Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Winegard WGDFL5500A FlatWave Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna

The BEST flat wall antenna you can find. Worth the cost!

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2024

I have two of these, and they are hands down better than ANY other flat wall antenna I have tried. I had ordered 2 or 3 other brands with good reviews, with the same amplifier features. There was noticeable differences. I'm about 20 miles from the towers, and this gets me a perfect picture, where the others struggled (particularly with VHF).

The price difference is worth it, superior engineering.

Helpful

Dan J

Amplification was the key in our area

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is my 2nd purchase. I purchased the first antenna in the fall of 2014 for $40 mainly to see the state of “Over the Air” broadcasting. At the time of the purchase we had an analog cable TV subscription that cost more each year and had fewer channels.

I placed the antenna over a chair in a room of the house that just happened to be located the furthest away from the major broadcast towers. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to pick up about 30 channels. Depending on how I jiggled the antenna I could add a few channels and lose a few. After 2 months of testing, I decided to move the antenna into another room of the house.

Our house has a coaxial connection in every room of the house. All the coax connections home-run from a closet in the room that is closest to all the broadcast towers. This is the room of the house that I moved the antenna to and placed it in a window that just happened to be dual-pane and low-E. I was pleasantly surprised to pick up about 40 channels. For grins I tried it without the preamp and was down to 1 channel. I later confirmed this with other brands that were not amplified, and at best was able to get 1-3 channels but not without issues. The amplifier was definitely required in our location. I tried the antenna flat against the wall and even flat against the window, but it seemed to pick up more channels when I wedged it in-between the two shades on the window (see photo). I've seen "curved" antenna's and now I had a "curve" antenna and signal reception was even better than flush on the window or wall. Because it was wedged in between the two shades, it was easy to take down for cleaning.

I connected it to the main distribution network in the house which has a 1:8 HDTV drop amp with 4.5dB of amplification. In each room of the house that has a cable jack I ended up running the signal through a 2nd 1:4 HDTV drop amp with 7.5dB of amplification and was able to get from 40-50 channels depending on the TV or DTV converter box that we were using, so even though the antenna was in a fixed location there was enough of a difference between coaxial runs and different hardware to account for up to 10 channels.

For grins, I opened the window and moved the antenna outdoors and was able to get 55 local channels and all the other tuners in the house varied by 3-5 channels, but obviously this was not an outdoor antenna - just wanted to know how much the “house” was actually causing us to lose in signal strength and channel availability.

I ran this setup for another 3 months after I had cut the proverbial cable and would eventually decided to purchase a bigger outdoor antenna which in reality was not that much bigger but I also purchased the outdoor version of the same Winegard amplifier used on the FL5500A product. The outdoor antenna with mast mounted preamp got us 96 total channels while mounted on the side of the house at a height between 9 and 10 feet. Of those channels we paired those down to 42 that we like and can receive the same channels on all the hardware in the house. The bigger antenna lets us pull signals as far away as 120 miles even though it’s only rated for 60+ miles.

So this antenna with its amplifier worked very well for us. We gave one to our daughter and picked up a 2nd unit. It’s our backup antenna in case something should happen to the outdoor antenna.

The number of channels that you can pick up will vary by geographic location, home orientation, building materials used within a home, and location within a room. If you live very close to broadcast towers, the amplifier may actually hurt as it would overdrive signals - you’ll have to play with it to find what works best for your installation. For us, the amplifier was absolutely essential for both this indoor and our current outdoor antenna. Both use the Winegard amplifier.

33 people found this helpful

Helpful

Gianni Breck

Worth the investment!

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

I purchased this antenna about 6 months ago and it works pretty well. I live within a 35-40 mile radius of downtown Chicago area and this antenna was able to receive 40 channels (out of 67 available based on antennaweb.org for my zip code) from my upstairs bedroom on a 1080p Vizio LED television. I have the antennae hung up behind a picture frame above the television so only the white cable shows through. This didn't seem to enhance or degrade the reception at all. Most stations are super crisp and of HD quality but there are some that are not broadcast in HD so they're a little grainy. I had initially hooked up this antenna to my 780p Panasonic television which is directly downstairs from my upstairs bedroom and I was only able to get about 27 channels. Downstairs, I just couldn't seem to find a good ideal spot for the antenna and no matter where I placed it, it just didn't receive as many channels. This could be that my television just couldn't read/pick up signals beyond 780p unlike directly upstairs where the cheaper television was a 1080p and able to read those signals. I used the included USB cables for both televisions instead of the 110v adapter because it seemed more convenient so I can't say if testing with 110v would have helped with the amplification/signal. In any case, I don't believe the problem rests completely with the antenna because it was able to receive more or less channels based on my location and my own television's capability. Once in a while, the signal will burst and get pixelated but it's not as often as I thought it would and it only happens for certain channels or during a storm or inclement weather. For the $60 that I spent on this device, I'd say it was money well spent because I was paying more than that per month for "200" channels that I barely watched but only a handful - NBC, CBS, ABC, WTTW, PBS...although I do miss some channels like The History Channel and Discovery. What's interesting is that I could only get either 7-1 (ABC) or 5-1 (NBC) but never both. I could, however, get 7-1 (ABC) and 59-2 (NBC2) which is just as good. Overall, I would definitely recommend this antenna because it really does work in the Chicagoland area and has helped me to cut my cable cost a lot (i.e. $80 incl fees x 6 mos so far). I'd give it a solid 4.8/5.0! -09/22/2014

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Great product; why is physical attachment such a big deal?

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2023

Verified Purchase

Technically, this antenna is fine. That is why it is so puzzling why a simple issue of physical attachment should be such a challenge for this company.

