I just purchased the tablo 4th generation because after 7 years of paying more to xfinity than i pay even in rent (no lie) I’ve had enough of the cost the run around all of it but the only channels i watch mostly are abc, cbs nbc and fox plus i record A LOT but when i tried hooking up the tablo it has only 72 channels none local i made sure vpn was off i turned off the amplifier i tried moving the location of the antenna and i can’t ever get help from customer service
I know it is frustrating when it doesn’t work but we need more information from you. What antenna, how far from the broadcast towers, was the tablo connected by wifi? Roku, android box, etc.
Welcome to the forum and I hope we can help you out.
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Welcome to the Community. It appears that you’re only getting the FAST (Free, Ad-Supported Tv) channels and no OTA channels. You might also want to visit the AntennaMan YouTube channel. Here’s a short, starter video to help get you up and running.
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Also did you try connecting the antenna directly to the TV and scan for channels. A relative had a flat antenna that was defective. I had an old rabbit ears antenna and it worked. She replaced the defective antenna and was up and running.
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I have tried everything even that. Customer service said i need to purchase an amplifier but that doesn’t make much sense since it has the built in amplifier. I turned that off as well. I’ve tried it in every room of my house short of climbing on the roof to identify as an antenna myself I’ve done all i can without buying more equipment that may or may not work.
SORRY it’s the tablo 4th generation and I’m 17 miles from the towers. I’ve tried every room in the house and I’ve placed it in the direction where the towers are. I haven’t been able to get the local stations with the tablo or another cheaper antenna i had bought first.
Usually, a cheap (indoor) antenna won’t get you what you need and an expensive antenna is just overpriced.
Did you say you tried to tune in channels on your TV with the antenna connected directly to your TV? If you’re not able to pull in any channels on your TabloTV or TV then you may need a better antenna.
This post has what I think may be a good, omnidirectional antenna for outdoors or in your attic. It was recently installed by another member and their results seemed good.
I installed a similar antenna to this one for my sister-in-law and it seems to work fine. She’s only 15 or so miles from the towers. I didn’t use the amplifier that it came with and you probably won’t need it if the antenna is any good.
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I agree with wysiwyggin. You likely have an insufficient antenna. I really like that Tablo, but it is only as good as the signals you can receive. I’m guessing that you have one of those flat-panel antennas. In my opinion, those are practically junk.
The antenna wysiwyggin suggested is certainly better than those if you are limited to an indoor antenna. Do you have the option of a roof mounted antenna, maybe attic mounted? Getting the antenna up high can make a big difference. Amplifiers can help, but you have to start with good signal.
I do have a flat panel antenna (Channel Master Flatenna) that works well for me. However, I’m also only about 15 miles from the transmission towers.
I don’t know how far the original poster is from the transmission towers. I would agree that, for most people, an outdoor antenna is best. I just didn’t think my wife would be interested in setting something up on the roof.
Someone earlier posted a video from Tyler the Antenna Man on YouTube. His recommendations tend to be good ones. He also offers a service where he’ll use Rabbitears.info to determine the best antenna for your area.
I definitely would try using your current antenna directly to the TV to see if your can get any network channels. Depending on whether you purchased the 2 or 4 tuner model, your signal will be split into 2 or 4 signals which could affect the signal strength.
Just moving the antenna around can improve the signal. However, it’s very frustrating unless you know the best position for your antenna. I used the cheap Mediasonic DVR that Tyler recommends as a cheap signal meter to determine the best position.
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She say that she is 17 miles out, and I will take her at her word. I do know one or two other people that have had good luck with the mudflap, but those are relatively few. Antenna height will also make big difference, as will building materials that the antenna is trying to look through. Every case is different, but there really are much better indoor antennas out there.
I actually paid for a recommendation from Tyler and got great results. He looked at terrain and tree coverage and other factors and gave me a good antenna recommendation and helped with getting it aimed correctly. For me it was just what I needed, but not everyone is comfortable climbing up on the roof with a screw gun. Also, for a lot of people a roof-mounted antenna is just not an option.
