Is this still being worked on? Is there any kind of timetable on this fix (or new feature)? I haven’t heard a word about it in quite a while, and with the Super Bowl over, it kind of died out as a topic of discussion. And along these lines, does Tablo still offer that HDMI Tablo, which I actually considered at one time. The only disadvantage, assuming I was understanding it correctly, was that you were restricted to one television. Thanks for any input.
You would have to find both the legacy network connected Tablo and the legacy HDMI unit on the secondary market. The HDMI Tablo (from my understanding as it is the only Tablo I do not own) can work on multiple TVs. One TV is directly connected, while you could have up to four more TVs connected with a Roku, FireTv, or Android TV (no mobile device, computer, or AppleTv supported).
The HDMI Tablo seemed to have a lot more problems than the network connected Tablo, probably for the same reasons the 4th gen is more problematic. Transcoding is just a heck of a lot easier to handle than raw MPEG2 streaming.
As for the original question, there hasn’t been a timetable posted (and there rarely is until it is about to be released).
I have an antenna lead split to my tv in case the internet goes down. I just need to change the input on the tv to antenna.
If you Tablo is near the TV, move the antenna coax to the TV and change inputs.
Its a little effort, but really, how often does your internet go down?
That is exactly what I do. I have considered a two way splitter, but I was afraid I may lose some channels because of the slight signal loss. I’ll just keep moving the coax to the TV when necessary, but it’d be much more convenient to not have to do that, hence my question.
I think you can buy a coax switch. They should be pretty cheap since they’re just a mechanical switch.
I started messing with OTA TV in my previous house in Houston when the Amazon FireTV Recast came out. I learned pretty early in the process that the Recast was very unreliable. Since my previous home already had coax drops in various rooms, I wired the TVs up directly in addition to the Recast/ethernet connections. I also learned early on that any wifi involved was also unreliable, so ethernet everywhere.
My current home was also prewired for both coax drops and ethernet drops, so I replicated the same type of install. I switched to the Tablo about a year ago, and found very similar reliability challenges as the Recast (including the internet connect requirement).
I can easily toggle any of my 4 TVs between Tablo and “direct to TV tuner” OTA TV with simple button pushes on the remotes. I don’t think I will ever go 100% Tablo or whatever else may come along that is similar. Of course, the Tablo adds additional functionality like smart TV integration, 2 week guide, and (significantly) DVR. But, in a pinch good old OTA TV works great direct from antenna to TV tuner. Far more stable and reliable than Recast or Tablo on every different TV in my house.
I would advise anyone thinking about “going Tablo” to consider having some way to switch to “the old fashioned way” in a pinch, even if it means switching a coax back and forth.
Kudos to classicrockguy for what might be the cleanest arrangement of wires on any Tablo setup!
How’d you make those cool labels on your coax? My P-touch feels inferior.
Brother P-touch EDGE
That is sweet. Mine is an older model when two-line labels were the rage.
I end up spending hours every time I get a new piece of equipment or need to troubleshoot or change something. Sometimes it might be a year later. I’m getting too old and forgetful, so now I organize and label. I’ve done a couple of A/V and network installs for friends/neighbors, and I have to do the same type of thing or I’ll screw up there, as well.
Over the years, I have acquired some of the “tools of the trade”. This is my 3rd or 4th labeler, and so far it’s been the best one. The label cartridges are pricey, but if I am careful they last a while. I also have everything to make and test my own cables (coax, cat5/6, etc.). My most recent acquisition was a RF signal meter. I got tired of trying to work with built in “meters”, some of which aren’t too bad (my old Sony Bravia TV), while others are useless (Tablo).
I use the same approach to organize my wired network (I hate wifi). Same for my main TV and surround setup.
Probably overkill, but I am my own support tech, so I get to do what I need to keep up with it all.
Sorry to the OP for the off-topic post.
Wow these setup are great. I seem to never get around to labeling mine and now I feel really inferior!
Kudos to you all ![]()
that is very impressive. i wish I had the abilities to do that.
Just finished my upgrade yesterday. 2.5G Lan 2G Internet, and 7G WIFI with Cat-6A wiring for all the computers (6).
TV’s, Tablo audio equip are on a 1G switch. No sense wasting money on a 2.5G switch to handle that stuff since it won’t have to ability to use it.
Future proofed, at least for lifetime.
I pretty much went overkill, as well. My last setup was almost 10 years old. Hopefully, I am future-proofed for at least another 10 years.
Fiber ISP to ONT, ONT to Gateway, Gateway to Switch all 10gbps. Main WiFi 7 AP 10gbps backhaul. Other WiFi 7 APs 2.5gbps backhaul. Main laptop dock 2.5gbps ethernet. Everything else wired that can be wired in CAT6. Some GE and some FE. iPhones and iPad easily approach full 500gbps internet speed on WiFi.
I only pay for 500mbps internet. I get nearly 550/550, and have yet to come close to needing more. Very easy to turn this up for more $/mth if needed in the future.
I’m still flabbergasted that the Tablo hardware, released about 2 years ago, employs Wifi5 and 0.1Gbit Ethernet. Theoretically, these should be sufficient for this device, but a home environment isn’t a laboratory.
I guess I have to ask myself why my Gen 3 and Gen 4 using 2.4 Ghz WiFi 4(803.11n) into a 13 year old router works.
The data stream from a Tablo program seems to max out around 10-12mbps. Even with 4 programs streaming at the same time, the total bandwidth needed is under 50mbps, so the 100mbps ethernet connection should not ever be a bottleneck. However, it could be an issue over a crowded WiFi connection.
We have 4 TVs, but they are rarely ever pulling from the Tablo at the same time. Maybe when we have company. Even then, it’s likely at least 1 or even 2 would be pulling from an internet streaming service vs Tablo. Normally, we max out at 2 on the Tablo when the wife is watching her shows, and I am watching mine.
I get why most people recommend connecting the Tablo devices via Ethernet, but its wifi is so subjective. Even using a streaming sticks wifi is subjective, but not quite like the Tablos.


