# Run OTA Bolt standalone in attic with Minis by TVs?



## aspexil (Oct 16, 2015)

Hi all,

We are using Bolt with OTA in the living room to a 4k UHD TV (Samsung SmartTV). Problem is the Leaf is as high as it can go which is the top of the ground floor. I've looked and doesn't appear to be a way to drop cable down from the attic to move the antenna up there. House is 2 stories plus attic. Also not looking to start drilling holes through the exterior and run the cable outside (the wife doesn't approve of that). Note: the only TV is on ground floor in living room.

The problem with this scenario is that while most of the 40+ channels come in okay we have pixelation when it rains. So I want to get the antenna higher to see if that helps when it rains.

I was wondering if it would be possible to run the Bolt with WUMC710 (which it is currently connected to) up in the attic with the antenna connected thus getting us a higher antenna feed. Then put a Mini on another WUMC710 in the living room where the Bolt is today and stream from the Bolt. 

Other than not getting Bolt apps streaming in 4k which doesn't really matter since the Samsung has all the apps I need is there anything else anyone can think of why I wouldn't want to do this? Only one I can think of is if the WUMC710 or the Bolt need physical access to reboot which means someone (most likely me) climbing up into the attic to reboot them. I will have to measure our WiFi signal in the attic but on the 2nd floor I'm seeing over 50% on my android phone and have a spare router to use as an access point on the 2nd floor (we have one unused wired ethernet jack up here) if I need a stronger signal in the attic.

Or is there a better way of moving the antenna higher without having to drill holes through the exterior? 

I guess one alternative is to try the Bolt up here on the 2nd floor and see if that gets a good enough signal without having to move everything into the attic is something to try first. 

Does the Bolt need to be connected to a TV to function? (Guess I can try that out at home tonight after work).

TIA


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Bolt streaming to Minis over wifi is going to be very unreliable. And an attic is a very harsh environment for any electronics. I think this is a terrible idea.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

aspexil said:


> Hi all,
> I was wondering if it would be possible to run the Bolt with WUMC710 (which it is currently connected to) up in the attic with the antenna connected thus getting us a higher antenna feed. Then put a Mini on another WUMC710 in the living room where the Bolt is today and stream from the Bolt.
> 
> Does the Bolt need to be connected to a TV to function? (Guess I can try that out at home tonight after work).
> ...


My Roamio uses a ASUS EA-N66R. I have two Minis, both using a WUMC710. One is next door. All work well. BUT, most important is the router. I'm using a very ugly Netgear R7500. The router is in one room. The one Mini is two rooms away. The other mini is two rooms and next door. The Roamio is on an upper floor but I'm cable. OTA is not possible for me.

I think you will need a TV connected to the Bolt since not all functions are available on the Mini. These are maintenance type functions.


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## aspexil (Oct 16, 2015)

JoeKustra said:


> My Roamio uses a ASUS EA-N66R. I have two Minis, both using a WUMC710. One is next door. All work well. BUT, most important is the router. I'm using a very ugly Netgear R7500. The router is in one room. The one Mini is two rooms away. The other mini is two rooms and next door. The Roamio is on an upper floor but I'm cable. OTA is not possible for me.
> 
> I think you will need a TV connected to the Bolt since not all functions are available on the Mini. These are maintenance type functions.


Wasn't aware of the Bolt maintenance type functions. I guess I could bring it back downstairs and hook it up to the TV when I need to do those.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

aspexil said:


> Wasn't aware of the Bolt maintenance type functions. I guess I could bring it back downstairs and hook it up to the TV when I need to do those.


Probably easier if your get a small 24" panel. They are really cheap right now and you would have a "second opinion" for the signal coming off your TV Antenna. An A-B switch would be better than a splitter. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Regal-Technologies-TV-RABS-10-Coax-Cable-A-B-Switch-/221753220955

On a Mini there are no channel options. That's what I meant by maintenance options. There may be more. Also, the guide display is controlled by the host even though you can still use the "A" option on a Mini. It just doesn't change the display under some weird conditions.

