I tried using the HD 1080, but too many reloads. I am hardwired to my router, but I also have a ton of hardwired and wireless connections including two ethernet expanders and a wireless repeater. I just wanted the Tablo for recording purposes only as both of my tvs are connected to an antenna in the attic.
@snuffy6589, I know how it feels when itās not working and other people are telling you that itās working for them. I have one of my TVs on a rolling stand, and as many network jacks as I have here, thereās still not always one exactly where I want the TV to be, so I can sure see the value of making it work via Wi-Fi, but you might try wiring your Roku, if only for testing purposes.
If you can satisfy yourself that it works well when wired, then all you have to do is make the Wi-Fi work better. It seems like 802.11acās beam-forming technology could really help. And I see that the Roku 4 does have that technology, so all one would need would be a wireless router and/or access point to match.
I am still having LPW issues-itās better since the Roku firmware update, but not working correctly all the time. I am in an apartment. Both my Roku streaming sticks are attached directly to TVās. though both Tvās are less than 20 feet of the router, I upgraded my router to the highly recommended Trendnet dual-band AC1750, and have it set to the 2.4 Ghz band. Tablo is hard-wired to the router now and on the same desk. I am within 5 miles of most transmitters in my area, one is 20 miles away. I have n 1byone HDTV antenna-50 mile range (bestseller on Amazon), using the amplifier that came with gets me a couple more channels stronger. Even with this, I do still experience pixelation from time to time.Iām not sure if a distribution amp would help w/ the pixelation, nor what else I can do with the Roku. Sometimes also besides the LPW issue, when watching recorded TV, there is only one thumbnail for advancing thru commercials, or no thumbnails and I have to guess where the next show segment begins. Also, sometimes when the thumbnails are available, the remote will not auto-advance like normal, so I have to keep hitting the advance button to move thru each thumbnail until reaching the next show segment. Other days it works fine and there is no correlation to bad weather either. the only thing I havenāt done is factory reset the Roku, but am unsure if this will help. Anyone else find that a solution? Thanks. MaryM
Still no troubles here @MaryM. You know, the whole 8VSB transmission scheme is kind of poor. Iāve never really seen any case where an indoor antenna was completely acceptable. Perhaps mostly acceptable, but thatās about as good as Iāve seen it. Iām only about 10 miles from the major transmitters in my area. And the Houston area is pretty flat, so you might think that transmitters at 2000 feet would work great, but itās just not that great. In the days of analog TV, I could pick up the locals just about anywhere, I remember that some retail stores would even display TVs using rabbit ears inside the store, and it worked pretty good. Not prefect, but good enough, because lots of people used to watch TV that way.
But then as now, range ratings on antennas are almost meaningless. Just because an antenna is rated for 50 miles, that certainly doesnāt mean that it will receive all stations at that range. That is true of outdoor antennas, and even more so of indoor antennas. I have experimented with all kinds of indoor antennas, both amplified and not. I even have one of the Philips Silver Sensor antennas that were so highly-touted at one time. Itās probably still the best of the lot, but in my experience, no indoor antenna performs as well as an outdoor antenna, all else being equal. Thatās just physics.
Add to that the fact that the 8VSB standard just doesnāt handle multi-path very well. It can deal with static reflections, like reflections off of building and such, but if a tree blows in the wind, it all falls apart. Some receivers do a better job than others, and I have to say that Tabloās receivers are among the best I have tried, but even so, an indoor antenna is still challenging. And Tablo doesnāt really give us the tools we need to get the best antenna positioning either, so that adds to the challenge. I actually used my HDHomeRun to tune my antenna, because it has a pretty good near-real-time signal strength and signal quality app for iOS.
In my testing, I noticed that Tabloās receivers are a bit more tolerant of overload than, say, the ones on my Hauppauge WinTV-7164 tuner card in my home theater PC. But they still work better when theyāre not overloaded, so if you are very close to the transmitters, and you are using an amplified antenna, you might actually get better results by reducing the gain. In my system, I have an outdoor antenna with an antenna-mounted amplifier. That helps with feedline losses and EM ingress, but even after some splits, it was still too much signal for the Hauppauge tuners. So I started adding inline attenuators until I observed the best signal quality (as opposed to the strongest signal). I like the Pico Macom PPFAM In-Line Attenuators, but there are other good brands too like.Channel Master and Winegard. Look for a seller that doesnāt try to hide shipping costs by rolling it into the price of the product. They should be around $2 each and a handful of different values can all ship together for the same cost as shipping one.
Figuring out the best amount of attenuation (if any) is easy to do with the Hauppauge software, and even easier with the HDHomeRun app, but I found it just about impossible with the Tablo. So lacking better information, I just used the same attenuation for the Tablo that I used with the HDHomeRun. That resulted in more reliable reception via Tablo than with any other tuner that I own. I donāt know how to tell anyone to replicate my method though. You just need some way to observe both signal strength and signal quality in real time, while making changes to the antenna position and gain. Perhaps you have a TV that lets you see what needs to be seen. If so, you could use that as a basis for Tablo. The Tablo tuners are very good, if you can figure out how to tune your antenna.
