Cord cutting is really easy with an HDHomeRun tuner and a Windows PC.
If you're sick of paying for satellite and cable TV and want to cut the cord completely, an HDHomeRun tuner from SiliconDust is something you need to consider.
It's extremely Windows-friendly, easy to setup and potentially the heart of your cable-free home television experience. All for around $100.
What is the HDHomeRun?
You'd normally plug an OTA antenna or cable box into your TV to get your entertainment fix, but the HDHomeRun is a little box that antenna goes directly into instead.
It takes in the digital TV signal and then distributes it across your home network via the ethernet connection on the box. That means any device that's compatible with HDHomeRun apps can view live, free-to-air TV over your local Wi-Fi network.
There are a few different models available, including one that's compatible with cable subscriptions for "cord shavers" rather than cutters. For the most part, though, the HDHomeRun is appealing because it's a great way to get free television all over your house and on your PC and mobile devices.
It's also compatible with a number of DVR software providers, such as Plex, allowing you to record live-streamed live TV, as well.
What you need to get up and running
You need to have a few things at your disposal to get started, including:
- HDHomeRun tuner.
- Roof-mounted or portable digital TV antenna.
- Ethernet cable (included in the box).
- Coax antenna cable (if using a roof antenna).
- A PC.
Mileage will vary depending on the type of antenna you use and the signal strength in your area. If you're not sure about those things, there are resources to help you find out which channels you can receive, but it might be a good idea to test the signal first before buying the HDHomeRun.
How to set up the HDHomeRun
The first step is to connect up the box correctly:
- Attach the coax cable from your antenna to the input on the rear of the HDHomeRun.
- Connect the Ethernet cable to your HDHomeRun and an output on your router.
- Hook up the power cable and watch the lights come on to make sure everything is OK so far.
That's everything you need to do with the box. The rest of the setup takes place on your PC.
- Head over to my.hdhomerun.com.
- The site should automatically detect your box.
- Download the installer for Windows (or Mac, if that's your thing).
- When the install wizard launches, click on the digital antenna tab.
Click scan to look for available TV channels.
After a little time the channel list will populate, as seen below.
After these steps, you can set up your DVR if you already have one in place. To get down to watching TV, just hit finish.
You're all set to watch TV on your local network using any of the official or third-party apps available that support the HDHomeRun. If you're using Windows 10 on a PC or phone, or on Xbox One, you can grab the official apps from the Windows Store.
Reader comments
HDHomeRun tuner is an essential cord-cutting tool for Windows users
Take your old computer.... Windows 7 and use Windows Media Center.... STILL IS the best app for a DVR...
It works great.
Very very interesting, thanks guys
I was doing the same thing with my Media Center PC years ago. I still have it I just don't use it anymore since Microsoft abandoned the platform.
I'm just sayin.
Re: aka badMojo69?,
You can still use Windows Media Center. It still provides valuable and unique features. Similar to how Saturn automobiles are no longer manufactured so there are no new features, but all the vehicles didn't just suddenly stop working. I see Saturn cars driving on the roads everyday.
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Windows Media Center is amazing, especially when set up with OTA (over the air) and CableCard tuners in a "Whole House" configuration.
Best Wishes
I love mine! Bought one of the CableCARD versions for my parents
This is nothing new. Microsoft Windows Media Center has been doing this for years and is still available and is the most full featured solution. It can be set up as a Whole House media server including DVR (digital video recorder) for live TV, cable TV, movies, photos and more, throughout the house, with both Over The Air (OTA) and with DRM (digital rights management) Cablecard tuners from HDHomerun, Ceton, and others.
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Research thegreenbutton.org.
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Sadly, Microsoft is no longer advancing development on Windows Media Center, but it still works and still has features, such as Cablecard Digital Rights Management (DRM) that the other media software doesn't have.
Best Wishes
Actually - with the Windows 10 Creator's update OR Xbox One - live DRM channels are now watchable with the HDHomeRun Prime.
Been using it regularly for the last couple of weeks. No DVR of DRM but Media Center is now no longer the only option for DRM protected channels.
Re: aka mercblue281?
