The type of coaxial cable you use with your antenna can have a huge impact on reception, as shown in this video. A thicker cable means less signal loss. With most antennas, it's best to use a high-quality RG6 quad shield cable as shown below. For cable running over more than 100 feet, RG11 cable will work better than RG6 as it's a bit thicker but not necessary for most situations.
If you own an indoor antenna with a built-in cable that looks thin, replace the antenna with an indoor antenna that comes with a good removable cable, such as the Channel Master FLATenna.
Getting started
Watching free, over-the-air TV with an antenna is simpler than you may think. In many cases, you can take an antenna out of the box, connect the cable to your TV, run a channel scan and voila! You have dozens of local channels to surf.
The number of channels you can access and how clearly they come in is based on a number of factors, including your distance from the point of broadcast towers, the type of antenna you have and where it’s located in your home.
Not sure what kind of antenna you need? Take our simple quiz to help narrow down the options. You can also find a general list of recommended antennas here.
Pair your antenna with an OTA DVR device to record your favorite shows
Did you know you can use an antenna similarly to how you watch cable? Ditch the costly subscription fees, but keep the cable capabilities (record, pause, rewind and fast forward) with an OTA DVR device. Here are the products we recommend:
Tablo DUAL 128GB Over-the-Air [OTA] DVR: Record up to 80 HD hours and stream up to two free broadcast channels from your HDTV antenna simultaneously.
Tablo QUAD 1TB Over-the-Air [OTA] DVR: Record up to 700 hours and stream up to four free broadcast channels from their over-the-air HDTV antenna simultaneously.