5 Ways to Watch TV Without Cable

Wed, Nov 16, 2022 10:08 PM

People who wish to get free broadcast TV via an antenna yet have many TVs have a lot of questions. There are a few different ways to obtain an antenna signal to all of your TVs in your house. This guide will outline your alternatives so that everyone in your house can enjoy watching television.

Also, Read: Things to Look for Best Cheap No-Contract Internet Service Providers

All TVs Runs Under a Single Antenna

If your home doesn't already have coax cable, you'll have to install it yourself. You can connect your antenna cable straight to your TV if you only have one TV and your cable line is short (say, 30 feet or less).

However, you'll almost always want to add an amplifier, so utilize a distribution amplifier to split your signal to all of your TVs. 

All TV Gets an Antenna Each

The simplest solution is to have a separate indoor antenna for each television. The issue is that some of your televisions may be located on the opposite side of the house from the television channels. Perhaps one of your televisions is located in the basement, where reception is poor. If your location has strong signals (insert your zip code into the Station Finder to see), you may still be able to get all of the channels you want from anywhere in your house, so it may not be a problem. However, depending to their placement in your home, some of your TVs are likely to receive poorer reception than others.

With all the hassle from these tips, you might as well just get a good streaming and cable deal! 

One Antenna Using Your Home's Unused Cable or Satellite TV Wiring

The most efficient method is this. Your home already contains the wiring needed to distribute free broadcast TV signals through an antenna if you've ever had cable or satellite TV! You may connect your antenna to this cable and use it to distribute free TV throughout your home if you can figure out where it links to the cable company's line and disconnect it.

This will need some investigation. See where the cable company's cable connects to your home in your garage, basement, and outside. Where it connects, there should be a junction box. Look where the cable from the satellite dish enters your home if you had a satellite. Note that disconnecting it may require specific tools, and tampering with the cable/satellite company's equipment may be illegal; please be informed.

You can now attach your antenna anywhere in your home where you see a cable TV outlet if you were able to disconnect the signal from the cable operator. The greatest location is most likely on an upper floor, which is your home's tallest point. An amplifier is also recommended if you are doing this method.

This is what happens when you cut the cord because everybody is doing so. You don't have to do it if you are an avid TV watcher.

The next option will be requiring streaming device-like tools. So you will need to spend a couple of bucks more. 

Wireless Antenna - Tablo

Tablo is a DVR (digital video recorder) for the full house that works with your broadcast TV antenna. Connect your antenna to any TV in your house that is linked to a streaming player, like Roku, and watch live and recorded TV.

Simply connect your single antenna to Tablo, and it will broadcast the signal to all of your Roku boxes. This will need the purchase of a Roku box or stick for each television, which you may or may not want to do. Take a look at this video to see how it works:

The advantage is that Tablo TV can record to a hard disk drive that you connect to it. So, if you want to be able to record, Tablo is a good option.

 Amazon Fire TV Recast

This solution is identical to the last one, but it makes use of the Amazon Fire TV Recast DVR. The idea is the same: connect your antenna to the Recast and view it on all of your TVs. The only difference is that you'll need Amazon Fire TV Sticks on each of your TVs to watch your recordings.

Final Thoughts

It is up to you to decide which solution is best for you. Getting a different antenna for each TV is the simplest solution. However, not all televisions may receive the same level of reception. You might be able to use your existing cable TV cables and only have one antenna if you have it. Finally, consider Tablo or Recast, as well as streaming players for each TV, if you want recording capability and don't want to deal with long cable runs.

Getting cable or internet is still superior to the choices said above. If you are looking for a cable or internet provider just click below

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