Customer Ratings & Reviews

The product name is HDHomeRun Connect. The first two letters are HD and the troubleshooting guide online for "HD channels do not play smoothly" says "This is a known issue of the current player. We are working on updates to better handle HD channel playback." After purchasing this "HD" product, how long are their customers supposed to wait before it delivers on its namesake? I will be returning mine tomorrow.

It really does just work. You will need a good HDTV antenna, of course, and TV signals for that antenna to grab, but when you have those two boxes ticked, this feeds a digital HDTV video stream onto your network, directly to an app or as I've done, to a Plex Media Server. Each HDHomeRun Connect can feed up to two channels at once, but you can have several feeding your network if you need to watch (or record) more at once. Each HDHomeRun negotiates its own IP address on your network and is then ready to serve. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I discovered 100 available channels over the air, many in gorgeous HD. This is with a simple $20 antenna stuck to the inside of a window. If you are cutting the cord, or just want to supplement one of those new streaming TV services with local and PBS channels, here you go.

HDHomeRun allows you to literally walk around the house with a TV in one hand. This would have been considered just a dream a few years ago and nobody 20 years ago would have dreamed of this. The TV I am describing is actually a tablet (iPad or Android - you supply yourself or sold separately). Although, you should have a fairly good tablet and router to use this product. Since this product does not "transcode" - i.e. compress the video on the fly, there is a lot of data that has to be carried by your router (recommend AC router or better) and the tablet must be able to process this to avoid pixelation. The video will break up if you are any distance from your router unless you have a good AC1200, AC1750, AC1900, AC3200 dual or triband router. An N router will work, just don't stray too far from your router. Forget about using anything less than an N router - the pixelation and breakup of images make the product unusable. Also, your client (tablet, PC) on the receiving end should be a fairly good/modern product. Don't try to use an end-of-life product and expect good results. Other than that, this product works very well using prescribed good tablet/router combination. Some bugs/minor-glitches on the client software, but they are not too bad. Mainly just start the software on the tablet in landscape (not start the software in portrait orientation) and you should be just fine. In other words, all the bugs are tolerable and if you work around them, the product adds so much convenience and value that you forget about the short-commings. Don't expect perfect from this product, especially considering its pricing as compared to other products. Also, consider that you DO NOT have to pay a subscription like TiVo. The subscription on TiVo is highway robbery compared to free over the air TV and this product (compare, and you will see what I mean). You can pay for a subscription on this product to get a better TV guide (channel listing), but that is optional and only if you want PVR and extended channel listing capability. This is a very good product for the price.

I bought this version of HDHomerun to connect to an over the air antenna based upon YouTube raves by Lon.TV and my interest in subscribing to their internet pad dvr feature (they never explain it is software, not hardware) . However, I have not been able to get it to work yet. I am disturbed at the BAD documentation. There is NO NO NO video showing the basic install process so you don't know what to expect. You only get a piece of paper telling you to go to a website where it tells you to download an app. For Windows 10, I had to go to the Microsoft store and download their free app. But all I got was a Green HD icon and when launched, it showed a full black screen with the green HD logo an some text in the lower right. Nothing else. So I called support at 925-233-2240 and got a recording. They are in California and only work business hours there. But I called at about 3:30 California time and no answer, and no response to my message. I called the next morning and left another message. It is now 7:30 am their time, so maybe they will call. But right now the unit is useless. They do have a website with a troubleshooting database, but no introductory video of how installation should work. They want me to do all the work of reading all their knowledge pages to find a solution. Not impressed. Now many people like this product, so I will come back and fix this when I get a response and it is working, but this is a caveat, and comment about BAD setup documentation. I am old school - I expect competent written and vidoe details on setup and use of a product and I could not even find a YouTube video by reviewers that showed the setup process. I am using Chrome and Windows 10 on a new Intel 8th generation i7 system and have a working wifi and internet. I even downloaded the app to my Android Samsung 10" tablet and got the same exact black screen. See the pictures. I am just trying to get the hard wired system to work.

Easy as can be ... connect the HDHomeRun to your router and a TV antenna and BAMM! TV anywhere in your house from any device that is on your home network. All it takes is the HDHomeRun app on your tablet, phone or computer or streaming device. I have it on the Nvidia Shield TV for our primary TV and using it also on mobile and laptops. The DVR add-on service for only $35 is a great deal and runs flawless. Does not lockup or crash like some other apps/tuner combinations that are out there. Especially noteworthy if you have something like a sports event recording and you get home before the end of the event you can view it from the start while the HDHomeRun records the rest of the game!

