I am here in Tampa with EXACTLY the same problem you describe. I am watching my NJ Tablo with a Fire Stick and get the buffering every 30 seconds with live TV, but not watching recordings. I get excessive bufferbloat with Spectrum. I’ve found that reducing the bit rate to 750 Kbps or even 500 Kbps extends the initial viewing time of the live TV, but once the buffering starts, it’s like clockwork. Playing shows recorded on the remote Tablo shows no problem whatsoever. I have a local Tablo here in Tampa and have no issues at all. How did you downgrade your remote Tablo to 2.2.24? That might solve my problem with the live viewing. The main reason I’m interested is to watch the NY newscasts. I can live with watching the recordings, but prefer to view live. One more thing. If I start recording the live newscast, and then go to view the show while it’s recording, I get the same buffering as if it’s live. To watch without the buffering, the show has to completely finish recording. Strange.
My reply to Nilex was intended for you. (sorry) I have the same problem as you. How do you downgrade from 2.2.28 to 2.2.24? Hopefully that will solve my problem.
Here are the instructions I got from Tablo:
Could you try the following steps to reload the previous firmware version?
-Disconnect the power supply from your Tablo
-Hold down the reset button
-With the reset button held down re-connect the power supply
-Let go of the reset button as soon as the Tablo’s LED starts to flash
This may only roll you back one firmware level. If this doesn’t work, submit a support ticket to the Tablo helpdesk. They may be able to have you put the unit into remote access mode and then they can do it. The only problem with all of this is that you can’t do it remotely. You have to have someone at the unit.
Please file a help desk ticket with your problem, so they understand that this is not just me having these problems. Make sure you escalate this to a manager. If you get the run around, call their support number.
Good luck
Mike,
Thanks for the quick reply. I’ll save your instructions, since I’ll be in our Tampa home for the foreseeable future. No one at the NJ house right now. I will file the help ticket. The live streaming works fine on my laptop. It’s just the Fire Stick and just the live broadcasts, and for now I can live with watching the newscasts after they’ve recorded.
Let us know when you’ve filed your ticket and don’t hesitate to PM me your ticket number. Our team will do what we can to help out.
One year later update to my June 2019 post.
Edits for August 1 include AirPlay success and now on firmware 2.2.30.
Status:
- 1.5Mbit Remote Connect Live TV works using iPhone using AirPlay. (802,11n WiFi with iPhone A2275 MXCY2LL/A to Ethernet Apple TV A1427)
- now on 600/18Mbit provisioned level of service with Xfinity / Comcast 80304
- on 10/2Mbit at remote location with same FireTV sticks and newest iPhone SE
- on latest 2.2.30 firmware with 4 tuner model
- “live” playback is still much slower streaming than recorded content
- playing content that is currently being recorded is unreliable
- Covid 19 network loading is impacting my 10/2Mbit ISP in zip code 54548
Streaming remotely via Tablo Connect is usually impossible, even at the poor 500Kbit setting, even from recordings. Offloading the display via AirPlay to a 3rd generation AppleTV surprisingly improves buffering issues, turning the iOS phone or tablet into a network relay that does not require CPU cycles for rendering, but does require a double hop on the WiFi to get the content displayed on the TV. “Mirroring” via AirPlay does NOT work on a laptop to improve streaming throughput. You need to see “This video is playing using AirPlay” on your iOS device to see the improved throughput.
I AM able to stream at 1.5Mbit via AT&T, Verizon, or t-mobile cellular data. Netflix, YouTube, PBS, CBS, Skype, Zoom etc. are all able to stream reliably, but not at full 720p. 2Mbit streaming rates are typical. Tablo Remote Connect using cellular data works on FireTV, my.tablotv.com, and iOS native apps.
The crux issue from my remote location appears to be the “single connection” Speedtest / Measurementlab performance checks, while the standard “multiple” connection Speedtest often exceeds 9Mbit of my 10Mbit level of service… with about 70ms ping times to 1.1.1.1 and 50ms more to 8.8.8.8
The Tablo Connect remote streaming algorithms are very poor at using the available bandwidth while simultaneously displaying the video in the Tablo App. Even with solid gigabit Internet remote service, I can not stream “native” 3Mbit recordings either via Tablo Connect or a VPN connection.
