SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV: 2/4 Tuners HDFX-4K

This is a quality product for tuning in & recording OTA TV. Paired with a Winegard Elite 7550 Outdoor HDTV Antenna & 2TB external hard drive I purchased separately, I was able to pull in 78 clear channels 37 miles from my local antenna farm. Five ATSC 3.0 channels scanned in, but only 3 ATSC 3.0 actually displayed pictures and sounds; none were broadcasting in 4K so far. I purchased the $35 channel guide & DVR recording capabilities (the whole point of buying this product) separately from SiliconDust online. Here is a rough cost breakdown for my setup: SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K $200, Winegard Elite 7550 Outdoor HDTV Antenna $150, 2 TB external hard drive; $70, SiliconDust DVR/Channel Guide 1-year service $35, two Onn TV Android boxes $40, 30-foot telescope mounting pole/hardware/coaxial cable/professional installation $460 equals $955 total, a lot of money, but a professional clean weatherproof performance ensemble. Cable TV with DVR (w/o internet) in my area is about $145 a month with NO premium channels, so ostensibly my breakeven is at 7.5 months. I did not want to further complicate my life with a Plex server and/or Channels guide, nor the associated extra costs and complexity, which is not necessary since the SiliconDust UI is top-notch/excellent. ONE CAVEAT: If your TV or streaming device is running Roku software (like mine & millions of others)—my SiliconDust HDHomeRun app was prone to crashing frequently, and the FF/rewind did NOT work AT ALL. I solved this problem by buying/installing two $20 Onn TV Android boxes from Walmart and using the free SiliconDust HDHomeRun Android app from the Google Play Store. Now FF/Rewind works as it should, and the HDHomeRun Android app does not crash. Some internet searching will reveal this is a common SiliconDust HDHomeRun/Roku problem/issue that SiliconDust has been unsuccessfully working on debugging for a long time. It should have been resolved by SiliconDust and/or Roku long ago, and I should NOT have had to figure out this workaround on my own. Still, this is a solid OTA tuner w/DVR capabilities with superb channel tuning and UI that I will give it 5 stars despite my Roku caveat. 6 MONTH UPDATE: SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K is still a solid choice. I have really warmed up to the excellent UI. The FF/rewind is still working on my Onn TV Android box. I must report the SiliconDust HDHomeRun Onn TV Android app does not load easily, or as it should, like all my other apps. Restarting the Onn TV box is typically necessary, usually 2 times, to bring up the SiliconDust HDHomeRun UI. I am not sure if this is a SiliconDust HDHomeRun Android app issue, a Google bloatware issue, or both. I have yet to try an alternate launcher, which I have some reservations about. SiliconDust has still not fixed the aforementioned Roku app problem. A SiliconDust sad state of affairs. Customers should not have to figure out a Roku workaround. I have given serious thought to trying the newest Tablo (despite having so many problems with an old Tablo Quad, Tablo’s poor customer support, & no hardware repairs offered), or "rounding up" 2 older used model TiVo’s that work with an antenna. Why the latter? I have owned a Tablo Quad, a Silicon Dust HDHomeRun, and 2 TiVo (very old) Premiers—all fed by antennas. TiVo (the most expensive option that works best with a box for each TV) has the best UI, works flawlessly, responds the best by far instantly, and has a one-button auto commercial skip that actually works. 12 MONTH UPDATE: I have now surpassed my breakeven point. I’m in the black with my SiliconDust HDHomeRun/antenna setup vs. cable TV cost by a wide margin. Admittedly, there is some loss with OTA programming vs. cable, but not by $0 vs. $145 a month margin. Not to mention, if I really want to see a program, I can easily find it and stream it. With the last SiliconDust firmware/app update, I have found that the previously discussed SiliconDust HDHomeRun app loading issues do not occur if the app is returned to the Live TV mode before exiting and not left in DVR mode. I have given up on the idea of “rounding up” a used older TiVo since my SiliconDust HDHomeRun is performing better after the latest firmware/app update. You’d also need a TiVo for each TV, and TiVo has really abandoned the OTA DVR business altogether. I recommend SiliconDust HDHomeRun and hold out hope that SiliconDust fixes the Roku app soon to accommodate the FF/Rewind function.

