Your dear old antenna has been showing signs of failure for a while , but never, ever, would you have imagined that it would leave you at its best! You were watching your favorite TV show and… poof! … the TV has stopped receiving the signal. You immediately rushed in search of a replacement cable, thinking you could cope with the thing, but this was not the case: the problem lies precisely in the antenna you have on your roof and your trusted technician is unable to help you, if not in a few days.
Desperately, you started surfing the Internet, looking for a solution on how to watch TV without an antenna , and you ended up straight on this guide of mine. If that’s the case, I guess you’ll be happy to hear that you can achieve your goal via a few workarounds. Which? Well, for example, if you have a Smart TV you could connect it to the Internet and use the apps of some of the most famous broadcasters to access your favorite content live or on demand.
Secondly, there are some devices that allow you to watch TV channels via the Internet even on non-smart televisions: they connect to the HDMI socket, to the power supply, to the Internet and, in a few minutes, the game is done. To find out more, read on: you will find everything explained below.
How to watch TV without an antenna and dish
If you can’t use the classic digital antenna and you don’t have a satellite system to replace it , you’ll be pleased to know that an Internet connection , with the necessary precautions, can make up for this shortcoming.
How to watch TV without antenna on Smart TV
For example, if yours is a Smart TV , i.e. a television with Internet connectivity, you can take advantage of the latter to download the applications of the most famous television broadcasters ( Rai , Mediaset , etc.) directly from the TV store and enjoy the contents live, or on-demand, available on the same.
Such applications are available on the stores of modern televisions produced by the most famous brands on the market ( LG , Samsung and Philips , for example) and can be downloaded in just a few clicks. In order for everything to proceed smoothly, it is essential that the Smart TV has been previously connected to the Internet: in general, to obtain this result, you need to access the device’s Settings (first by pressing the Home button on the remote control and then selecting the appropriate item from the menu that appears), enter the section dedicated to the Network/Internet and follow the steps indicated on the screen, to establish the connection to the available Wi-Fi.
Unfortunately, I can’t be more specific about this, because each TV has different menus and items from the others; what I can do, however, is to show you the specific procedure to be performed on some LG, Samsung and Philips branded televisions.
LG (WebOS): press the ⚙ key or the Menu key on the remote control, select the item (⋮) All settings from the menu that appears in the overlay and open the sections Network > Wi-Fi connection or Wi-Fi . Then wait for the name of the wireless network to appear in the list of available connections and, after selecting it, press the OK button on the remote control and enter the network key in the dedicated field. If prompted, accept the WebOS terms of use and complete any available updates .More info here .
Samsung (Tizen) : press the Smart Hub button (in the shape of a colored prism ) or the Home button (in the shape of a house ) on the remote control, select the Settings button using the arrow keys and press OK . Open the General menu > Network > Open network settings > Wireless , select the name of the connection to use and, after giving OK , enter the network key and wait for the connection to be established. If necessary, accept the terms of use of the operating system and complete the updatesavailable. More info here .
Philips (Android TV) : press the Settings button ⚙ on the remote control, go to the All settings menu > Wireless and networks > Wired or Wi-Fi > Connect to network > Wireless , select the Wi-Fi network of your interest and, after having entered the password in the appropriate field, press OK and wait for the connection to be established.
After connecting the television to the Internet, you are ready to download the official applications released by the television broadcasters: therefore, press the Home or Smart Hub button on the remote control, select the icon relating to the market installed on your device ( LG Content Store for LG, Smart Hub/Applications for Samsung and Play Store for Philips TVs) and use the integrated search function to locate the application of your interest: RaiPlay , to access the contents of Rai broadcasters; Mediaset Play Infinity , for those of the Mediaset networks; or Discovery+, for content from Discovery networks (the latter app is not available on LG TVs).
Once you have identified the application to download, select it with the arrow keys on the remote control and press the Install/Download button to obtain it. Once the download is complete, all you have to do is call up the application from the Home/Applications menu of the Smart TV and follow the instructions that appear on the screen to configure it (in some cases, you may need to create a free account to view on-demand content ).
If you have any doubts or if you need a step-by-step guide to help you configure the applications you just downloaded, I refer you to reading my guides on how to watch RaiPlay on Smart TV , how to install Mediaset Play Infinity on Smart TV and how to use Discovery+ , in which I have provided you with additional details on how the aforementioned apps work.