OTA at my remote location is a non-starter on windy days, thus the desire to use Tablo Connect.
Mike,
I have the problem that you have described. My Tablo units are located in San Antonio with Spectrum as internet service. When I go remote then I have problems, like I can’t change channels without resetting my Fire Stick. I have used 3 different internet services in different remote locations and get the same results. So I have always suspected that the problem was with Spectrum at the home location. I see that you have been able to reset your Tablo to an earlier version. I can’t seem to get my Tablo’s to reset to the version 2.2.24 from 2.2.30. Any ideas?
My problem was caused by the internet service at the remote Fire TV location, not where the Tablo box was located. Do you have the same problem using the app on an iPhone or iPAD or using a PC? That would be the 1st thing I would try.
If you have the same problem with all the different remote devices then your problem is most likely at the Tablo box end. What is the UP / DOWN speed of your internet service at the Tablo box location? Does your router have any QOS or bandwidth throttling enabled? If all else fails, file a trouble ticket with Tablo.
I have 2 Tablo units at home. The Tablo 64 and the Tablo Lite.
At one remote site I have fiber optic with 200/200 speed. At another remote site I have 30/10. And at one other site I have 10/5. These are 3 different providers, 3 different routers. I have tried different firesticks, Windows 10 computer, Acer Chromebook R13, and Moto g4 phone. Yet, I get the exact same result in all 3 remote locations and on all devices.
Before 2.2.30 I had live buffering issues (remote) no matter what speed was set.
It didn’t matter if I reduced the speed down to SD480 or set it at HD 1080. However, if I watched a recorded show then I could, and still can, watch it at full speed with no buffering. 2.2.30 now allows me to reduce the live speed to 720 with no buffering.
I’ve always been able to watch live and recorded at the highest speed setting when at the home location.
The update to 2.2.30 has caused additional issues of not being able to change to a different channel without resetting the Firestick (I have 4 Firesticks including the latest 4K). Prior to the latest update I couldn’t change channels unless I did a disconnect/reconnect. But now 2.2.30 requires me to reset the Firestick in order to change channels at remote locations.
Spectrum speed at the home location is 50/11. I’ve talked with them several times and they can’t seem to find, or admit, to a problem on their end.
I’ve reported these issues to Tablo but they claim that I am the only one who has this problem. They had me send in a video of the problem so that they could actually see it in action. Yet, no solution.
I just don’t understand why the Tablo system can send me full speed streaming video (remotely) of a recorded show with no buffering issues but can’t send a live stream without buffering.
P.S. I can change channels within the first few minutes of restarting the Firestick, but after about 5 minutes I can’t without doing a reset.
My problem was related to buffer bloat, not the speed of the internet service at my remote Naples FL location. I could watch Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc. without any problems, but my Fire TV Tablo app was constantly buffering. I never had this problem with Tablo release 2.2.24. This problem started with 2.2.26. I haven’t been in Naples for 6 months, so I don’t have any idea if this has been resolved in the most recent firmware versions. If not, I am going to abandon my Tablo system and start watching TV using Locast as soon as it becomes available in the Naples FL market.
I just got down to Naples and finally had a chance to test out the Tablo App on my FireTV stick. The good news is that the Live TV Tablo Connect buffering problem appears to have been fixed. I am running Fire TV Ver 2.01. My Tablo box is running Firmware 2.2.30.
One thing to note: I had to change the Remote Streaming Quality setting to 2 Mbps. If I set this to 3 Mpbs, I ended up with buffering. This is strange, as my internet downlink speed in Naples is 30 Mpbs and my uplink speed in Mpls is 5 Mbps. I am recording at 3 Mbps, and have no problems watching recorded programs in Naples at that speed.
Another interesting observation, using my router’s traffic monitoring feature, is that when I watch a recorded show remotely, the internet traffic at 3 Mbps is only about 1/2 of the traffic when I am watching Live TV with a 2 Mbps setting.