I only give five stars and take my time to write detailed reviews when something is deserving. And you should buy it. In this case, this little piece of tech has far exceeded my expectations. The reason for that is I have a first generation Haupage, and I have never been able to get more than a couple of channels.
I've been in the tech world over 40 years, am a Broadband and Network Engineer going back to 2001, and cut the cable about ten years ago. Biggest problem, without paying fees, is real time news on TV. Yea, you can get real time local news streaming (For a fee in our case) or watch it on a computer, but we do prefer having it on TV. There are also some network TV shows my wife likes, streaming they are always a day late. She would like to watch them when they are on. And this device was the ticket.
I watched quite a few videos on how to get the best reception with this device. In short, 45 miles away on a single hill with multiple towers, they broadcast 40 channels. As noted I was never able to get more than 2 or 3 even with the most expensive powered antenna. My RV has an integrated raise. Lower antennae and can get 8 from my backyard. After connecting this device, properly, I get all 40 channels crystal clear. I bought this device fully expecting to see it not work and send it back. Nope, definitely keeping it.
Here are step by step instructions, I took from multiple videos, on how to get the most channels and best reception. But first a couple of notes. After setup, I will go over some of the features of this little box and the app. You can ignore some of the older review complaints, because as I learned (Again watching videos) there have been more than a few updates and I can verify you do not need a Plex server or anything else. More on that after installation.
I have a hardwired house with a network room, server, couple of cabinets etc, so for me I can make it work anywhere in my house. I am not restricted by a modem/router. I will make some notes on that as I go along.
1. Find your broadcast towers. There are multiple websites you can use, I used Channel Masters and two others to get exact location. I found that 40 channels were broadcast from a hill in one city and 3 more were broadcast within range from a different direction. I cannot get those three channels. It doesn't matter because I get all the local and networks on the 40.
2. Download a map compass on a cell phone. I used an app called Compass Maps for Android. You may or may not have to download the map in addition to the compass. I did, works great, going to keep it. That is unless you already know the exact location of your broadcast towers.
3. Locate the window in your house closest to pointing directly at those towers. A couple of notes.
* Walls will severely restric reception.
* Clear glass is good, this will still work if you have screens, but screens will restrict reception. In a storm window with a screen, I recieve about 15 of the 40 channels available, moved over one window, center, no screen, 40 channels.
4. If you have an amplified antenna, do not use the amplifier. Thread the antennae directly onto the HDHomerun. Amplifiers severely interfere and restrict reception through the tuners and are not needed. And of course if you do not have an amplified antenna, don't buy one for this, not needed.
5. Thats it, for best reception put your antenna in a window facing as close as possible in the direction of your broadcast towers, plug it in to your network or router. Then download the HDHomeRun App on any or all devices.
Note that this should be obvious but two tuners means you can only watch on two devices at once. But you can set it up on as many devices as you want, in my case it is set up on nine devices, including multiple big screen TV's, several computers and a couple of cell phones. It works perfectly through all of them.
This works through any type of network configuration, wireless router (with jacks), hardwired home network or Powerline Adapters, I have netgear powerline adapters running in a couple of rooms off of my network and tested, works fine, no problem.
The App
I nearly ignored the app based on old complaints until watching a video that showed the complaints had been addressed. It is not hard to use and has a lot of new functions. (I do not know how the old App was since I have not used it, so I have to take other people's word for it).
Once you download and install the app on your Smart TV or streaming device you use your normal remotes as usual. There is no separate remote for this device.
You do not have to create an account to use the app, and there are no fees for anything.
Once you click on the app you will see:
Version (You do have the option to upgrade firmware through your account. I did that)
Using ASymch Platform API
It searches and then "Found 1 Device"
Then device number and HD Homerun" followed by booting to the main screens.
Total boot time for my devices is no more than about ten seconds.
It will boot to the last screen you were watching, including if you logged out while watching a channel/TV program.
Your first screen is your "Live Screen". Pressing theup or down arrows on your remote displays all of your channels and moves up and down through the channels. It may take a couple of seconds to populate all the channels.
On the right side, all of your channels, each channel shows what is currently playing on that channel with a screenshot along with channel, 3.4, 3.3 and so forth.
On the upper left side of the screen it will show time, Channel and current TV show playgoing.
on the very top right of the screen are five icons. Search, favorites (Star you can click to lock that channel/show as a favorite, return to last icon, a newspaper icon that bring up only the news channels, a football icon that brings up only the sports channels, and a movie (film) icon that brings up only movies.
Bottom is your fast forward, reqind, pause (You can fast forward, pause and rewind live TV with this app), your SAP, CC, Zoom, full screen and "Discover" Icons.
Hitting the Discover Icon takes you to the Discover Page which is a full screen guide of TV shows, movies, sports, news, documentaries etc., you can select any of them, select a time when they will be on and set to record.
Note you do not need an account to record, you can attach up to a 2TB drive to this device for recording.
Above the full screen guide are four options. Now (Which it will be on automatically), Shows, Movies and Sports and clicking any of them will show only those categories in the guide.
Above that are four options. Live, Recorded, Discover and Tasks.
Live takes you back to the main page where you can watch whatever is on live TV.
Recorded is self explanatory
Discover shows you the guide with everything that plays on every channel. Clicking on any show, sports event, or whatever gives you the option to record an entire series or multiple events.
Tasks shows whichever tasks you have selected, Record, playback and others while an "Upcoming" shows just that, upcoming tasks.
Clicking "Live" at the top of any screen other than the main "Live" screen takes you back to the live TV screen.
Note on the top right corner of any screen other than the Live screen is a settings icon. In the settings you can do the following.
See account information
See devices and device serial number
See a list of all available channels and select any number of them to add to favorite channels
Set parental controls including adding a Pin
Set your Start Page to any channel you want on bootup
The guide on the Live page is called the Live TV slice guide (Ill explain further down), you can turn it on or off.
Set your speaker configuration. There are multiple surround sound options, Digital Passthrough and others
Send Diagnostic Information (On/Off)
The very bottom is early access to new features. For me, I am keeping it off because have seen more than one person get a firmware update and brick their device.
The Live Slice TV Guide on the "Live Screen". On your remote, you use the up and down arrow buttons to open the guide and right and left arrow buttons to see more information for whichever channel you are watching. Clicking right on your remote arrow key will show you the next 1,2,3,4 and 5 shows coming on, on that particular channel, with a synopsis of the current show and a synopsis of the next five. You can click to see 1 through 5, whatever you want. If you click on any future show, it will give you the option to record that show. Clicking the left arrow button closes the guide to the show you are watching.
To clear the screen of the Live Slice Guide, simply click your back button.
How satisfied am I with this device. Solid Five Star satisfied.
Easy to set up
Works great with any type of network
Uses basic antenna's, no amplified antenna needed
Crystal clear picture
Great app with a lot of options
Can connect up to a 2TB hard drive.
| Brand Name | SiliconDust |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 0.634 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 7 x 5 x 2.2 inches |
| Country of Origin | Taiwan |
| Item model number | HDFX-2US |
