How does Tablo handle multiple tuners in the same household? For instance, were one to install multiple Tablo DVRs in a household with each attached to an antenna pointing in a different direction, and had multiple streaming devices, how would the DVRs handle the availability of some channels on multiple DVRs, how would all of this be represented in the EPG (do you need to select which DVR tunes a channel or are there simply more tuners available for the channel), and what is the user experience like (do you need to choose a DVR or are all channels from all DVRs included in the guide)?
There is no integration across multiple Tablo devices. On the client (Roku, AppleTV, etc) you would need to connect and disconnect from each Tablo as needed.
You’re best off assigning each Tablo to specific users to minimize switching between units.
I have 2 2-tuner units attached to 2 different antennas on opposite sides of the house. I mainly use to distribute live TV (with some recording too). When reception varies due to some kind of interference it is easy to switch between units. I mainly use Roku players that are hardwired so there is no syncing delay.
In theory you could combine the signal of two OTA antennas and connect one coaxial cable to a single Tablo, so all the channels are available on one DVR.
Thank you all for this information. Too bad, really. This is something I did not like about the Simple TV DVR as well. I recall that windows media server handled multiple feeds pretty well.
So are you saying that if you had two PCs running Windows Media Server (each with its own tuner card), your client would see the combined channel/show list?
No – one media server with multiple tuners integrated. Plex too. I had seven Simple TV DVRs (nine tuners). Great for harvesting programming, but less useful for live viewing or playback since you had to find a free tuner that was not going to get busy harvesting. I would have a strong preference for a single four tuner model DVR over two duals under the circumstances.
That’s what I thought. And yes, a single 4-tuner box would be preferred to two 2-tuner boxes in most cases. However, if you really did need two antenna placements to get all the channels, then two 2-tuners might be better.
It’s been a while since I have heard SimpleTv mentioned. I remember when the Tablo first came out, and it was the main competition to compare to the Tablo. They are out of business now.
I really have two things on my mind. 1) my sister is planning an antenna install where vhf comes from two directions. I want the simplest install and use for her. 2) I’m tempted to grab one of the dual tuner returns just to play.
Simple tv did some good stuff – tablo does most of them better.
I may not be understanding the overall situation but if you are basically needing to combine two antenna feeds and 4 tuners is sufficient couldn’t you just use a combiner and feed both antenna signals into the one Tablo unit? Or is it that one or both of the antenna placements may have cable runs that are just too long so you want to have a Tablo unit at the location of each antenna?