OTA & HDhomerun TV
I believe it’s been two decades since we paid for cable tv service. The idea feels as old as a landline in the house that we used for phone calls, fax and dial up internet access. Even our new home doesn’t have any of this old copper stuff.
When I learned about HDhomerun devices and over the air antennas to capture free tv signals, I knew I had to try it. These small devices connect to your home network and feed the captured signal to all your devices on the network. At first this sounds like something illegal but it isn’t. Local tv stations have been broadcasting tv signals free for decades. We used to hear that people had “rabbit ears” on their televisions when they bought them for this purpose.
No one tells you though how hard it is to capture these signals. Most of the information online is US only. So my advice, spend less on your antenna and troubleshoot your area. No matter what you read, you will not capture 100’s of free channels. There are so many factors that hinder your success in getting any channels to work. It could be your location, mountains, poor signal from the broadcasting tower or the lack of local stations in your area.
In my area we get a various amount of channels with an indoor antenna. Being close to the US border I can capture some Bellingham tv stations on a good weather day. This means throughout the year, depending on the season, I may not get any US channels. This happens to local tv stations too, a little bit of wind gusts and the connection breaks.
The software we use is called Channels. There is a DVR feature to schedule and record your programs. We pay an annual fee for the software but we get daily use out of it as the guide, record shows and use it as a our media library. There is an option to access it when you are away from home too. This software is available for many platforms which is a reason I picked it.
Overall, we have been very happy with the setup. It is fast and easy to use for the entire family.