Good to hear. Tell us more. Exactly what is the set up and how do you use it? Certainly, we hope you aren't trapped into watching only live TV, only when it's broadcasting live? That would be a huge step backwards from Windows Media Center introduced many years ago.
Best Wishes
I've had the HDHomerun prime for quite some time. I currently use it for live tv only on Xbox One, laptops and tablets with the HDHomerun app.
For recorded tv and the main TV viewing I have had a homebuilt Windows Media Center pc that has been chugging along for 7 years. This PC has a Ceton InfiniTV 4 CableCARD tuner. Still use this the most - but i'm hoping SiliconDust can bring DRM recording capabilities onboard. Then I will set up a recording server with their software.
An alternative to this is to buy a Kodi box with a tuner (or multiple tuners) built in such as a Wetek Play or build one yourself. The LibreElec distribution of kodi for instance includes TVHeadend which can be used for this functionality and more.
I own one of these and use it with my Plex dvr. I highly recommend this device.
I've been doing OTA to a TV Tuner for my PC for years. I still prefer the Windows Media Center over other apps and really wish MSFT would bring it back for Windows 10.
Im only 44. I remeber a time before pay TV and it was called Antenna. I find it hilarious how this comes full circle and now called "Free TV"! LMAO. And no... its not illegal LOL.
Actually the current naming is more precise. Antenna is the device which is used to receive radio waves via which the TV signal is distributed. The signal was analog in the days of yore and it is now digital. Before that digital signal was distributed by other means (cable, IPTV, satellite) and was (and still is) paid because of some reasons. Freely distributed TV over the antenna is what is called free TV.
I installed one of these at my house a couple weeks ago. It's connected via my local network to my Plex server (PlexDVR). Right now I can pick up about 90 channels (with about 30 of them useful). BTW, the universal windows app (HDHomeRun and Plex for that matter) work well on both the desktop and Xbox One. I expected it to be much larger, but was pleasantly surprised by the size. Works well for periodic OTA TV viewing.
30 useable??? Holy crap. What city are you near? I am within range of 4 cities, one with over 3 million people and between all 4 I get is maybe 12 channels and about 5 useable.
Australia has close to thirty free to air channels. A lot of them are tripe though.
I'm in the Houston area. Seems there are several channels that have old TV shows and movies running non-stop. Of course you get the Spanish language channels that provide content that I can't understand, but all the major networks are there as well as multiple locations of the same affiliates.
I would imagine that the biggest difference is what you and I would call "usable". I conceed that I'm probably a little more generous in that label.
In Oklahoma City, I receive about 45 channels. Four of the major network affiliates have a dedicated news/weather subchannel. About 10 of them are religious channels, about 5 children's channels, and about 15 Spanish language channels. Of all the channels I can get over the air, I really only watch five of them - the local affiliates for CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, and CW.
There's a 3 tuner cable card version too. You can even run the DVR part on a NAS instead of a PC. They have a PC and XBox app. I have it on my windows phone too, but its basically not usable.
interesting because this is illegal. If you buy a TV subscription you buy it for 1TV (if not stated otherwise) distributing the signal to other devices is against the policy
This particular tuner is for OTA broadcast, not cable/satellite subscriptions.
Incorrect. This works with an antenna to get broadcast TV, which is free and does not require a subscription. This is how it worked before the advent of cable TV.
This only works with over the air TV broadcasts and not subscription services.
My coax cable from the cable company is plugged into my tv, no digital box so why can't I plug into this instead?
This article is referring to HDHomeRun devices with OTA signals, but you can do the same with the HDHomeRun Prime device. It can receive 3 streams from digital cable at a time. If your cable feed is unencrypted and you don't require a cable box, the Prime would be ready to go right out of the box. If you have encrypted channels that currently require a cable box, you would need to rent a CableCard from your cable provider for the Prime to decrypt those channels.
The rest of the setup would be the same - Connect the HDHomeRun to your network and use a device with an HDHomeRun app or Windows Media Center to watch TV. This is the setup I've been using for about 6 years.
Cool, thanks for the info. I'm probably going to try it with the Xbox one app. Would rather use native Xbox tv though.
Actually, I was wrong. All three of the consumer models will handle unencrypted cable. The CableCard in the Prime is only required for encrypted channels. Here are the basic differences in the HDHomeRun devices.
