Hi All, New user in Crete, IL here

Hello All!
Just received all of my equipment yesterday. I’ll browse around the forums to pick-up information on my setup and ask questions as they arise.

I received:

  • Tablo 2-Tuner
  • Mohu Leaf 50
  • 1TB WD Drive
  • Roku 2

The initial estimation from TVFool was the majority of my stations were straight north in Chicago by ~30mi.
My initial setup (late last night) I put the Mohu facing East @ ~8ft (simpler) and got a handful of channels. Got through the updates and initial setup. From what I understand, I’ll need to relocate the antenna facing the direction of the majority of channels (North) and get the elevation as high as possible?

Tonight I’m going to relocate to a 2nd floor North facing window. Do I just need to use a length of coax to make up for the distance difference with the cable provided by Mohu?

To do this I’ll need to move my Tablo to 2nd floor as well and connect to Roku via wifi. Will this cause any major “lag”?

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated :smile:

  1. Move your antenna to where it gets the best reception.
  2. If additional cabling is needed, use RG6 coax cable to connect to the Tablo.2
  3. Hard wire the Tablo to your router.
  4. Roku on WiFi is fine. Which Roku 2? Model 2710 from Sept. 2013 or Model 4210 from April 2015?

Thanks for reply.

  • I’ll check out a few antenna options and see what gets best reception
  • Our house is >100yrs old and power outlets are limited, but will pick up some RG6 as you mentioned.
  • Currently the only options for our router location are on 1st floor or basement as that is where the U-Verse tech wired it. That is why I did my first attempt with the Mohu on 1st floor. I could try a North facing window on 1st floor and see what the results are?
  • I have an older Roku XD and then just picked up a Roku 2 4210 for our primary TV.
  1. What is the make and model of your router? Hard wiring the Tablo is your best option.
  2. You will definitely notice a performance difference between the new 2 and the XD. Make sure to try bothTablo channels on your XD, the standard channel and the Preview channel.

I have my Tablo and Roku 3 both on WiFi 5 GHz. The Roku in the bedroom is on 2.4 GHz network. It works.

Hello,
I have the Motorola NVG510 modem through my AT&T UVerse. I’ve had it for a year and hasn’t given me any issues yet. I have it located in my LR in the TV Stand.

I’ve been trying a few options tonight so I have my Tablo connected via WIFI so that I can move it around with the MOHU. Took a while to get the WIFI to work, but I’m connected to it now without issue.

I first tried the North facing window on the 1st floor LR. I got a decent selection, but 2 & 5 were Orange & Red and had very poor reception. Next I tried East facing window on the 1st floor LR. Same results on 2 & 5.
I moved the unit to the upstairs bedroom (directly above the LR) and installed in a North facing window. I didn’t get 2 or 5 at all.

According to TVFool, CBS & NBC towers are only 30mi away which I’d think the Mohu 50 would pick up?

As much as I’d like to call it a day, 5 is a must. My wife is a loyal Dr. Phil and Today show watcher and part of the agreement was that we could get rid of cable if she could keep her shows on NBC.

What else can I do? Does it matter how I have the antenna secured during my trial runs? I just have it loosely propped up in the windows.

I had better luck with a $35 antenna than I did with the Mohu Leaf. I can aim the elements direction needed. If you can, an outdoor antenna would be better.

The Mohu 50 does work well, but yes you should mount it properly flat with the window. Not just leaning it up again the window. Use some Scotch Tape.

As well, you can move it around the window - top corners, bottom middle, etc.

You’d be surprised by how particular OTA antenna signals are.

This North facing window, are there trees in the line of sight of the antenna?

@chadzeilenga - Are your windows coated with a film? Do you have screens on them? Sometimes screens and films can have metals in them which can refract signals.

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Ah ha! I think that might have some potential. We have an old house with all double hung windows and no AC. I have our window screens in the upper position and typically lower the upper sash to ventilate (heat rises :)). I was also putting the MOHU in the upper window position so that it was higher up above ground level. I’ll retry my efforts with the MOHU located on the lower sash on our 2nd floor room and might have better luck tonight! Thanks for the great feedback everyone. I’m going to pick up a 10-15ft extension of the RG6 coax. Does the routing of the coax matter? If I have any excess, can I coil it up behind a piece of furniture or will this cause any interference issues etc?

One other issue I have been having is with rescanning to find channels with a new antenna position. I’m using the APP on my Iphone 5 and the function of this rescan seems flaky sometimes. I’ll initiate a rescan and it will keep searching etc or it will show a status of 0/0 channels found. I’ll see if I can capture some screen shots of it later tonight.

