Forum Discussion

MDeBonis's avatar
MDeBonis
Channel Surfer
4 years ago
Solved

How do I connect Roku to AirTV to view OTA channels?

I just purchased a Roku Ulta streaming device and I need help viewing over the air channels. According to what I’ve read online, I should be able to view OTA channels through the Sling app, however t...
  • MDeBonis's avatar
    MDeBonis
    4 years ago

    Yeah, I had sling a few years ago accessed through the AirTV player, liked it but our internet service was slower then so we kept on getting re-buffering, which was annoying. The integration of OTA Chanel’s in the guide was really nice, good to know it still works that way through the app on Roku.  Thanks for all of your help.

DBDukes's avatar
DBDukes
Community Streaming Expert
4 years ago

MDeBonis 

The Air TV device you have is a Sling-centric streaming device. To use Air TV with other platforms -- Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android/Google TV -- you need one of the other Air TV devices.

The Air TV Mini is NOT the one that will work with other platforms. It's the current Sling (who owns Air TV) streaming device, and is NOT designed to work with other streaming platforms.

The Air TV 2 is an option. It has two tuners and DVR capability (add an external drive). It's $99. Connecting it to your network (via the Sling mobile app) lets you watch OTA channels on any Roku (or other) device running Sling TV app.

The Air TV Anywhere is the top of the line device. It's $199. Same as Air TV 2, but four tuners and includes a 1 TB drive for the DVR. That's the one I have. It works well.

  • MDeBonis's avatar
    MDeBonis
    Channel Surfer
    4 years ago

    Thank you for the explanation. I wish this was clear before I purchased the Roku device, nothing I found on the web mentioned this. Now I need to decide if I will keep the Roku or go back to Dish as integration is very important to me. Do you know how well AirTV works with Roku in displaying OTA channels (both the guide and actual viewing)? Thx.

    • DBDukes's avatar
      DBDukes
      Community Streaming Expert
      4 years ago

      MDeBonis 

      Yeah, it works great. Your TV channels show up alongside the other content in Sling. It integrates within the guide, and on the front page of the app.

      Do you have the Sling TV app? Sling TV has free content, in addition to the content you can get with subscription. Just launch the app. It'll suggest you subscribe or some such thing, but just tell it you want to watch free stuff. Then you can see the menus and the live guide. Here are screen shots of the Sling TV interface.

      With Air TV, the OTA channels show up right in the menus/grids. The major channels are at the top, but they'll all be there.

      It works well.

      If you want the cable/satellite channels, you can subscribe to Sling TV (starts at $35/month). Since Sling TV is Dish Network's streaming service, you're probably used to the channels. I don't know about the interface, since I've never done satellite and haven't done cable in over a decade. But, you have a Roku and can use Sling TV free service just to see what it's like.

      • MDeBonis's avatar
        MDeBonis
        Channel Surfer
        4 years ago

        Yeah, I had sling a few years ago accessed through the AirTV player, liked it but our internet service was slower then so we kept on getting re-buffering, which was annoying. The integration of OTA Chanel’s in the guide was really nice, good to know it still works that way through the app on Roku.  Thanks for all of your help.

    • DaveInAZ's avatar
      DaveInAZ
      Channel Surfer
      3 years ago

      I have a Roku Ultra player w/HDMI to connect to my Onkyo receiver, 7.1 Dolby Atmos speaker system, and TV. I had the original AirTV player that stopped working. If I get a AirTV2 player that doesn't have HDMI, can I access the AirTV2 player through the Roku Sling channel and play antenna channels & recorded shows through the Roku Ultra HDMI connection?

      So many of the OTA receivers, Tablo, AirTV, etc., use your home network. I want them to go through my receiver for the superior audio quality.

      • DBDukes's avatar
        DBDukes
        Community Streaming Expert
        3 years ago

        DaveInAZ

        Air TV uses the Sling app, and it works through your local network Don't confuse your local network with your Internet connection. Those are not the same thing.

        My Air TV device is connected to my network via Ethernet, not wireless. However, you can use the wireless connectivity if you prefer. My Air TV device, with the TV antenna cable attached, is located near my network router and switch, so I use an Ethernet cable to connect it. That is always the preferred way. However, if your antenna cable is not near your router, you can connect Air TV via WiFi, but again, wired is preferred.

        By the way, none of the Air TV devices have HDMI, except for the Air TV Mini, which is actually a streaming device. You would have to switch your TV input to the HDMI for the Air TV Mini to watch it. The better devices, the Air TV 2 and the Air TV Anywhere, use your network to distribute the content to your Sling apps (Roku, or whatever platform).