We actually returned this and go the model that will record 4 shows at once, but the product is great. We cancelled our cable and have gone to Roku and a HD antennae. This product is the answer to a DVR because now we can record our favorite shows through the HD antennae. The initial outlay of funds for equipment when cancelling cable or satellite it a bit steep, but so worth it in the long room. No more steep monthly fees for cable or satellite.

The HDHomeRun Connect is a device I really wanted to love. It has a great user interface, the apps to use it on the PC or my android phone are quick to get up and running, you don't have to pay for a basic guide. And it has two tuners which allow two devices to be watching using the same antenna. However, that's where it fails a bit. Without the Connect, I was able to pick up most channels in my area (Nashville, TN), including the NBC and PBS affiliates that run on Hi-VHF. However, when I plugged in the Connect, it could not pick up these channels, and I tried mounting the indoor antenna several places without luck. I ended up getting frustrated and just returning the Connect. I still would recommend the Connect, despite the drawback. It's possible it could have picked up the Hi-VHF channels if you have an outdoor antenna or one with a longer range. Just be aware of the difficulty in receiving these channels if you live in an area with a lot of Hi-VHF channels. UHF channels seem to have no problem in picking up.

I bought this for 3 reasons: 1. To stream to a wall mounted TV that didn't have an antenna connection nearby. I didn't do all my research, so was under the impression I could use Chromecast for this purpose via Plex. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, but was able to use an Amazon Fire TV stick to do this with a native app... and it works very nicely with a good interface. I use this all daily and been happy with performance. Only negative is like a 1-2 second latency to real-time TV if you have the same program on in another room. 2. Plex Pass DVR... this was going to be a bonus to my intentions above, but overall this hasn't been a great experience for me (stutters and lags). I must have something mis-configured since most people seem to be having good luck with this. 3. To watch sporting events while waiting at my kids practices. Again, lack of research in advance - this isn't supported natively. But I did try doing this via Plex Pass... but quality was so poor that it wasn't even worth it. This could be due to my CenturyLink bandwidth. Since #1 was my main driver for buying this, I'm overall satisfied with product. I occasionally use it on my cell phone if in the garage or something, but the concept of doing this doesn't have a lot of appeal (watching anything on a tiny screen). I may put a tablet on the bar during game days too.

I use this tuner along with a Plex DVR server set up through an Nvidia Shield. With this configuration, I can watch my OTA DVR programs anytime, anywhere. The tuners in the unit are only limited by your antenna/placement so any issues there should not be blamed on the device. No issues other than Windows 10 having issues with the HD Homerun App but they may have been fixed by now, I use the Plex App almost exclusively now. You can watch it on your phone using the app as well, something I know my wife uses frequently without issue.

If you have a television connected to an antenna and are able to receive stable Over The Air (OTA) pictures, you can use this device; with it, a computer, smartphone, or some smart TV's can command the Silicon Dust "Connect" to tune 1 or 2 stations and place them on you home wired internet. What you do with it then is up to you: I have a WINDOWS 8.1 pc with Media Center which allows watching, recording, and scheduled recording of OTA TV without use of our FIOS cable; picture quality is better than FIOS. I also have a WINDOWS 10 PC running VLC which allows reduced functionality vs. Media Center but which includes recording. Silicon Dust advertises this as a DVR - that is not 100% accurate, but it does enable DVR functions for OTA TV; Silicon Dust also offers a "Guide" subscription to enhance scheduling if you have no other service. For me, this is a 5* device. But note that I am 17 miles from the PHL area CBS/NBC/ABC/FOX TV transmitters and have a rooftop VHF/UHF antenna from the old days which provides strong, stable OTA signals (until the FCC messes things up again).

This is a very good option that makes it much "easier" to watch OTA television. I am now able to focus "just" on my Apple TV interface to do all my streaming. I chose to use the Channels app on Apple TV - yes, it's not cheap, but it works really well. I have what I consider to be a good antennae - the Mohu Curve in the optimal place in my home. I was able to get that hard-wired into my home network and now I can watch OTA channels on my different Apple TV systems. In Indianapolis, we don't get NBC on any of the streaming TV systems that I am aware of. This way, I can still watch Sunday Night Football on any of my TVs. The Channels app also is great in that it actually has a program guide for OTA channels. The setup happened in the time it took for me to hook up the HDHomeRun unit to my network and then walk down to the basement where I brought up the setup tool - it was already done and waiting for me. Now I can watch local channels on Apple TV, my mobile devices, and even on my computer if I wanted to. Great device, easy to set up, simply fantastic viewing experience. For cable cutters, this allows you to stop switching sources and lets you only need one good antennae.

