Wi-Fi & connectivity

[RealisticDave]

Is anyone familiar with using a recording device for OTA (such as Air TV or Tablo) in conjunction with a Roku with an ethernet port, such as the Ultra LK? Specifically, I have a Roku Express to watch all my streaming content, WIFI connected to my router and plugged into an HDMI port on my TV, of course. While watching any channel on my Roku, streaming is fine (I have 1 Gig fiber and a TP Link AX1800 router).

I have both an Air TV and a Tablo connected to my router via ethernet, which then sends OTA channels (and recordings) to the Roku via WIFI. 95% of the time there’s no issues with watching either live TV or recordings. But—at times—content coming from either OTA device does a ‘short’ buffer. My unprofessional and limited tech knowledge is thinking that possibly I could overcome this issue by connecting the ethernet cable from either OTA device directly into the ethernet port on the Ultra LK (thus skipping the router)?

Anyone have experience with doing this, or am I not thinking of a reason this wouldn’t be worth giving a try? I’d need to purchase the Ultra LK to try it, and really wouldn’t like to do it if it wouldn’t make a difference in signals from an OTA device. (My current Roku is working just fine…) Thanks!

[DBDukes · Accepted solution]

@RealisticDave 

I have both Air TV and Tablo. I use both Ethernet connected Roku devices and wireless Roku devices. I have very few issues with either.

Generally, for me Air TV is not a reliable as Tablo, but it still works well.

I have found that when watching live TV, sometimes either will buffer (Air TV more often than Tablo, but neither a lot), but that's regardless of wired or wireless.

Note that you will always go through a router. Wireless also sends you via an access point, and wired also sends you via a switch (or hub). But wired or wireless, you will go through a router.

Generally, wired will be a more stable connection than wireless, assuming all equipment is operating optimally. If you can wire your Roku, do it. But be aware that the Air TV and Tablo devices may be the weakest link in the mix.

[atc98092]

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@RealisticDave wrote:

My unprofessional and limited tech knowledge is thinking that possibly I could overcome this issue by connecting the ethernet cable from either OTA device directly into the ethernet port on the Ultra LK (thus skipping the router)?

---

There's only one way to connect two devices directly with an Ethernet cable, and it's not possible with a Roku device. It requires using a specially configured Ethernet cable (usually referred to as a crossover cable), and you would need the ability to enter a manual IP address in both devices. I can't say if you can do that with a Tablo, but you absolutely cannot do it with a Roku. Even if you used a network switch in place of the crossover cable, the two devices would still require manual IP configuration, which no Roku supports. 

You are likely experiencing some WiFi interference. You could try changing the channel your router uses for WiFi (for 2.4 GHz, channel 1, 6 or 11 is the best choice). But yes, a wired Ethernet connection would eliminate any WiFi issues. The Express does not support using a USB network adapter. The Express 4K+ does, or as you mentioned you could replace the Express with an Ultra. 

[RealisticDave]

Thanks for you input and comments. I'm not surprised that my thinking is wrong, and after I posted my thread, I started to think that both Air TV and Tablo need to be connected to the router so that updates and programming info can be downloaded into each device.

My Roku has an "excellent" WIFI signal (per the system report) and has a download speed of 107Mbps (just had Roku do a connection check this AM). I don't live in multi-family housing, never have had any issues with channel conflict, but my router (AX1800) has "Smart Connect" as default. It's supposed to continually monitor 2.4 and 5 signals and choose the best connection. It works fine, most notably on portable devices like my wife's Samsung tablet, which seamlessly switches as she moves around the house. Back when I first purchased it a year ago, I did disable the Smart feature and set channels, but didn't notice any difference. I do, however, have my Roku set to be locked on 5ghz, and it doesn't use the Smart feature on my router.

I think at some point I'm going to go with an Ultra to see if it makes a difference. Need to get a switch to provide the additional ethernet port at the router, but not a big deal. I'm thinking that I may still have an occasional issue even if I do this, based on another post on this thread (which I'm going to reply to now), that the Air TV and Tablo are the "weak link" in the system. But thanks for your comments and suggestions!

[RealisticDave]

Thanks for your comments. I was especially interested in hearing your experiences with Roku and both devices, particularly being 'ethernet connected' all around. My experience has been about the same as yours, comparing Air TV and Tablo: live or recorded, both will buffer at times, for a few seconds, but not consistently.

