Don't Make These Mistakes When Installing Your TV Antenna

If you plan on installing your TV antenna yourself, you need to make sure that you avoid these common mistakes, which can lead to you getting fewer channels and a lot of frustration. This is especially true when you’re dealing with outdoor antennas.

If you are hiring a professional to install your TV antenna, this article is not for you.

However, I still recommend that you purchase all your own components, such as your own RG11 cable. Some TV antenna installers like to use cheap cable, so you should purchase everything on our recommended TV antenna list and do not leave it up to them.

Each antenna on our “Recommend TV Antennas” list includes all the additional components you need to purchase for that particular antenna.

Please do NOT leave it up to your TV antenna installer to purchase these things for you. It would be best if you had everything ready before they came. Their job is only to install what you provide to them.

If you plan to install your antenna yourself, please read this entire article to avoid these common mistakes.

Below I will outline another common mistake people make.

Contents

1 Running A Line From Your Antenna To Each Room
- - - - 1.0.0.0.1 Problem
      - 1.0.0.0.2 Solution 1:
2 Video Explanation
3 Video Demonstration Of The Tablo
4 Install in Under 30 Minutes
- - - - 4.0.0.0.1 Solution 2:

Running A Line From Your Antenna To Each Room

Problem

After installing your antenna on your roof or attic, you must run a coax cable to each TV. If this is done incorrectly, you can end up degrading the TV signal, which is a common mistake.

So when running cable wire, after every 50ft of cable wire, your TV signal will decrease by at least 1-2 dB, which is enough to make channels come in pixelated or not come in at all.

Solution 1:

Buy A Tablo; This is by far the easiest option and what I recommend if you are not a pro when it comes to installing TV antennas.

The Tablo is a DVR system with multiple built-in TV tuners. Why is this important? The Tablo makes it so you don’t need to run a coax cable to each TV from your antenna.

Connect your antenna to the Tablo.
Install the Tablo app on each TV
That’s It!

Now all your TVs in your home are connected to your antenna without you having to run a cable to each TV. Also, because the Tablo has very quality TV runners built within the device, you’ll be able to pull in more channels from your antenna with the Tablo.

Video Explanation

Note: This video is 15 minutes long, so I highly recommend you watch the whole thing to understand why we recommend the Tablo for TV antenna installation and, more critically, what models you need to buy. Purchasing the wrong model will lead to problems.

Video Demonstration Of The Tablo

Install in Under 30 Minutes

Typically installing an antenna running cable wire to each room can take several hours. My 74-year-old mother called me and asked me to install her antenna. Unfortunately, she lives 80 miles away.

She purchased the Antop AT-800SBS, which is very simple to set up. All she did was pointed the antenna towards the window (just temporarily) and hook it up to the Tablo.

She was able to install it herself using just a Tablo. You can get 30% off a refurbished Tablo, that’s the one she purchased and it comes with a 12-Month warranty.

The only downside is that refurbished Tablo’s are usually always out of stock because they are discounted at 30% off, so people tend to buy refurbished models instead of new ones.

If the refurbished models are out-of-stock, I recommend purchasing a new one.

Note: I highly recommend purchasing directly from their website because this is the only way to get the included 12-Month warranty. If you purchase from any other website, you will NOT get the warranty.

Click Here To Check Refurbished Tablo Availability

Solution 2:

If the Tablo is out of your price range, then your second option is to use a splitter.

While this is a cheaper option, this method can cause issues if not done correctly, but for the most part, as long as you follow the following advice in the video below, you should be fine: