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The ultimate means of cutting the cord is to go without any kind of live TV that you need to pay for in favor of pulling in free over-the-air broadcasts. That’s where a good over-the-air TV antenna comes in. If you’re willing to put up an antenna–and either put up with commercial breaks or buy an over-the-air DVR–a great TV antenna will pull in 20 to 60 channels of digital television entertainment for the low, low cost of nothing. Real-Time Network Pressure Data
Rooftop antennas pull in the most channels, but we’ve tested plenty of indoor models that are almost as good–and they’re a whole lot easier to install. Putting an antenna in your attic splits the difference: It will be easier to install and it will put fewer obstacles between the antenna and the air.
You’ll likely be surprised by the higher image quality you get from broadcast TV. That’s because cable, satellite, and streaming services compress the video signal in order to reduce the bandwidth required to stream it to your home. Here are our top picks in all three categories of TV antenna, followed by a buyers’ guide with oodles of information you’ll want to consider while shopping.
Updated September 14, 2023 to add a link to our Ultra-Vizion Transparent review, an antenna fabricated from a clear plastic that we’ve named “least visually intrusive.”
If you live close enough to the broadcast towers for the stations you want to watch, a less-expensive non-amplified antenna like the Channel Master Flatenna might be all you need to cut the cord. At the time of our review, we found that Channel Master itself was offering the best price on this antenna: Just $10, plus $7.50 for shipping. The direct-from-the-manufacturer price has since increased to $20, plus shipping.
This antenna impressed us with its ability to pull in more broadcast channels than the competition. Further, those it did receive were a little stronger than from our runner-up, which should make for happier TV viewing.
The Televes Bexia is a high-performance indoor TV antenna suited for homes in areas with strong to medium powered TV signals. In our tests, it was comparable to the best indoor antennas we’ve tested, in including Winegard Flatwave Amped. The primary difference between the Televes and Winegard products–besides their price tags–is that the rigid Bexia can be mounted or rest on a surface, where the Flatwave Amped needs to be tacked (or taped) to a vertical surface, such as a wall or window.
The word “smart” gets bandied about quite a lot these days, but it’s more than just hyperbole in the case of Channel Master’s Smartenna+ over-the-air TV antenna. This amplified antenna has a tiny tuner onboard that can virtually change its reception pattern to pull in the most stations possible. We like it a lot.
The Ultra-Vizion Transparent Indoor Amplified antenna works well for local TV reception in areas of strong signals, and its transparent design is much more pleasing to the eye than the competition.
The Televes Dat Boss Mix LR (model 149884) is the best outdoor TV antenna we’ve tested. It delivered an excellent performance, pulling in strong signals from local and distant TV towers. It’s a great choice in areas with medium to low reception levels, and it comes with a built-in amplifier and in-home distribution amplifier, plus a 5G filter to eliminate interference from cellphone signals.
The Antennas Direct DB8e’s reception is just as impressive as its looks. This is a large, heavy antenna cleverly designed to receive weak signals with two antenna arrays, or in areas of better reception to point to towers in different directions.
The Winegard Elite 7550 immediately impressed with its ability to pick up more broadcast channels than the competition at higher signal levels. It has a built-in amplifier and performed well on both VHF-High and UHF broadcast bands. Because of its size you’ll want this one in the attic or outside of your house.
The Clearstream 4 Max is a little larger than our top-ranked choice and wasn’t quite as good at pulling in stations but it’s still a solid antenna. Its unique double figure-eight design is sure to look distinctive and it can receive signals from different directions, which is useful if you live in an area with stations in multiple places.
Putting up a TV antenna is one of the best steps you can take toward breaking your reliance on pay TV and saving hundreds of dollars a year. Most areas of the U.S. have access to between 50 and 100 TV stations that broadcast over the air for free.
As a bonus, they’ll make your big-screen TV shine. Over-the-air TV signals are typically compressed less than cable or satellite broadcasts, so pictures will appear either the same quality or better. All the major broadcast networks now transmit in high-definition, and in some areas, broadcasts using the new ATSC 3.0 standard–aka NextGen TV–are also available.
Select the “Signal Search Map” and either zoom in on the map to your house or try entering the address in the search box. I have mixed results with the search box so zooming might be better. Once your house is in the center of the map, click the “Move Pushpin to Center of Map View” button beneath the map.
Click “Go” and you’ll get something like this in return:
To find the right antenna for you, consider these criteria:
As a rule of thumb, indoor antennas are suitable for areas with strong or very strong signals, attic/outdoor antennas work in areas of medium signal strength, and larger outdoor antennas are best for areas surrounded by weak signals.
Point your browser to the website Rabbit Ears to find the broadcast channels available where you live. This service pairs the FCC’s broadcast TV database with topographical maps to give you a detailed estimation of which signals will reach your house and how strong those signals will be.
Select the “Signal Search Map” and either zoom in on the map to your house or try entering the address in the search box. I have mixed results with the search box so zooming might be better. Once your house is in the center of the map, click the “Move Pushpin to Center of Map View” button beneath the map.
Click “Go” and you’ll get something like this in return:
A screenshot of the Rabbit Ears website showing television reception in Portland, OR.
The table above above looks complicated, but it’s really not. The strongest signals are at the top and weakest at the bottom. Keep this page open in a separate browser tab as we move to the next step.
The table lists predicted signal level at your home from strongest (at the top) to weakest (at the bottom). The first number shows the channel number advertised on air and the number in brackets is the actual channel number (for more on this, read on). Then are details of the TV network, station name and distance from the transmitter. Reception depends a lot on local conditions, but whatever the environment, it starts getting difficult above 50-75 miles.
