No Internet, No App????

[DornoDios]

Yeah, I really hate the idea of missing recordings because the device doesn't have an internet connection. It's not incredibly frequent that I lose internet access thankfully.

If the device had a longer window, like 12 hours that it could record already scheduled programs despite the loss of internet access it would be a non-issue for me.

We never lose internet for more than 12 hours and that in itself is a rarity.

[jashan]

This is beyond frustrating...

"watching online TV then the internet drops out" - No worries, I've got this. .

"Clicks on HD HOMERUN" - WTF!!! !!!

Good work, Silly Con Dust.

[NedS]

This is beyond frustrating...

"watching online TV then the internet drops out" - No worries, I've got this. .

"Clicks on HD HOMERUN" - WTF!!! !!!

Good work, Silly Con Dust.

To clarify, HDHomeRun works without an internet connection for live TV, and DVR will cache recording rules for four hours (likely to be extended further for additional safety).

The HDHomeRun app needs an internet connection when it is starting up. If the internet goes down before the app is open, third party apps like VLC will still work for live TV (and even recordings if you cut-and-paste the DVR playback URL, or have a recording location that has file sharing).

We plan on implementing an offline mode for the HDHomeRun app for playback and live TV, but do not have an ETA for that feature at this time.

[revengineer]

I am pouring onto this one. My internet went down and tried to watch TV using my HDHomerun OTA tuner. As reported by others, the app was entirely useless because it claimed that it could not find my tuners. I find this unacceptable and am surprised that this bug does not get immediate attention and short-term turnaround. I understand that guide data would not be available in this situation but the tuning itself should works without issues.

[rpcameron]

I find this unacceptable and am surprised that this bug does not get immediate attention and short-term turnaround.

That's because the developers don't see this as a bug, but a feature. It seems they feel needing to download the UI layout code from their servers at every startup is more important than ensuring their app works when offline.

(Why the previous UI cannot be cached, and used when no connectivity is available, is beyond me. But it's been like this since their "new UI" refresh/refactor—nearly a year or longer.)

[NedS]

I find this unacceptable and am surprised that this bug does not get immediate attention and short-term turnaround.

That's because the developers don't see this as a bug, but a feature. It seems they feel needing to download the UI layout code from their servers at every startup is more important than ensuring their app works when offline.

(Why the previous UI cannot be cached, and used when no connectivity is available, is beyond me. But it's been like this since their "new UI" refresh/refactor—nearly a year or longer.)

We did cache the UI on Windows 10 for a while, but a bug popped up that was causing the UI to not update past whatever got cached. That was disabled, and our development team is exploring better options, and something that will work on more platforms as well.

[rpcameron]

We understand that it's being "worked on", but the issue is that most users don't think the ability to watch TV—which does not require internet connectivity—should require internet connectivity. Why this isn't considered a bug—let alone a release-stopper—is what we can't understand.

[NedS]

We understand that it's being "worked on", but the issue is that most users consider the ability to watch TV—which does not require internet connectivity—to require internet connectivity. Why this isn't considered a bug—let alone a release-stopper—is what we can't understand.

The app that we provide today is something that came after years of making just the hardware. Before we had a really basic, bare bones viewer that was basically a step down from using something like VLC, and the majority of our customers bought HDHomeRun hardware to use with other software (mainly WMC, MythTV, eventually Plex, etc). With WMC basically no longer supported (or at least on "life support"), and our desire to provide at least the basics for more platforms than just Windows and Mac, we needed to develop something new.

The modern HDHomeRun app was made possible in large part because of the DVR service. We are able to offer the app as a much improved viewer (compared to what was included before, for only two platforms) to all customers for free, even if they don't get DVR service, and with free guide data. We had an offline mode for those who were just viewing live TV, but as I explained before, it had some issues and we are working on something better.

[Dartman]

I have all my gear hooked to various capacity UPS backup power supplies so things tend to keep running and online for up to a few hours depending on how much power they use. I watch for sales online or on Craigslist and replace batteries on the ones that go flat after about 3 to 5 years. My main boxes have 1500 va units, the modems and av stuff have small 500 to 750 units. My big TV used to run a half hour and the modem, switches, etc draw very little and go a couple of hours. Much longer your going to need a generator if you're wanting everything to stay running.
I have one I got dirt cheap because it was unknown broken but it just needs a carburetor so far, Paid 20 for it.

[LeeTheTree]

I’m running Win 10, 2 dual tuners, DVR activated.
As one of the people affected by the bombing in Nashville, I lost internet access. I was not concerned because my system uses an antenna. Local news should not be a problem.
Older versions of HDHomeRun worked fine without internet.
Wrong.
Tried every work around I could think of, including disabling the DVR function.
Finally hooked antenna directly to the tv.
This is a major issue.
Off air should not require internet...ever
I was able to get online using alternate access and created a trouble ticket. Now that the internet is online & I find this thread on the forum, I realize this is likely the reason I have not heard a response from SD.
Please add my unhappiness with the inability to watch 'offline' TV without being 'online'
I don't care about my DVR. It's just TV to me. News/info in crisis is important, so please fix.

[EddieP]

I gave up on using the HDHomeRun app for this reason ... makes no sense at all that nothing works without internet poor design.

[mcewinter]

This "feature" should be higher priority, in my opinion. Silicondust has proven most of their success in the cord-cutting arena with the exception of the Prime 3. Requiring an internet connection isn't very cordless.

I always hoped/figured that once the Prime 6 and DRM were crossed off the list that the app would receive some needed love.

Added: In all fairness, even an app like Plex (mostly) requires an internet connection.

[above1]

Well, this one bit me in the rear these last two days. We had a severe windstorm that took out power and internet. I got power restored fairly quickly but the internet was down for 36 hours. The HDHR app on our devices was useless and therefore I had my kid and wife looking at me saying "What the heck?" At first I thought the power outage took out the HDHR 4K that I just got, but 1 min into troubleshooting I saw it was up and running.
I know how to access the channels streams using VLC and other methods but try explain that to a non-technical person. To them it should just work. This does not unless u have to the cloud servers - Do anyone say "server on the internet" anymore?

This should be addressed. Having something that it can fallback on should not be too hard. If we put a man on the moon back in 1969, this should be a piece of cake.

above1

[Bobstr]

Well, this one bit me in the rear these last two days. We had a severe windstorm that took out power and internet. I got power restored fairly quickly but the internet was down for 36 hours. The HDHR app on our devices was useless and therefore I had my kid and wife looking at me saying "What the heck?" At first I thought the power outage took out the HDHR 4K that I just got, but 1 min into troubleshooting I saw it was up and running.
I know how to access the channels streams using VLC and other methods but try explain that to a non-technical person. To them it should just work. This does not unless u have to the cloud servers - Do anyone say "server on the internet" anymore?

This should be addressed. Having something that it can fallback on should not be too hard. If we put a man on the moon back in 1969, this should be a piece of cake.

above1

You must live in Washington State (western Washington to be specific). I also had the same issue with that windstorm - power was down and so was my internet connection (I had a generator and UPS for my Servers where I have the record engine running as well as my HD Prime tuners). Unfortunately I was not able to get past the 'Tuner not found' error and had to resort to other methods to keep my son and my granddaughter occupied. (Amazon Firestick + a cellphone hot spot works well enough to get by...)

[BigLou1122]

Funny, because the app worked on my old Galaxy S5 phone, but not on any newer devices.?? OTA TV should work without internet.