I agree with your comment that the Air TV and Tablo are likely the 'weak links' in the whole setup. I can't prove this, but I think that each device handles signals a bit differently when recording. I've experimented by setting each device to record the same program, and when playing the recording back, on the Air TV it seems to just buffer or go 'black screen' for a few seconds, then sync back up. However, on Tablo, and the same point where the Air TV had a momentary glitch, the Tablo actually stops recording, then immediately starts back up when the signal returns. (On the Tablo website, I think they term this "fragmenting.") I don't know if this has to do with tuner strength, software, or what?

Anyway, I plan to get a hub connected to the router so I have another ethernet port for the cable to a new Roku Ultra, and see if anything changes for me. Again, thanks for your comments, and I'm going to accept you as the solution because you have experience with the setup that I'm trying do.

(More info than you probably want, but---I have 4 attic antennas, 2 dedicated to each device. I can receive 10 channels from 3 different transmitters located between 7 and 13 miles distant, I aimed each antenna with a smartphone app, used a 'combiner' to feed 2 antennas to a single coax and repeated with the other 2 antennas, combined to a single coax. Each coax is less than 50 feet, from antenna down to device. Finally, used signal meter to test each of the 10 channels at the point that 1 coax connects to the Air TV and the other connects to the Tablo, all channels are very strong, signal meter is '4 out of 5' or '5 out of 5' strength reading.)

[wander73]

This is interesting.   I have roku I think it was 4 there is a different name for it.  tablo 2 DVR box.   What you have is awesome.   You might want to get a faster player.  both boxes are awesome,  they rock,  scan channels often as you will get decent strength.   

[atc98092]

There's other options for recording OTA TV as well. I have a Silicon Dust HDHomeRun Flex, which has two ATSC 1.0 tuners and two ATSC 3.0/1.0 4K tuners. I have a single yagi antenna inside my garage hanging from the ceiling (ceiling is about 11 feet high). Every signal I get has to penetrate at least one exterior wall, and for a couple of stations there's several walls in the way. HOA restrictions keep it indoors. I'm 26 miles from the three major network antennas in downtown Seattle (they are on Queen Anne Hill, about 500' above sea level). There is another group a bit to the east and lower elevation, and then some more with completely different directions from my home. On occasion, I can pick up a Bellingham station, which is about 100 miles from my home. 

The HDHomeRun has a channel for Roku, although the company says they aren't putting much effort into it for unexplained reasons. Despite that, it works well on my Ultra 4800, which has native support for AC-4 audio (that's the ATSC 3.0 standard). So it has great sensitivity for picking up the signals, and with four tuners you can watch/record four completely different stations at the same time. It also interfaces with my J River Media Server, which is what I actually use for my OTA recording. While the HDHomeRun can record by itself (just connect a hard drive via USB), I prefer the capabilities of a more robust media server. 

The HDHomeRun sits in my garage, with a very short cable run from the antenna, and connects directly to my primary home network switch (Gigabit Ethernet). Even with the ATSC 3.0 channels, I've never encountered any issues with the playback quality. I have one channel I record from that has a really iffy signal at my home (despite it being closer to my home than any other station), but other than some occasional pixelization I can live with the image quality. All the ATSC 3.0 stations are rock solid, so once they actually start broadcasting in 4K, I'm ready for them. 

[RealisticDave]

Interesting equipment and setup that you have. I've heard of the HomeRun box (and other options besides what I have), but I'm somewhat locked in to what I have with Air TV and Tablo. Don't want to spend the money to try other equipment, and since I opened this post a couple of months ago, I've noticed some improvements. The stations I've had the most problems with were PBS channels. I like a lot of their mystery and drama programs, but had problems recording them. In June, I saw a note on their monthly programming guide that the transmitter in my area apparently had a problem, even Direct TV was having issues with (only) our local PBS stations. But PBS "was working on the problem to correct it."

In the past month, everything has been OK with the shows that I've recorded, so hopefully it will stay that way. Haven't really looked into ATSC 3.0 channels because it will be a while before local stations make the jump. Even Memphis (60 miles away) only has one channel that's applied to go that way, none have so far.

So, thanks for your comments, be glad you live in an area with a lot available and going on (with TV and other things!).  And, if you're so inclined...Go Kraken!

[atc98092]

Yeah, for ATSC 1.0 I have a total of around 55 channels/sub-channels with a decent signal. The seven ATSC 3.0 stations are of course just a rebroadcast of their 1.0 main channel. Not certain when the sub-channels might be added, or any real 4K content is broadcast. And those seven ATSC 3.0 stations are actually only on three transmitters, with them sharing equipment and antennas. I think the full transition to 3.0 is a ways off. There's practically no TVs or AVRs that support AC-4 yet, so the audio has to be transcoded in the player. The Ultra 4800 does that. My Shield players have to use an online transcoding function that actually works quite well.