What you need
| Part | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Aerial | Receives Freeview, as for any TV | Your existing rooftop or loft aerial |
| Network tuner | Turns the aerial signal into network streams | SiliconDust HDHomeRun models for UK Freeview |
| Server software (optional) | Guide, recordings, more apps | Tvheadend, Jellyfin, Plex |
| Player apps | Watch on each screen | The tuner maker’s app, or players that read your server |
The network tuner
A network tuner has an aerial input and a network port instead of a screen. SiliconDust’s UK HDHomeRun FLEX QUATRO, for example, has:
- four tuners, so four channels can be watched or recorded at once,
- DVB-T and DVB-T2 reception (Freeview, including Freeview HD), plus unencrypted DVB-C cable,
- a 100BASE-TX network port,
- whole-home recording to a USB hard drive, with no subscription.
SiliconDust lists apps for Windows, Android and Apple devices, DLNA support, and plugins for third-party software such as Plex. Connect the tuner to your router with a cable; your viewing devices can then use Wi-Fi.
Adding server software
- Tvheadend describes itself as a TV streaming server for Linux, taking DVB-T/T2, DVB-S/S2, DVB-C, ATSC, IPTV and SAT>IP inputs. It can serve a playlist and a guide to player apps, including Kodi.
- Jellyfin, a free media server, has a live TV section. Its setup guide lists an HDHomeRun tuner type, an M3U tuner type for playlists, and guide data in XMLTV format or from Schedules Direct. See Jellyfin for IPTV.
- Plex built its Live TV & DVR feature for network tuners such as HDHomeRun; Plex’s support pages say it requires a Plex Pass. See Plex and IPTV, and Plex vs Jellyfin for IPTV to compare the two.
A server needs a computer that’s left on: a small PC, a NAS or a single-board computer is typical.
Setting it up
- Connect the tuner to the aerial and to your router with a network cable.
- Scan for channels in the tuner maker’s app. Jellyfin’s guide notes that some older HDHomeRun units need an initial channel scan from SiliconDust’s setup utility before Jellyfin sees any channels.
- Watch in the tuner’s app, or add the tuner to your server and point your players at the server.
- Add a guide. Freeview carries its own programme data in the broadcast; servers can also use XMLTV guide data.
Two things to keep in mind
- The TV Licence. Watching or recording live TV needs a licence, however the signal reaches the screen.
- Your network. Each HD channel is a few megabits per second. Cable the tuner to the router, and expect the best results on 5 GHz Wi-Fi or wired devices. See Wi-Fi vs Ethernet.