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My Hopper/Joey Install Experience

164K views 491 replies 160 participants last post by  Stewart Vernon 
#1 ·
Now that Hopper/Joey are available we expect a few people to join the "bleeding edge" and either change out their existing DISH system for Hopper/Joey or become a new DISH subscriber.

Once you have Hopper/Joey installed in your home tell us your experience! Make sure you tell us what you replaced and your initial reactions (whether you are pleased or regret the decision to go with Hopper/Joey, what are the good or bad experiences so far).

We hope to have a structured look at this new product in a few days but here is your chance to share - member to member - your experience. So once you get your Hopper/Joey tell us all about it right here.
 
#77 ·
Called to see about upgrading my 722 and my 622. Was told it would cost me 10.00 a month more. Not sure I would get an extra 10 bucks worth a month out of it. I have a 4 tuner system now.

Moving to directs whole house system would save me over $400.00 in 2 years (240 extra for a hopper and 2 joeys fees and 200 programming savings.)

How can dish stay in business with prices like this? Interesting in that dish recommended that I remove the monthly service fee to save money.

Love dish, but it's probably time to move to a more mature whole house system and save over $400.00 at the same time.
 
#78 ·
This morning Dish arrived and replaced my two VIP722's with two Hopper's and two Joey's. I really only needed a single Joey but could only order it with two Hopper's and two Joey's.

The install only took 3 hours. The tech had to add a another line from the LNB to the new Duo Node. The rest of the time was the software/firmware on the two Hopper's. Once activated, he added the Joey which took no time at all. I just had them leave the second Joey off since it won't be used at this time. This was the tech's first Hopper install and he was very nice and helpful.

First impression is the quickness of the new Hopper system. Channel changing, guide, page, etc. all very quick. I know it is based on the VIP922, but this is my first time actually playing with the new system. Love the new updated graphics and guide. The picture quality looks very good, even better than the VIP722.

This week I will try the Home Media section and see how well its DLNA features work with my WHS 2011 and other PC's.

The only thing I have not seen is the Pandora app. Anyone from DIRT have an idea when Pandora will be available? Hopefully it won't be long before DISH will have the software ready to link the two Hooper's.
 
#81 ·
Had Hopper and 2 Joeys installed Sat, Joeys wouldn't link, although recognized by the Hopper.

Tech support couldn't restore them to factory default, and no recessed switch (or button combo) as with most routers to do so.

The installer thought that all three units should be replaced, returned Sun and install went smoothly, and order of setup and activation (Follow install wizard fully on Hopper and no Joeys connected until live TV shows on Hopper) appear to be critical.

My EHD was recognized, but showed no content, with size of drive listed as being less than drive size less actual content. Reset the Hopper and recognized, displaying all content and correct drive size. Have transferred recordings from EHD to Hopper, which play correctly, and played recordings from EHD without error. Haven't tried saving to EHD yet, but seems fully functional, different than the 922.

BB and On-Demand failed to display anything after initial acceptance screen for a while, then content displayed, and successfully streamed two HD shows.

No software bugs thus far, but haven't moved any PTAT to user HD space yet, as just enabled. PTAT should have an option for pre-post padding adjustment, same as scheduled recordings.
 
#82 ·
"Bladi90" said:
The cables you need are two cables from the dish to the node, one cable from the node to the hopper and one cable from the node to each Joey that can be split with the use of splitters. If you have two cables to each location you have more than enough.
So if I had a hopper and two joeys I need two lines from the dish inside? May be a deal breaker for me.

I currently have directv with one line from dish inside to SWM and one line to each receiver. I don't want more holes in my house.
 
#83 ·
I am scheduled for this weekend for the 1 hopper and 3 joey install. Replacing my 722K, and two 211K receivers.

My question is my RG6 line for TV2 only reaches where my 722K is currently, and where the Hopper will be placed so I am hoping like in one install diagram I did see can a splitter can be placed for the install so no new wire has to run to TV 2? I don't mind new wiring being run provided Dish doesn't leave it showing on the exterior of the house (main concern).

The 211K receivers have direct RG6 lines running to the Dish Switch, and for the internet connection I have Ethernet ports in all locations.


Thanks
 
#84 ·
Installer came on Friday to install 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys. He pretty much ripped out the old coax from the Dish to the internal house wiring. Crawled under the house to run a home run from the new DUO switch to the Hopper. Activated the Hopper and then my problem with Dish began. I had 2 722's and a 622. I planned on keeping the 622 active. Dish made sure that was not going to happen.

Got on the phone with CSR to Loyalty Department to Executive. "Sorry sir, we cannot have a Hopper system with the old VIP receivers they are not compatible." Even though the installer had his install diagrams that clearly stated it could be done and it was done and working just fine until the CSR deactivated all 3 VIP receivers. I argued and got nowhere except having to fork over another 100 bucks for another Hopper to replace the 622, that is coming this morning. Has anyone else had this problem? I was told that I would be able to keep my 622 that I own by the original CSR.

As far as the Hopper Joey performance goes, it is worth it. I love how everything looks and feels and the system is running perfectly. I really love how the remotes can learn commands from the original remote and how there is no more fumbling for the remote codes. Primetime anytime is an excellent feature and find myself watching other shows I would not normally record.