Prime: 3 tuners. Works with digital cable (requires CableCard rental for encrypted channels)
Connect: 2 tuners. Works with ATSC or unencrypted (clearQAM) digital cable.
Extend: 2 tuners. Works with ATSC or unencrypted (clearQAM) digital cable. Ability to convert the incoming video intoH.264 format, making it more suitable for streaming over wireless connections and to portable devices like phones and tablets. Recommended for older wifi networks or multiple televisions spread over a large house.
Whoever came up with that should be thrown in jail and later fed to hungry lions.
I've never heard of a TV subscription being per TV. My cable company charges rental fees per each piece of equipment (cable box, DVR, CableCard, etc.), but until they recently switched to all digital requiring extra equipment, they never checked how many TV's were connected straight to the outlet. The subscription fee was based on the selected channel packages and it was a single fee for the entire billing address.
Regardless, this article is mostly about free over-the-air TV signals, so any comment about TV subscriptions is non-applicable.
This is absolutely NOT illegal. The tuner mentioned here is only for OTA broadcast TV, requiring your own antenna. HDHomerun also sells a cablecard version of their tuner. Most cable companies will allow up to four streams on a single cablecard, although the HDHomerun Prime only supports up to three. Has nothing to do with how many TV's you run this to.
"its for OTA"
but could be used for illegal retransmission too, right? Only the buyer decides what to do with it :))) well... in my country TV subscriptions are paid /tv. If you want to use 3 separate TV within one household then you need to purchase 3 separate licences.... but OK, if thats something new to Americans.. not my problem at all :-D
What country is that? Because that sounds horrible. I already pay $50/month for cable and it works on all of my TVs. There is no way I would pay $150/month so that I can watch cable on 3 TVs. I think you are getting a lot of flak because you made a claim that it's illegal when it really only had to do with OTA which is free everywhere. Not only that, but show me where it is stated that it is illegal. Also, the whole last sentence of your post.... is that not a little passive agressive? Just accept the fact that it may not work the exact same way everywhere across all countries and refrain from making outlandish claims
It technically could be used for illegal retransmission, but that could also be accomplished with an old VCR and a video capture card installed in a computer. The HDHomeRun devices are designed to only stream to your local home network. It's just a different way to distribute TV to all the screens in your home rather than using a coax cable splitter from a the rooftop antenna to each TV.
Re: aka Pappale,
What country are you talking about? Research thegreenbutton.org.
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This is nothing new in many countries. Microsoft Windows Media Center has been doing this for years and is still available and is the most full featured solution. It can be set up as Whole House media server DVR (digital video recorder) for live TV, cable TV, movies, photos and more, throughout the house, with both Over The Air (OTA) and Cablecard tuners from HDHomerun, Ceton, and others.
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Sadly, Microsoft is no longer advancing development on Windows Media Center, but it still works and still has features, such as Cablecard Digital Rights Management (DRM) that the other media software doesn't have.
Best Wishes
The UK charges a per TV license fee. That's how the BBC is funded.
http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/tv-licence-typ...
Re: aka IOOnatic71,
Wow, very interesting, and good to know how things work in another country.
Best Wishes
True for some cases but homes pay on a per household basis and any business paying on a per TV basis would be volunteering the information anyway so repeating on iptv would make no difference.
There are loads of channels which are broadcast for free over the air in the UK, and in fact this is the most popular way of viewing TV, much more common than having cable/satellite, which is not at all uncommon, but free is free. One household pays a single licence fee, then in the house you can use as many TV's as you like. All the BBC channels are free and available on all platforms.
And yes, the BBC is currently funded by the licence fee, which is why there are no adverts on the BBC. The other main channels ITV, Channel4 and 5 etc. do show adverts but not as many as you see on cable/satellite only channels. I remember watching StarTrek TNG on BBC2 years ago. the eps were 45 minutes normally, then watching them on Sky made them an hour long due to the adverts!
Wrong, it's 1 licence per residence here in the UK.
If they could integrate this thing with the XboxOne's built in EPG and TV interface, it would be a no brainer.
Still holding out hope for an Xbox DVR with cable card.