Hi all.
To let you know right up front, no, I am not a “new” user to Tablo. I have had the Tablo Quad for over a year.
Through my time of having the device, yes, there have been times I’ve contacted Tablo Tech Support. Most of the time when I contact them it’s via e-mail; I like my responses from tech support to be in writing I have contacted support via a phone call, but when a conversation is over…sometimes I forget things. But when it’s e-mail/ writing? I can always refer back to it!!
And I’ve dealt with some great support reps at Tablo who are very patient and informative (Clarke, Arash…).
I’ve had tech support perform a remote-connection to my Tablo device when I put my device into remote-access mode. I’ve also run an app on my android cell phone called “RouteThisHelps”. With both of these - remote-access & RouteThisHelps - tech support said that all looks good.
My Subject line is “Buffering”. Yes, this is something I’ve contacted support about in the past.
In my home, I have a high-speed connection to the Internet (around 80 to 85 Mbps). Our TV accesses the Tablo app through our Roku Ultra player. I’d like for the Tablo to be hardwired into our modem via an Ethernet cable, but, for now it’s wireless.
And just to let you know, I’ve also perused some articles on Tablo’s web site for buffering issues. And yes, I remember seeing something in an article (plus it was mentioned to me in an e-mail from tech support) that you can experience buffering through Tablo, yet, if you have things like Netflix, Hulu, etc., you can have no buffering issues. Tablo is using your internal home network; Netflix, Hulu, etc., you are pulling from their servers.
So, with over-the-air reception (through my roof-mounted antenna), I sometimes still get buffering on a certain channel (not all channels, just a certain one/ ones).
I even just came across something on these message forums regarding buffering, and it mentions “I initially assumed that buffering issues must be a network problem (internal network that is), but in the recent thread ‘Tuner Strength & Buffering’ one user claimed to be having buffering issues that were resolved simply by better positioning/pointing his antenna”.
I must admit, I was surprised to see that. Since getting my roof-mounted Channel Master antenna, I have great reception (in the Tablo Settings/ setup section, all channels are 5 green dots). With this roof-mounted antenna, my reception is crystal-clear; no pixilation, no artifacts.
Also in the Tablo Settings, I’ve tried different settings regarding Live TV Quality & Recording Quality - HD 720 - 3Mbps - etc.
Well, I’ve front-loaded my post and given a lot of information up front so as to hopefully avoid some questions.
So even though I’ve gotten some great information from Tablo Tech Support, I just wanted to check with all of you here because…well, you never know!!
Anyone? Any idea why I sometimes receive the buffering spinning circle on-screen?
How about this: For those of you that are tech-savvy regarding computers, modems, routers, have you tried logging into your modem/ router and tweaking the settings? Perhaps choosing a different channel rather than the default?
For those of you whose Tablo is not connected wirelessly but rather is hardwired via an Ethernet cable to your modem/ router, how are things for you? Never any buffering?
And out of curiosity, how about this: If you access your Tablo through the Roku app, when you change channels, how long is it until the next channel loads? How many seconds?
Looking forward to replies & input; thanks,
Pez