How To Get Free (or Really Cheap) TV And DVR

Do you like watching TV, but hate that steep cable bill...?  What if you were able to cut the cable TV umbilical cord and get all your favorite TV shows for really cheap and even free?  This how to article will take you step by step on how to do just that.  To be upfront, it does require some initial hardware investment.  But that cost can depend on your desired features.

Overview:
You can get most local and some other channels for free over the air with a HD TV antenna and tuner.  People have been doing this for years, but I will show you how to do it and not sacrifice the shows you like and want.  Depending on what cable channels you watch and what you like, there are many options to get what you want.  Also depending on what features you want, the up front cost could be very little (~$200) or more significant (~$600-$1,000), but in the long run you can say goodbye to the cable company!

You can just get free over the air channels and no DVR or you can pay some subscription fees ($16 to $35) per month with no contract to get more channels.  Also it is probably worth paying $80 per year for a service (Channels TV) that gives you the guide and DVR capabilities. More on this later...

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Things you will need:

1. HD TV VHF/UHF long range antenna
2. Antenna booster (Optional, but provides a much better signal)
3. TV Tuner
4. WIFI Router
5. Media Server, PC or NAS (Network Attached Storage)
1. This is needed if you want DVR capability
6. Smart TV or Smart box
7. Mounting and installation HW (screws, cables, mounting poles etc...)
8. Channels TV subscription (for DVR and guide capabilities it's $80/year)

Below is a diagram of how it all connects up.  Some of these things you don't absolutely need, but you will loose features without them.

So lets talk about each component of this setup.

1. Antenna - Many channels are broadcast over the air in HD for free and you just need this antenna to pick them up.  This is like the old-school rabbit ears people had on their TVs back in the day, but this antenna is bigger and more capable of picking up more channels.  You can pick any HD VHF/UHF TV antenna, but some are better than others. I used the Winegard Platinum series HD7694P.   It is a reasonably priced antenna and works great.  It is about 4 ft long though so you will need to have a place to mount it.  Really any antenna will work, but is a question of how good.
   
   
2. Antenna signal booster - This is not required, but I would recommend it as it can boost those signals for channels that are coming in weak for a better picture quality and even pick up channels you would not have been able to get otherwise.  This could compensate for a poor antenna design or placement.
   
   
   
   
3. TV Tuner - There are many tuners available on the market.  I picked the HDHomeRun Quad tuner as it is small, reasonably priced and has some good features.  It also gives you 4 tuners so you can record or watch 4 channels at once.  In fact I put two of these on my setup to allow for 8 total tuners.  This tuner then connects to your home router and this is how your smart devices get access to the TV channels your antenna will pick up.
   
   
   
   
4. WIFI Router - I think most homes now days are equipped with a WIFI router and network.  If not they are very inexpensive for something like this.  Basically your tuner is attached to your local network in your home and then many apps on your smart devices or mobile devices can see it when they are also connected to the WIFI.
   
   
5. Media Server - This can be a PC, something like a NUC or even what I used was a NAS or Network Attached Storage.  It is basically a mini PC with lots of storage space.  This will only be needed if you want to have DVR capability and is the most expensive part of the setup.  If you don't care about DVR or pausing live TV, then you won't need this and can save some money.  But if you are like me and want to have shows saved to watch later when you have time, it's worth the investment.  I used the QNAP TS-253Be-2G-US-2 for my NAS media server.  I chose this one for cost and the fact it uses an Intel processor that supports HW trans-coding.  You will also need to by Hard Drives to put in the bays.  I chose Seagate Barracuda 4TB drives ST4000DM004.  They are a good price and had good reviews.
   
   
   
   
6. Smart TV or Smart Box - I think most people have some kind of smart device on their TVs now days.  This can be DVD player (with apps), Amazon Fire TV or Stick, Apple TV or any smart TV.  Basically you will need to install an app that can talk to the HDHomeRun tuner and let you watch your channels.  We'll get into this more later.  For me I have used both Amazon Fire and Apple TV.  I prefer the Apple TV as it runs faster and works well with my other apple devices, but the fire TV works great too.
   
