Watching TV without the internet might seem like a thing of the past.
With the ever increasing costs of cable plans, and even streaming services, there is a movement toward scaling back on subscriptions. Cord-cutting is often associated with just dropping cable, but another important aspect is customizing your TV setup for your situation.
You might have an older relative with no internet service. A remote cable or vacation home is likewise internet-free.
A TV antenna can quickly give you dozens of channels through over-the-air TV signals that are available across most of the U.S. Channels like ABC, NBC, GRIT, MeTV, CBS, PBS and FOX are available through an antenna.
You can even record these channels with an inexpensive over-the-air converter box that does not require any kind of Wi-Fi or internet. It just requires an external hard drive for recordings.
What you can watch
Major broadcast networks such as NBC, FOX, CBS and ABC have a wide variety of primetime TV, including reality shows, NFL, and nightly news.
Your local PBS station has British TV series like “Ridley” along with original programming with shows like “Antiques Roadshow,” “Austin City Limits,” “PBS NewsHour” and “Nova.”
Depending on your location, you may find some hidden gems offered through local TV or sub-channels.
For example, the local MyNetworkTV station has a sub-channel called “Movies!” It recently aired classic films like “Network” and “Dog Day Afternoon.”
Other channels like COMET has episodes of “The X-Files.” MeTV shows “Svengoolie,” and classic TV shows such as “The Andy Griffith Show” and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.”
Getting the Most from an Antenna
The great thing about antennas is that they work with newer Smart TVs and older non-Smart TVs.
If you have a Smart TV, then there is an excellent chance that there is an over the air TV guide already built into your TV set.
The digital TV standard (ATSC 1.0) sends out guide data, including broadcast titles, episode descriptions, start and end times, content ratings and other information about the virtual channel.
To get the most out of your TV antenna, you need to follow these steps in order to pick a model that will pick up OTA signals in your area.
Identifying Antenna Type for Your Location
The type of antenna you choose should depend on the signal strength in your area.
But there are other important factors to consider. Antenna gain is often overlooked, but crucial to understanding how to get the best reception possible.
The closer you are to the broadcast tower, the better your reception will be. However, you should do a little homework to help you decide whether you need an indoor or outdoor antenna.
- Go to the DTV Reception Maps tool on the Federal Communications Commission website. Enter your zip code to get a detailed readout of local TV transmitter towers in your area.
- While using the reception tool, take note of the strong TV signals in your area along channels rated weak or poor. Are these signals on the UHF or VHF band?
If all the channels you want to watch are under 20 miles away, you may be able to use an indoor TV antenna. However, most indoor antennas are designed for UHF signals and have a low to medium gain.
For TV signals further out, you should consider mounting an outdoor TV antenna either in your attic or somewhere outdoors at a high elevation. Outdoor TV antennas are larger, and some have both UHF and VHF elements required to get reception from both bands.
Gain, Not Range
Antenna gain is measured in decibels isotropic (dBi). It tells you how well a specific TV antenna receives signals from a specific direction.
When looking over antenna specifications, you may get a different dBi for UHF and VHF signals. These specifications should not be conflated with decibels related to an amplifier if you choose to use one.
Suburban Areas: Medium Gain TV antenna
People living in suburban areas should use a medium gain antenna (8 – 12 dBi). You may still have obstacles around such as trees, power lines, tall buildings and hills. However, a medium gain antenna strikes a good balance between handling interference and getting decent reception.
Get a multi-directional antenna if your local towers are spread out in different directions. A directional antenna is better if most of the towers are clustered in one general direction.
Urban or Metro Areas: Low Gain Antenna
If you’re living in a metro area like Miami or New York City, an antenna with low gain (2 – 8 dBi) may work just fine. Chances are you are very close to broadcast towers (within 10 to 15 miles). An indoor, multi-directional antenna can handle receiving signals from a number of directions.
You just need to place the antenna high on a wall, or ideally, in a window to minimize potential obstacles.
Rural Areas: High Gain Antennas
People living in rural areas face the biggest challenges with getting great antenna reception. When you are further from broadcast towers (35 to 60 miles away), your best option is a high gain directional antenna.
A high gain (12 to 20 dBi or higher) is designed to focus on receiving weaker signals. An outdoor antenna professionally installed on a roof can maximize your reception. Adding an antenna pole to increase elevation can help as well. You can likewise try mounting a directional antenna in your attic.
If a directional antenna or multi-directional antenna is still struggling to get a decent signal, consider using an amplifier to dampen any noise that can interfere with reception.
Fine Tuning Antenna Setup
No matter what kind of setting you are in, getting your antenna properly set up and positioned just right might take more than one try. Here are a few key steps:
- Position or mount the antenna so that it is facing the direction of the most important broadcast towers. Elevation is always key for the best reception, despite whether you are using an indoor or outdoor antenna.
- Connect the antenna’s cable to the back of the TV’s coaxial input. The coaxial input, also known as the RF (radio frequency) input, is the same one used to connect a cable box.
- After connecting the antenna to the TV, find the scan for channels option, and make sure it’s designated for antenna or OTA TV.
If you need to move the antenna to improve reception, perform another channel scan to see the results.
Once you fine tune your antenna, you are not restricted to just live TV. You can consider adding a DVR for OTA TV that does not need an internet connection.
Other Options for Offline Viewing
Aside from a TV antenna, there are other ways you can watch TV without any kind of Wi-Fi or internet. Your local public library may have a variety of DVDs, including Blu-Rays.
At my local library, you can often find full seasons of popular TV shows that previously aired on streaming services like (HBO) Max, and Netflix.
If your TV has a USB port, you can try connecting an external hard drive or USB drive that has a copy of your personal movie collection.
Streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Peacock and Max allow downloading and offline viewing to smartphones and tablets. You can cast YouTube from a mobile device to a TV without an internet connection as well.
Trying to watch TV without any kind of Wi-Fi or internet is fairly straightforward once you get the basics down. Just follow the steps outlined above, and pretty soon you will be able to tune into plenty of free TV over the public airwaves.