How to watch TV without an antenna on non-Smart TVs
Is your TV not equipped with Smart features, or are you looking to use a simple computer monitor as a TV replacement? No problem: a free HDMI port and an Internet connection are enough to integrate the Smart functions on the audiovisual device, thanks to some devices that must be connected to the television via HDMI and which, in turn, connect to the Internet.
The first device I want to tell you about is Chromecast : it is an HDMI “dongle” produced by Google, which allows you to enable the TV to receive streaming content from smartphones , tablets and computers (the latter if equipped with a Chrome browser ) .
It is available in two versions: a basic one, which supports Full HD resolution and is enabled to receive content from compatible apps for smartphones and tablets (those of television broadcasters are in the list); and Chromecast with Google TV , which supports 4K resolution , has a remote control and allows you to download and run apps directly from the device, without the need for a smartphone, tablet or computer to act as a “remote control”.
To find out more about how Chromecast works , I refer you to reading my guide dedicated to the Google “key”.
Alternatively, you can turn to the devices of Amazon’s Fire TV family: Fire TV Stick is an HDMI stick, with attached remote control, equipped with an internal app store; the latter also includes, among the numerous contents available, the streaming apps of the major television stations. The Fire TV Stick is available in various versions: Lite (with or without TV command support), which allows you to play content with a maximum resolution of 1080p; and 4K/4K Max which, on the other hand, enable support for Ultra HD/4K streaming .
The Fire TV Cube also belongs to the same family , a sort of complete multimedia box that combines the features of the Fire TV Stick with those of the Amazon Echo smart speakers . The Fire TV Cube also comes with an internal store and remote control and supports Ultra HD/4K resolution .
For more information about how to use Fire TV devices , I refer you to the specific tutorial on the subject.
Finally, if you are an Apple user or you particularly like the “bitten apple” ecosystem, you can consider the purchase of Apple TV : it is a multimedia box equipped with a dedicated App Store (which houses most of the applications dedicated to television broadcasters) and remote control, which also allows you to receive content from other Apple devices, such as iPhone, iPad and Mac, thanks to AirPlay technology .
Apple TV is available in two versions: the basic one, called HD , which has 32 GB of internal memory and supports streaming up to Full HD resolution; and the 4K one which, as the name suggests, increases the maximum supported resolution up to 4K/Ultra HD and is available in 32 or 64 GB internal memory sizes.
To learn more about Apple TV, take a look at the thematic tutorial I dedicated to the device.
How to watch TV without an antenna and without the Internet
You do not have a “home” Wi-Fi Internet connection and, for this reason, it is not possible for you to implement the solutions I have indicated above? Well, things might get a little complicated, but all is not lost.
For example, if the digital receiver of your TV / TV monitor / decoder is working, you can fall back on buying an internal antenna , through which you can “intercept” the radio and television signal present in the room and transfer it to the TV to which it is connected .
Devices of this type are connected to the television via coaxial cable (the one used also for traditional antennas), which must be connected to the antenna input of the receiving device. Some antennas can also be connected to an external power source to amplify the received signal, improving its quality.
Ideally, an indoor antenna should be placed near a window, as the signal enters the room through openings and spreads by “bouncing” off the walls; however, this is not a standard rule, as it may be necessary to carry out some practical experiments before identifying the best position.
If you are interested in going this route and want to know more about internal antennas, I refer you to reading my tutorial on how to mount a TV antenna , in which I have provided you with all the relevant information.
Alternatively, you can always give up using the TV and watch your favorite content from smartphones and tablets by downloading and installing the applications released by the broadcasters you usually follow (they are almost all available on the Google Play Store , on alternative markets for Android and the Apple App Store ), or by going to their websites and using the built-in streaming features.
To find out more about this last possibility, I invite you to read my guides dedicated to the functioning of RaiPlay and Mediaset Play Infinity , in which I explained to you exhaustively the characteristics and methods of use of each app. Finally, don’t forget to read my tutorial on how to watch TV on your mobile phone , in which I was able to list you a series of alternative apps and sites to be used for the purpose.
From a computer, however, you can go to the many sites that allow you to watch TV from your computer .