While you can get away with plugging your HDTV Antenna straight into your TV, a separate tuner opens up so many more possibilities. A tuner adds some upfront cost, but also a huge benefit for cord cutters.
Your TV (most likely) has a tuner built-in, but having an external tuner means you can split the signal from the antenna into a number of different channels. Different models of external tuners have different numbers of individual internal tuners and this indicates the number of concurrent streams it can handle.
For example, if you have a four tuner model, you can watch four different channels on four different screens—or watch three different channels on three different screens while using the fourth tuner to record another program. Or, perhaps more practical to most people, you can watch one channel while other people in your household watch different channels (or you record those channels for later viewing).
Tuners will connect to your home network with Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and the manufacturer of the tuner will offer an application to watch the live stream on most platforms. Some tuners have hard drives built-in to record shows, or you can record straight onto your Plex server.
HDHomeRun Connect Quatro ($150)
This unit features four tuners inside, just as the “quatro” name implies. It features one coaxial jack to connect to your antenna and an Ethernet jack to connect to your home network. I’ve personally used this tuner to record and stream live TV with Plex, and it set up in an instant. If you don’t have a Plex subscription, HDHomeRun has a live TV app for every platform imaginable, as well as a website. If you want to use their software as a DVR, however, be forewarned that there is a $35 a year subscription cost that includes both their multi-platform software as well as a TV-guide type system—a Plex Pass will run you $40 a year or $120 for a lifetime subscription and many people prefer their live TV interface and recording system.
The Connect Quatro is currently bundled with a 30-mile OTA antenna, but it’ll work with any antenna. Set up is a breeze: connect the coaxial cable from the antenna, connect it to your network, plug it into power, and let it scan your channels. That’s it!
Amazon Fire TV Recast ($230-$280)
If you’re all in on Amazon’s ecosystem (or Echosystem, if you will), the Fire TV Recast will be a natural fit in your home. The Fire TV Recast comes with either two tuners and a 500GB hard drive (good for 75 hours of recording), or four tuners and a 1TB hard drive (good for 150 hours). There’s a $50 difference between the two, which isn’t trivial, but it’s also not an exorbitant amount if you want to give yourself some spare capacity.
RELATED: Should You Buy the Fire TV Recast?
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Source : The Best Over-the-Air Antenna Tuners for Multiple Channels, Recording, and More