One question I have is the initial results from TVFool indicated that many of these channels were “GREEN” and would be easily picked up with a TV set top antenna. If that was true, why am I having to spend so much effort with the correct window position of the antenna. I had thought that I could attach the antenna to the wall near the TV and be good. How do the signals work. Do all antennas need to be located on a window?

I am in new lenox (slightly nw of Crete)…I have an antenna in my attic and an amplifier right before a splitter which divides the signal to my tablo and simple TV. I get pretty much everything I can get with the taboo (about 3 times more than simple TV). Without the amplifier I’d get nothing

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Success! Tonight I installed my Mohi Leaf 50 in the lower pane of the 2nd floor North facing window. I used 25ft of RG6 cable along the baseboard to reach the Tablo unit. Performed a channel search and have 38 strong signal channels. Everything seems to be working well despite the handful of trees that are in the way. I get the standard 2, 5, 7 & 9 plus all the random ones I have yet to explore.
Unfortunately I was not able to connect directly to my router, so I’m on WIFI. My modem is limited to a first floor location currently and I didn’t feel like drilling holes to get it on the 2nd floor. Is the main drawback to WIFI the lag when starting up shows etc?
Also, I got my Tablo unit running on my Roku 2 XD, and it appears to be working well.

Thanks to everyone who took time to reply and help me with my startup.

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You never told us the make and model of your router. Are you running the Tablo on the Wireless N 2.4 GHz band or Wireless N 5 GHz band?

The issue with WiFi Tablo is you are engaging in double WiFi which can cause buffering problems on the playback device. The double WiFi is streaming from Tablo to router via WiFi and then streaming from router to Roku via WiFi. What recording quality do you have the Tablo set to? You will likely see buffering problems if you try to use the 1080p quality due to its high bitrate.

Finally, you can hardwire your Tablo to your router without drilling holes. Use Powerline Ethernet adapters, see the thread below for an explanation. They work great.

https://community.tablotv.com/t/powerline-ethernet-adapters-great-way-to-hard-wire-tablo-to-your-router

I have a Motorola NVG510 modem and do not have a router currently.
I’m not sure if I’m on 2.4 or 5.0, how do I check?

I have it set to 720roku/chromecast setting.

Powerline Adapters…never knew! This is like my recent revelation on SearchTempest, I had no idea that existed until a few weeks ago. ha ha

From googling the modem, it appears it is not a dual-band WiFi, thus it only supports Wireless N in the 2.4 GHz band. For a bit of background, Wireless N 5 GHz is faster than 2.4 GHz. The only caveat is that the 5 GHz band does not do well over long distances and through multiple walls due to the shorter wavelength of the signal.

If you’re not having any buffering problems, then leave the Tablo connected via WiFi and you’ll be happy. But if you want to stream say 2-3 devices simultaneously, say you have both Rokus streaming and a tablet streaming from the Tablo at at the same time, you will likely run into a bottleneck. The bottleneck will be the WiFi speed between the Tablo and modem/router combo you have.

Did you get a chance to read into those Powerline Ethernet adapters?

Keep us in the loop how everything goes.

Not having many issues currently with bandwidth as our family doesn’t use much data, but It’s good to know as an upgrade in the future if need be. The Tablo is directly upstairs of the Modem, so the wavelength shouldn’t be an issue.

Few questions about the Ethernet adapters:

  • Do the devices need to be on the same circuit (breaker) or just on the same electrical panel in a home?
  • I see that it is not advisable to plug the adapter into a surge protector. Can I plug a surge protector into the Ethernet Adapter?
  • I see that they typically come in pairs. Could I potentially use a 3 device setup so that I can connect my laptop to network in my garage?
  1. Yes, if you decide to upgrade to a new router, you will have to put your modem in bridge mode. I have the following router and I have recommended it to many on the forums and they have liked it - TL-WDR3600:
    http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WDR3600-Wireless-Gigabit-300Mbps/dp/B008RV51EE

  2. Some Powerline Ethernet adapters have a power outlet on them to let you plug a surge protector into them. They are more expensive of course if they have power pass through.

  3. Yes, you can link up 3 of them. 1 at your router, then a 2nd at your Tablo, then a 3rd in your garage. The 2nd and 3rd one will provide a link to your router. However, if you upgrade your router you may get WiFi in your garage and not need to put a Powerline Ethernet adapter there.

Hey @chadzeilenga, it looks like @theuser86’s good you covered. If you’d like to chat with us directly feel free to send us a note and we can take a look at your setup from our end.

Hi Everyone,
Been using the Tablo since installation and dropped my DirecTV last night. Been working great! No issues with signal etc. Still need to upgrade to the Powerline Adapters at some point to improve speed, but so far it has been bearable.

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@chadzeilenga - Glad to hear that! Congrats on cutting the cord.