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I use a Mohu Leaf antenna and it works great for me. Been using it since I purchased my Tablo Quad 4+ years ago and it works great with my Gen 4 as well. I’m about 24 miles away from the towers. I even have the signal split between the two devices. I use an amplifier on the connection to the Quad and don’t have the amplifier turned on in the Gen 4. Second story on wall facing the towers. Works wonderfully.
I did try other ‘mud flap’ antennas before and those were junk.
The suggestion to connect directly to the TV is the right next step to determine if any signal is being received at all.
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The Mohu Leaf does have the reputation of being the best of that style of antenna.
@Sasha_Luman, the ex weather man has a good point and a Mohu indoor antenna may make the most sense. I don’t have any experience with these.
The AntennaMan has some Mohu reviews but they’re 5 years old. Here’s a more recent review he did of a flat indoor antenna from Channel Master.
Check YouTube for some other reputable reviews and videos on how to optimize your indoor antenna placement.
The Flatenna is what Tyler recommended to me based on my distance and terrain. I didn’t have good luck with the Mohu Leaf. Sadly, there’s no perfect antenna for everyone.
Since I don’t think the original poster said which mudflap antenna they had, it could be one of the many junk antennas with 5-star reviews on Amazon.
I just wanted to say the mudflap antennas do work for some of us. However, I would never argue against an outdoor antenna. Nine times out of ten, you’re going to get better reception with it.
If I needed an outdoor antenna, I’d hire an installer to do it (if you have the money). For me, the installer’s price is less than an ER bill every time.
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I’m pretty handy, but had recent back surgery, so a good friend helped install my outdoor antenna. I actually called around to find an installer, but no one would call me back. I get the impression that there is a growing demand and not enough installers.
I will say this, even with the cost of the antenna, the Tablo and some other things for the job, the Tablo is saving me $1500.00 just in the first year. If you can’t do it yourself, I would think a professional installer would be worth the money. They would also know the right antenna and how to aim and tune it properly.
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You are just going to waste money buying and trying antennas. You need to have a report for your location. With the report, that will determine the antenna you need. This is not a Tablo issue, this is an antenna issue.
You need to go to www.rabbitears.info to generate a report. You will enter your address and move the pin over your house. When you click on “go,” a report with be generated. It will show you how close the towers are in relation to your house. Clicking on the miles will show if its line of sight, 1 edge, 2 edge. It will show if there are hills in the way.it may be necessary to mount your antenna on a mast to get better reception. We can’t tell without a report.
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It’d be cool to have a “What antenna should I use?” forum but one must provide a rabbitears.info report in order to pose the question. To say I’m X miles from the towers tells us nothing. I’m 30 miles from the antenna farm near Cleveland, but I’ve got a very clear line-of-sight spot and I receive all the networks at 100% strength with no amplification using an outdoor Televes Dinova. But someone else may be 10 miles away with a mountain ridge in between. Our antenna needs are not the same.
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I agree. According to rabbitears.info, I am 27.9 miles away from the towers with clear line of sight. I’m in the Charleston, SC area so no mountains to worry about. 
On the other hand my Mom, who is also in the Cleveland area and has the same antenna as I do, is 25-27 miles from the towers (according to rabbitears.info) and gets all the UHF channels fine but not the VHF channels (WJW, WOIO, and WUAB). No VHF channels where I live so I didn’t have to worry about those. I am getting her an outdoor antenna.
I have found that that mudflap antennas don’t do VHF well at all except possibly at very close range and that they might say omni-directional but it is not true. It took me a quite a while to find the right place on the wall to put my antenna.
I do agree, all
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FWIW, WOIO (CBS 19) has repeaters in the Akron and Canton areas, but I’m guessing your mom is on the east or west side of Cleveland. WOIO is beefing up their power in the next year or she could get Paramount+ with Showtime that includes the local affiliate. There are legit ways of getting it for free like I’ve done for a few years. This is how she can do that too.