The list also includes the direction of the transmitter, which is important. Not all TV signals you want will necessarily come from the same place!
Predicting which antenna will work with certainty is almost impossible. The information garnered from sites like Rabbit Ears will provide a strong indication of what should work, but there are other variables at work.
In some areas, especially in cities or areas with lots of hills, signals can bounce off obstacles like buildings and cause interference, trees can grow leaves in the spring and block stations you got fine in the winter, and atmospheric conditions can alter the way signals reach your house.
Moving an antenna just a little to one side or up and down a window can have a big effect on reception. If you’re putting up an external antenna, one side of your roof might bring in nothing while the other side provides perfect reception.
Your next step is to figure out which stations you want to watch. After all, there’s no point wasting time trying to get weak stations if all your favorite shows are on strong ones.
You can check a TV listing guide to see everything that’s on the air in your local area and make a list of which stations you want to watch. You’ll probably need to enter your zip code and be sure to choose “antenna” or “over the air” as your TV provider in the online program guide, so you don’t get cable channels mixed in.
Once you’ve made your list, examine the Rabbit Ears results to find the channels you want to watch. Write down the number in parenthesis, which is the “real channel,” the “Direction (true),” and the color (green, yellow, or red). The colors will inform you if an indoor antenna will be sufficient, or if you’ll need an attic or roof-mounted model to pull them in.
It’s important to remember than an indoor antenna is always going to be a compromise. You will always get better results with an outdoor antenna.
Indoor antennas–like our current favorite low-priced antenna (the Channel Master Flatenna 35) and our favorite amplified antenna (the Winegard FlatWave Amped)–are typically flat, so they’re easy to set up, usually by hanging them in a window on the side of the house facing the transmitter. Some look different but the principle is the same: Install them in a favorable location.
Indoor antennas are typically fine for all the strong local channels, but if you want channels that are weaker or further away, you might need to go larger and put an antenna in your attic space or on your roof. For that, we recommend the Antennas Direct DB8e. If you don’t want to climb onto your roof, and you have an attic, the Winegard Elite 7550 can be installed either in your attic or on your roof. The higher you can go with an antenna–and the fewer line-of-sight obstacles to the broadcast towers you’re looking to tune to–the better your TV reception will be.
This TV antenna has a motorized rotator attached to its mast, which you can use to turn the antenna to point it in the direction of the broadcast tower whose signals you want to tune in.
If you install your antenna in the attic, you’ll probably get slightly less signal than if it was on the roof because it’s an enclosed space, but it might be enough to get stable TV reception. If you hate the look of an outdoor antenna, then experiment. An attic-mounted antenna will also be easier to maintain.
The direction of the TV transmitter tower is also important. If you’re using an indoor antenna, you’ll want to put it in a window facing that direction. If you’re using an outdoor antenna, it should be pointed in that direction. As signals get weaker, going from green to yellow to gray, the direction becomes more important. If you want to tune in weaker stations from towers in different directions, you’ll probably need an antenna rotator. This motorized device will turn the antenna so that it’s oriented to pull in those weaker signals when you want to watch them.
Knowing the real channel number will help you select an antenna. TV broadcasting in North America is spread across three frequency bands: VHF-Low (channels 2 through 6), VHF-High (channels 7 through 13), and UHF (channels 14 through 51). Because of the different frequencies in use, antennas are designed to cover one, two, or three bands. Not every antenna covers them all.
A length of coaxial cable cut and ready for a connector to be attached.
The connection from your antenna to your TV is every bit as important as the antenna itself. You need a high-quality coaxial cable (“coax” for short) for the job. Coax has a center wire that carries the signal and is surrounded by a plastic insulator. An outer braid shields the center cable from interference, and an outer sheath protects the cable from the elements.
If you’re ditching satellite for over-the-air TV, you can probably use the existing coaxial cable from the satellite dish, but if it doesn’t work, be prepared to buy and run new coax. Make the cable a single run if possible because each time you connect shorter cables together using barrel connectors, a little signal is lost. The most common type of coax cable for TV is called RG-6.
TechHive tests TV antennas in a location in the Washington, D.C. metro area. (Until 2020, we tested in the San Francisco Bay Area, so you might see references to that location in older reviews). The D.C. location receives strong signals from local TV stations, but presents several challenges: There are a large number of trees around to influence reception; some of the independent D.C. TV stations are weak and difficult to receive; and with a good antenna, distant reception of Baltimore market stations is possible.
Indoor antennas are tested indoors and outdoor antennas outdoors. Each time we test a new antenna, we retest our current top pick to ensure a fair benchmark.
We use a set-top box to scan for channels and record the number of RF channels received by each antenna and their strength. Each RF channel carries a number of digital stations, but the number is different per channel and can change, so digital stations received isn’t as useful a measurement. We scan several times and adjust the direction of the antenna on some rescans.
Our picks are the antennas that receive the largest number of stations with the highest signal level in both the UHF (channels 14 through 51) and VHF-High (channels 7 through 13) bands, which are the primary TV broadcast bands.
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Blueteeth And NB-IOT Meter Module Martyn Williams produces technology news and product reviews in text and video for PCWorld, Macworld, and TechHive from his home outside Washington D.C.. He previously worked for IDG News Service as a correspondent in San Francisco and Tokyo and has reported on technology news from across Asia and Europe.