This is kind of lengthy... Previously, for the past 6 years, our household used a “Tablo” as our in-home OTA DVR solution. For that purpose, it worked fairly well. I won’t go into any of the downsides, but the final deal killer was the inability to access it remotely using Roku devices. No matter how many router tweaks and settings such as port forwarding I tried, Roku just couldn’t access it. The only thing that worked was using a smartphone. All we wanted was the ability to access our local news broadcasts and sporting events when out of town. We thought we had found a solution by subscribing to “YouTube TV” which provides local channels as part of the package. Imagine our disappointment when on our first trip out of town, we could not get any of our hometown stations but instead those of where we were at the time. Upon our return, I resolved to finally replace the “Tablo” with a SiliconDust “HDHomeRun Flex 4K”. Operationally, much like the “Tablo”, you connect an OTA antenna to the unit, connect to your home network and then power it up. One of the nice things about the “Tablo” is that you can connect to your home network wirelessly. The “HDHomeRun” requires a wired ethernet connection. This meant we would have to run ethernet cable from our router to where the unit would reside. Fortunately for us this was something we did last year for different reasons but in the process, the “Tablo” was connected directly as well which greatly improved its responsiveness and stability. Unboxing the “HDHomeRun” and connecting it in place of the “Tablo” took only a few minutes. I used the “HDHomeRun” app on my android phone while connected to the same network to finish up firmware upgrades and channel scans. The “HDHomeRun”, when connected to our attic antenna, picked up 52 local ATSC 1.0 channels and 4 ATSC 3.0 stations. Now, the main reason we selected the “HDHomeRun” was its ability to integrate with our “Plex Media Server” which we have had operating for years. Within just minutes, the “HDHomeRun” was setup within Plex which, as part of our lifetime pass, provides a guide for all of the channels the “HDHomeRun” found. Plex also provides native DVR support so no additional storage devices or fees to SiliconDust for their DVR functionality. What Plex won’t do is decode AC-4 audio (blame FFmpeg) which is what the ATSC 3.0 broadcasts come with. Not a huge problem since all of the ATSC 1.0 audio channels work just fine. We anticipate that Plex/FFmpeg will provide the AC-4 decoder eventually as ATSC 3.0 adoption picks up, but the main thing is, since Plex is a server, we can access it remotely which means all of our local channels are available remotely as well. “HDHomeRun” also has a Windows 10 app which was downloaded to test. That worked great and after downloading a couple of drivers it said it needed, including a 99 cent one from Microsoft, I was able to play the ATSC 3.0 channels with audio as well. Some users have complained about channel changes taking a long time. For us this is 2-3 seconds. I challenge anyone to go from one YouTube or Roku channel to another much faster. All in all, to date, this change over has worked out well. It picks up all of the local free channels we could ever need. Subjectively, we also think the image quality is great. If I had a wish list, it would be that the “HDHomeRun” apps provided more native info and/or metadata about each channel such as the kind of audio track being listened to and the video resolution. Kind of like YouTube providing “Stats for Nerds” on each of its videos. We’re not sure if we are future proofed on the ATSC 3.0 roll-out but that was not the only or even main part of the reason for our purchase decision. What we wanted is what we got, and it works very, very well.

