the same Apple account. As a result when I download an app from the TViOS App Store on one Apple TV, the other Apple TV's are immediately populated with the new App. I normally use the Apple TV remote for everything. It turns on the TV set, it controls the sound on the TV set (or soundbar) and I use it to select apps, programs or channels.

Some apps are extremely well integrated into the Apple TV home screen dashboard. When the home screen comes up, you can see series programs you are watching across the various apps or services. Say you are watching Downton Abbey through the PBS App and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime. You'll see images for those shows on the home screen. You can click on the image of Downton Abbey and begin watching where you left off, without having to find and select the PBS app. Likewise you can click on Mrs. Maisel and go directly to where you left off, or the next episode, without having to click on the Amazon Prime app. If you get tired of Mrs. Maisel, simple pause the program, exit out to the dashboard, click on the Channels app, scroll down to the appropriate channel and click on the over the air basketball game you want to watch. When it ends, exit back to the dashboard, click on Mrs. Maisel, and finish the episode. Or when the game ends, turn off your set, go to another room, turn on the set and AppleTV to the dashboard, click on Mrs. Maisel and finish watching the program there. It is very simple once you get the used to the remote.

If you are subscribing to Hulu, Direct TV, YouTube Premium TV, Sling, or one of the other services that sells a "cable" package, click on its app and through its interface go to ESPN, CNN, HGTV, A&E, History Channel or whatever other channels are in its lineup. Through those "portal" apps you can either stream or watch shows live on the networks the portal carries. Silicon Dust also offers a number of cable channels, for an additional fee, which appear on the Channels app along with the over the air networks you are streaming from your antenna.

The advantage of Hulu, versus other premium portals, is the availability of streaming movies, and made for Hulu content, in addition to the channels.

You can also buy individual shows, or movies, from the iTunes Store or Amazon through the apps on the AppleTV.