Setting up remote connect on TV in another state

Some services have stopped working if you are using a VPN, but I don’t think Tablo does.

I can’t comment with authority on a direct VPN connection to my home network with the Tablo. I have not actually tried my Tablo well connecting to my home network with a VPN. The capability is there but I have that feature currently turned off for security reasons. I am being very cautious due to various security issues found in many routers firmware and popular VPN clients.

I should probably have elaborated. I use an outside VPN (Private Internet Access) to avoid blocking and Geo location. With that settup I am still using the remote access feature and connecting via the open internet. It prevents blocks from wherever I happen to be connecting from at the time. My ISP at home is a smaller company and we don’t have to deal with many of the issues large companies create. At Least not yet.

Well, I had a little setback here. Just to clarify, I paired with my iPhone while at my vacation home when I was up there, turned on remote connect, and the iPhone could still see the Tablo down here in California, for about a week. Suddenly it could not find the Tablo, and seemed to be looking for a local Tablo down in CA. Rats. The software is irritatingly like Apple software: there is no way to really understand what it’s trying to do, and no way to configure it properly from here. I hate unstable software, and that’s what I’m seeing now. I’ll be back up there in late November to reset things, but now I’ve lost confidence that Table provides a stable, persistent environment. Convince me otherwise.

Jack, Very sorry about that - incredibly irritating I know. My experience is that pairing with laptops, tablets, and phones is sketchy because so often they can reset things - whether cookies in browsers, or other settings.

Over several years I have pairing lost several times, and I am one of those who yearn for remote log-in with password (a la many systems, such as Plex, especially since the Tablo can “phone home” to Nuvyyo servers and so you would think could be looking at stored account and password confirmation.

However in several years using 11 Fire Sticks and Rokus remotely - I just counted - I have never lost pairing with Tablo. These remote devices are used almost every day. So I don’t know if this convinces you, but at least it may be worth your trying a playback device with a TV/monitor/projector rather than a phone, tablet, or laptop if you want solid reliability.

Good luck!

P.S. I have an utterly unconfirmed theory that Nuvyyo set things up with pairing rather than password so that all paired devices had to “originate” with home base and therefore this isn’t, in some sense, a remote broadcast of a distant antenna, in order to avoid nexus with various U.S. court cases which could have blocked the remote feature entirely. Just a theory.

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“I have an utterly unconfirmed theory that Nuvyyo set things up with pairing rather than password so that all paired devices had to “originate” with home base and therefore this isn’t, in some sense, a remote broadcast of a distant antenna, in order to avoid nexus with various U.S. court cases which could have blocked the remote feature entirely. Just a theory.”

@TabloInTheCity - that is a very plausible theory! Given that satellite based providers had to have spot beams to deliver signals for specific locales. Or that television frequencies per station are limited to specific regions. Streaming companies such as Locast practice “geocentering” or “geolocation” delimiting who can receive programming by geographical location.

With satellite providers such as Dish and DirecTV, one had to get a waiver from the FCC to get programming originating from outside one’s immediate region.

I had a similar issue. I can’t tell you why but it worked fine for me for about two weeks with no special setup and then stopped.

To get it working again I had to set up port forwarding. I’ve had no problems since. If you set up port forwarding make sure you link the local IP or intranet IP to the Tablos MAC address. It might say bind the IP.

If you previously set up port forwarding a change in the local IP address could even be the issue.

Your router might describe it differently but it likely has the ability to bind an IP to the Tablo. You don’t have to worry about the WAN or internet IP because Tablo servers keep track of that.

If you need help let me know the router model and I’ll try to help.

I had the same theory. They are a relatively small company and right or wrong one of these huge corporation’s could sue them off the face of the earth. It’s happened to other companies so it’s sometimes best to play it safe.

TiVo would be gone if it weren’t for deep pockets. I think even the VCR barely survived.

Hey, I actually feel better that I’m not alone in having this problem. My first conclusion was that I did something wrong in setup or usage, but maybe not. Given that Tablo is dancing with some elephants who could crush them in a moment over remote viewing of local stations, I can understand their caution.

