I am one of those that are looking at alternatives to Tablo 4th Gen and Zapperbox is in the mix. Our TV viewing is mostly on 1 TV in the family room, as it is just me and my wife. I was attracted to Tablo 4th Gen as a replacement for a dying fire tv recast. Initially I was hopeful that the Tablo could be the one. But my experience with the 99.99 device is that it has a lot of software issues and they are not getting resolved at a fast enough pace for me. The most frustrating is the frequent “not able to load guide” error. I hardly can go one day without having to reboot the unit. So even at 99.99 dollars it is less than acceptable performance. A friend has the Zapperbox and its performance is more stable based on a couple of days checking it out. The main local stations in my area (Baltimore/Washington)are Next Gen, except for WJZ, so that also is a consideration. The price is a little high but at $285 for the two tuner model, I think its reasonable for something that works and is more reliable. I am giving Tablo another month and if not better I will move on.
Not able to load guide data error, you need to check your internal network. Wireless signal or get a better chipset in your switches and router. I was discussing this with another user, that I have not rebooted my Tablo since Feb 2024.
I’ve been waiting for the AppleTV Tablo app before actually buying one, so I can’t speak to the Tablo experience itself yet. I have an HDHomeRun box already though, and many of the apps that work with it are… clunky.
My current setup uses Plex with the HDHR, running in a Docker container on a Synology NAS. That Docker container gets stuck about once a month and has to be restarted. At least a couple of times a week, the AppleTV Plex app loses its mind and won’t update the guide for live TV, or it can’t talk to the Plex server, so the app has to be killed and reloaded. Recordings are fine, but playback can be buggy, especially if I decide to record an app that is already in progress rather than being scheduled. Commercial skipping is hit or miss.
I also have an AirTV Anywhere (Sling/Dish) box. It attaches to the house network and has its own tuners and DVR storage. It works… OK. It’s still clunky for recordings/playback. It also has a loud, whiny fan, which is mostly not a problem since the box can be anywhere on the network, but it gets annoying if you’re in the same room with it for very long.
I offer this just as info on alternatives. Before starting with these about 2 years ago, I had been spoiled by 20+ years with Dish. The Dish Hopper was rock solid for recordings, playback, live TV, etc. But the monthly costs were getting crazy. Most of this is not new technology, so I’m not sure why these companies are having so much trouble with it.
So I have FIOS 1GB Internet service. Checking the speed via the Fire TV 4K Max stick, I checked several times over a half hour and averaged 500mbs download speed to my device. That should be fast enough.
Internal network, not your external speeds.
Other than when installing updates I don’t think I’ve manually rebooted my 4th gen since installing it late Sept 2023. Yes there have been (and still are) some issues but it keeps chugging along. We only use it for recording and up until recently we’d have to exit the Roku app to get it to let us delete some random recordings. That issue seems to have cleared up.
Have you tried the Channels DVR with the HDhomerun? Worth the cost for me, works really well. You do need a server system to use it…I put the Channels server on the mac mini that I’m using for BlueBubbles smile. Very functional.
@MrDoh , thanks for posting the info about Channels DVR.
They have a Server version that runs on Linux. Might be a replacement for Plex.
I’ll have to look at Channels again. I tried it early-on, but switched to the AirTV because it was an all-in-1 box, and because I was trying to switch from traditional Dish service to Sling service.
I’ve since cut off Sling, too, and have several streaming services instead to cover everything we watch. Even with all of that, and with commercial-free options on them all, we’re still at about 2/3 the cost of Dish.
Yeah, I was $167/Mo with dish. They kept raising price and taking away channels.
Had Sling for a while too, but $45/Mo was too much.
Speaking of cablecutting cost, just switched to prepaid Comcast NOW Internet, at $30/month, about half of what I was paying. The speed is 100/10 Mbps with no data cap, overprovisioned the usual 20%. Meets my needs…seeing a solid ~120/12 Mbps at this point. And able to use my own router…have to use Comcast’s gateway, though, so can’t have my own modem.
I was a Comcast refugee about 6 years ago, so had a lot of trepidation about going back to them. My interactions with Comcast this time around have been much more pleasant. Seems that the competition with Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T with their “home internet” plans has pushed Comcast to become a kinder, gentler company, at least around here. Time will tell, though.