Cutting the cord

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yeah, my FreeNAS (with uses FreeBSD but emulates the Linux syscall ABI) has lots of cores but it still takes a bit to transcode videos when I download them to my iPhone/iPad for watching offline. A hardware transcoder (Extended model) would be nice but it is $$$$. Who knows if the h264 format is something that is compatible with Plex and my Plex clients. I am wondering if the HDHomeRun Connect Quaro could actually keep up with four devices watching streams at the same time. Of course, I don't think there are four channels that my family would want to watch at the same time on the OTA line up. We just don't know Spanish that well. I really only remember the Spanish swear words myself.

There might be cases where you are recording 3+ shows to the DVR at the same time. Local news for example. But probably not very likely.

[Pelado]

I got the dual tuner model, but I am wondering if I end up wishing I had the four-tuner model. Time will tell.

You don't need the Extend model. It has a built-in transcoder, but your Linux server should be able to do that for you.

Let me know if you get it working before I do.

I was reading a little about Plex yesterday. I read that with a Plex setup, you can add tuners along the way. So while it might not end up being as economical, you may be able to add another 2-tuner or even 4-tuner model to the system later on, if you were decide it necessary.

I also read that the Plex OTA DVR solutions can be the most powerful and customizable. But the new Tablo Quad was looking like a better fit for my situation. I don't have a Plex system in place, so I'd essentially be starting from scratch. Also, the appeal of the customization of the Plex solution is, conversely, a potential problem since I won't be the only user for the system. Having a simple, familiar interface may make the Tablo a preferential tool for sustaining marital peace.

[Bo Diddley]

Yeah. HGTV and Food network are the deal breaker for my wife... That is besides not wanting to waste 40 bucks a month on something we are fine without right now.

Same here, so we ended up going with Direct TV Now. Not the best DVR to be honest.

[bluegoose]

for one i can watch youtube tv from any device anywhere.

With Hulu we can watch on basically unlimited devices, but I think there might be a problem streaming to multiple area codes. My son who is away at college has been using it on occasion, and there was a pop-up notification recently that said we can only change the home location of the service so many times in a month. Anything similar with youtube that you know of?

[Pelado]

With Hulu we can watch on basically unlimited devices, but I think there might be a problem streaming to multiple area codes. My son who is away at college has been using it on occasion, and there was a pop-up notification recently that said we can only change the home location of the service so many times in a month. Anything similar with youtube that you know of?

Here's what YouTube says about it:

Cloud DVR with no storage limits
Never run out of storage space. Stream your library wherever you go. Record simultaneously.

https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/intro...edium=announce

[BigPiney]

With Hulu we can watch on basically unlimited devices, but I think there might be a problem streaming to multiple area codes. My son who is away at college has been using it on occasion, and there was a pop-up notification recently that said we can only change the home location of the service so many times in a month. Anything similar with youtube that you know of?

With YouTube you need to check back in to your local area once a month. We have accomplished this by having my daughter log in to our laptop at home with my son's credentials.

[Uncle Ted]

You don't need the Extend model. It has a built-in transcoder, but your Linux server should be able to do that for you.

So I am reading that even with an Extend model your Plex server may still need to do some transcoding or actually remux'ing: i.e., H264 with .TS container to H264 with a .mp4 or whatever depending on what your Plex client needs (some clients support .TS so no transcoding or remux'ing would be required). With the other models your Plex server will need to do a MPEG2 (raw HDTV) to H264 transcoding. Doing a full transcoding from MPEG2 to H264 is more CPU intensive than just doing a remux from H264 .TS to H264 .mp4 or whatever. The other downside of a non-Extend model is you are putting MPEG2 on your network. Streaming a full resolution HDTV MPEG2 video can take about 20 Mbps. A H264 stream with the same resolution and frame rate takes about half that. If the plex server stores the MPEG2 then you may need twice the disk storage to store the same football game as well. At least until the video gets transcoded to H264.

tl;dr: The Extend model may offload much of the transcoding workload from your Plex server (so your Mac Mini doesn't have to work so hard) and save some of your home network bandwidth (which you may not care about if you are using gigabit wires with a good switch). It may also save you disk space on your mac mini. The Extend model, however, is about 2X (or more) the cost you paid.