I love the idea of using a single OTA antenna to serve multiple TVs and other devices in my home. I selected this device over other similar products based on the 4 tuners, two of which support ATSC3.0, and availability of a useable app for my current devices. Please research app availability for your platform before considering purchasing anything. A lesson that I have recently learned. The tuners seem to be quite good as I have a temporary antenna placed in front of a basement window and some channels are coming in at 90% signal quality or better. This is just for proof of concept and have an outdoor antenna coming soon which should improve signal quality across the board. The app works well on a new Google TV device but not so much on an existing Roku device. On Roku, if the signal quality is not about 75% or higher consistently, the picture will intermittently freeze, audio will stop and "malformed data" will show on the display. To recover, one must select the desired channel again from the channel list or guide and start the stream again. With strong signal quality, this is not a problem on Roku. From what I read online, this is not specifically a HDHR app or product issue, it's the way that the video must play on this platform. On the Google TV device, it simply works, even with the same channels that froze on Roku. As you might expect, there is some pixilation and audio loss with lower signal quality but it's not necessary to start the stream again. For both platforms, the full guide could use some fine tuning. When selected on a currently playing program and press the OK button to select, it provides options to record rather than tuning to that program as one would expect. There is also a smaller quick guide of sorts on the right side of the screen that does work well and as you'd expect. There is a Windows application available called HDHomerun Config GUI which is very helpful for antenna aiming and general troubleshooting. It is free to download from their web site. Overall, I'm very excited with this new-to-me product and look forward to dumping my cable subscription.

Works extremely well with my Emby server. I use it to bring in Los Angeles antenna channels, and it gives me access to a huge variety of local broadcasts. Emby handles the recording, pausing, and other DVR-style features, much like what you’d expect from a TiVo. The HDHomeRun Flex 4K is exactly what I needed to watch live TV on any TV in my house—or even outside the house—as long as the Emby app is installed. Setup was straightforward, performance has been reliable, and it has been a great addition to my home TV setup. Highly recommended!

Update: I've been so frustrated with the constant freezing. I basically never watch antenna TV anymore because of it and customer support's usual answer along the lines of "it could be worse." In fact, I forgtt all about even having it until I saw the auto payment for another year of the dvr service. I saw it to late to cancel, but I don't renew next year, for certain. I don't even use it anymore until Sundays when I'm trying to watch football on my local station. I miss so many plays because of the freezing and having to restart (and missing every play that happened during that process), but that's not the only problem with live tv. Pausing hardly ever works, and more often than not, when I unpause, it skips right to live and I'm unable to rewind. When I watch something I've recorded, maybe the whole episode will be there... but maybe it crashes. In any case, if i try to pause, it restarts at the beginning. At one point, I blamed the Roku HDHomeRun app, but I later downloaded the app on an Amazon Fire TV, and wouldn't you know it, I have the same problems. I absolutely cannot recommend this product, which makes me sad bc it had a lot of promise, and I paid good money for it. Original review: The only reason I need a tuner/dvr at all is so I can record NFL games—I don't want to miss one while I'm watching another that's being broadcast at the same time, and I want to be able to skip commercials (and sometimes the announcers' chatter). I've tried several OTA receivers/DVRs but finally settled on the SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K. The SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K is dead simple to set up: plug in coax cable from the antenna, plug included ethernet cable into the HDHomeRun and your router, plug included power supply in. The HDHomeRun isn't connected to your television, only to your router (and antenna and power)—it streams your OTA channels to your TVs and other devices via app. Viewing OTA (antenna) TV: My two main TVs are Roku Tvs (and a rarely-used 3rd TV uses a Roku device), so I just added the HDHomeRun app. I didn't need to do anything else to view all my OTA channels, not even run a channel scan. I spent a total of about 2 minutes from opening the box to watching TV (and probably 60 seconds of that was bc my arthritic hands had trouble tightening the coax cable). I wasn't missing any of the 77 channels my TV found when the antenna cable was connected directly to the TV. (Incidentally, HDHomerun was not my first choice: I bought a Tablo Dual Lite first, but it could not find as many channels, and not the local networks that broadcast NFL games at all, so I returned it asap.) The picture through the HDHomeRun is clearer than watching when watching from my Dish, which surprised me. Note: Some Samsung TVs cannot get audio when using the HDHomeRun. The site's FAQ says "To hear audio, you need a