So much of the stuff I have found regarding the 4th Gen’s need for a constant internet connection states that the 4th Gen will absolutely NOT perform any function without an interconnect connection. In that this somewhat makes my purchase a waste of money, I decided to do some of my own testing. First, I disconnected my internet cable from the modem and tried to fire up Tablo. Nothing. Next I reconnected the internet and again tried to fire up Tablo. Success, Tablo apparently fully functional. Next test, with the internet connected I went to the Tablo Guide and selected a half hour long program which would be starting in the next few minutes to be recorded. Just prior to the program’s starting time I again disconnected the internet. I then waited until the program’s ending time had passed by a few minutes and then reconnected the internet. The Tablo fired up just fine, the program had been recorded, and I watched the first few minutes of its playback. So, even info provided to me by Tablo Support regarding the need for an internet connection to work in any fashion has been in error.
Now, my question. In that I certainly cannot leave my internet disconnected for any length of time I have no way of testing what kind of time frame the Tablo will continue to record scheduled programs during an internet outage; perhaps until it needs to actually use the internet for something like downloading a Guide update? Has any Community member tried recording during an internet outage and if so can he or she advise on what length of time recordings were successful? I have searched high and low for an answer to this question without success.
The main complaint is being able to use a Tablo on a streaming device during an internet outage. The Tablo itself should record scheduled shows without internet for at least the rest of the day and possibly up to 2 weeks (though I haven’t tried anything like that).
I have tested mainly on the Roku. If the Tablo app is running on a Roku, it will continue to work without an internet connection. But as soon as you exit the Tablo app, you will not be able to start it back up (it won’t find any Tablos).
I think everyone here would like see a more robust solution where users can take advantage of the home network still working and be able to watch live or recorded TV on any device. I can understand not being able to watch live FAST channels or download guides during an outage, but everything else should work. I just don’t know what is holding the Tablo back from accomplishing this.
I would like to see Tablo put in a fail over feature… when no internet is present… turn that mug into a regular TV box. No guide, No Home page, No DVR… Just flip through the channels.
I do have a back up OTA antenna on my living room tv, just in case.
Would be a great idea.
Or just make an HDMI Gen4…
Which only gives you access on one TV…
Totally agree. This is a big miss on Tablo’s part. Currently my internet is down (thank you AT&T) and the Tablo is a brick. Thankfully I can switch over to the Tv antenna, my wife would be lost if I wasn’t here to do that. The guide is already downloaded to the device, what can’t it just record OTA channels off air like normal!? So now I’m researching other devices like the home run HD Homerun Flex 4K. It’s rare the internet goes out, it’s just the principle of it.
I can’t vouch for full internet outages, but I’ve never had a problem with OTA recording when Tablo’s servers were down. If you’re trying to schedule a recording during an outage, that might be another thing.
I’m not sure how far along playback without internet is coming, but I would think you’d still be able to at least access your recordings during this time – if your network is up. I know I was able to access the entire DVR during the last server outage, but only 9 stations loaded in the live grid.
If you have something scheduled to record, it’s possible that it still might. I would be interested in hearing how this turned out when your Internet is up and running again.