I have to say I have been really impressed with the Tablo product so far to the point where UverseTv has been cut. While I know there can be many improvements to the product, I thought I would share my impressions as well as my testing scenarios so far to share what I am doing and experiencing so far:
Constants:
- Router: Apple Airport Extreme, 802.11AC
- Tablo 4 Tuner wired via ethernet
Use Case 1: AppleTv + ethernet; Airplay from iPad3
This has been hit or miss. Early on I would have App crashes on the AppleTV that would drop out of airplay. Updating to latest software on Apple TV seemed to take care of the Apple TV crashes. The most significant problem I have seen here is buffering and occasional airplay drops. I suspect that part of this is because of the location in the house for the tv. For this specific area of the house the signal strength fell to about 50% and SNR < 25db so I would consistently see buffering during play back or live or recorded content. This led me to use case 2 below…
Use Case 2: AppleTv + wireless (in location with signal strength ~85%; SNR 45db; wifi band 5ghz); Airplay from iPad3
In continuation of testing airplay, I moved that AppleTV to a tv location closer to the router but Apple TV is now also on wireless. This location has yet to incur any buffering during playback over wireless with both iPad and AppleTv connected over wireless. Now currently trying to determine what the minimum sweet spot is for signal strength and noise ratio to minimize or prevent buffering during playback.
Use Case 3: Roku + ethernet
So far this has been rock solid. Not enthusiastic about the user interface of the App and while its not that pretty and has some needs for maturity it just works…and that is important for my wife and kids. Responsiveness has been snappy and also has not had any occurrences of buffering or app crashes in a weeks worth of viewing live and recorded content. This is so far the default in which my family uses the Tablo.
Use Case 4: iPad App via LTE on Verizon (tabloconnect)
Fails to connect; cannot find Tablo. To date not sure why the iPad will not connect over the Verizon network. (see 5)
Use Case 5: iPad App via WiFI (tabloconnect)
The same iPad as use case 4 is able to connect when on a external Wifi hotspot using the App, Safari, and Chrome. So that connectivity problems in 3 don’t see attributed to the iPad itself.
Use Case 6: Macbook via Safari & Chrome
No issue so far using the laptops using either browser connecting locally or via tabloconnect. I have seen issues with another laptop where Safari doesn’t get past synchronization stage (keeps asking to increase db size).
Use Case 7: iPhone 5, iOS 7 & 8 (beta) using Safari & Chrome and over Wifi or LTE
No issues connecting via tabloconnect or playing back content on either browsers or over Wifi/LTE, but haven’t spent much time testing the reliability of playback or quality (uverse significantly limits the up speeds) so I know quality of the stream will be limited.