Itās good that you hard-wired your Tablo. And 802.11ac has great potential, although itās less clear as to whether one would get the most useful features, such as beam-forming, while using the Trendnet/Roku combination.
Still, 20 feet is pretty close. Do you have other Wi-Fi devices in close proximity to Roku stick and/or Tablo? This is another case where some software tools would be very helpful. I just havenāt found any good way to evaluate the connection between a Tablo and a wireless client. It would be nice if the Roku stick had an Ethernet port, but alas it does not, so there is no way to rule out wireless networking problems.
I can say that the Roku stick does not support āacā, so the connection would be 802.11n at best. But the Roku stick does support dual-band, so if you are running your router in single-band mode, it might be worthwhile to enable the 5GHz band as well.
You mentioned that there is no correlation to weather, but for what itās worth, as a long time Ham Radio operator, I can tell you that there are things that affect signal propagation that one canāt necessary see. And in the case of 8VSB, things moving in the signal path can have a dramatic impact on reception. The type of antenna you have is known as a āpatchā antenna. All patch antennas are directional to some extent, so you might have better luck with a different orientation. An old Ham radio trick is to point the antenna upward, as that reduces ground effect and noise (and other things in the context of Ham Radio), so you might try an upward angle. If you donāt have the antenna in a window, it may help to put it there.
It would also help you to know the physical location of the transmitters relative to your location. In other words, if the transmitters are to the east, itās probably not going to help much to put the antenna in a west-facing window. And a north-facing window might be even worse, because it would put the entire length of the wall between the transmitter and the antenna.
If you can find a way to see both signal quality and signal strength in real time, that will help a lot with deciding how to position the antenna. Otherwise, itās going to be an educated guess at best. If you have to guess, then find out where the transmitters are by using something like antennaweb.org, then try to put the antenna so that there is as little of your building in the way as possible. Most antennas work better if there is nothing in their near field, so unless you can actually mount in on a window, try to move it away from objects, and particularly metal objects.
It is not uncommon to find metal construction in the walls of apartments, so it might help to move the antenna away from the walls. If itās a modern building, it may also have low-E window glass, and the same thing that stops IR radiation also stops RF from easily passing through low-E glass. 1byone makes a stand for the antenna, so that might be an option for you. If none of that works, then something like the Silver Sensor, or Terkās amplified version may work better for you. Itās more obtrusive than the patch antenna, but itās also more directional, so that may help you. And you can always treat it as sculpture. 
Thinking back, I did a lot of Ham Radio operation in my apartment days, although the management was kind enough to allow me to clamp my antenna mast to the balcony railing. I donāt know what your situation is, but maybe you can figure a way to get your TV antenna outside, in a spot that faces the transmittersā¦(?) There is a federal ruling that allows the installation of DBS satellite dishes just about anywhere, and I have seen some TV antennas that are designed to look like a DBS dish. If your neighbors have dishes, that could be another option for you.
MaryM, two things in your post caught my attention:
- youāre in an apartment
- youāre using 2.4 GHz bnad
My guess is you may be seeing a lot of wifi interference. I have a friend who was in a similar situation and the 2.4 ghz wifi in his apartment was terrible because of all the interference ā he could see something like 30 wifi networks from his unit.
I donāt know anything about the Roku sticks or your router, but can you switch to the 5 Ghz?
Iām also using 1080/8 with very good results using NP wireless. Tablo is wired directly to router. Apparently ISP speed is not a major factor in this setup as Iām only using 3.5 mbps from Time Warner.
Thanks for all the time and attention you put into your response, Mr Mark. It may be I need to try another antenna, and Iāve read posts here and other forums talking about interference. Didnāt think I saw any until last nightā¦upstairs tenant was running their washer, and all of a sudden, I was having a lot more pixelation and LPW on a channel that usually is fine.Being in an apt. does create additional complications. Iām on the second floor, and the buildings are 3 stories high. I spent many hours trying different locations for the antenna, including the tip on making it more directional/cord up. The best reception (all green dots) has been to lay it on a lateral file cabinet (wood), close to the tv. It has a 10 foot cord which is extended a couple of inches once I added the amplifier. The configuration of the room and the cable outlet for my internet is not near the windows (south facing-which is where the transmitters are) and would need an insane amount of cable to change, plus my monstrous L-shaped desk is only good in the spot it inhabits. I do have a balcony-it has a metal railing-but using it for a dish or antenna is $300 deposit to the complex. Also, there is another building across the courtyard and some trees, so itās not a perfect set-up either way. I donāt have any other wifi devices, so thatās not an issue. The building is late 1980ās, so no low-E windows. I will try getting the antenna stand first. I looked up the Sliver Sensor-shows itās been discontinued. Another contributor suggested try running the Roku on the 5 Ghz band instead of the 2.4, and Iām going to try that too. Thanks for your ideas and help, I do appreciate it.
