Hi everyone, has anyone else had issues with Tablo buffering or freezing while watching live TV? My internet seems fine, but it still happens sometimes. Any tips to fix this?
2 Likes
I’ve seen others mention similar issues. Even when the internet is fine, Wi-Fi signal strength or the Tablo’s connection can sometimes cause buffering. If possible, try connecting it directly to your router with an Ethernet cable and see if that helps.
It’s typically not your Internet speed. It’s usually the quality of the antenna signal or home network where the problem(s) lies.
1 Like
Hi @zoni,
This article, may help.
I’m experiencing ongoing buffering and freezing issues with my 4th Generation, 4-tuner Tablo running firmware 2.2.58. This happens across all live OTA channels on both my Apple TV 4K and iPhone. Interestingly, completed recordings (library) play without any issues, so the problem appears specific to live television.
I’ve spent some time troubleshooting this and wanted to share what I’ve tested so we don’t repeat the same steps.
My configuration:
-
Tablo 4th Gen, 4-tuner model
-
Firmware 2.2.58 (no newer update available)
-
iPhone app version 2.3.0 (126)
-
Tablo connected via Ethernet through a switch connected to my main eero router
-
Apple TV 4K connected via Ethernet
-
Internal 128 GB flash storage, with 88.91 GB used and 26.56 GB available
-
No external USB storage
-
OTA signal strength consistently reports 4–5 green dots
Troubleshooting completed:
-
Power-cycled the Tablo before beginning testing. The problem persisted.
-
Confirmed the issue occurs on both Apple TV 4K and iPhone, eliminating an issue isolated to one playback device.
-
Tested multiple OTA channels, including 1080i broadcasts. All experience intermittent freezing.
-
Confirmed completed recordings play normally without buffering.
-
Tested live playback while simultaneously recording the program and again after canceling the recording. Buffering occurred in both situations.
-
Tested pausing live television to create approximately 30 seconds of playback buffer. During one test, the delay gradually decreased from 30 seconds to 25, then 17, and eventually reached LIVE. Freezing subsequently returned.
-
Ran a continuous ping test from my Mac to the Tablo while actively watching live television. During the 44-second test, the picture froze three times, yet all 44 ping packets were received with 0% packet loss. Average latency was 29.245 ms, with a maximum of 51.385 ms.
-
Captured a 40-second iPhone screen recording of the live playback behavior. The video shows the playback progress bar at or near LIVE while the displayed time indicator fluctuates rather than progressing consistently. The Tablo reports “You’re Live” during the recording.
Based on these results, I’m concerned there may be an issue with the Tablo’s live-TV buffering process, firmware, or internal flash storage handling.
Hi @CactusMan,
We discussed this with the support team.
We’re wondeirng if there’s something off with your ethernet cable or switch.
If not, reach out to Tablo Support and DM us with your email and/or ticket number.
No - it is a clean switch, based on the error, latency, and congestion status. Other users are experiencing similar issues based on the community support notes.
Let me ask you this - have you tested this in your lab under the firmware 2.2.58 and seen similar issues? I understand where you could assume network issues, but that does not explain how the DVR(Library) does not replicate when playing the show ( after the recording is complete), when watching the recorded show historically. Again, the issue pertains to “buffering” during live OTA broadcasts. When the video is played “live,” I am seeing 30-45ms to the Tablo and when idle, 7-15ms. So this does not seem to be a latency issue or network congestion. Thank you
We’d like to grab some data on this. Would you DM us your email address? We can create and escalate a case, and then reach out to you.
Im sorry but you did not give me a method to DM the support team with my email address. Since this is a public forum I did not see this as a good avenue to post my email address. However, I spoke to support and I did send in a request earlier today and they said my ticket # is 636898. Hope this helps you.
Click on the avatar Tablo TV(Circle with Tablo Logo) Then click on Message, this is a private message only between you and TabloTV…NOT public.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions and for sharing your experiences. It seems this issue may be affecting more users than I initially thought. I’ll keep an eye on the discussion and try the recommended troubleshooting steps. Hopefully, a future update or support investigation will resolve the buffering and freezing issues. I appreciate the help!
1 Like