Why Is It Like This?

Support & Troubleshooting
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I was excited to receive my Tablo 4th Gen from Amazon today. After a few hours my excitement is gone and I’m ready to send it back to Amazon.

  1. I tried to use it via the PC and it doesn’t work with Chrome, or the Windows app. Reading through this forum it seems that this is normal. Is it really? Is there literally no way to use use this thing with a PC? The docs mentioned using Firefox, but that didn’t work for me either. What a waste of time, they should just remove that bit from the documentation. I tried just visiting the IP in my browser, but I only receive a plain white page that says " Nuvyyo Tablo Server".
  2. I gave up on my PC and installed the App on my Apple TV 4k. There was only the legacy app in the app store, it doesn’t work. Apparently you need a new app that doesn’t exist. Reading through the forum it seems that we need a new app that will be released “Soon”. The date on that past is more than 6 months ago. Am I missing something?
  3. I tried to install it on my Sony TV, and it just tells me the app isn’t compatible.
  4. I can’t find any way to copy the stored videos off of the device. Is there an NFS or SMB share I’m missing, or is the only option literally to physically insert an external disk, and physically move the disk to another system when I want to copy the files off? Does it really not support saving the files to a share?
  5. The docs say it requires a constant internet connection to function, which would be fine but the other concerns here make me wonder if the company can afford to keep the servers up. Is there some alternative software I can use to use the tuner without the software guide/etc?
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Put simply, their supported systems are available right from their main website. I recommend spending a couple bucks at Walmart and picking up the cheap $20 onn 4k streaming box. This would allow you the cheapest fully working STB experience. Another option would be to sign up for the AppleTV beta testing group, but it could take a week to get in.

Also, the 4th gen Tablo is a completely different system than what has come before. This means it does not and can not operate the same as older models.

It’s got to be frustrating that you purchased a product you’re not able to use with what you have already. Hope you’ll take this into consideration in the future and do a little research before discovering a product doesn’t meet your current setup.

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I DID do my research, but the website is full of bad information.

The supported system list is wrong when it comes to PC support as it claims the windows app works and that Firefox also does. Neither works, and based on this forum that seems to have been known for a very long time.

The supported system list is misleading in some places and wrong in others when it comes to apple TV support. Sone areas suggest it works without qualifying that it only works for old obsolete systems you can’t buy anymore, others suggest it’s coming soon, but have been making that claim for 6 months or more. I don’t think anyone considers six months “soon”.

I did just find some guys GitHub that offers a hacky unsupported app to allow offline tuner use, but it’s a hassle. I mean, one of the biggest benefits of broadcast TV is that it works when the Internet is down. What a let down.

I’ll probably just return this and buy the competitor. It’s too bad really. If it did what the webpage says it does and the obvious things that normal people would expect from it 'd have enjoyed it.

Thanks for taking the time to reply though. I do appreciate that the community seems to be awesome.

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So, a tale of two completely different companies, Tablo and Tablo, and two completely different product lines, Tablo and Tablo. If you have a Tablo, then yes, indeed, it work on browsers, and even can allow watching Live TV and recordings from any paired device, not just on the local LAN. However, if you have a Tablo, then no, there currently is no browser support nor can you watch Live TV or recordings outside of your LAN.

Sadly, what is written above is completely true.

Community is awesome.

The new Tablo company, owned by a broadcaster, their device, what is called “4th gen”, is a radically differnent device from those of the past. Somewhat similar in some goals, but not in others. I won’t “bore you” with the product lines of the past… they were different, very different.

The 4th gen product is still maturing. However, there were certain design decisions, like not just supporting HTML5 video codecs that prevent its use (in general) via a browser. Also, the most popular format for raw captured ATSC video is not well designed for streaming anyhow, which is why local LAN is the only thing supported today (you can “hack your own solution” to get around this, and then YMMV, but for now…).

