How do I access Tablo from remote TV? Do I need ROKU (or similar)?

Support & Troubleshooting
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I am just starting, so my Q’s are very basic. Tablo connects to my antenna for OTA & the internet. I watched the menus on YT videos - very impressive. But I could not find the answer to my question, even though it seems like it must be an issue for 80% of people.

  1. I assume it’s normal that the Tablo would connect to my most-watched TV, and I would get the Tablo menus on that TV - RIGHT?
  2. What do I do on a remote TV that’s not SMART? Do I need to get a set top box? Like a ROKU? Or is there a better option?

Thanks. I appreciate that you’ve taken the time to read this.

PS - I am also curious about what choices most people select for content - it seems like if I do Hulu+ ($45 + $8 for Entertainment), I am nearing FIOS cable costs. But I will ask this as a separate question in a few days if I haven’t already figured it out.

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You’re OK, it’s easy from here: Download the TABLO APP on your Roku or Fire TV device. If you have an Android TV device, that will work as well. That’s how you watch, and you can do this on every TV in your home (but you need to do this first). If you don’t have any of these, you can pick up a Roku or Fire TV device for as little as $39 at your local BestBuy (or elsewhere).

Once you have a Roku for Fire TV device hooked up to an HDMI port on your TV, check back in here and you’ll get excellent guidance from there.

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I will note though that the Roku app does not support Tablo Connect (aka remote viewing). The Fire TV does, as well as your smartphone or tablet (say iPhone or Galaxy S10+).

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I use Philo TV $16 a month for 44 channels and you can get Pluto TV for free. In my household we have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon prime and Crunchyroll too

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Actually, no. The Tablo device is not connected to ANY TV. It’s connected to your antenna and your local network (ethernet preferred, wifi usually works). Then each TV needs to run one of the Tablo apps, either directly (smart TV) or on a connected streaming box (Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, etc).

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Thank you!
But why not use it as the interface for one TV and save the $50 for one ROKU Stick+?

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The Tablo is a “headless” product which means it does not have an HDMI connector on it. You cannot connect it directly to an HDTV.

It is a network DVR, connects to your network wirelessly or wired and you connect to it using another device such as a Roku, NVIDIA Shield, iPad, iPhone, etc.

Read the website below in its entirety then watch the YouTube video.

https://www.tablotv.com/tablo-dvrs-how-they-work/

1 Like
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Because it doesn’t have an HDMI out to connect to a TV.

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and I would as, why can’t I make it work through my own network. As @theuser86 points out there are a variety of options, and it pains me to say this - and most people have one of these anyways. Which does lend to it’s flexibility.

Other words, this seem to meet market demands and works best for typical consumers. It’s relativity simple and integrates with what they (kind of) figured out works already.

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