I have 2 Tablos, recently 3, 2 legacy and 1 gen 4. The gen 4 app will just exit dumping mew back to the menu, split shows into multiple parts, sometimes take forever for “finding Tablo”.
Considering I still have a legacy Tablo hooked up to the same antenna but on a splitter that the Gen 4 is not and it doesn’t not have these issues, makes it absurd. The new Tablo app isn’t available for 2 of my TVs the old app runs on, so I had to use a Fire stick to use the Gen 4.
What is going on?
Having my Gen 4 now for five months with daily issues-- slow start up or refuse to load up and I have to reset my TV (i have it on my TV app, Roku app, Apple tv app and behaves the same on all 3), sometimes when it decides to startup the time on tv guide is from the day before and it will not catch up so have to close out and cross fingers it will start back up, and then sometimes when stars are aligned and it decides to startup and time of day matches the guide i find that not all the programs are showing but instead there is just no content. The Gen 4 in my opinion is junk. I am searching for a different device. I also had the previous version with a subscription for the tv guide–no issues–great performer–I may go back to this one except it is not supported on my TV but works on Roku & Apple.
When my old legacy tablo 4 tuner was having issue last year and they stop making them, went to ebay just to check what’s available coz of my lifetime sub, took a chance got one for less than 17 bucks hope this one will last because not that much legacy and what I see there now are more expensive for a used one.
If you have multiple issues, it may be a good idea to reach out to our technical support team: https://support.tablotv.com/hc/en-us/#contact .
They should be able to help.
Thank you. I am working with CS. Just wanted to publish to the world that the Tablo 4 does have issues, at least mine does.
I find most people have issues because of one of two primary reasons or both. The indoor mudflap antennas are garbage, unless you are close to the transmission towers. The second issue is wifi. Most people believe their wifi is okay because they are paying for a specific speed. You need to do a speed test on your streaming device. Often times the cheap ISP provided router is not enough to reach every corner of the home. My side job is installing antennas. I usually install HDHomeRun or Tablo. I usually insist on a mesh network if speed tests aren’t great. The reason wifi is important with the 4th generation is it plays video in the native MPEG-2 video while the Legacy transcodes. Transcoding allows for lower quality wifi. This is not to say there are no bugs, but with a good set-up, it works well. The streaming device also can be a factor. More people have issues with Roku, so I typically recommend an Android based device.
I’m not on WiFi. Speedtest is excellent. Antenna is impeccably placed. All is well with everything BUT this version 4 unit. It’s either a lemon or poor engineering.
The engineering looks good, without opening the unit, but the software on the unit, and the client software on the individual TVs might be a cut above SUCKS.
New symptom on both Roku TV and Amazon fire. Watching a one-hour show and the picture freezes but the audio continues. When you fiddle with pause, play on the remote, it restarts at the end of the show. When you say watch it starts from the beginning again, no chance to resume. When you fast forward to the spot it died, it seems to be at the beginning of a commercial break. Maybe their programmers copied code from the old Tablo that skipped commercial and didn’t delete all of the code the copied. LAZY coding.
I didn’t mean from your router to the Tablo, despite what Tablo says, Tablo should for the most part, be connected via ethernet cable. I was referring to your streaming device. It’s possible to have ethernet cable throughout your home. If you are using wifi to your streaming device, you need to do a speed test at the device. If you have a wifi connection via your streaming device and it’s getting weak signal, you can have all of the issues you are describing. If you are using a Roku device, that could also be the source of your issue. Typically the higher end Roku’s like the Ultra have fewer issues, especially if the whole setup is ideal. I’m not being argumentative, just trying to give assistance. How do you know your antenna is working ideal? Poor reception can give you problems as well. It’s easy to rule out. You need to do a www.rabbitears.info report to see how close to the transmission towers you are, ideal placement, and direction you need to direct your antenna. Antenna installation is more complex than most people realize. If you don’t have a reception signal meter, even a foot can make a huge difference.
My recently purchased 4th Gen is still not working reliably with any of my Roku devices, while my old legacy Tablo works perfectly. It has one glitch after another making it pretty much useless at times and tech support has no updates for solutions.
Suspect this is strictly a Tablo issues since other current steaming devices and my legacy Tablo work without a problem. In the past Tablo problems, even obscure ones, were quielty fixed, but now it seems the current major problems are without a timeline to be resolved.
rfm, sorry to hear of your poor performing Tablo4. The new owners and engineers of this system are nowhere close to being desirous of solving issues as was the previous owners who were always active with updates to correct issues. New owners apparently do not care with owners, just want to get people to buy thier faulty engineered unit [I am of course speaking of the Tablo 4]. I may resort to pulling out my legacy Tablo TV unit and going back to reliable performance. Having to reset my TV when this Ver. 4 decides to freeze has now gotten old. I wish I had some troubleshooting advice for you.