TV, AV receiver, or soundbar that can decode Dolby Digital or AC3 audio over HDMI. Most modern TVs can do this, though we’ve noticed a few Samsung TVs cannot." DVR: If you want DVR functionality, you'll pay $35/year, and plug in an external hard drive to your HDHomeRun via usb. I tested the DVR functions via the HDHomeRun app on my laptop and on my phone. I started recording a program already in progress. I scheduled recording for a program that would start about a half hour in the future. I used the search bar to schedule recordings of all NFL games, on any channel, at any time. Super easy. The quality of the recording is great. Here's where things get a little less than ideal. I could not for the life of me figure out how to use the DVR functions from the Roku app. I submitted a support ticket to Silicone Dust, and they told me how to find my recordings (just hit the "back" arrow button on the Roku remote), but I can't schedule recordings from the Roku app... yet. I'll paste Silicone Dust's email below: The Roku version of the HDHomeRun app is getting some long overdue updates to help bring it in-line with the HDHomeRun app for other platforms. We'll be adding the ability to schedule recordings, search guide data, and more, in the coming months. When you open the Roku app, it will start playing the last played channel right away. Pressing left/right arrows will bring up the live channel switcher. Icons and guide data might take a moment to load, and we are working to improve those loading times. Pressing "Back" from live TV will bring you to a new "Live/Recorded/Discover/Tasks" screen. Selecting "Live" will bring you back to the live view on whatever channel was being watched before Selecting "Recorded" will show recordings if you are using the HDHomeRun DVR service Selecting "Discover" will give you our guide discover view. Selecting a TV program from "Discover" will show a summery for that program, and will show the current and future episodes (if the program is a TV show and not a movie). If a program is available on more than one channel, you will also see those options listed here. In the future you will be able to use this view to also schedule recordings if you are subscribed to the HDHomeRun DVR service.

This is by far the best TV Tuner out there. Living close to an airport I've always had problems with multi-path interference from low flying aircraft or windblown trees so after learning about the how the new ATSC 3.0 tuners worked to alleviate these problems, I jumped at the chance to try the HD Homerun Flex 4k. It's true. The 3.0 tuners have alleviated the problem. But the thing with the Flex is the ATSC 1.0 tuners do a pretty darn good job of alleviating the problem as well. My Tv's tuner is terrible. I get breakups all the time on it. I had a Tablo that did a little better, but I hated how it took 5 seconds to change channels. I also had a Fire TV recast and its tuners were ok, but it downscaled the picture and the PQ was pretty bad. You could change channels faster, but it took a few seconds for the picture quality to get up to HD. The Tablo and Recast PQ had a compressed look to it. The HD homerun Flex 4k blows them both out of the water. The PQ is the same as if you were getting it straight from the antenna. I use the HDHomerun app, and I see no compression whatsoever. It really is an awesome picture. Changing channels is fast. The 3.0 stations take a couple of seconds longer. Right now, I don't see a reason to use the 3.0 stations because the 1.0 tuners do a fine job. In Orlando we get all the major Networks in ATSC 3.0, though the NBC station has turned on encryption. Silicon Dust says an update will be forth coming to allow viewing of DRM encrypted channels, but this isn't something you can bank on. Right now, ATSC is up in the air. It may all go away so who knows. None of the stations are doing 4k, it's all 1080. Be that as it may, I'm really happy with the 1.0 tuners on this thing. I use the HDHomerun app. People dis it all the time and use the Channels or Plex apps but those require a computer. I don't want to have a computer on. Plus, the Channels and Plex apps transcode and that can affect your PQ. The HDHomerun app does no transcoding. It's basically 4 tuners streamed wirelessly to your whole network. A decent router is required. If you can get 4k from your streaming apps you'll have no problem with this. I signed up for the $35 a year DVR and guide service. Less than $3 a month. I stuck a 256gb micro-SD card into a Micro/USB adapter and it works great. The recorded quality is a whatever the tuner received. No compression. If you use the HDHomerun app, go into setting and TURN OFF SLICE VIEW. Then you get the normal grid guide by hitting the up or down button. To close the guide hit the back button. People dis the app because of the slice view, which I admit looks pretty bad but it actually is great for touchscreens like a tablet or phone. Setting up is easy peasy. You can do it all from inside the app. Here's a hint, don't delete channels. Just click on the ones you don't want by getting to the red X. If you delete them, when the homerun does a scan, it will add them again. As you can tell I'm pretty happy with this product. I'm actually blown away. I could have gotten away with the 2-tuner dual flex for nearly half the price, but I got a $100 gift card from my employer so decided to put it towards this. If you're buying this for 4k, the tuner can do 4k, but nobody is broadcasting it. You can't really blame that on Silicon Dust.

