Based in rural Minnesota, Brian Burgess worked in IT for 10 years before finding his passion for writing about consumer technology.
Brian earned his degree in computer and network technology in 2000. He held various IT positions, including help desk support, router installations for IBM, database administration, and other associate network administration roles.
He's been a personal technology journalist for 18 years and has written thousands of articles about Microsoft products and services, Android, iOS, streaming, and more. He has written for notable tech sites including XDA, InformationWeek, How-To Geek, Byte, groovyPost, and others.
When he is away from the keyboard, you will hear him playing guitar, working outdoors, and watching Star Trek.
I love watching my self-hosted media anywhere I want with my self-hosted Plex or Jellyfin servers. However, I also want to use the platform to stream free local live over-the-air channels throughout my home. I invested in a refurbished tuner and a cheap HD antenna to provide just that. I hoped to solve a reception issue in my area, and I did.
Once I had the right equipment, I connected the devices and delivered free TV signals to my router. I configured my Jellyfin server to recognize the tuner and stream channels to all the screens in my home. Once that was set up, I used my Plex server to deliver local channels.
OTA throughout my home
Reception wasn't equal everywhere
I don't watch much live over-the-air (OTA) television, but when I do, I want to see it everywhere. I live in a rural area on the edge of every TV station's range. I no longer have a roof-mounted antenna, but when I did, indoor digital antennas picked up the same channels and delivered better picture quality. But in my situation, I needed good reception everywhere.
Reception is great on one end of the house, but not so good on the other. I wanted a strong picture throughout my home without running long cables and using a splitter. I can serve my ripped 4K Blu-ray discs throughout my home and create self-hosted TV channels, so why not get OTA signals everywhere? I decided the best solution was to pick the room with the best OTA reception, connect the antenna to a cheap tuner, and stream it throughout the house with Jellyfin.
Antenna and tuner setup
It's straightforward to get OTA signals, but a guide is more work than Plex
I decided to use my Jellyfin server, a refurbished SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex tuner, and my existing digital antenna. Hooking it up was straightforward: power on the tuner, attach the antenna, and plug it into my network via Ethernet. Once the tuner was connected to my network, I went into the Jellyfin dashboard's live TV section and asked it to discover tuner devices. Jellyfin found it, and I saved it in the Live TV section and confirmed that OTA channels played.
Since the tuner was new, I figured a firmware update was likely to be available. I noted the tuner's IP address and opened its web interface in a web browser. I updated the firmware and allowed it to reboot. I was only receiving the handful of channels I normally receive out here in the sticks. I confirmed they were normal, verified I could play them through Jellyfin, and confirmed they worked.
I was confident the SiliconDust tuner was working, so I added it to my Plex server. Using the tuner with Plex Pass made the process easier. It detected my tuner, found its antenna channels, and with my Plex Pass subscription, matched them to a local program guide. I just had to review the matches and select the channels I wanted. However, I did need to run the setup twice.
With Jellyfin, I can watch OTA channels individually, but adding a program-listing guide requires a separate guide source and extra configuration. SiliconDust provides a free XMLTV feed with two-day listings. I am also planning to try the third-party HDHomeRun Guide for Jellyfin server-side plugin, which is designed to keep the guide data fresh automatically.
OTA through the house
Using Plex and Jellyfin made it possible
Streaming the movies and shows I own through self-hosted media server platforms is great, but I overlooked live TV until I decided $90/month for a football game each week was too much. The mix of OTA channels (few that I get) and my self-hosted "live" channels with Tunarr or ErsatzTV works well for my live TV guide experience on Plex and Jellyfin.
I don't watch many free live channels besides a weekly Vikings football game and local news when I remember. For other network (and streaming) programs, I wait for physical media and rip them to my server. Still, it is nice to finally have my free local live TV set up so I can watch it on any device in any room I'm in the house. I can also record games and other content to watch later when my schedule doesn't let me sit in front of the TV.
Getting free TV on all screens from a centralized antenna
Not everyone is in my situation with only a handful of channels available by pointing the antenna at a specific angle in one room. Still, this solved my OTA channel problem without adjusting antennas in every room. I had one solid signal and could serve it to every screen in my home from either server platform. You can do the same with 200 OTA channels. It ended up being a more economical fix than getting cable, live-streaming TV, or an expensive outdoor antenna for free channels.
