Ethernet Connection: Ensure your 4th Gen Tablo is connected to a physical Ethernet port. This is essential due to the high bandwidth requirements of the older encoding protocols. For my setup, I connected it to a WiFi switch.
Channel Review: Regularly review your scanned channels. Remove any duplicates or channels with poor reception (yellow). Only use channels with “Green” power levels.
Audio Settings: In the Settings, Enable/Disable “Passthru Surround Sound.” Do not use the automatic feature. Depending on your equipment.
Living in a major city, I get good results with an indoor antenna. Here’s my setup:
Ethernet Connection: I also use Ethernet not only because it is a more stable network connection compared to Wireless, but because my Wireless network has so many IoT devices on it. Update: And because of all the Wireless saturation where I live since I can see over 30 different access point names from neighbors and commercial wireless signals in my local area.
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Audio Settings: I too ‘Enable Passthru Surround Sound’ instead of Automatic, but I have to keep checking this setting because after every firmware or device specific application update (I have both Fire TV and Google TV), the Surround Sound setting reverts back to ‘Disabled’.
Ideas for Using a 4th Gen Tablo in ‘Rural Areas’
According to AntennaPoint, I’m ~75 miles away from the broadcast station(s) transmission antennas.
Antenna: HDB8X 8-Bay VHF/UHF HDTV Bowtie Antenna. It is an eight-bowtie style outside antenna.
Antenna Amplifier: Winegard HDP269 Signal Amplifier from 2012. (Smile, it’s been working for over 12 years now!)
I have the built-in Tablo v4 amplifier feature disabled since I use an external amplifier to boost the signal at the outside antenna.
Antenna Mounting: I purchased an antenna tripod mount from Amazon. I went to my local home hardware store and purchased a 10 foot 1 1/4 inch conduit metal pipe instead of the 2 inch antenna mask (conduit pipe was lighter and even cheaper). I also purchased three (3) ~30lb/ea Concrete Blocks with a wood block pre-mounted on top, and nine (9) 2 inch construction screws. I mounted the tripod legs to the wood top of the concrete blocks using the screws. The three (3) concrete blocks made for a ~90 pound base. I mounted the antenna to the conduit pipe. I placed the conduit pipe with the antenna on top into the tripod and fastened it down. I also used Thompsons WaterSeal on the wood tops of the cement blocks where the tripod legs are mounted.
Using the Antennas Direct app on my smartphone, I aimed each side of the 8-bowie antenna for the best signal reception(s). I receive a total of 112 channels over the air with this amplifier and the antenna mounted ~12 foot in the air, and receive all of the primary broadcast stations, ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, and PBS, in HD.
There is a difference between connected wireless clients and connected wireless client passing traffic. Passing traffic will put a load on the wireless channel utilization. I have over 60 wireless clients connected to my wireless network and my Tablo is wireless. You just need to horsepower (chipset) to sustain it.
I think this is a huge issue with new users… They bought a $30 wireless router from Walmart. They will get $40 worth of performance. They also don’t actually know how good/bad the signal is in their home, but they always blame Tablo.
This is a good free wireless app that you can download on your laptop to confirm wireless signal:
I know everyone can not run cables to their devices, so they’re forced on to wireless.
Over the last few months, we’ve had issues just like most everyone else since switching over to the Gen4 device. These are the things we’ve done to improve our experience, some of which have been recommended on this site. I thought I’d reply to this post for others to consider.
I’ve seen some recommendations like, “make sure you connect your Tablo via Ethernet”. Well, the cables, path, switch, etc are important, so I put a little meat on our configuration items.
Added a 4"-5" USB box fan between our OG and Gen4 devices to keep them cool. The OG on bottom with heat sink up (88ºF) - fan blowing up - Gen4 (82ºF) on top upside down. Devices remain cool in this Tablo fan sandwich setup (minimize overheat/schizz behavior).
Validate antenna signal using a low-cost (<$50) signal meter; thankfully we didn’t have to buy another antenna - we had an old antenna already in our attic; turned off Tablo amp because we’re only 15 miles from tower farm (ensure proper signal reception).
Update/upgrade Internet from cable (300/10 mbps) to fiber (1000/1000 mbps) (improve overall Internet performance).
Ensure Wifi6 mesh router and satellites are working properly and can handle the 1000 mb traffic (ensure best possible internal wifi).
Requested a static IP address from our provider (resolve double NAT issue for external OG access).
Set the DNS on streaming devices and TVs to Cloudflare (or Google if you prefer). Set to match what our network router is set to (avoid DNS mismatch - don’t know if this matters but could speed up DNS searches).
Update/upgrade streaming devices to Wifi6 capability (ensure best possible wifi to devices).
We used to have a hodgepodge of unmarked, Cat5, and 5e cables. We invested in and replaced all with Cat6 cable, connectors, and plugs for the wired network; both Tablos are wired (ensure best possible wired connection speeds).
Consolidated all 5- and 8-port switches into a single, 24-port Gb switch (reduce possibility of traffic collisions).
Leave the darn devices alone (avoid changes/improve stability/performance).
The worst we’d seen recently was some minor buffering, but now both our FireTV Stick and Roku Ultra are working without issues.
After reading here often about the key factors of strong home network wifi signal, and strong OTA signal, I finally followed through last summer. Used inssider to measure signal in different locations (hat tip to @KimchiGUN) and bought 2 more mesh points. I had thought the main router and one point would be enough, not true. The router (Synology) has all kinds of fine tuning settings available in the UI, but I haven’t yet had the inclination or for my purposes the need to learn about changing many of them. Maybe someday.
OTA signal was made better by moving the antennas (I have one antenna for each of 2 Tablos) and mainly by finding an indoor antenna brand that works well for me. I have had maybe 2 recording failures of OTA this year, and very rarely a live OTA will briefly freeze.
That said, when I first bought Tablo in winter 23-24, there were many issues due not only to my own setup, but IMO also due to Roku/Tablo updates in conflict. Thankfully I’ve had no issues with the latest updates, and IMO Tablo also got their server act cleaned up since the most recent Superbowl; my subjective impression.