I had an Internet/TV/Phone bundle through Verizon that I've had for years but I finally decided to "cut the cord" because I was tired of paying for TV service that, honestly, I rarely used. We have a couple of streaming services that we watch purposefully, and we only ever used the TV service for background noise or to watch live TV during special events or local news or things like that. So I dropped the bundle, increased my Internet speed, and ended up cutting my Verizon bill almost in half. As part of that decision, I decided to get this HDHomeRun box so that I could still get local broadcast stations for local live news and event coverage. I paired it with this antenna: https://a.co/d/4Xrc74l The box is in my basement, connected to my core switch. The antenna is on the second floor of my house near a window. I reused some coax I had in my house to connect the two - making sure that nothing else was connected to the coax - no splits or anything. This box is great. My Plex server found it immediately and was able to perform a channel scan and pull guide information no problem. AND even though I'm using it with Plex, you don't have to. As long as you have a device on the same network at the HDHomeRun box with the HDHomeRun app installed, those devices can address the box directly without needing to go through Plex at all. I was hesitant to buy a box with four tuners in it - why would I need four tuners? I discovered the answer during the eclipse on April 8 - I had Plex set to record two different news broadcasts during the eclipse while I watched a third broadcast using the HDHomeRun app on my Chromecast with Google TV. This engaged three of the four tuners in the box, and it performed perfectly. I will point out - since some of the literature is unclear - that all four tuners are capable of ATSC 1.0, but only two tuners are capable of ATSC 3.0. In my area, only two channels are broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 right now, but even those channels are broadcasting in both for the time-being. But for most folks, ATSC 1.0 is all you need at the moment, and having four tuners that can pick that up really makes it useful when you want to watch or record multiple things at the same time. Set up is easy - plug the box into your network. It will check for firmware updates on its own, and you can use the web interface to apply those updates if you wish. I gather that it essentially uses DLNA to share the media streams, so anything on the same network can use the box. Also, if you're using it with Plex, the recommendation is to assign a static DHCP lease to the box because if the address changes, Plex may have to set it up all over again. This is not a requirement if you're just going to use the HDHomeRun app, since the app looks for the box via broadcast each time you open it. This box is easy to use, works with a wide variety of devices and applications, and is practically plug-and-play in terms of setup. I am very pleased to have it.

So far I have been using this device for a few months. I have it connected to am OTA antenna and wired to my home network and integrated with my Plex server running on an M2 Mac Mini. Setting up the device was easy and locating it in Plex wasn't hard at all, and the guide feature works great, however playing content on an Nvidia Shield that I use in my living room to stream from has been a nightmare when in Plex. Most ATSC 1.0 channels will either cut out or not load entirely while watching in Plex, however using the HD HomeRun app they work great so I know it's not my antenna, network or signal. Even though I am in the market for ATSC 3.0 I have yet to get to test this as the channels are encrypted and unfortunately this device is not capable of decrypting those signals. I don't hold this against it at the moment since it's more of an issue with the broadcast company and the standard itself but do keep this in mind. If I could figure out the bugs in Plex, this would be a 5/5