Can anyone advise if there have been any known issues on the Roku with the tablo connection? All was good for a year and then the picture started to get choppy. It will go in an out about every 2-3 minutes. I updgraded my roku3 to a roku 4 and that didnt fix the problem. I updated the Mohu leaf 30 to the leaf 50 with the amplifier and that hasnt helped. I hook the antenna up to the tv direct and i have no problem whatsoever. I also have the mohu 30 hooked up to a tv in the central part of the house and the mohu 50 (attached to tablo) set up right in the window facing the tower i am aiming for. I also have my roku hard wired and tested the speed and am getting 55mbps. The only thing that i add to the equation to make the connection not work is the tablo. It does it during live tv and also during recordings. The channel doesnt matter, it does it for every channel. From the tower that is 2 miles from my house to the tower that is 20. Someone please help as i am beyond frustrated right now. I have had to purchase hulu just to watch local tv shows after the fact. Thanks in advance!!!
It could possibly be a problem with your Hard Drive (both live and recorded are all actually recorded to the drive before playback). Given you had solid service for a year, I wouldn’t suspect your antenna.
You should open a trouble ticket and ask Tablo Support to look at the hard drive to see if there are any corrupted files or issues they can see.
Do you happen to have another hard drive you could swap out with to test?
And just FYI, your WAN internet speed doesn’t affect your recordings or playback on your local LAN (the mention of 55Mbs on your Roku, which is the WAN connected speed at the Roku). Only your LAN speed/quality come into play regarding playback from the Tablo to the Media Player.
Thanks, no I dont have another hard drive. I have a 2 TB Seagate Model: SRD00F1.
@btroester - I’m wondering if you’re encountering a combination of the ‘loading please wait’ issue and an overdriven antenna.
I’d suggest trying these things:
- go back to the Mohu 30
- Place your Roku on WiFi (if it’s on Ethernet)
- Put your recording quality at one of the 720 options (either 3 or 5 Mbps)
- Use the Roku preview vs. public channel
How do i use the roku preview rather than the public channel?
@btroester - There are instructions here: https://www.tablotv.com/roku-preview/
Basically go to your Roku online account and then use the code: tablopreview to add the channel.
Ok great, thanks. Another question, this is happening on live tv as well. Does the recording options have anything to do with live tv?
Im sorry, i already had the recording quality set to 720p. So thats not it
@btroester - Yes, that’s basically the setting for the Tablo to spit video out at, whether live or recorded.
Im sorry, i already had the recording quality set to 720p. So thats not it
I have had my 4 tuner tablo and WD Elements 2TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive since July 16th, 2015. I have had no real issues with pixelation (except CBS, and that is intermittent). Yesterday, every channel that recorded and every live channel started to have massive pixelation to the point it is unbearable to watch. I have tested connected the antenna directly to the tv to validate it isn’t weather or wiring and see no issues. I am using two roku 3s having the same result. I checked the android app to verify it isn’t the roku, and I am having the same issue on my phone. I am using the tablo preview channel on the roku. This is going to be a real issue with the spouse. She already wants to give up on ota and go back to DirecTv. I am not in a position to replace the hd to see if that is the issue. I also don’t want to lose all the channels I have recorded already. Please advise…I am not sure I am going to like the answer though.
Your Tablo may be overheating:
I have stood up the tablo vertically. I am still having major pixelation. I am about to look for a fan to see if that will fix the issue…kind of hokie set up if it does work. Long term I am concerned with the level of support being Monday through Friday, business hours…if you leave a message you may not get a call back for 1 to 2 business days. It kind of screws up the weekend if you have an issue on a Friday since you may not get a call until Tuesday. Support is a major selling point for most consumers. You hope you never need it, but if you do; you don’t want to have to wait a couple days.
My pixelation issues went away after I set my Tablo in the vertical position, which you already did.
My Tablo is a dual tuner, though, so yours might still be too hot.
A brute force method to check if it really is a Tablo heat issue is to unplug the power from your Tablo, and leave it off for, like 30 minutes, then plug in the power, wait a couple minutes for it to boot up, and check for pixelation on Live TV channels you know have strong signals.
There are several other potential causes I know of, along with their workarounds:
- Weak TV signal due to antenna cable split to feed multiple devices, like Tablo and TV.
This also happened to me.
Don’t use an antenna splitter. Have the antenna cable hooked up only to your Tablo. - Weak TV signal due to long distance from TV broadcasting towers.
Use a better antenna. - Weak TV signal due to obstructions between your antenna and the TV broadcasting towers.
Move your antenna to a better location. - Too strong TV signal.
This one cracks me up.
Too much of a good thing, I guess.
Use an attenuator to reduce the signal strength.
thanks for the suggestions. I don’t have my antenna splitting. It goes directly into the tablo. I have not had any issues since i first set it up in July. I discnnected from the tablo and plugged directly to 1 tv to eliminate the antenna was the issue. The picture was perfect. I will have to try the option of unplugging for 1/2 hour and see if that resolves the issue. It does seem to get very hot. I have read many posts that debate the hotness of the tablo. Nobody seems to come to an agreement of how hot it should get and what the negatives are.
My opinion is 94F on the bottom (hottest point) of the Tablo unit is a safe operating temperature.
When mine was 114F, I experienced video pixelation on Live TV channels with good signal strengths.
My Tablo Dual measured with Raytek MT6 Non-contact MiniTemp Infrared Thermometer…
Horizontal postion = 114F on bottom (hottest point)
Vertical position = 94F on bottom (hottest point)
“Bottom” is the same place in both cases.
It’s where the barcodes are.
Can you all try disconnecting your hard drive and try playing a single live TV channel? That way we can tell if it’s the hard drive or the signal itself.
After letting it sit for 1/2 hour unplugged, it appears that the pixelation has cleared. Can we conclude that the tablo overheated? If that is the case, I am concerned on how reliable the tablo is going to be for the long haul. All the recorded shows from yesterday and today are still very pixelated. Some of the shows I will be able to watch via hulu (although I was hoping to stop hulu, but now I need it for backup), however it is the shows on cbs that make me cringe. Now I will have purchase the shows via amazon…so much for free tv.
Bingo.
I would get a warranty replacement.