Right now I am kind of leaning toward the Extend model to save my FreeNAS server's CPU cores for other needs.

[Uncle Ted]

I was reading a little about Plex yesterday. I read that with a Plex setup, you can add tuners along the way. So while it might not end up being as economical, you may be able to add another 2-tuner or even 4-tuner model to the system later on, if you were decide it necessary.

I also read that the Plex OTA DVR solutions can be the most powerful and customizable. But the new Tablo Quad was looking like a better fit for my situation. I don't have a Plex system in place, so I'd essentially be starting from scratch. Also, the appeal of the customization of the Plex solution is, conversely, a potential problem since I won't be the only user for the system. Having a simple, familiar interface may make the Tablo a preferential tool for sustaining marital peace.

Even though Plex is pretty dang cool there is a lot to be said about this^^^. From what I have read Tablo is pretty much an one box solution with a good amount of client support.

[Uncle Ted]

With Hulu we can watch on basically unlimited devices, but I think there might be a problem streaming to multiple area codes. My son who is away at college has been using it on occasion, and there was a pop-up notification recently that said we can only change the home location of the service so many times in a month. Anything similar with youtube that you know of?

A lot of routers these days (like ASUS) have VPN server support. If you have a good amount of up and down bandwidth to your house you can route all your IP traffic from the remote client through your router. Then it looks like you just have another client at your house using Hulu. I do this to spoof things that try to tie my usage to my IP address when I am on the road.

I have read that a new company has come up with a way that uses some kind of AI to figure out if people are sharing passwords to their Netflix or whatever accounts: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-a8720586.html I guess all these millennials using their parents' accounts may need to start paying their own way.

[BigFatMeanie]

Even though Plex is pretty dang cool there is a lot to be said about this^^^. From what I have read Tablo is pretty much an one box solution with a good amount of client support.

Yes. I run PMS on a dedicated media server from my server room but I still got a Tablo quad tuner with a external drive because it was so simple and easy. I mounted this Winegard antenna in the attic, installed the Tablo app on the Roku and everything works seamlessly. Plus I don't have to worry about overworking my media server if the kids are watching a Plex movie in the basement, the wife is watching a Plex movie in the bedroom, and the Tablo is recording multiple shows simultaneously.

[Moliere]

PS Vue. Never had an issue with it. Unlimited DVR. I can watch it anywhere. Has all the channels I want (including the obscure ones that show cycling).

[Jeff Lebowski]

OK, I got my dig ant and tuner set up. Went into Plex and set up the live tv and dvr function. The whole process was trivial and it works beautifully. When you change a channel it takes a few seconds for the channel to start streaming, but haven't had any issues with buffering or pixelation yet. I have a great signal for BYUTV and that is the only one I really care about, so this should work.

The Samsung TV plex app kind of sucks, but it works well enough. I have an Apple TV in the other room with my not-so-smart LG TV and the Plex app there is awesome.

Turned on Youtube TV again. Works great.

A couple of little issues to work out and I will be cutting that cord.

[Moliere]

OK, I got my dig ant and tuner set up. Went into Plex and set up the live tv and dvr function. The whole process was trivial and it works beautifully. When you change a channel it takes a few seconds for the channel to start streaming, but haven't had any issues with buffering or pixelation yet. I have a great signal for BYUTV and that is the only one I really care about, so this should work.

The Samsung TV plex app kind of sucks, but it works well enough. I have an Apple TV in the other room with my not-so-smart LG TV and the Plex app there is awesome.

Turned on Youtube TV again. Works great.

A couple of little issues to work out and I will be cutting that cord.

How many remotes?

[Jeff Lebowski]

How many remotes?

One less than before!

Bedroom: 1
Family room: 2

[YOhio]

We have a few Apple TV's that we connect to our wifi with hulu and netflix and I have HFN's dirty channel passwords for the tv in my home office. It works great and took about five minutes to set up, though I'm sure I could have gone with something way more complex with minimal benefit.