You are really doing something nobody is going to like. If you can make your own connectors, you only need a 1/4 to 3/8 inch hole. Maybe put a plant in front of it. Also, I used white RG-6 when I had an outdoor FM antenna a few years ago. Almost invisible.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I'd hook the Bolt up to whatever TV is closest to the antenna, then use Minis for the other TVs. An attic is a harsh place for electronics, plus there are some menus/features on the main unit that can't be accessed from a Mini. Also one tuner is always dedicated to the main TiVo, so you'd only ever be able to use 3 of the 4 tuners for live TV with Minis. With the Bolt attached to usable TV you could use the 4th tuner.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

It would be fun to see what even stranger shape and color Bolt takes when the attic hits 185 degrees.


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## aspexil (Oct 16, 2015)

JoeKustra said:


> Probably easier if your get a small 24" panel. They are really cheap right now and you would have a "second opinion" for the signal coming off your TV Antenna. An A-B switch would be better than a splitter. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Regal-Technologies-TV-RABS-10-Coax-Cable-A-B-Switch-/221753220955
> 
> On a Mini there are no channel options. That's what I meant by maintenance options. There may be more. Also, the guide display is controlled by the host even though you can still use the "A" option on a Mini. It just doesn't change the display under some weird conditions.
> 
> You are really doing something nobody is going to like. If you can make your own connectors, you only need a 1/4 to 3/8 inch hole. Maybe put a plant in front of it. Also, I used white RG-6 when I had an outdoor FM antenna a few years ago. Almost invisible.


I like the idea of the 24" panel. They are inexpensive.

I know folks are concerned with the heat but our attic is one step from being finished (still unfinished) and is climate controlled with a double roof and electricity. But the access may be unreasonable for the wife if I'm not home so I'm going to try putting the Bolt on the 2nd floor w/ an inexpensive panel in my home office so I have TV. On the 2nd floor we're over 30' above ground at the ceiling.

My wife is adamant about the wire/holes through the exterior. That is not negotiable.

We also plan to have no more than 2 Minis. One in the living room and one in the basement. I'm wondering if I should get a Roamio for more tuners seeing as we won't be doing any 4k stuff? Though OTA we are not recording a lot of things. Tivo does have a pile of stuff in suggestions but we don't watch most of those. Can the Mini still pull a tuner if Tivo is recording a suggestion?


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## sluciani (Apr 21, 2003)

mdavej said:


> It would be fun to see what even stranger shape and color Bolt takes when the attic hits 185 degrees.


Might actually straighten it out!


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

aspexil said:


> I like the idea of the 24" panel. They are inexpensive.
> 
> My wife is adamant about the wire/holes through the exterior. That is not negotiable.
> 
> Tivo does have a pile of stuff in suggestions but we don't watch most of those. Can the Mini still pull a tuner if Tivo is recording a suggestion?


Stop the suggestions then. Since the WAF is highest priority, you have to make lemonade. Remember my first post: the router is your primary point of problems. Have you decided where it will be located? What model? Even though my Netgear R7500 is not the current model, later models have lost some functionality. I'm not sure I trust the signal levels on the Linksys either. They work 100%, but only show 60% signal. Note that I can access all three WUMC710 from my computer. Each has its own IP address.

A TiVo tuner is used when viewing or recording OTA channels. It is not used when streaming internet content or playing recordings. That's Mini or Bolt. I have two Roamio boxes and feed one Mini from each. I have fed both from one also, but I wanted my sister to have a different lineup, so bought another Roamio and retired a Premiere.

If a Mini is not active, but at TiVo Central, it will activate when you receive an EAS test. I assume those come OTA also. Only way to block them is to put the box into Standby mode. I never use Standby mode. An inactive Mini (no remote activity) will free its tuner after four hours (with a warning). Leaving a Mini on to make noise has been a problem for some people.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

aspexil said:


> so I'm going to try putting the Bolt on the 2nd floor w/ an inexpensive panel in my home office so I have TV. On the 2nd floor we're over 30' above ground at the ceiling. ... We also plan to have no more than 2 Minis. One in the living room and one in the basement.