I have been using Silicon Dust products for the past 5 years and their hardware and customer service is always top notch. I recently purchased the new 4 tuner Connect model and when I was in the store and saw the 2 tuner model available I picked it up. Using both the 4 tuner and 2 tuner model on one antenna doesn't affect my signal at all because of their special chip installed inside. It is very easy to set up and use. I would recommend these products to anyone looking at cord cutting or cord shaving.

This is a good unit to pull in ota signals to watch on almost any device. It has 2 tuners for watching tv on 2 devices at the same time. It's only limited by the strength of your antennae and what it can receive. It's very easy to set up and has a small footprint. It's nice to be able to watch tv on my computer and the quality is excellent.

Well, I cut the cord over a year ago and have been looking for a better way to share my Antenna between multiple TV that could include my laptop, etc. I had originally split the antenna across the TVs directly, but the signal loss didn't provide the quality that I was hoping for. I have a Synology NAS and a house full of ROKU devices, so I was looking for a solution that could potentially leverage all of this and give some DVR capabilities. I have thought about getting an HDHomeRun for years... and so I jumped in. The device, in and of itself is very stable and the setup is easy. You can download the HDHomeRun DVR app for multiple devices ... EXCEPT THE ROKU! I had the ability to directly connect it to my NAS and being able to setup to DVR. I did have the ability to access the tuners from the ROKU leveraging the Media Center App and then select the channels individuals from there, but no channel guide or mechanism to schedule a DVR event. Ultimately, the integration level with ROKU was where it failed for me. I have zero desire to run plex on my NAS so since there isn't a native Roku app for the HDHomeRun it just wasn't going to work for me. That being said, the device is quality, the video quality is solid and there are multiple devices you can connect it to: Laptops, XBOX, cellphones... just not the one device that I purchased this for (Roku). Needless to say, I returned the device and spent the extra $$$ to get a Tablo. Had it up and running in just a few minutes and is great... but that will be a different review. Do not let my review talk you out of this device (unless you are trying to connect it to your Roku). My Criteria for Stars is as follows: 1 - Product did not work for primary designated functionality, was poor quality. I would never recommend this product. 2 - Product may have worked for primary functionality, but may also have been poor quality. I would likely not recommend the product. 3 - Product may be useful in some scenarios, but didn't meet my primary needs. Product was likely inferior in quality. I would likely not recommend the product. 4 - Product likely didn't meet all of my needs but was otherwise high quality. I would likely recommend the product with caveats. 5 - Product met or exceeded all of my needs and I would definitely recommend the product.

In use this to watch broadcast tv via my AppleTV. Set is is kind of annoying as you have to do it with a computer, but once it’s working it’s great! Good picture, easy to use.

This is a simple and excellent device. I can stream to many devices. Only downside is the iOS at ATV apps cost a bit.

Super quick and easy process to get up and running on my (wired) computer with the free software. Picture quality was much better than expected....however, I had issues getting anywhere near the same quality & results on wifi devices. I ended up returning the Connect, and purchasing an Extend to get the on-device transcoding, thinking that that was the problem. The results weren't any better with the Extend. Oddly, streaming remotely through PLEX, it worked great...so I'm guessing that my specific issues are more related to my so-so wife, and not these HDHR devices themselves

I do not give 5 stars so 4 stars is an excellent product. I already had an older HomeRun Connect Dual that I use everyday. This newer Duo version was on sale so I could not pass it up. The web based install is simpler than the old version's install. After plugging it in to my network and antenna, I ran the install and soon doubled my available tuners from 2 to 4. (2 tuners with each device) I find it handy to be able to view live TV from any of my laptops or PCs. The primary use for me is as part of my VCR replacement system. I use HDHR-VCR from cresstone.com that runs on one of my Windows computers to record TV shows for later viewing. The HDHR-VCR software uses the Homerun tuners to provide me the basic VCR like functionality that I like. I work 2nd shift so if I want to watch prime time network shows I must record them.

After reading reviews and researching cable alternatives for live tv I’m proud to admit that I am now a cord cutter! Purchasing this HD Homerun has been a flawless step toward a much lower bill from $200 plus to $70 for Internet only. I also bought a Mohu Leaf 50 HD antenna and the Channels app for iOS. I highly recommend this setup! I love being able to watch live tv through my AppleTV, iPhone & iPad! I’m kinda bummed that I now see they have a 4 tuner version. But I love this box.

The HDhome run works excellent. I purchased the DVR software for a $35.00 yearly fee. Then purchased a 3gb hard to use as my DVR. The setup for the drive was simple but the DVR software was difficult you need support to walk you through it. After the setup everything works great. The advantage of using this for you local stations is awesome. It’s allows you to connect to all your tv’s in your home and record or watch these recordings in any room.