Been using Plex for quite some time and am going to drop all cable/sat service this early fall. In the mean time, I need to determine just exactly how the Live TV/DVR feature of Plex Premium works and how it has to be configured in order to continue to record and watch over the air channels we currently watch and record to the Sat DVR. I have an outside antenna connected to my Samsung Smart TV that gets all local channels on that TV only. That TV also has the Plex app running that we watch movies and TV series from the Plex Server on my Desktop wirelessly. The outside antenna is only connected to that TV, can the Plex app on the TV serve as the DVR to record over the air shows to the Plex Server on my desktop? That would be required in order to have the same features of recording local channels for watching later, which I do now using the Sat connection recorded to the Sat DVR. Not sure how I get from the TV which receives the over the air local channels to the Plex Server on the Desktop to be able to watch this shows later. Guess I need a PICTURE to make it make sense to me how this all connects together to get the same features we currently enjoy. Thanks. …Bob Weaver
@britsoft said:
can the Plex app on the TV serve as the DVR to record over the air shows to the Plex Server on my desktop?
No.
You’ll need a separate ‘tuner’ device which has an antenna plug on one side and a network plug on the other.
The most used (and tested) devices in the Plex ecosystem of this type are those from SiliconDust
So you’ll need an antenna splitter (and maybe a signal booster) to distribute your OTA antenna signal to both your TV and the tuner device.
Plex Server will be only using the separate tuner device.
It will communicate with this device over network wire. (Don’t even consider going ‘wireless’ for this connection!)
The recording will then be stored by Plex server on either internal hard disks or attached network storage devices (NAS) or file servers.
You need one of the supported tuners either installed in the PMS host or on the network to which it’s attached. Be warned that right now, as of the most recent update, the Plex media Server (PMS) crashes when accessed for live TV and for the past day no one from PLEX seems to care as they’ve not responded to the reports.
When it works it’s OK but needs features like a grid guide. Also time shift of live TV is a bit wonky.
Given the level of support I’ve seen here, it’s going to be a while until they get things in shape. They seem more interested in new feature that no one seems to use instead of fixing things that do not work. I can only guess that they are trying to make themselves attractive to someone as a buy out but I have no data to support that.
I bought a lifetime pass for the very purpose of live TV and DVR functionality. So far I don’t feel I’m getting my $$ worth. Approach cautiously.
Thanks much for the replies, both seem to support the concerns I have had with doing this thing as a replacement for sat and cable. Thought it would be great to get away from the subscription leeches, I have found nothing that makes it easy enough for my tech challenged wife to be able to deal with it. One must always keep in mind, a service will only be as useful as it is easy for the dumbest one in the family to use. Plex has a great start but needs to be more interested in supporting dummies, something the subscription services learned a long time ago. The life membership is a ways off, free does everything I need and beings I have to support the challenged people in the household, I’ll use the money to pay myself. …Bob
