Ok, so a major internet service provider (not mine) has been busy installing fiber in my neighborhood for the past three weeks. The work has resulted in intermittent, random internet outages.
But… I have the 4-tuner Gen 4 Tablo running via the app on Roku or Onn streamers, so I should have been able to watch local channels and/or recordings in Offline Mode, right?
Wrong! First off, starting the app (either on my android phone or either streamer would take more than 30 seconds to figure out that the internet was down. Eventually, it would offer up the Offline Mode option. Then I would select a local channel (4.1, 5.1, 12.1,etc.) and the channel would begin to load and then get stuck at exactly 13%.
Every. Time.
I tried clearing the cache on my android and restarting both streamers…no go.
Then I made the mistake of hitting the reset button on the bottom of the Tablo. But since the internet was down, it couldn’t return to solid blue light status, and I was cooked.
I ended up switching to a standalone antenna connected to my main TV and watching for a couple of hours (without the ability to pause, rewind, or fast forward, obviously) until my internet was restored.
I’ve been a huge fan of my Tablo up to this point, but they need to fix the Offline Mode functionality and make it more stable and reliable. What’s the point of having it otherwise?
Anyone else having the same experience? Please chime in if you have suggestions.
Gee we must live in the same area? Had a similar issue this week. I have a FireTV stick 4k. The stick itself said no internet so guess what I could not even get into any apps like the Tablo.
I have found offline mode less than perfect, but it usually works for me. Sometimes I have to exit and relaunch the app a few times for it to offer offline mode.
And, yes, as you discovered, you still need an active internet connection for the Tablo ‘puck’ to initialize. So, if you have a power outage, and your power comes up but not your internet, you are SOL. I hope they are able to solve this in a future update.
I, too, have a direct antenna connection to my primary TVs. It allows me to catch the morning news if the Tablo goes down.
No internet, no FireTV stick. I don’t know about my Google TV. I suspect it will still function w/o internet since that is also my interface to the Sony tv itself (settings, tuner, etc).
I think the Tablo Offline Mode is only “useful” if Tablo servers are down. No internet is going to crater all of the smarttv stuff.
The fire tv stick UI doesn’t like not having internet. But it use to work for legacy if you went to setting - manage apps. And went to the tablo app and selected launch application.
When Offline Mode first became available, I was able to get it to work somewhat consistently. I use Roku and ONN streaming devices and as long as my wifi was working, while my internet was down, I could watch local channels. It was a bit slow and cumbersome, but it eventually got there.
Something changed more recently and now, try as I might,13% is the best I can do.
Please accept my apology, it was not my intention to offend you. My post was a reply to KGBnut’s comment, of ‘So, if you have a power outage, and your power comes up but not your internet, you are SOL.’ I should have quoted that in the original message. My mistake. It is your thread and I respect that, so I have deleted my post.
I appreciate that. No offense taken, honestly. Just frustration at trying to find an answer to the Offline Mode issue. My response was a bit more direct than it should have been.
I will delete my post about your response as well. You’re a stand-up person with integrity. I didn’t catch that someone else posted about power outages…my bad.
I wish you well and hope you’ll forgive my (too quick) reaction.
