Tablo, a former Canadian company which was purchased by Scripps is no longer available in Canada going forward. Recently, Tablo released their latest Tablo 4 which comes with a lot of bells and whistles and No Subscription required, and it comes with a built in Free FAST service with tons of free channels built into the Guide with your Antenna channels. They've given Canada the big finger claiming their FAST channels aren't licensed to view in Canada which I think is hogwash since other FAST services like Plex, Pluto, Roku, Samsung and LG all provide Free channels in Canada most of which are also on US FAST services too.

 

...claiming their FAST channels aren't licensed to view in Canada which I think is hogwash since other FAST services like Plex, Pluto, Roku, Samsung and LG all provide Free channels in Canada most of which are also on US FAST services too.

The services may have the same name, but they are different in the U.S. and Canada. Only programming that has been licensed for Canada is available here. There are many more programs on the U.S. services as a rule.

 

Great

Are there any alternatives to Tablo in canada?

 

Yes some of the newer Tv's have antenna integration with Free FAST channels built-in . What I use is a Plex server and an HDHomerun tuner. I can integrate everything. My antenna channels are merged into the Plex Free channels in the Guide, plus my own media as well. Works like a charm. Plex provides over 300 Free channels for Canada. My antenna gives me over 40 Free channels, all the Canadian and US major networks and sub-channels.

 

Tablo released their latest Tablo 4 which comes with a lot of bells and whistles and No Subscription required.

The wife ordered one for me for Xmas from amazon.com (not on .ca).

I will have to wait a month and report back.

 

The wife ordered one for me for Xmas from amazon.com (not on .ca).

I think I read a while back that the Tablo 4 works fine in Canada, with the exception of the FAST services, which are geo-blocked. I don't know it those will work with a U.S. ZIP Code and a VPN - I didn't read that far.

 

I've ordered one from the US as well. Hope the geo -block is not an issue. I like the concept of wifi distribution.

 

Just installed the Tablo next generation 2 tuner model. I chose the US option. Inputted 14301 Zip for Niagara Falls.
Tablo down loaded 93 channels of OTA and a bunch of other channels. Will monitor what happens next! Oh, the total cost from Amazom.com was Cdn $143. Five days delivery.

 

Looking at the extra non OTA channels, I'm not impressed.

 

Some of these extra channels must be similar to what you can watch on plex ad based channels and ROKU live channels.

 

Actually a lot of the FAST channels on Tablo are already available in Canada on other platforms like ROKU and Plex, so why Tablo doesn't provide them to us is mind boggling. How did you guys get the app to Download? Its not in the Playstore in Canada. Since Tablo is new to the game of FAST channels, I think they will have a lot of catching up to do. They have said they will be adding much more down the road.

 

The app is available on the Tablo web site. I downloaded to my android tablet.

 

Must be new. A month ago it wasn't available here. Maybe they plan on making it available in Canada soon.

 

I ordered from Amazom.com. In setting up the Tablo there is the option to select Canada or USA.

 

Can you comment on which is the better choice if you are near the border? Would the Guide be the same, either way? I’m not interested in the Fast channels from the US, but a nearby American station has numerous sub-channels. Although I’m in Canada, the guide information for those channels shows up on my LG TV, which is not connected to the Internet. I’m not sure how that happens. (I have a “rabbit ears” antenna.)

My main interests are CTV, Global, City and PBS from across the border. I have GEM for CBC.

 

Interesting. I guess they may start selling it here soon. Maybe its something to do with licensing the FAST content for Canada, and most of those channels are already available here anyways.

 

So far the Tablo is doing well. Some buffering on playback of recorded programs. Picture quality does not appear as sharp either. The tuner section is not as sensitive as my Samsing TV. You need to select the 10db receive boost. I'm using my Fire Stick to view Tablo. Too bad there is no app for PCs and the selection of Smart TVs is limited. Apparently I can't add apps to my Visio TV either.

 

If you having problems with playback or recorded programs you probably need to lower the quality they are recorded at.

