Whole House HD Antenna

How many TVs are you trying to get the signal to?

4

quote:

---

How many TVs are you trying to get the signal to?

---

I will have 6

quote:

---

Can I purchase an attic HD antenna and run all of my cable outlets in the house with it?

Will I need anything besides the antenna and would appreciate and recommendations to accomplish this.

---

i wrote up a whole long thing about this several years ago.

here's what you need:

- antennaweb.org <-- go there & put in your address and get the antenna type they recommend. this is key. if they say an attic antenna is ok, then do it. if they say you need an external one..DO IT. nothing more frustrating than a local HD signal that cuts in and out because you didnt get a powerful enough antenna. my outside mounted antenna project only ran me $75 or so including mounting kit for the gable and a metal fence rail to use for the mast.


- stuff to mount it. if its in the attic probably just some zip ties or something to attach it.

- coax to reach from antenna into *one* room in your house. you want to drop the coax into the room with your router or switch.

- hd homerun. <-- don't scrimp on this and try to use your TV's built in OTA tuner. just dont. these devices run from $35 (refurb) up to a couple hundred dollars. the cheap ones LACK a DVR and maybe only have 2 tuners instead of 4 so you'll need something else if you plan to record live TV like plex.


- ethernet cable

option a: no DVR. simply screw the coax into the hd-homerun and connect it to power and run the etherent to your router/switch. done. you can then access tv (2-4 tuners depending on the HD homerun you bought) via the HD homerun app on any TV that has some type of smart tv app connected (fire tv, roku, built-in, etc.) nothing else required. hd homerun will get the TV guide from the internet and allow anyone to access it. very slick and easy.

option b: dvr. i picked plex as my dvr. if you're already running a plex server it requires nothing more than option (a) except to purchase 'plex pass' and then you'll see the hd homerun inside plex and plex uses your PC's hard drive for DVR storage.


thats the easiest way i know of. 100% off the grid/cable dependency. plex runs local so you don't even need internet. you can watch 2 or 4 different channels at the same time depending on which hd homerun you bought.

my antenna and hd homerun pick up OVER SEVENTY local channels including an ever increasing number of HD..i think im up to 20 HD channels now.

You can put the antenna either in the attic or outside. I have mine in the attic and it works just fine. I recommend always having an amplifier to boost the signal. They are pretty cheap. You will need a plug for it though.

If you are trying to get to 6 TVs, you will probably have significant signal loss but it doesn't hurt to try and connect the antenna to the main line just to test it. Have all the TVs connected and on and see what it looks like. Best case scenario you return any unopened extra equipment you bought.

For antenna, it would depend on how close you are to the stations. AntennaWeb.org is a great website that you can enter your address and see how far you are and what directions the station are in. It has a color coded key to tell you which type of antenna you should buy based on your distance.

A lot of people have been happy with the clearstream antennas. I have a Mohu Sail and it has been adequate for me, I pick up stations about 50 miles away.

If you do end up having a lot of signal loss to the TVs, the only solution I know of is to stream it over wifi (although I'd imagine you could get a juiced up amplifier and push signal over cox to the TVs). I use the HD Homerun Duo and also purchased a Plex Pass. It works almost flawlessly. If you have 6 Tvs, I'd go at least with the quatro (duo for 2 simultaneous viewings, quatro for 4).

My set up goes:

Antenna in attic, amplifier right off it, then cable runs down to the hd homerun in my entertainment center. That is hardwired to my modem which sends the signal out on the network to the computer running my plex server. Plex then organizes it and sends the signal out to the firesticks and apple tvs throughout my house with the plex app on them. (My main smart tv can pick up the signal without any device since it is connected to the same network so the plex isn't necessary if they are all smart tvs) I like Plex because it acts as a dvr also so I can record any shows or football games onto my computer and watch them from anywhere in the house.

Sorry for the flood of info

Edit: Looks like someone beat me to it while I was typing my novel.

quote:

---

I found it, I live less than 30 miles from all so indoor will do!

---

soooo much easier if you can do this.

quote:

---

I live less than 30 miles from all

---

If that is the case, run to your nearest Walmart and try an antenna like this one. Already has the amplifier and cheap. Worst case scenario is you return it for a different one.

I had one similar to this when I lived in Florida suction cupped to my window. I was picking up channels 55 miles away in Mobile, AL. It would probably work for you assuming you don't have a ton of trees.

Yeah it should work. For shits and giggles I tried my Mohu leaf up in my attic when I moved. It worked fine for the closer channels but I needed to get a little further out because I was missing fox which was 48 miles away. That’s the only reason I upgraded.

Get an amazon fire tv recast. It’s a simple one device solution that has a DVR and allows you to watch live tv or recordings via a fire stick or mobile device

Elevation matters as well. Are you on high ground or low?