Hi Guys happy as heck to be here and soon cancelling my DIRECTV !!!
This is my set up
TV: 65" 4k
Audio: Complete Pioneer 9.2 system
Internet
Motorola modem ( cable Internet)
Nighthawk Router dual band quad channel.
ok so I run a plex server on my 2010 Mac Mini 250gig SSD and 8 Gig Ram. I want to use the PLEX app to stream the live tv hardware wise I think this is more then enough. I read about how the reaction time when changing channels is SLOW will that also happen to me…? Will running it through the computer be any better…?
I will also run another TV in my bedroom where there is another Mac Mini Same specs again using the plex app.
Last TV will be …? no idea yet either a Roku4 or apple TV not sure.
I’m really Tech savvy so I hope this setup hardware wise will run really good but need all of your experiences. i will hardwire the Tablo to the Nighthawk Router.
Has anyone tried Tablo through PLEX using a Mac Mini…?
I super green to this so any advice you can give I’m all for it !!!
I ran Plex Server and Plex Home Theater off a MacBook Pro. It worked ok. Tablo and Plex are fine. I didn’t have any issues with that. The Live TV switching is slow. I’ve found the best way to watch live TV is using the TV’s built-in tuner if you tend to switch channels a lot.
The issue came when I we subscribed to Sling. Plex didn’t have a Sling channel. So then I was switching apps between Sling and PHT. It was annoying.
I’m now using a Roku 4 with Tablo and Sling and it works perfect - for us. There’s a Plex channel for Roku if you want to use Plex for other things.
I kept the cable TV for a “trial period” but only disconnected one TV (the kitchen TV) to see how it would go … after a few months my wife gave the thumbs up and I cut the cord a few months earlier than planned… I would suggest a trial run before totally cutting the cord to make sure you can get issues like antenna and antenna orientation/setup locked down before going cold turkey.
I will be ordering my indoor amplified 50 mile range antenna from amazon soon. Every station i need and watch i will get and I might pick up sling for several others i watch. 90% of the time I’m watching ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, FOX. Then espn for games and if I’m bored Food network and HGTV.
I dont do channel surfing so maybe that will not be an issue for me. The 1st gen Directv genie I have is also painfully slow !!! Yeah no Sling TV channel… would going through the browser to watch live tv maybe better then plex…? Not sure how efficiently plex will handle the tablo channel.
I also have a harmony one remote with the hub has anyone seen if the remote could be programed to used tablo…? For PLEX I use my iPhone or iPad the row mote app works good would that work for the DVR also…?
Im going to cut the cord pretty much cold turkey. I ll be in school full time so not sure interested in hooking up cable at my new place, but i understand what your saying !!
last thing I know Im throwing a lot out there as far as question but will 50mbps down be sufficient?
I have 50 down and 1 up and it is fine. The main pieces of the puzzle are your router and your antenna. What antenna are you planning on getting? Remember there are virtual channels (what you watch on) and broadcast channels. A virtual UHF station can broadcast on VHF. Without having to research, the simple solution is to get something like the Winegard FL500A and leave the Mohu Leaf and those infomercial HDTV antennas alone (Mohu doesn’t claim VHF but does receive VHF depending on distance and strength of the broadcast signal.
It depends what the BROADCAST channels are where it will be used. There are virtual channels and broadcast channels. From Amazon’s site, Does this receive UHF & VHF channels or just UHF?
Answer: According to the manufacturer: “The [AmazonBasics
Extreme Performance] and [High Performance] receive high VHF and UHF
digital TV broadcast signals. The [Regular Performance] is optimized to
receive UHF digital TV broadcast signals.”
I got the Winegard FL500A which is designed for BOTH UHF and VHF broadcast stations. For the router, Wirecutter.com recommended TP LINK Archher C7 v2 which is what Amazon sells. I got it and agree with them. Others on here also have it.
I have this antenna, as well as my mother. We both live about 35-40 miles from the towers (in different directions) and get great reception. It’s a good one, and cheap!
look at www.tvfool.com to see what channels are listed. If you look up the call letters on wikipedia you can see what additional subchannels are available. That looks like a good antenna, but I am only going by the specs, since I don’t have it. Your router is more than enough…looks to be better than I got.
Just a note of caution the Tablo plugin for Plex Medi Server is not officially developed or supported by Tablo.
It is made my a 3rd party developer, who has not updated the plugin in months. So I don’t know what the status of it is at the moment.
Regardless, you can install the Chrome browser on your Macs and access the Tablo using the my.tablotv.com website. Playback is solid through it now that it uses the HTML5 player.
I ended up getting ROKU’s because they supported “native” apps for the tablo and plex … trying to use my iphone via airplay to the appletv for tablo/plex was an annoyance… Now that the new appletv will support native apps I will probably get one once the tablo folks and the plex camp release native appletv apps…
To be more clear, the Tablo does not have a remote nor could it even have a remote, it is a standalone device that communicates over your network. It does not have an HDMI output either so you can’t connect it directly to an HDTV.