Considering DirecTv

[redstang]

First off I'm glad I stumbled across this forum as it looks to be a great resource.

Well, I'm practically forced to dump cable if I want to keep Sunday Ticket. I've used DTV for nothing but Sunday Ticket for the last 5 or 6 years but have been told I MUST have a programming package to get it this year.

So, I'll need a multiswitch for sure as I'll have one DVR, 2 additional HD tuners, and 2 or 3 more SD receivers. I'm assuming my existing in-house coax will work, house is 5 years old, but will confirm type of cable when I get home. So I should be able to run the 4 cables from the dish to my in-house cable box and distribute from there. Dual run for the DVR will be PITA as the DVR will be second floor, cable box is in the basement. Any magical fixes to avoid running a second cable?

Is it recommended that I cancel my account so I can take advantage of new customer deals like the AAA discount? I'm planning on calling their "Customer Retention" group anyways to see what they offer. Does DirecTv still charge per receiver? Any advice?

Thanks,

Jason

[Michael D'Angelo]

Welcome to DSBTalk

Yes there is a $4.99 charge for every additional receiver after the first one.

You will need an 5 LNB dish and Zinwell WB68 multi-switch installed which will be supplied by DIRECTV for free.

[redstang]

Welcome to DSBTalk

Yes there is a $4.99 charge for every additional receiver after the first one.

You will need an 5 LNB dish and Zinwell WB68 multi-switch installed which will be supplied by DIRECTV for free.

Thanks for the reply.

Yikes, $20 penalty over cable right there. Is this charged if you outright purchase the receiver? Also, I assume older HD receivers are incompatible with the new signal.


The multi-switch will be free? They're installing the 5 LNB dish a week from tomorrow I think. I'm not sure they'd give me the switch as an existing customer, though it's worth asking the cust retention rep.

[Michael D'Angelo]

Thanks for the reply.

Yikes, $20 penalty over cable right there. Is this charged if you outright purchase the receiver? Also, I assume older HD receivers are incompatible with the new signal.


The multi-switch will be free? They're installing the 5 LNB dish a week from tomorrow I think. I'm not sure they'd give me the switch as an existing customer, though it's worth asking the cust retention rep.

Yes there is a charge for receivers even if you own them. The charge is actually for the programming the receiver is receiving and not really the receiver itself.

Only the H20, H21, HR20, and HR21 will receive the new HD channels.

If you need more than 4 outputs which you do than you will need a multi-switch. Call DIRECTV and let them know and they will add it to your order.

[grover517]

Thanks for the reply.

Yikes, $20 penalty over cable right there. Is this charged if you outright purchase the receiver? Also, I assume older HD receivers are incompatible with the new signal.


The multi-switch will be free? They're installing the 5 LNB dish a week from tomorrow I think. I'm not sure they'd give me the switch as an existing customer, though it's worth asking the cust retention rep.

The "mirroring" charge is applied regardless of whether you lease or purchase the receivers.

You are correct in that the older HD receivers are incompatible with the new mpeg4 signals.

If you need more than 4 outputs from the dish, D* will supply the WB68 multiswitch for no charge as part of the install/upgrade. At least they did with mine when I upgraded to the 5 LNB dish. Just make sure when you talk with D* about the upgrade, they make note of it on the work order so the installer will have one available.

They missed that on my install, but luckily the installer had one with him anyway.

[redstang]

Perfect, thanks for the replies. Guess I'll be calling them to add the switch to the order.

[redstang]

Will a SWM5/8 and compatible splitter be required if I want to avoid running another cable run from the basement to the BR on the second floor where the DVR will be? Is there another option that I haven't found yet besides running a second cable run?

Thanks again.

[Michael D'Angelo]

Will a SWM5/8 and compatible splitter be required if I want to avoid running another cable run from the basement to the BR on the second floor where the DVR will be? Is there another option that I haven't found yet besides running a second cable run?

Thanks again.

Yes, but the SWM is will only work with the HR20, HR21, H20, H21, R16, R22, and D12.

It does have 3 legacy outputs that will work with non SWM capable receivers but that will not be enough for you. So you would need to do a parallel setup or a cascading setup with the SWM and another multi-switch.

[RAD]

You can't "split" the satellite signal unless they install a new SWMSlimline dish which allows for one cable to be used and the split using splitters. This new dish is in limited release at the moment, don't know if you're area is part of it. The alternative is to purchase a SWM8 which is an external SWM (Single Wire Module) which can feed up to 8 tuners using the single wire and splitters. D* won't sell these to you but you can get them for about $275 -> $300. Dave29 on this site sells them for $275 including shipping (See http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=114457&highlight=swm ), also Weaknees and SolidSignal sell them.

[RAD]

Yikes, $20 penalty over cable right there.

That advantage might be short lived. More and more cable systems are moving to Switched Video Delivery to squeeze more channels out of their system. They're also moving more and more of the analog channels to the digital system where they can fit up to 12 digital channels in the same space as the 1 analog channel used.

With SVD and digital channels you'll need to rent a cable box to get an ever increasing number of channels as the move them off the analog tier.

[redstang]

Yes, but the SWM is will only work with the HR20, HR21, H20, H21, R16, R22, and D12.

It does have 3 legacy outputs that will work with non SWM capable receivers but that will not be enough for you. So you would need to do a parallel setup or a cascading setup with the SWM and another multi-switch.

