The most critical piece of troubleshooting problems with antenna TV reception is first understanding the nature of the issue.
If you’re experiencing poor video quality, there could be two reasons:
- Buffering
If the video is clean but stops and starts (stutters/buffers) the cause is most likely NOT with your TV antenna reception, but instead a poor Wi-Fi signal either from your router to your device (tablet, smartphone, Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV etc.) or from the Tablo to your router if you are using Wi-Fi for the connection. Try moving to a different Wi-Fi channel, upgrade to a router that supports the 5Ghz bandwidth, try an Ethernet connection, or move the router closer to the Tablo or to where you are using your device.
- TV Signal Problems
If the video has an occasional breakup, a few pixels at a time, or some brief buzzes in the audio, the problem is most likely TV antenna reception.
Changes You Can Make to Improve Your Antenna TV Reception
- Make sure the antenna is as high up as possible.
- Try to avoid splitting the coaxial connection - there is a significant signal loss when you split the connection.
- Reference http://www.tvfool.com/ to ensure that your antenna is pointed in the correct direction.
- Improve your TV antenna's placement
- Shorten your coaxial cable; the longer the cable, the more lossy the connection will become.
- Conduct frequent channel scans to test your changes (SETTINGS> EDIT CHANNEL LINEUP > RESCAN)
Receiving Channels on Your TV, But Not Your Tablo
The main difference between the Tablo and a traditional TV is that the Tablo has multiple tuners - so that you can watch and record multiple shows at once.
The drawback here is a small loss in signal strength when the signal is split. Tablo uses amplified splitting technology to mitigate this loss, so it’s nearly negligible. In some rare cases, this could cause one or two channels that appear on your TV to not appear on the Tablo during a channel scan.
Since digital signals don’t ‘degrade’ like analog ones do, it’s typically either “on” or “off” and the difference between the two can be quite small. This can be referred to as the 'digital cliff'. Using the tips and tricks above can often get your reception on the right side of the cliff.