 

The quality is what is tramsmited over the air. 1080 i at the best.

 

Some devices can transcode the picture and sound quality in real time but it takes a fairly fast processor to do so. Most streaming devices and ready made PVRs don't have that capability or may have difficulty doing it. Streaming servers will often transcode the picture resolution when streaming to mobile devices. That dates back to the time when wifi was slower and mobile devices less powerful. It's possible the Tablo is attempting to transcode the content, resulting in lost quality, and is having trouble keeping up, causing buffering. It should be able to disable or modify that feature if it's being used.

 

So far the TabloTV 4th gen is a disappointment. The marketing hype is misleading. "So many ways to enjoy TV with Tablo. Simply download the Tablo TV app on your favorite smart device and it’s showtime!" Only 2 of my favorite devices, an android tablet and Fire Tv stick work. There are no apps for Samsung, Vizio or PCs.

 

Just set mine up. Took 10 min max.
Started setup on iPhone, scanned channels (49)
and downloaded app from play store on Sony tv.
It automatically started working on the tv. I am very impressed so far!

 

I am wondering how well the Guide handles channels on both sides of the Canada/US border. In this example I don’t see CTV, Global or City (only CBC).

 

I am wondering how well the Guide handles channels on both sides of the Canada/US border.

The guide is 100 % full for all channels from US and Can. The only thing missing are the logos for CTV and CITY.

 

I scanned in 44 OTA and about 67 streaming (FAST) channels. Not all the FAST channels play smoothly. Some stutter or freeze. Guide appears to be accurate for all OTA. For some reason TV ONT does not have a guide.

So far the TabloTV 4th gen is a disappointment. TabloTV ads say "So many ways to enjoy TV with Tablo. Simply download the Tablo TV app on your favorite smart device and it’s showtime!" That marketing statement is misleading. There are only a handful of apps available. So far I can only watch TabloTV on my fire stick and android tablet. My Samsung, Vizio, and 3 PCs are useless.

 

Tablo (4th Generation) Over-the-Air [OTA] DVR

Watch and record live TV, subscription-free. Just one Tablo delivers antenna TV and 100+ free streaming channels to every screen in your home. The Tablo Total System ("2-Tuner / With Antenna" & "4-Tuner / With Antenna") comes with a TV antenna. If you already have an antenna that works for you...

us-store.tablotv.com

What smart devices are compatible with Tablo for viewing and managing live TV and recordings?
Tablo is compatible with streaming devices (sticks and boxes) and smart TVs from Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV/Google TV, Apple TV*, Samsung*, LG* and Vizio*, as well as smartphones and tablets running iOS and Android.
*COMING SOON

COMING SOON is a very subjective phrase. It appears there is also a Tablo Windows 10 app. https://support.tablotv.com/hc/en-us/articles/360046912812-Which-Browsers-can-I-use-with-Tablo-

 

I'm not about to replace perfectly good devices to accomodate Tablo or to puchase additional streaming devices. Don't confuse the old Tablo versus the new 4th gen version. The old Tablo was much more versatile. The new 4th gen does not support PC's and the apps are very limited.

 

In other words, Tablo can sell a hardware device that does more than most proprietary TV service boxes at a fraction of the cost and there is no charge for the content. It's little wonder that Canadian broadcasters don't want to provide OTA or allow competition.

 

Guide information is provided by the station by embedding it in the ATSC signal. It's part of the ATSC standard but does not seem to work well with some Canadian stations and only provides about two days of guide info. I don't think it matters what location is chosen as long as it has guide information available from Tablo. Some services don't provide guide data for Canadian locations so a nearby US location may be better.

 

only provides about two days of guide info.

Thanks for your input.

i‘d like to think that wouldn’t matter when setting a series recording, assuming the device can do that. I believe commercials in a recorded program can be skipped through (either in jumps or fast forward). However, I’m not sure that “chase play’ would be possible. If these features are available, it would be as useful as my PVR.

 

I returned the TabloTv 4th gen unit to Amazon. It does not meet my needs or live up to its promises!