   
   
   
7. Mounting/Install HW - You may need to buy some other miscellaneous items such as mounting poles, cables, power strips etc... just will depend on your setup and install.
   
   
8. Channels TV subscription - Now here is where you start deviating from "free" although this service is so cheap $80/year and provides a great user experience.  This service will give you an app on your smart device to access your HDHomeRun Tuner and pull all the guide information in for all the channels it can get.  This also gives you the SW capability to make your NAS system or PC into your own DVR media server.  Also through them you can pay extra to get some "Premium" channels that stream live through your internet connection.  I will give the full details on this later.  That being said, there are some free ways to watch your channels from your tuner, but you will not have a nice clean TV guide to scroll through with future show schedules.  Well worth the money!

The Setup

Ok, so now you know all the components you will need, lets get into how to get it all set up.  This was my first time to set something like this up, but I am an engineer and have a strong background in computers and networks.  But that being said, this setup is pretty straight forward and I think anyone is capable of doing it.

1. Mounting the Antenna

Depending on your situation, this can be an easy install or more complex.  To get good reception, you need to be high off the ground and the Antenna is somewhat big (those little window mount HD antennas may work, but you will be limited on quality and total channels you can pick up).  You also need to know where to point it to pick up the channels.

So first thing, when you first get your Antenna in the mail, it will probably be in a box and require some assembly or simply folding out the rods.  Follow the instructions that came with it.  If you got the signal booster listed above.  You will need to attach part of it on the antenna and then run a cable from the antenna to the booster module and then the booster module to the tuner.  The one listed above also has a power module that goes in between the tuner and the booster module.  This can be connected next to the tuner and router setup.

Mounting location: You want to mount it as high off the ground as possible.  Ideally on the roof of your house.  Keep in mind you will need to route a coaxial cable from the antenna to your tuner and the tuner needs to plug into your router.  So you want to position it as close to those as you can.  If you live in an HOA neighborhood, say goodbye to the roof option, but don't fret, you can still mount it in your attic and get good reception.  Use the mounting post like listed above and get it mounted pointing in the direction of the broadcast.  I actually used an old mount that was already there for my attempted Satellite internet.  I removed the dish and used the stand.  Worked great!

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Where to Point it: How do you find where to point it you ask?  You can use this locator website and it will tell you where to point your antenna.  https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html.  Just put in your zip code and will show you all the channels being broadcast in your area and from where. 

Route the Coaxial Cable: Once you get the antenna mounted you need to route your cable down to your tuner and router.  Mine was directly below my antenna in a room.  You can see in the photo above the cable routed around my rain gutter and down the wall.  I then drilled a hole through my wall and used some grommets with caulking to seal it from moisture.  This got it right into my room with all my electronics.  If mounted in the attic, you may need to just drill a hole through your ceiling and into a wall or through another ceiling.  Just depends on how you get to your location of the tuner.  You will probably need to buy a long drill bit like below.

2. Connecting the Tuner

Now that the TV antenna is mounted, it's time to connect the tuner.  As mentioned above, I decided on using the HDHomeRun Quad tuner.  It basically has three connections: Power, Ethernet, and the Antenna Coaxial cable.  This part was actually super easy.  You plug in all the cables and plug in the box to one of your router Ethernet ports.  From above, if you used a booster, the output of that will plug into the antenna port.  It is then ready for later configuration.

3. Configure the NAS
Let me first start of by saying you can do this cheaper if you have a descent PC with a good size hard drive.  Or just add a bigger hard drive to your PC. I chose the NAS route because I wanted a dedicated DVR.  If you don't want to pause live TV or have DVR capability, you can skip this step and save money.  But for those who do, here is how you set this up.  From the high level, you need some kind of software to be able to DVR your shows and stream those shows from your storage device.  I have chosen to use Channels TV service for this.  It is very inexpensive and works great!  You can read more about it on their site here: https://getchannels.com/,  Basically they provide the guide and programming for all the channels.  They also give you some SW to load on your NAS or PC storage to make your DVR work.