I bought two of these: one for me and one for my mom. Both antennas require repositioning in order to find the best reception. In both cases, we were unable to get the antenna to stay in its final position Here is a picture of my antenna. You are only provided two tiny little double sided attachers. If you have to reposition three or four times, the adhesive will give out. We tried duct tape but no joy.

So why don't they just give you a couple extra adhesive tabs? Who has time to research this? Such frustration for such a little issue. Just charge $1.00 more and make our lives easier!!

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

Lynn C. Overcash

Has great reception.

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2024

Verified Purchase

I tried 3 different brands of flat indoor antennas to hang in my windows. Two brands that I sent back were recommended by the Cord cutter on You Tube. They were more expensive so I thought they would be better. No so, they had poor reception compared to the Winegard FL 5500A model. I now have three of the Winegard antennas: one in my guest room, one in the living room and one in the master bedroom. I receive ABC (both from Charlotte, NC and ABC from Greensboro, NC) I live between those cities. I also receive CBS, FOX, PBS and the CW with 20 other stations. In the last 4 years I have saved thousands of dollars. Spectrum had gone up to $75 A month when I Cut the Cord. It was easy to set up I am a 75 year old lady who is electronically challenged. Happy Cord Cutting!

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Robert P.

Amazing indoor antenna, poor quality attached coax cable

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2022

Verified Purchase

Update: I just wanted to add that I was able to reduce/eliminate multipath interference from passing cars by moving the antenna from the window to the very top of the wall next to the window and having the white side out. If I either put it on the window or have the black side out, I get interference from passing cars. Bottom line is keep trying different things and eventually something will work. I lost MeTV when I did this but it was worth it for the rock solid signal I now have.

Alright so I’ve spent the last 2 months putting this up with command strips in various locations in my second floor apartment and I’ve figured out a few things that people might find helpful. The antenna itself is amazing especially for a flat antenna. It somehow has really good vhf reception which most other flat antennas don’t. This means that 13 miles from NYC, I can get basically everything, even ABC, PIX, PBS, and finally even MeTV after some trial and error. I assume a lot of people will think the antenna is bad if it doesn’t work for them or has interference, but the actual problem with it is the permanently attached coaxial cable is thin and cheap and I assume probably RG59. This means if you bend it too sharply or if your cable falls next to something electrical or otherwise, it can disrupt your signal or make it seem as though cars are messing with your signal. For example, if I put the cable on the floor in one location I completely lose ABC, but move the cable somewhere else, it’s back. I wish winegard had either made it detachable or even not included the cable so we could buy our own high quality quad shielded RG6 cable. Still I think I have figured out how to lay the cable to minimize interference and am happy with it despite how challenging it was to get right. The other key for me was putting it in a window. I got a lot of channels on different walls but finally got everything possible in the window even though my window faces west and not east towards NYC. Good luck if you purchase this antenna, it’s a quality product with an unfortunate cable, and requires some patience but ultimately rewarding if you get it right.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

kkm

completely satisfied!!!

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2020

Verified Purchase

I was a bit hesitant about purchasing this antenna as I had previously purchased a flat indoor antenna before from another brand and it was garbage, barely picked up any channel and did not work. I decided to order this after extensive research and reading reviews on the item. I live about 30 miles away from all the towers and with previous indoor antennas, I was able to easily pick up UHF channels no problem but i was never able to get any VHF channels even though those towers were the same distance away. To add on to my predicament, the room where I have my television set up has one window that faces South while all the satellite towers were to the Northeast so I feared the only way I would ever be able to receive VHF channels is to install an outside antenna on my roof. I am no handyman and didn't want to make a big project out of this so I took a chance on this item and I am so glad I did. At first I tried placing the antenna as high on the wall as I could on the Northeast corner of my room since everything I read online kept reiterating that the antenna should be facing the direction of the towers, it was only able to pick up 65-70 channels, none of which were VHF so at this point I was becoming less and less optimistic that this antenna was any different than the ones before but then I decided to place the antenna high on that south window despite knowing it was the complete opposite direction to the towers and unbelieveably the antenna was able to pick up 138 channels, the two VHF channels i wanted (ABC and FOX) were both working with crystal clear reception. Even with the 15 ft cable, i still had to purchase an extender but easy fix and with the extender cable, reception was not compromised at all. Highly highly
recommend this Winegard antenna, its affordable and really does what it advertises to do. I almost purchased an expensive antenna thinking it could do a better job but the little antenna proved me wrong! Honestly the best purchase I’ve made this year thus far.

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

John Hutchison

Works good but not killer

Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2024

Verified Purchase

More pixels than I like on some channels. It does get Fox reception well so I should get football games.

Helpful

T. Wiz

I finally got good channels using 2 of these and a splitter

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2024

Verified Purchase

After much placing and testing, I figured out the local PBS stations were not going to be solid. I went ahead and bought a second of these antennas, mounted on the ooposite wall, and a splitter for my downstairs main TV. I live in the city/county where all the transmitters are but just one of these antennas did not get as good of a signal as my old discount store unamplified rabbit ears (which could not get the PBS channels either). TV Antennas are a crap shoot. My single unamplified Mohu Leaf antenna upstairs gets all 35 local channels load and clear and some others too. Good luck! It is not a miracle antenna.

Helpful

Anonymous

Easy install

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2024

Verified Purchase

It was so easy to install. We live at the top of a hill and got many local channels even though we are more than 30 miles from broadcast towers We tried different surfaces. So happy to have 5 pbs channels. It's a great alternative to satellite.

Helpful

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

Winegard WGDFL5500A FlatWave Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Winegard WGDFL5500A FlatWave Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Winegard WGDFL5500A FlatWave Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Winegard WGDFL5500A FlatWave Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Winegard WGDFL5500A FlatWave Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna

›

Customer reviews