My goal with remote connect is probably different than most other users: I don’t actually want to view content remotely, I just want to be able to control what is being recorded. The FCC should have no power over that type of remote connection to the Tablo. From my standpoint, it would be nice if Tablo bifurcated their connection topology into two realms: one for connecting to the Tablo for control, and one connecting to the Tablo for remote viewing. But I’m an outlier, so I don’t expect them to do that just for me.

Relative to what router I have above the Tablo: what comes to mind is “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to receive.” Apologies to Sir Walter for changing deceive to receive. My internet connection in Oregon comes through an Xfinity box that’s been neutered down to a passthrough, into an ASUS router that does the security and DHCP, onto a LAN connection over to a WAP that the Tablo connects to via WiFi. Sorry. Amazing that it’s worked at all, huh? And now, my son, who determines the network configuration, wants to go to a VPN. At best, near term I hope to get a fixed IP address for the Tablo. I’ll have to put off sorting all this out for a while…

I like Asus routers.

Yuk! Glad it’s neutered. Hopefully it won’t be able to breed now.

1st Bind the IP
Login to your Router.
Click on " Network Map" if you aren’t already on that page.
Next to “Client” click that number
Click on " Nuvyyo INC" (You may neeed to scroll to the next page with the arrow if you have a lot of clients.
Turn on “MAC and IP address Binding”
Click Apply. The router will save the settings.

Set up port Forwarding
Click “WAN”
Go to the tab “Virtual Server / Port Forwarding”

Service Name Just pick one you’ll remember
Source Target Leave Blank
Port Range = 31887
Local IP Select Nuvyyo INC from drop down menu
Local Port 8887
Protocol I selected Both
Add / Delete Click +

Next
Service Name Just pick one you’ll remember
Source Target Leave Blank
Port Range = 31880
Local IP Select Nuvyyo INC from drop down menu
Local Port 80
Protocol I selected Both
Add / Delete Click +

Click Apply Then wait for setting to update.

Make sure you are connected to the same network as the Tablo
Now open your Tablo phone App
Open settings in the app
Scroll down to “Tablo Connect”

If everything is correct you should see a message that says “Your Tablo is ready for remote access”.

If you want to do the VPN that’s fine and not too difficult but I only use VPN when needed. I consider it a security risk.

There may be some other considerations regarding device Tablo pairing and remote operations. Last year Comcast lost to Rovi (Tivo) in court over the issue of remote scheduling of recordings; Comcast unwilling to pay Rovi certain copyright charges disabled remote recording for its users.

If a device is paired locally at home and that device then “travels” with its owner that may avoid remote logins and certain copyright issues (along with FCC channel locality restrictions). No one can forbid a person traveling with a device that is already (locally) operative or that would raise a ton of civil rights issues against any company restricting the right to travel with one’s own equipment…

Nuvyyo may be right politically to have a device-Tablo pairing relationship that is established locally first BEFORE any remote usage. This way the device is known to be rooted in an acknowledged home base in which the broadcast is FCC certified for region.

A civil right?

Or maybe it’s a civil right but you just can’t take the device on a plane, train, or bus. You have to walk or drive everywhere.

And if the Saudi ambassador invites you to visit the embassy to discuss what Tablo is and why you used your Fire TV Stick to access it on your last trip to Riyadh, I think I would pass on that visit.

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Well, I just returned to my vacation home in Oregon (11/15), and my iPhone app reconnected to the Tablo box right away. Connected my wife’s iPad and iPhone too. Installed my new Amazon 4K gen-2 Fire Stick on the TV, and wow, it’s fast!. Tablo Pre 1.6 installed on the new Fire Stick, and it seems to work perfectly.

I had reported a problem in another post about freezes caused by me going to another app on the Fire Stick, then returning to Tablo Pre. That issue has been resolved.

So, all is well in Tablo Land for me. Thanks to all of you above who helped a newbie get going! I’ve learned a lot.