I currently only have one receiver right now and they claim they'll replace it along with the dish next Friday. I'm assuming that if I sign up for full service rather than just Sunday Ticket the receivers they send me will be compatible. I prob will use my legacy HD receiver off the legacy port though. I should still get some(non mpeg4) HD channels that way. Wort case, I use it as a SD receiver.

[redstang]

You can't "split" the satellite signal unless they install a new SWMSlimline dish which allows for one cable to be used and the split using splitters. This new dish is in limited release at the moment, don't know if you're area is part of it. The alternative is to purchase a SWM8 which is an external SWM (Single Wire Module) which can feed up to 8 tuners using the single wire and splitters. D* won't sell these to you but you can get them for about $275 -> $300. Dave29 on this site sells them for $275 including shipping (See http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=114457&highlight=swm ), also Weaknees and SolidSignal sell them.

So are you saying that a splitter could be used straight off each LNB from the new dish? They are "upgrading" my dish and receiver next Friday, is the SWMSlimline the new standard?

My setup will be the 4 lines going into the house. I need those 4 lines to feed at least 5 receivers with one being a DVR. My concern is the DVR being two levels higher than my in-house coax box. I want to avoid figuring out a way to run another cable line to the 2nd floor so I need the single run to supply both DVR tuners.

I'm a noob with these new technologies but I'm trying to catch by reading threads on this forum up so please excuse my ignorance.

[Michael D'Angelo]

So are you saying that a splitter could be used straight off each LNB from the new dish? They are "upgrading" my dish and receiver next Friday, is the SWMSlimline the new standard?

My setup will be the 4 lines going into the house. I need those 4 lines to feed at least 5 receivers with one being a DVR. My concern is the DVR being two levels higher than my in-house coax box. I want to avoid figuring out a way to run another cable line to the 2nd floor so I need the single run to supply both DVR tuners.

I'm a noob with these new technologies but I'm trying to catch by reading threads on this forum up so please excuse my ignorance.

The SWMSlimline was just released but it is only being used in a few area's right now so I doubt very much you will be able to get one.

You are going to need to get an SWM8 (there are a few places online to order it and a member (dave29) here is selling them.

What unit do you have now and what are you ordering?

[BattleZone]

The SWM dish is, AFAIK, still in the "test" phase, and has not been officially released.

[RAD]

The SWM dish is, AFAIK, still in the "test" phase, and has not been officially released.


It's more like in a limited release since it's supposed to be available now for installs in:

Austin
Boston(Manchester, NH & VT)
Chicago
Dallas-Fortworth
Denver
Detroit
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Missoula, MT
Monterey-Salinas, CA
Phoenix
Reno CA, NV
Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto
San Diego
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria- San Luisobispo
Shreveport, AR, LA, OK, TX
Washington DC (Hagerstown) DC, MD, PA, VA
West Palm Beach - Fort Pierce

[redstang]

The SWMSlimline was just released but it is only being used in a few area's right now so I doubt very much you will be able to get one.

You are going to need to get an SWM8 (there are a few places online to order it and a member (dave29) here is selling them.

What unit do you have now and what are you ordering?

Right now I just have an oval triple-LNB dish. I didn't really "order" anything. DirecTv called and said they needed to swap out my dish and receiver to support the new HD channels. They sent an invoice, which I have at home, detailing exactly what was supposed to be done. Right now all I know for sure is they're giving me a new dish and receiver and leaving the legacy equipment with me.

I'll be giving them a call tonight to see about switching completely over to them and dumping cable so I'll try to get more details on exactly what they're planning on giving me.

Once I determine exactly what I'm getting I'll contact Dave if there's anything else I need to pick up.

Thanks for all of the replies.

[redstang]

Update.

Installation occured Friday. When I reviewed the order online Thursday night I saw that they cancelled the swap/replace rather then append the new order to it. It also didn't mention a multiswitch. So I called customer service who said the order was not cancelled and that the multiswitch would be added to the order.

Friday morning. Tech called on the way in and said order was for HDDVR and HD only meaning the swap/replace HD was left off. Also no multiswitch. I called immediately and was told that the installer was wrong. Installer got here and he was right, no multiswitch on order, no 3rd receiver.

He called to see if the third receiver could be added. Some dude in India asked if I was confirming an additional $100 charge. I hung up and called DirecTv again. After 45-60 minutes the multiswitch was finally added to the order but no word on the receiver.

So, I called the customer retention group. The associate immediately recognized that the swap/replace order was incorrectly cancelled, put in another order, switched the install date to Friday morning, and credited my account for the cost of the receiver and installation, ~$120. This was done in ~5 minutes.

Moral of the story, if you're having issues call the customer retention group. They seem to have significantly greater latitude to resolve issues.

The installer was great throughout it all and retipped many of the cable runs I had personally done a long time ago to replace crimped connectors with compression connectors. Thankfully he had the extra receiver and WB68 on his van.

Kudos to DirecTv customer service. It took a while but they recognized their error and fixed it rather quickly and to my complete satisfaction.

Happy to finally be fully back to DirecTv!

[BlackRabbit]

Did you get your second input figured out for the DVR? If you haven't already, you might see if a diplexer will work. It would be cheaper than an SWM.

[RobertE]

Did you get your second input figured out for the DVR? If you haven't already, you might see if a diplexer will work. It would be cheaper than an SWM.

Using a diplexer to feed the second sat feed will never, ever work.:nono2: