Guide · OTA DVR setup
How to set up free OTA DVR with HDHomeRun + Plex
The cord-cutter's secret weapon. Antenna + HDHomeRun tuner + Plex Pass = unlimited DVR for every free over-the-air channel in your area (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, Telemundo, plus 30-80 sub-channels depending on market). One-time ~$320. No monthly TiVo fee. No Tablo subscription. Records everything, skips commercials on playback, watches on any device in or out of the house. Real installers' answer to "I cut cable but I still want to record live TV."
What you'll spend (one-time)
| Component | Cost | Why |
|---|---|---|
| HDHomeRun Flex 4K | $199 | 4-tuner network device. Plugs into your router via Ethernet. Antenna plugs into it. |
| Antenna | $30-$100 | Indoor flat (Mohu Leaf) for close-to-tower city homes. Outdoor (Antop AT-800SBS) for suburbs/rural. |
| Plex Pass | $70/yr or $249.99 lifetime (before July 1, 2026) | Unlocks DVR feature in Plex. |
| Storage | $0 (use computer you already have) | Or add a $90 4TB external drive for 1,000+ hours of recordings. |
| Total typical | ~$320 first year, then $70/yr | Or $500 with lifetime Plex Pass and never pay again. |
Compare to alternatives: Tablo HDHR is ~$250 hardware but requires a $5/mo subscription. TiVo OTA is $250 hardware + $7-15/mo subscription. Channels DVR + HDHomeRun is $80/yr — also great but doesn't have Plex's free streaming layer alongside. Plex + HDHomeRun is the only setup with no perpetual subscription if you buy lifetime Pass before July 1, 2026.
Hardware picks — what Rick actually installs
HDHomeRun model
- HDHomeRun Flex 4K ($199) — 4 tuners (record 4 things at once), supports ATSC 3.0 (the new broadcast standard). Rick's default for any install with a Plex server.
- HDHomeRun Connect Duo ($99) — 2 tuners, ATSC 1.0 only. Fine for small households that only need to record 1-2 things simultaneously. Saves you $100 if 4K OTA isn't a priority yet.
- HDHomeRun Servio ($299) — newest unit with onboard storage. Skips the need for a separate Plex server. Worth the premium if you don't already have a computer running 24/7.
Antenna
- Indoor flat (Mohu Leaf 50, ~$60) — for apartments + city homes within 30 miles of broadcast towers. Stick it to a window.
- Outdoor (Antop AT-800SBS, ~$90) — for suburbs + multi-story homes. Mount on a roof or attic. Pulls in 50-80 channels in most US markets.
- Long-range outdoor (Channel Master CM-4228HD, ~$120) — rural / 40+ miles from towers. Needs roof mount + amplifier in most cases.
- Check your reception with fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps before buying.
The Plex server itself
Plex Media Server runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, every major NAS (Synology, QNAP, Asustor, Unraid), and even the Nvidia Shield Pro. Specifically for DVR:
- Minimum: any computer from the last 5 years with at least 100GB of free disk space.
- Recommended: dedicated mini-PC (Intel N100 box, $200) or Synology NAS ($300+). Always-on, low power, never bothers anyone.
- Best: Synology DS923+ or Nvidia Shield Pro — both can run Plex Server with hardware-accelerated transcoding.
Setup — step by step
1Mount the antenna. Indoor → window with line-of-sight toward broadcast towers. Outdoor → roof or attic, oriented per FCC tower map.
2Connect coax from antenna to HDHomeRun. One screw-on connection.
3Connect HDHomeRun to your router via Ethernet. Wi-Fi is NOT supported (and you wouldn't want it for recording 4 streams anyway).
4Power on the HDHomeRun. Light turns green when it's on the network.
5Install Plex Media Server on your computer or NAS (plex.tv/media-server-downloads).
6In Plex web UI: Settings → Live TV & DVR → Set up Plex DVR. Plex auto-detects the HDHomeRun on your network.
7Enter ZIP code. Plex pulls your local channel guide. Takes ~5 minutes to populate the first time.
8Confirm Plex Pass is active on your account. DVR requires Plex Pass — won't work otherwise.
9Test record. Open Plex on any device → Live TV → pick a show → Record. Verify it shows up in your recordings folder.
10Set up automatic series recording. "Record every episode of X" — Plex handles new episodes + keeps the recordings rotating per your storage limits.
Common gotchas
- Antenna signal too weak → Try a different room first. Brick walls + low-E coated windows kill OTA signal. Outdoor antenna is the fix.
- HDHomeRun not detected → Make sure it's on the SAME network as your Plex server (not on a guest Wi-Fi).
- Recordings keep failing → Almost always a CPU or disk-write bottleneck on the Plex server. Move to faster storage or a dedicated mini-PC.
- Skip-commercials not working → Plex's skip-detection runs after the recording finishes. Wait an hour, then refresh the show.
- ATSC 3.0 channels show as encrypted → Some markets are launching ATSC 3.0 with DRM. Plex doesn't decrypt these yet (as of 2026-05). Stick with ATSC 1.0 for now.
Rick's honest take
This is the single best move a cord-cutter can make in their first 90 days off cable. You pay ~$320 once, you get unlimited DVR for every free OTA channel in your market, you keep it forever. Compared to the $5-15/mo recurring DVR subscriptions out there, it pays for itself in 24 months.
The setup is genuinely simple — I've walked 60-year-old customers through it over the phone. The only thing that goes wrong is antenna placement, and that's solved by walking around the house with the antenna and a phone running Plex's "channel scan" until the signal bars max out.
If you've got Plex Pass already (or buy lifetime before July 1, 2026), this is the cheapest, simplest, longest-lasting DVR you can build.
Verified 2026-05-26. Re-verified quarterly. Back to Plex 101 · Plex vs Jellyfin