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And my wife says thanks, too. She’s the real user in our family. There was one TeraByte of recordings waiting for her to peruse when we got here yesterday.

The suggestions to buy another Tablo aren’t addressing the question that was asked.

I see the OP already said he doesn’t need remote viewing, just remote controlling, but regardless, he obviously wants access to the channels in the area of his vacation home… he might not get the same content at his primary home. If he did, why on earth would he have purchased a single Tablo and installed it at the house he rarely occupies, rather than where he lives most of the time?

And even if he did get the same broadcasts at both locations, there would be a lot of annoying work involved in maintaining two DVRs and keeping track of which one contains which programs.

You indicate Roku’s maintain remote pairing? That could serve some us well…

My experience with 2 remote Tablos - of course ATV4 doesn’t even pair for remote access. 'don’t have Fire Stick but I do have a Roku working at one location. It’s snappy and prefer side menu (I understand newest ATV4 will adopt). Never tried it outside the home but that’s gonna change next travel date.

Clunky deal managing a “married” iPad and computer browser on one Tablo while iPhone marries/handles another Tablo on a different coast.

Airplay gets old and often doesn’t work in many environments to view my local programming. Ty ty…

Just to clarify what new Fire Stick I bought, it’s the one that Amazon calls
" Fire TV Stick 4K with all-new Alexa Voice Remote, streaming media player" that was released on 10/31. I pre-ordered and got it that day, to support a new Samsung 4K QLED TV I got. I hate it when vendors don’t specify real model numbers when they release products. Here’s the link for the one I bought:
[https://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Fire-TV-Stick-4K-with-All-New-Alexa-Voice-Remote/dp/B079QHML21/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542415579&sr=8-1&keywords=fire+stick#compare]

I called it a gen-2, but maybe that’s incorrect.

I was misleading in the Roku comment - sorry. With the Roku, I stream through my Plex, and that pairing has never dropped. (Tablo users have had variable success with Tablo on Plex with recent firmwares, working for some and not for others.) It’s the Fire Stick that I use for remote connect directly, and it’s never dropped a pairing.

The Fire Stick gen 2 is likely be on sale as low as $25 on this coming week’s Black Friday, so might be worth experimenting.

Exactly. The Fire Stick will be $24.99 starting tomorrow. If you did nothing else but to pack it in your carry-on bag for overnight trips, worth every dime.

Yes, Amazon has very confusing version naming.

The Fire Stick gen 1 - not to be confused with the Basic edition first released! - has “voice remote” but not “Alexa voice remote” of gen 2, though as far as I can tell the remotes and capabilities are in fact identical. The difference is that gen 2 can be connected to an ethernet adapter and gen 1 cannot (has only wifi); otherwise identical, I think.

The Fire Stick 4K has Dolby Atmos instead of the earlier Digital Plus and can handle 5.1 sound (as well as 4k video), and is considerably physically larger with its more powerful processor.

It’s possible to buy separately the new remote control which has an IR blaster to turn on-off and volume up-down on many devices, and use that with existing Fire Sticks.

This is all separate from the “Fire TV” box models (gen 1 and gen 2), the “gen 3” pendant, and the Fire TV Cube.

Jack, is the 4K Stick working smoothly with Tablo?

Both the 4K and the Gen-1 Fire Sticks are working perfectly, and seem to have identical responsiveness for both live TV and playing recordings. My wife likes the 4K remote better because it turns the TV on and off, and has the volume and mute keys. She never needs to pick up the TV remote for anything. So that’s the one I’ll be sticking with.

Just for reference, I have a Tablo Lite, running the Tablo Pre app on the Sticks, Fast Live TV Startup on, record at HD720 3Mbps, live at HD1080 8Mbps, Dolby 5.1 off. TV is an older Sony KDL 52W4100 (1080p).

I experienced some buffering of live when I had both live and recording at 8Mbps, and there was a second channel recording, but backing off on the recording rate seems to have solved it. Curiously, the buffering seemed worse on the 4K stick, but it wasn’t a true controlled-test comparison.

What is the upload speed of the internet where the Tablo is hosted?