I will be interested to see what happens to others as they have this system installed and whether or not they are forced to give up legacy receivers.
 
#85 ·
James Long said:
If the Hopper was pre-downloaded with the latest software and all the cabling was good I could see it taking an hour to "plug and play" and start up a Hopper / Joey system, but otherwise that is very optimistic.

I would consider 2-3 hours to be a minimum install, longer if the Hopper was cut out of a factory sealed box and needed the initial downloads. Once the installers get more real life experience the extra hours taken by being methodical should be able to be reduced.
Yeah, there is no way to do the install in one hour. I did my own Hopper install (1H/1J replacing 722k & 612) on Saturday and it was my 5th one. Since it was my house I knew I didn't have to fix anything, and adding the node took all of 10 minutes. After that the Hopper was immediately hooked up. After downloading, activating, then linking the Joey the whole install took 1 Hr 20 min. That's with no customer meet & greet, WO confirmation, customer education, or rebuilding of the system. I takes at least 1 Hr and 15 min just for the Hopper and 1 Joey to download the latest firmware and set themselves up. Add another 10-15 min for each additional Joey. Not sure why they take so long, but they do.
 
#86 ·
El Gabito said:
So if I had a hopper and two joeys I need two lines from the dish inside? May be a deal breaker for me.

I currently have directv with one line from dish inside to SWM and one line to each receiver. I don't want more holes in my house.
It depends on your house, but it may be possible to put the node outside and run one cable into the attic and use a tap and splitter in there.
 
#87 ·
desiguy2447 said:
I am scheduled for this weekend for the 1 hopper and 3 joey install. Replacing my 722K, and two 211K receivers.

My question is my RG6 line for TV2 only reaches where my 722K is currently, and where the Hopper will be placed so I am hoping like in one install diagram I did see can a splitter can be placed for the install so no new wire has to run to TV 2? I don't mind new wiring being run provided Dish doesn't leave it showing on the exterior of the house (main concern).

The 211K receivers have direct RG6 lines running to the Dish Switch, and for the internet connection I have Ethernet ports in all locations.

Thanks
You should be able to put the node and a 2-way splitter where the switch currently is, and then a tap behind the Hopper to connect the existing TV2 line. No wiring should need to be changed.
 
#89 ·
Installer showed up promptly at 8am, and is working on mine. We're going to need at least one new cable run to my office, but the rest should be OK.

I have an old Dish 1000 hybrid with no internal switch going to an external 3x3, and he decided to completely swap out my old Dish for a new one... It's his first Hopper, but he's been in contact with some coworkers who have done a few, and they gave him some tips.

The biggest tip so far he said is they told him to be sure the Hopper is installed properly, and finishes its firmware updates before you attach and turn on any Joey's. Then, you should do the Joey's one at a time after that...

Fingers crossed, but it looks like he expects to be here a few hours...and they have him scheduled for four more today! Going to be a long Monday for him.

Forgot to mention, when he went up to take down my old Dish, it was INFESTED with ANTS! I mean they were all inside the LNB's, everywhere. Wow...not as bad as wasps, but still.
 
#91 ·
Well, the install went surprisingly good. It did take longer than expected (5 hours start to finish), but it was his first one, and he also installed a new dish, and ran a new cable run to my office. When he was done he had no complaints, and actually was glad his first install was a video geek like me, so he said he learned enough to make it worth the time.

His tip a coworker had given him about installing the Hopper first, letting it update, activating all units, then installing the Joey's seemed spot on. Each unit came online, updated, rebooted a few times, and worked perfectly out of the gate.

I will say, when you first plug in either a Hopper or Joey, they appear dead for a good 5-10 minutes, so just leave them alone. The Hopper took about 20 minutes to do it's firmware updates, the Joey's less. The remotes all linked up first try, and the system wizards on each unit to setup worked flawlessly; the Joey's found and connected to the Hopper automatically, and without issue. It's probably my imagination, but the picture quality coming out of the hopper seems better than the 922, but that's probably not actually true, lol.

The interface is like the 922's, but much better IMO. The whole unit is faster, and it switches channels and transponders a lot faster too.

Really the only issues we ran into was when we went to connect internet. First thing we discovered is the Hopper does not have Homelink built in. 2nd, if you connect internet to a Joey's ethernet port, that Joey shows connectivity, but it does not share it with the other units.

It boils down to (at least for now), you have to have an internet connection to the Hopper via ethernet or optional USB wireless, or insert the HIC box, which he didn't have. In lieu of the HIC, he gave me the USB wireless key for free, and it works great actually. It's plugged into the Hopper. Interestingly, if you go to Broadband setup on the Joey's, it shows no internet connectivity, but they share the Hopper's connection in that they can view Dish on Demand or Blockbuster through the Hopper.

It would make more sense if the Joey shared internet to the Hopper if I plugged into the back of it, but apparently that doesn't work yet.

We also plugged a Sling adapter into it, and so far, it appears to be working as well!

So it wasn't without minor hitches, but to be honest, the Hopper and Joey's all went in without a hitch, and are working perfectly. Can't wait for my PTAT tonight! :)

Here's what it looks like in Dishonline with the Sling Adapter:

 

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#94 ·
My 2H/2J install was yesterday and everything went well. (OK, there were a couple of small glitches, this being the installer's first Hopper install and all. But were quickly resolved.)

I am truly loving this system. It still has a few quirks, but it is already better than my HR21s!
 
#95 ·
Ok, found out my inability to use search was due to the predictive function not working at all, even after over 48 hours of the system being functional. Only way to record by search was to hit "Seek & Record", which yielded recording of a program on both the HD and SD channel, for the exact same program, at the exact same time. It was either a call to customer service last night, or waiting a little longer, but the predictive search is working fine now.

Also, the expand and collapse on Sirius and Dish music channels stopped working, until I turned the Hopper off then on, and now that's working again. A little buggy, but I'm still very satisfied.
 
#97 ·
I had an install scheduled for this morning with an 8-12 window. Was getting 2 Hoppers and 4 Joeys. 11:00 came and nothing. Tweeted CSR and was told they would be there between 11:30 and 12:00. 12:15 came and went. I looked online and my estimated arrival time was pushed back to 1:30. CSR said that the install before me was as large as mine and had run into a snag.
Long story short the arrival time kept getting pushed back until I had to cancel. The latest arrival time was 5:30 and I've got kids and baseball games to get to.

Unfortunately I had to cancel rather than reschedule. I can't afford to take another day off to wait and every weekend is full until May.

I understand problems happen and this is a new system that the tech's are having to work out but what irritates me the most is that I never received a call from anyone. I received my reminder call last night but no one ever called to say they would be late or that there was an issue. If I hadn't called or tweeted I would be stuck twiddling my thumbs.

I really wish that companies could figure out a way to schedule appointments and keep them. I wasted a day off sitting at home waiting for nothing and no one is going to compensate me for that.

I'll guess I'll give everyone a few months to work out the bugs before I'm able to try this again.
 
#98 ·
El Gabito said:
So if I had a hopper and two joeys I need two lines from the dish inside? May be a deal breaker for me.

I currently have directv with one line from dish inside to SWM and one line to each receiver. I don't want more holes in my house.
Not necessarily, the duo node can be install outside and with the use of a tap inside before the splitter you only need one line from the outside. As long as you are installing a maximum of 1 hopper and 3 joeys.
 
#99 ·
OinkinOregon said:
Installer came on Friday to install 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys. He pretty much ripped out the old coax from the Dish to the internal house wiring. Crawled under the house to run a home run from the new DUO switch to the Hopper. Activated the Hopper and then my problem with Dish began. I had 2 722's and a 622. I planned on keeping the 622 active. Dish made sure that was not going to happen.

Got on the phone with CSR to Loyalty Department to Executive. "Sorry sir, we cannot have a Hopper system with the old VIP receivers they are not compatible." Even though the installer had his install diagrams that clearly stated it could be done and it was done and working just fine until the CSR deactivated all 3 VIP receivers. I argued and got nowhere except having to fork over another 100 bucks for another Hopper to replace the 622, that is coming this morning. Has anyone else had this problem? I was told that I would be able to keep my 622 that I own by the original CSR.

As far as the Hopper Joey performance goes, it is worth it. I love how everything looks and feels and the system is running perfectly. I really love how the remotes can learn commands from the original remote and how there is no more fumbling for the remote codes. Primetime anytime is an excellent feature and find myself watching other shows I would not normally record.

I will be interested to see what happens to others as they have this system installed and whether or not they are forced to give up legacy receivers.
The installation can be done because 1 hopper only need two ports out three coming out of 1000.2/1000.4 lnb's. However, dish doesn't allow mixed equipment to be active on the same account.
 
#100 ·
desiguy2447 said:
I am scheduled for this weekend for the 1 hopper and 3 joey install. Replacing my 722K, and two 211K receivers.

My question is my RG6 line for TV2 only reaches where my 722K is currently, and where the Hopper will be placed so I am hoping like in one install diagram I did see can a splitter can be placed for the install so no new wire has to run to TV 2? I don't mind new wiring being run provided Dish doesn't leave it showing on the exterior of the house (main concern).

The 211K receivers have direct RG6 lines running to the Dish Switch, and for the internet connection I have Ethernet ports in all locations.

Thanks
The tech could use a tap at the receiver to feed the Joey (currently tv2) and use a splitter from the node for the for the other 2 joeys. (both 211s) He doesn't need to run a new line. Hopefully he understand how the tap works.
 
#101 ·
mdavej said:
Coax is gone. But all outputs are always active (HDMI, Component and Composite). I have HDMI going to an HD wireless transmitter to TV2 in another room, Component going to TV1, and Composite going to my DVD recorder. I have no Joeys. The cool thing is IR and RF are both active, so I can use my IR universal at TV1 and the Dish RF remote at TV2. That's something I always wanted to do with DirecTV but couldn't.
What brand of HD wireless transmitter are you using and how far away is the TV? Do you have any connection issues?
 
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