This seems a much better solution. Is there a coax outlet in your office that can connect back to the Mini locations? More generally, what is your coax situation and how do you plan on networking your BOLT and Minis? (You'll want to investigate your wired networking options, to achieve the most reliable setup.)

Do you have coax throughout the house? And do you have any other services present on the coax lines (e.g. cable Internet, satellite TV)?

As an alternative, if you have coax connections available throughout the house, could the Leaf-tenna be installed upstairs, somewhere acceptable, and the coax runs be leveraged to get the signal to your preferred BOLT location?



aspexil said:


> I'm wondering if I should get a Roamio for more tuners seeing as we won't be doing any 4k stuff? Though OTA we are not recording a lot of things.


The base Roamio & OTA only have 4 tuners, same as the BOLT; the 6-tuner Roamios are CableCARD-only.


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## aspexil (Oct 16, 2015)

We just bought this house 2 months ago. It was built in 2006. The coax situation is a bit of a mess. There is coax where we never intend to put a TV and no coax where we want a TV (i.e. basement). In the utility closet where all the coax goes back to there is a rats nest of splitters and amplifiers. We don't have cable TV so the house's coax isn't connected to the outside world. The cable from outside goes straight to our cable modem.

That is an interesting suggestion to put the antenna on the 2nd floor on coax and then wire the Bolt into the coax in the living room.


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## rsday75 (Oct 8, 2015)

Also, I assume your Leaf is an amplified model. If not, a change to the amplified model could solve your issues.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

It might be worth the time to label and map all the coax. I did that when I moved into my last house. I had four floors and two feeds from the street. The "brains" or distribution was done in the basement. It was worth the effort. Now, I live in "temporary" housing, so everything is wireless.


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## aspexil (Oct 16, 2015)

rsday75 said:


> Also, I assume your Leaf is an amplified model. If not, a change to the amplified model could solve your issues.


It is the amplified version.


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## aspexil (Oct 16, 2015)

JoeKustra said:


> It might be worth the time to label and map all the coax. I did that when I moved into my last house. I had four floors and two feeds from the street. The "brains" or distribution was done in the basement. It was worth the effort. Now, I live in "temporary" housing, so everything is wireless.


Good idea. I'll have to google how to map them. Wonder if I can reuse my electrical wiring tone.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

aspexil said:


> Good idea. I'll have to google how to map them. Wonder if I can reuse my electrical wiring tone.


I did the same for all my outlets and lighting when I moved in. Really good exercise.


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## Peter G (Jan 3, 2012)

If you are putting the antenna in the attic, you can do better than the Mohu leaf. Get a proper UHV antenna sized for your location and distance from the transmitters. See TVfool.com for help in checking your signal strength and recommended antenna.

For use where it's visible, the Mohu Leaf may be OK. The amplifier is only going to help compensate for long cable runs after the antenna receives them. It doesn't make the reception at the antenna stronger. You may actually find better performance without the amplification if the Mohu is right by the TiVo. I had issues with amplifiers on my Premiere, not so much with the current Roamio.

Peter G


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## Kremlar (Jan 22, 2009)

I'd do it right and put the antenna in the attic. Looked for stacked closets - in many homes the laundry room is below the master bedroom closet. That might be a good path to run coax through the floors where it will not be noticeable.


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## aspexil (Oct 16, 2015)

I have a mapping tool/toner for RJ45/11 and coax arriving tomorrow thanks to Amazon. I'm going to have a fun weekend I can just feel it. 

I tried without the Leaf amplifier to the Bolt and it made no difference. Same number of channels came in so I left it on.

I have started looking at antennas for the attic vs the leaf. I'll see if there is any chance of finding a straight shot from the attic to the ground floor. Though an electrician we had in to quote an estimate to add some electrical outlets said he'd have to come in through the outside and couldn't do anything from the attic. So we didn't get the extra outlets we needed.


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