Benefits of 4th gen over prior gens is that the electronic program guide (EPG) data comes with the purchase of the unit. In the distant past old Tablo (different company) had a lifetime subscription offer, and at one time, even allowed that one subscription to be used across their devices. Before their “death” however, the subscription was limited to “each device” and did not have a lifetime option. So… on those pre-4th gen devices, you might be paying (forever) for EPG data.

Another advantage of the 4th gen is that because the owner is now a broadcaster, you have access to streaming content. The old Tablo devices only were for OTA. Some of the 4th gen ad supported streaming channels can be recorded, just like live TV. So, you can also argue that some of the “cheap ness” price wise of the new 4th gen units is due to that ad supported content (maybe).

Which also calls out the overall value of the new 4th gen units, cost. Not only is the cost less with regards to the device, the operational cost, especially vs the “old” devices prior to corporate death is much lower. However, as you discovered, there are end client limitations, which could cause some additional (unplanned) costs. YMMV.

The community has argued that this forum be split and I think same could be said for the website in total, such that there is less confusion between the radically different “old Tablo” models, and the new 4th gen model. Frankly, I would have re-branded. So that there was a “Tablo” (old devices) and “Whirly-gig” (4th gen and later). (replace Whirly-gig with whatever name that doesn’t remotely sound like Tablo you like). That would have gone a long way to ending the confusion.

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Welcome to the community… Yeah I have to agree with everyone that posted.

There is the Gen4 and the legacy model that are at play here. There is a legacy APP and a Gen4 APP at play here too.

But on the front page of the Tablo website it doesn’t mention using your PC at all.

It also doesn’t mention pulling your recordings from the device either. Even on the “How it works” page. Even on the " compatible devices" page too.

It seems like you hit some legacy Tablo page, read about it, and bought a Gen4.

If you want to run Gen4 Tablo on your PC, I would suggest BlueStacks APP.

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But on the front page of the Tablo website it doesn’t mention using your PC at all.

It doesn’t, which made me curious. That’s why I went to Google and typed “tablo PC” when I was shopping.

The first result is this, which seems to clearly state that it does work with Windows 10, Mac, and is still usable within the Firefox browser. Apparently none of that is true for the 4th gen. It also doesn’t seem to mention anything about only supporting obsolete hardware, although I now see some of the linked pages use the term “legacy”.

I think the earlier poster who suggested it should have been released as a new product was correct. This is just too confusing.

I initiated the Amazon return, this just doesn’t do what I need it to without dirty hacks. Thanks all!

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Related thread- What can I expect for OTA wireless distribution? - General Discussion - TabloTV Community

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The website is full of OLD information as well as new. Comparing dates and looking at which product they are talking about are key to this research.

This has been improving over time as they rewrite code and work on how server issues affect our usage.

It DOES do what the website states. I’m not sure how you ended up in older supported pages, but as described on its main pages, it works the way they state that it does.

Thank you. We do try to help even if we get frustrated!

The link you provided looks like it doesn’t even function properly. It’s missing images, etc.

I’m sorry that you don’t think you’d be happy with this product. I’ve never had any of the older systems and cannot compare the 4th gen to those legacy devices. But it works great and I’m happy with it. Having multiple STBs and the AppleTV beta shows me how different each app/version are and how well the firmware updates continue to improve functionality.

As @cjcox has stated, there’s been plenty of community talk about splitting the forums, as well as what to do with these older pages that don’t make it clear that they’re referring to a different product.

Figures, google’s search engine is 99% ineffective, but when it works it leads to something ten years old!

I hope you find something you like. I still suggest trying a different dongle while you have it and are able to see how truly great this CAN be. Yes, it is not perfect, but it’s way better than what it was in October when I first plugged it in!

Good luck!

Edit: As @KimchiGUN has suggested, you could always try an android emulator on your machine. (I stuck FydeOS on a 2012 MacBook Pro and even though it’s ancient, I’m able to get full-screen video straight from either puck!)

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I have at least on Original Tablo Dual Lite I’ve never gotten around to listing on ebay. More and more there seems to be a market for these.
Really just to brighten someone’s life and to clear some clutter.
I’ll still have a Tablo Quad, sorry not going away altogather

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