Installer is here, already arguing w/ me

[cnmsales]

So he shows up does a walk through of the house. I tell him id like the old phone line shortened and ran to the old DVR in a new room and a new phone line ran to the HR20 in the living room, he ask's me why and I explain to him that I want to network my hr20 and the modem wont synch up with the current phone line. He says well that doesnt matter because networking capabilities arent yet available on it yet. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, lol so i argue with him for a fw seconds and then give up at the thought of getting a crappy install because the guy is hacked off now. I ought to make hem crawl up under the house and run the coax cable for being so difficult. DTV is paying for it after all. Ah well guess im to nice a guy.

[CEaton]

Do you mean Cat5 cabling, or phone line, because you won't be able to "network" your DVR's with the modems, the modem is only for PPV and some interactive features, for networking you will need to run Cat5 or Cat6 to your HR20, BTW the HR20 does have some of it's network capabilities.

[cnmsales]

I know it has network capabilities, this is what we where arguing over. The modem wont synch up on the old phone line, this is why I want a new one ran, if not then I have to either run 50ft of cat 5 or get a wireless adapter for the DVR of which I dont want to do either, but if they run a new phone line the modem will probably work and I can plug the router directly into the hr20 without the 50 ft of cat5.

[jgrade]

What kind of modem are you talking about? I am racking my brains but don't understand what you mean. How are you intending to use a phone line/modem with the networking capabilities of the HR20?

[585960]

phone line is supposed to be run for the receiver only. If you want other features, call the phone company to run line. I wouldn't do it either. Jeeez.

[RAD]

Sort of can't blame the installer for saying the HR20 doesn't have networking since the D* Forum says:

"Participate in our public trial to connect your DIRECTV Plus HD DVR (HR20) to your Intel® Viiv™ technology-based PC to listen to your favorite music and share your best photos on your TV"

But if your phone line is FUBAR then he should at least run one of those, now if you can demand that it be CAT5 or not is a different story.

[Sharkie_Fan]

What kind of modem are you talking about? I am racking my brains but don't understand what you mean. How are you intending to use a phone line/modem with the networking capabilities of the HR20?

I'm assuming he's referring to his DSL modem. It's currently in another location and will not sync on the existing phone line in the room where the HR20 is. If he can get a shorter run for the phone cable to there, then the modem would sync and he could put the modem and router in that room and the HR20 could plug directly into the router.

I actually did the same thing, as all my computers are wireless, so I moved the router & dsl modem into the entertainment ceter so that when I am ready to play with the networking on the HR20, I just have to plug in a cable and it's good to go.

[jgrade]

Ahhh yes, the old DSL modem. That makes sense. It's been a while since I have seen a DSL modem. In my area it's all cable.

[cnmsales]

Well just as an update the install ended up going pretty good. There was a slight issue where I had requested to the CSR that the wall plates be moved to a different part of the room as we have moved our TV and didnt want coax strung along all walls through the room. He gets inside and I explain to him what I needed done and he says ok. Well he also says he will tighten the current wall plates up because the previous installer let them hang. Well I come in and he has the wall plates fixed but also has coax from them to the TV. So I politely asked him to fix this and I could tell he wasnt happy about it but went ahead and fixed the problem. The only issue I have is that where the cables go into the house he did a half hearted job on the Epoxy and the hole isnt sealed properly.


Also if anyone can tell me, he took down my old dish and left the bracket for it. Is this something he is supposed to remove and seal up properly? When I asked him about it he said they werent allowed to remove the bracket. Is this true?

[RobertE]

Personally, I always leave the bracket/foot. If its not leaking now, why mess with it? That is assuming its on the roof. If its on the side of the house, it comes down and gets siliconed.

[cnmsales]

no, its on the roof, its kind of an eye sore, probably more so to me since i know its there and not part of the new sat. Plus those things only bother you when your really anal huh :)

[BuckeyeNut]

Also if anyone can tell me, he took down my old dish and left the bracket for it. Is this something he is supposed to remove and seal up properly? When I asked him about it he said they werent allowed to remove the bracket. Is this true?

Yes, this is very true. This is D* policy.
My installer did not go by the standard rules
and took off the old bracket which led to leaking
in my attic. Numbnuts obviously didn't know any
better.

If it bothers you, take it off and get some tar patch
to seal up the holes.

[cnmsales]

If i do decide to take it down I will proabably get some tar patch, remove the bracket then dip the screws in the tar patch and then put the screws back in the roof then seal it all up with more tar.