I don’t doubt that you are having trouble, but I can tell you that mine is working just fine with all my Roku devices. If you have been using a Legacy device, then you clearly have good reception with your antenna. Can you describe your difficulty in a little more detail?
The first thing I would ask is how is your Tablo connected to your router? Is it WiFi or Ethernet? If WiFi, would it be possible to change it to Ethernet?
@KGBnut I connected the new 4th Gen Tablo just like the old legacy unit using Ethernet right next to the router. First I had to fight with the app to work, but did get everything running including all the nice new features. I updated the firmware of both the Tablo and Roku (have both the Ultras and Sticks).
I have good solid antenna signals, WiFi signals, and Ethernet internet speeds to the Tablo, and I did turn off the surround sound to eliminate that possible known problem. All seemed well that first night, but the next day random issues started occurring on different TV Roku’s. From connection problems, buffering issues, and the Tablo app just stalling out. Tried resetting everything, but the problems continued to pop up.
Hooked the old Legacy Tablo up, and it again worked flawlessly with all the same settings and connections.
Gen 4 Tablo, worst experience I’ve had with technology and support. Here is a list of the current problems that have not been solved, perhaps, just ignored.
It’s unfair to compare OG to 4th gen. Two radically different products from two radically different companies. So… let 4th gen be 4th gen, and just focus on the experience it provides. Not saying it can’t add features, but do not expect OG, it’s just different.
Not a matter of features, they can’t get the sucker to work as well as what they replaced. My antenna signal was too weak, then too strong, They appear not to understand digital TV and subchannels. They asked me to use a WIFI route trace to debug after I allowed them to remotely access my Tablo, sent pictures, and stated it was a wired net connection. I get buffering and errors on my main TV where I watch Paramount+, Netflix, Amazon prime, HULU, and other streaming media with ZERO issues.
The “new company” named it TABLO gen IV. They could have picked another name. They might have done many things different. In any case it just doesn’t work according to their own specifications, and at least mimicked the features of the “legacy Tablo”.
Defend all you want the only part of Tablo Gen IV that was not slopy was the marketing/advertising. I gave them chances that surpassed my return opportunity.
Do you have a network-connected or a HDMI-connected legacy Tablo? An HDMI legacy will be faster because it’s directly connected to the TV.
I also recently saw someone say that for their wifi-connected Tablo they adjusted their wifi channel and QoS on the router - I also remember that I did this for the channel, but my QoS can’t be adjusted. You might look into this same thing if you’re using wifi with your Roku/Fire/AppleTV.
Also make sure that your streaming device(s) uses Wifi5 (ac) or Wifi6 (ax) and that your wifi router can communicate on one of these bands. There could be a difference in how your legacy and Gen4 are connecting to your wifi.
As far as the antenna setup goes - it’s disingenuous for TabloTV to say your antenna is the problem when they don’t provide users access to a built-in signal meter. I’m sure you’ve already tested the onboard amp by switching it on/off. How far are you from the broadcast towers and what antenna are you using?
try different wifi channels and other settings on your router i had to tweak my settings to get optimum config look for QOS you can change priorities on your devices oh and make sure you bypass your vpn
It sounds like you are doing everything right. I’m not sure what else to recommend. You say that you have rebooted everything, does that include the router? Some people miss this step. Also, who makes your router?
Have you tried setting up a TV/Roku really close to the router?
It is also possible that you just got a bad unit.
Both my legacy and Gen 4 Tablos are wire connected to a gigabit switch. My main TV is wire connected, several other TVs are wifi connected. All bu one of my other TVs don’t suffer any buffering streaming 4K content from Amazon Prime, Netflix, HULU, Paramount+.
The only TV that has any buffering issues is because the Gen 4 Tablo app is not available for a Samsung Android TV, so I had to grab an old amazon firestick that would install Tablo Gen 4 app so I could get both Tablos, legacy and gen 4 on that TV. I know the firestick is the problem because I can run the legacy Tablo app native on the TV with no buffering but on the firestick I get buffering. If Tablo would solve the other list of problems, I would commit to Gen 4 and replace the TV or buy a new firestick for it.
As far as antenna, you are right. Tablo is very secretive about their product. Thats why no Tablo ripper is available like there is for the legacy box. And yes, their Tech support said switch the internal amplifier off. The funny part of that, another Tablo shortcoming, there was no indication of an App update or anything but I had to contact Tablo again to say there is no setting for amplifier on/off in the app. Their response, “just delete the app and reinstall it”…How the hell would anybody know to do that in order to access a “feature”. I got rid of one of my 4 tuner legacy Tablos, wish I hadn’t.
Worst piece of Tech I’ve seen in years. It’s like replacing Windows 10 with the brand-new Windows Millennium Edition. FLOP
