Delete Your Cable Bill With These OTA TV Antennas

We have tested dozens of antennas in the past 10 years in order to find the best performance and ease of installation for the least money. Compared to a Live television streaming serviceOTA TV has certain restrictions, that it is generally confined to a single television, and the broadcast signal of an OTA TV antenna will not work on phones or other devices. Fortunately, you can launch a notch with a Dvr ota with networking capacities and dedicated applications. Our favorite at the moment is the 4th generation tablo.

When you buy a TV antenna, the two things you want the most are: the The largest number of channels available and the best reception or image quality. In our tests, we wanted to find the antennas that were able to draw more channels than the others, and which also delivered stronger and clearer television signals, even on the “problem” channels. Using the Tivo Edge as a test machine, we have caught up each antenna in turn and tested the number of total channels that we could receive in our and New York locations. The edge lists the signal strength of each channel, and although a 70% signal resistance reading generally means that it is observable, we have looked at all the predetermined test channels (below) to determine the quality of the signal. By deciding a winner, we tried to find the antenna that had the best performance with the line of view and without.

In this spirit, we tested seven different interior antennas with prices ranging from $ 29 to $ 50 (much less than the most basic cable television service). Here are the seven TV antennas that we have examined:

While most of the antennas were manufactured by “names” manufacturers, the Gesobyte and the BTFDREEM were chosen specifically because they were two of the best -selling antennas on Amazon, although the latter is currently unavailable in May 2025.

Like real estate, how a TV antenna works is based on location, location and location. We tested the antennas in two main places: in Uptown Manhattan, New York with a line of view to the six -kilometer diffusion tower, and in Reseda California, at least 10 miles from the nearest tower (although no line of view). Depending on your own location, for example, you can receive broadcasts from several antennas. In addition, hills or large buildings will affect the frequency range and the reception of television channels.

We located each antenna in the same place each time and connected it to the Tivo edge, which gives signal resistance data as well as a total number of channels. We used two different measurements to determine which TV antenna worked best. The first was a gross measure in the number of channels that the antenna could detect, while the second involved several predetermined “problematic channels”. For these, we have consulted a list of channels extracted from various forums, for the two test zones, and measure how the antennas fired in each channel.

Our list of “problem” channels in Manhattan was WABC 7.1 (ABC), WNET 13.1 (PBS), WPIX 11.1 (CW – Manhattan only) and WNJB 58.1 (PBS – New Jersey only). In addition, we have added popular channels CBS 2.1, WNBC 4 (NBC) and WNYW 5 (Fox). Meanwhile, we have compiled a list of channels in the, including KCBS 2.1 (CBS), KNBC 4.1 (NBC), KTLA 5.1 (CW), KABC 7.1 (ABC), KTTV 11.1 (Fox), KCOP 13.1 (Mynetwork) and KCET 28.1 (PBS).

Although the result will vary according to where you live and to what extent you are television towers, in our tests, the most efficient models have received the greatest number of popular channels as well as local channels, radio broadcasts and Spanish stations.

Most TV antennas were based on the same rectangular design, but there was significant consideration: cable. Did the antenna have a long high performance coaxial cable or, even better, detachable? You will collide one of these in your window, which could be far from your television, so it’s better.

It should be noted that some of these antennas – BTFDREEM, GESOBYTE and Ultra Vizion Plus – included gaining gain amplifiers. Based on our experiences in several places over the years, amplifiers can affect the signal strength in an extremely unpredictable manner. The ultra vizion would not work at all with the attached amp, while the others did. The numbers printed above are the best results with or without amplification. If you cannot get a television reception with an interior antenna, a gain amp may not help you, and in other cases, this could make your reception worse By overloading channels that already have a strong signal.