So first things first you need to get your storage on the network.  If you have a PC you need to have it connected and set up to your network.  Best to configure a static IP.   I won't go over that here because depends on many factors how to do that.  I will focus on setting up the NAS I chose.  It was super easy.  I got my Seagate hard drives listed above and simply installed them into the hard drive bays of the NAS.  They just clip into a tray and you slide them in.  Then I just plugged in the Ethernet cable to the NAS and my router then powered it up.

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This specific NAS makes it very easy it has a sticker on the side and as long as you are one the same network you can just download the app, scan a code on the side of the unit and follow the steps.  It will guide you through naming your NAS, setting up admin login, network configuration and configuring your storage as RAID.  Key things for this step is to set the IPS to static and you can probably just leave the default number in the text field.  Configure it for Raid 0 or 1 and let it do it's thing.  Be sure to remember the IP address.  Will be something along the lines of 192.168.1.x, where x is the number you chose. This is a typical network IP address.

Full user guide and setup instructions can be found on the QNAP site: https://www.qnap.com/en-us/support/con_show.php?cid=11

Once your NAS is setup and on your network, it's time to get it talking to you Channels software and tuner.  You can go here: https://getchannels.com/dvr-server/ and get instructions for a PC and Multiple NAS vendor installations.  Basically you download the SW for your OS (Mac, Windows, Linux) or NAS device and install it on your device.  They even give you instructions on how to do it for multiple devices.

Once you have this installed you can sign up for Channels.  During the sign up as long as you are on the same network as your tuner and NAS, it will find it and help you connect it all.  It will ask you where to store your DVR files on your server.  It should find it automatically if you have installed their service software on the system.  You can then just create a folder in the menu and tell it to save them there.  It is really that easy.  After you are subscribed you just need to download the Channels DVR app for your TV, phone or tablet.  Once you open the app as long as your device is on the same network, it will find your tuner and NAS DVR setup.

4. Getting it all working together
In the Channels DVR app, it will show the tuners under the settings tab.  You can then scan for channels.  It should see your HDHomeRun tuner.  Just select scan for channels and it will find all the channels from your antenna.  If all is set up right it should find all channels available in the direction your antenna is pointed.  Now you can enjoy your free TV!

Extra Channels

Ok, just having an antenna and this tuner/DVR setup doesn't mean you will get every channel you had on cable.  It will be mostly local channels (PBS, ABC, FOX, NBC etc...) and some other random stuff.  But what about Science channel, USA, Travel,  A&E, AMC, Cartoon network, FOX news, ESPN, TNT etc... just to name a few.  Well don't worry there is a cheap way to get those too.  Though the your HDHomeRun (https://www.silicondust.com/premium-tv/), you can pay $35 per month and get many of these "premium" channels.  It is no contract and you can start and stop it any time.  It comes right through the channels app and is in the guide shown above.  you just pay the fee in your login and they are there.  Pretty sweet!

Now that being said it doesn't have every thing.  Like for example it is missing Science channel and HGTV to name a couple.  There are several other "subscriptions" you can get, but the cheapest and best I have found is one called Philo (https://try.philo.com/).  It is only $16 per month and has some of the same channels as the Channels TV app, but is missing a couple things like USA for example. Disadvantage to Philo, is even though it's cheaper it requires you to download a separate app to watch unlike the HD HomeRun premium channels that integrate right into the Channels app.

Cost Breakdown

Cable/Satellite TV: $65 to $150 per month depending on package
                                  $780 to $1800 per year

Home Setup:

So basically you can get TV totally free after your initial equipment setup, but you won't have all the channels or the guide and DVR.  So you can expand to what you want to fit your budget. You can mix and match what works for you.  Your equipment costs should pay for themselves in 6 months to a year. 

I didn't include any cost for the WIFI router or Smart TV as I am assuming most people already have these, but if not, then that will be some additional cost.

Conclusion

Doing this can save you hundreds per year or thousands over the years by cutting the cable TV subscriptions.  With a little up front investment and work, it will pay off in the long run.  This may not be for everyone and does require some technical knowledge, but with all the knowledge you can find on Google, it's possible for anyone to get this set up.  It is well worth the satisfaction of not being tied down to any contracts or high cable costs!

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