I havenāt tried that yet, John Luther, but will give it a shot. Before I upgraded, I had a wireless G routerā¦and it made sense there were issues once I was informed it was an older one. The cable company is soooo helpfu/informative :(. When I upgraded, wasnāt sure Iād need to use the 5Ghz band now, but will try it and see if the Roku is more responsive. You are right about being able to see a number of other networks from here. Thanks for your response.
I tend to get carried away with my posts, so thank you for reading it.
I think that opening up the 5GHz band is a great idea. Obviously itās not going to solve TV reception problems, but itās still a good idea, just on general principles.
I know the Silver Sensor was discontinued, but Terk still offers a pretty decent knock-off, and it also has an amplifier.
No matter which antenna you use, I would probably try for a window on the side of the building that faces the transmitters. I understand what youāre saying about the other building being in the way, but all else being equal, obstructions in the near field of the antenna hurt reception more than objects at a distance.
I donāt know your layout, but a longer coax run would be less harmful than an inferior antenna location. Or if itās easier, you could also run a network cable over to the favorable window. That way, you could put the Tablo near the antenna, meaning that there would be no feedline loss at all. And there is no penalty for a longer network cable, so long as you keep it under around 100 meters. And decent network cables are typically less expensive than decent coaxial cables.
Nice. And I think youāre rightā¦internet bandwidth is not particularly important unless you are streaming to a device outside of your LAN.
Switching to the 5 GHZ band is making a differenceā¦though there are still some LPW, but so far it lasts a few seconds to 30 seconds-which is a vast improvement. Playback of recorded shows is good now. Whew.
There are some layout issues too, including that I have a desktop rather than a laptop, which would make moving everything easier. I might have enough coaxial cable to move the modem (thereās only one cable incoming in this room), but the biggest obstacle is the humongous L-shaped desk which needs 3 men to move. Now if I had decided more wisely to sell/donate/give it away before I moved from a house to the apt., but that is not what happened. I may end up getting the Terk amplified to see if it works better than what I have now. I do appreciate your assistance. MaryM
Iām using the 5 GHZ band now for Roku/Tablo and there is much less LPW, and when it odes happen, it lasts from a few seconds to 30 seconds, and just a couple of times, so itās over and not keeping me from enjoying shows like before. Also recorded shows are playing back normally, and when I fast-forward to the next program section, it loads in a couple of seconds instead or 30 or more each time. Thanks for the suggestion! MaryM
Iām glad that enabling the 5GHz band helped you. As for the layout, I understand that itās not convenient to re-arrange your stuff. Although I didnāt mean to suggest that you move everything - just the antenna.
The only reason I brought up the idea of moving the modem/router and Tablo, was because I thought that might potentially be easier for you. For example, all of my such hardware lives in an equipment closet, since I donāt actually need to have them in my presence in order to use them. The closet that I use happens to be about 8 feet from the outside wall that faces the transmitters on our area, so it wouldnāt be the worst place for an antenna. In fact, I have an FM antenna/receiver in there for the phone system, so that people have something to listen to when they are on hold. If you happen to have an arrangement like that, maybe it could work for you tooā¦(?)
Or like you said, just try a more directional antennaā¦that could help without significantly relocating the antenna.
Now after I said that, of course I had LPW issues today while watching a playoff game.
It is a good sized room, but even if I got rid of the desk, Iām not sure how your suggestion would play out-but iām not real tech-savvy. How I can move the router-which is plugged into my desktop, and the modem-which connects with the coaxial cable and need that for internet. Iām not sure I do, but letās say I have enough coax cable to move the modem, it still leaves me with the router connected to the desktop computer-and needing to move the hard drive, monitor, speakers. Is there another way to connect the router without it being attached to the computer-is that what Iām missing here? Thanks.
You probably would just need a longer network cable to connect the router to your desktop computerā¦ (I usually get my cables from monoprice.com.)
I recently upgraded from my Roku Stick to a Roku 4.
Since the switch, all Tablo issues have self-resolved.
The limited hardware resources of the stick must not like Tabloās awesomeness, lol.
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I have noticed too that both the Roku 3 and the Roku 4 are much faster with a wired connection, which is not possible with the stick version. Itās really nice to see this working well. I am seeing good results via Wi-Fi as wellā¦just not as fast.
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The Stick (3500 or 3400) is quite under powered, it has never been recommended as a Roku device by Tablo.
thanks, now I get it. And for the site suggestion for purchase. 
Sounds like I may need to do that too. Still having intermittent LPW issues. Some days fine, other days, not so. Had I realized the Roku sticks were lower powered when working with Tablo, I wouldnāt have purchased themā¦sigh.