Remote Access Suggestion: Add ability to connect to Tablo remotely using TabloTV account info

You know you can’t even schedule recordings on the Plex DVR unless you use the website on a computer right? Big fail.

I just purchased the new Tablo 2 Tuner DVR and it works well in the house, but am very disappointed with the difficulty in using it remotely, away from the house. I can take computers apart and change motherboards and deal with electronic things, but I am stupid when it comes to IP addresses and ports and subnet masks or whatever all of this is. I’ve gotten it to work, but it doesn’t work more than it works. Lately I haven’t gotten it to work at all. Why isn’t there an option for me to just simply log in from my phone or work computer to watch or schedule a program? I have a Slingbox with my Satellite DVR and you can just log in to Dish Anywhere and access it. Very disappointed that Tablo doesn’t have this ability. I’d love to ditch the Satellite, and still be able to record off air programs and watch them anywhere, but this is turning out not to be an option.

As you can tell, this has been requested for awhile by a number of customers. I believe it is on their list but nowhere near the top. Maybe, if enough folks keep reminding Tablo…

I found a work around for this. (sort of)
you can use Google Chrome portable on any USB stick. pair the stick at home and it will play anywhere(computer devices).

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Yes, REMOTE ACCESS VIA NON LOCAL PC (Mac OS X actually…) This would be amazing…

Please add the ability for clients to use login information to pair with tablo. Tablo users should have the ability to configure a new client for a remote site, tablo knows our external IP address.

Has there been any progress in getting any of these options to work? I find it very difficult to get my laptop to access remotely, or even my fireTV stick. It would be great to allow setting up remotely using the users account to handle the logistics of syncing remotely when access becomes a problem…,

There is nothing new on this on the Tablo side. The most consistent way to do this is to install a VPN server somewhere in your home network (some routers have this capability), then connect via the VPN to either stream directly from the Tablo or pair a device.

Sounds like a plan. Not sure how to setup a VPN server and how to make my Fire Stick 4k attach to it. But will definitely learn. Thanks… At least until they give us a way to setup a device via our tablo account…

It is beyond ridiculous that this feature has not been implemented in the 4 (!) years since this was requested by the OP. It’s 2019, users should not have to have network knowledge and setup a VPN to join a device to their Tablo account [when physically located external to their local LAN].

I was super excited to get my Tablo setup yesterday and ponied up for lifetime guide service right off the bat (not cheap!), only then did I find when I was staying at my granfather’s house that I had no way to get my account working on his Fire TV stick unless I physically took it with me to my home’s LAN, set it up, then drove it all the way back to his house. That is an absolutely hot garbage user experience. This is a simple feature and not having it is maddening. Mulling over requesting a refund for my lifetime service and using the cash to just go Plex DVR with an HDHomeRun at this point. This is truly the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of Tablo for me.

I don’t believe the feature enhancement process works that way.
Just because someone requests a feature, doesn’t mean it’ll ever be implemented.

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Sure, average companies can implement whatever they want [or not] but truly great companies who care about their customers once the service is established (and the increased revenue from word-of-mouth referrals) will implement user-friendly features like this. As it stands, Tablo Connect ‘works’, but it’s not user friendly. It’s a large negative point on an otherwise great service and it is not clear from the marketing/FAQs that such a feature doesn’t just work out-of-the-box on any [supported] device anywhere.

When you can name another DVR that does remote connect better than the Tablo, please let us know.

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Word of mouth doesn’t sell enough additional products. What’s important is product reviews. And these compare various products in the same line of business. So if you have limited R&D budget you are going for those features that compare favorably to the competition.

Of course if you are a huge company worth billions of dollars and with thousands of R&D developers you can waste all kinds money.

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It would be great for companies to follow that path, but, unfortunately, those companies tend to be for profit organizations using return on investment methodology.
Bottom line is for profit companies will create product, and service features that will make them profits.

I already did: Plex DVR. The only issue there is the release of chronological EPG style guide for Fire TV clients. That is why I chose Tablo at the time of purchase.

This may be true for bigger sites where huge companies just ship Engadget etc. their new hardware upon release for review but there are plenty of cord cutter sites run by little, but well respected, guys who find out about new products and features from the community before then posting the very product reviews you mentioned. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trashing Tablo as a whole but the fact that this feature is still missing is frustrating.

This is 2019 not 1999. Hardware and software manufactures know about all of these cord cutter sites and actively promote new products to them.

There use to be only a few “community” forums discussing various products. All most all of these have either gone downhill or been infiltrated by shills or trolls.

That’s the beauty of the WEB and social media.

That’s just software, not a complete DVR product like the Tablo, Tivo, or any of the cable/satellite provided DVRs.

Seems like you’re splitting hairs. Only one Tablo unit has built in storage out of the box so I would argue it’s equally modular and not “complete”. Only difference with Plex would be you’re potentially running the software on the storage device (NAS) and plugging in the TV tuner to either USB or the network. Not much of a difference; less complex for the average user than setting up a VPN to join a device to their Tablo account, IMHO.