This board's been quiet for a long time. I hope knowledgeable people are still watching it.
I got a call from Dish stating that they were making changes that might (will?) cause me to lose service "in the next seven to ten days" and that they wanted to send a tech around to make changes to our equipment. I haven't found anything online about impending changes, though. I'm worried that this may be something of a scam to try to get me under contract. I'm currently running a VIP922 that I own, like it just fine and don't want to be on contract.
So how about it? Anyone have any info on changes that would make my 922 stop working? Or not?
A few years ago that did that to me with one of our oldest DVR units, that one they really followed through on, they shut down remotely, I have not had them try to do anything with our VIP722 or VIP922 units yet. Sometimes when you get a call like that it is a scam to get your unit info, do not give any information in case it is a scam, then tell them you will call customer service later when you have some free time, follow up and see if it was a real call.
it's the company motto last years - keep own customers in a dark
I would accept the offer, counting two big advantages: sending a tech (scammers never did that!) and they are proactively changing old equipment (it always been a case of not touching a contract, as it is not at your will or wasn't your fault);
also, keep in mind, the company did a nasty trick with most expensive HD model 6000 "Havana" in a past when begin(!) planning switch to MPEG-4, they did cut HD functionality of the receiver in advance to force customers switch to 622 and lost they own money (that time IRDs never been on lease) ~$1000 !
This post is a couple years old but I'm hoping for an update. As I originally reported over 2 1/2 years ago, Dish threatened an end to support for the VIP922 and wanted to upgrade me and put me on contract. I ended up ignoring their suggestion and the box has served me faithfully ever since... until now.
I use it in a part-time residence and frequently pause my programming services. Upon removing the pause yesterday, the box didn't reactivate as usual. I used the "Dish Outdoors" support services to resend the activation signal several times, to no avail. When I called to see if they could help, they once again said that the VIP922 is no longer supported and I'd have to upgrade.
To be blunt, absent independent verification, I don't trust them. I don't know if they've done something to specifically impair my box (like claim to remove the pause without actually having done so) or whether there's something more general going on, but it's noteworthy that I haven't found anything online that states that the VIP922 is no longer supported -- I have only their verbal statement to that effect.
Because of my usage patterns, going on contract would commit me for many years, and with everything transitioning to streaming, that seems imprudent. The Dish subscription gets me the locals and a degree of familiarity and convenience that are worth it to me on a non-contract basis, but not if I have to make a long-term commitment.
Can anyone shed any light on this? Does the VIP922 still work for anyone on this board? Has anyone else experienced an uncorrectable loss of service?
There really isn't much to recommend sticking with the ViP922. A Hopper Duo would probably serve you well and I don't think there would be any additional monthly fees.
Solid Signal is currently listing the Hopper Duo for $129.99+S&H. Amazon offers the Duo at $155.
I had to have my 922 recapped a number of years ago, but apart from that it's been a solid performer.
It was last off pause in early June. Startup at that time worked just fine -- call 'em up, have them remove the pause, send the activation signal once or twice (via the Dish Outdoors support page) and it's up. Loading the full channel guide generally takes overnight, but it gets an hour or two promptly after a reboot, and both the national and local channels worked fine. (I always run a switch test and check satellite signal strengths before bothering with any of this.)
The receiver was unplugged from both power and the antenna when it was last shut down.
This time, the sats look good and the initial telecon went normally, but nothing came up except the channel guide, which took overnight. The channel guide shows some On Demand channels available, but everything else is in red, as if it's not part of my subscription. On the system status page, everything looks normal. And in My Account on the website, it properly identifies my receiver as an "owned" VIP922, with no warning that it's unsupported or any such. Other than the fact that the 922 isn't shown on Dish's site as a currently available receiver, there doesn't appear to be anything in writing anywhere, from them or from anyone else, that says it's now dead. I would think someone would have noticed.
There's no way I'm getting on contract. My only two options are to get this working (by calling them back and telling them I think the first representative was feeding me a load of bull) or buying something newer. As long as this box works, I don't see any reason to buy a new one... hence, the question.
Thanks for your replies. I hope someone knows something more.
Simple question: Is anyone still running a Dish VIP922? I recently un-paused my programming and my receiver won't properly activate. Dish is telling me it's no longer supported and I have to upgrade. I'm willing to do that (with owned equipment, not on contract), but my 922 works perfectly and I'd rather not go through the expense and trouble of upgrading if it's not really necessary. So far, I haven't found anything online that would indicate that 922s are totally shut down, which strikes me as odd if that's really the case.
I personally found the 922 pure junk, and look back 10 years and hear all the complaints! Was a totally cool idea with the Sling box built in, thats about as far as it went...I had 5 replaced in 6 years.
FYI, I just called tech support again. After the usual drill (20 questions and a reset), it's all working. Conclusion: the 922 is not dead except in the minds of the ignorant.
Viable is in the eye of the beholder. The new DVRs are arguably a step up in many ways. If you have to spend the better part of an hour getting the DVR reactivated, there's a cost there.
I certainly wouldn't suggest that anyone buy one, new or used, even to replace a broken one. But there's no reason not to continue using one that works, assuming it provides all the services the owner requires. And if I had known for sure that the first CSR's claim that it cannot work were BS, reactivating it would have taken me much, much less time. (It's always the better part of an hour, but that's just the nature of the pause/resume drill at a part-time residence. The only part of it that's the fault of the 922 is that the box is very slow to start up and acquire the satellites. I can live with that.)
Thx. In an earlier thread (perhaps started by me) I learned that The Joey is basically the same as the 922 so would be an easy transition. Also gathered I wouldn't need the Hopper itself because we have only one TV in the house and no plans to get any more. Regarding installation, I've figured out a way an Dish installer could do it with our getting on the roof: Just attach a new dish on the other side of the chimney where the the cables now connected to the current dish dive into the attic. At some point in time I'd get our tile-roof-savvy windows washers to remove the old dish.
You learned wrong. The Joey is uniquely a Hopper "client". I has no ability to receive a satellite signal and has no DVR capability.
DISH's comparable modern receiver is the Hopper Duo that can support one Joey (or a Fire TV device running the DISH Anywhere app) for a total of two HDTVs.
The Hopper Duo is a little better than the 922 in that you don't need an Internet connection to run a second TV.
Ok, Harsh, I went back to my Post in Nov 2022 as I should have done before jumping into this discussion:
#post-3618478
The take-away from that seems to be that transition to the Hopper Duo looks good for my needs. It allows the new user interface but is so similar to the 922 that the cabling in the attic wouldn't need to be changed.
We've been with Dish for about 15 years. The box has been replaced once due to HD failure, and perhaps upgraded. My notes say the VIP722 was installed in 2011. We opted out of going to the Hopper because we have only one TV and saw no advantage with the Hopper. Also the setup up is rather...
The Joey is a client display device that must rely on a Hopper for play material, a Joey by itself gives you absolutely nothing.
All Joeys MUST be connected to a Hopper , you cannot get a Joey installed without a Hopper.
The Hopper 2000 has (IIRC) 3 tuners, the Hopper with Sling also has 3 tuners (IIRC) plus Sling capability, but the Hopper 3 (H3) has 16 satellite tuners plus the capability to use a dual tuner OTA source and has Sling capability (the ability to transmit a chosen channel through the internet to another receiver such as a Fire TV device or a smart phone or a computer).
All Hoppers can use a single satellite transponder to record the 4 major networks (called Prime Time any Time - PTAT) thusly , for instance allowing the H3 to use one of its 16 sat tuners to record 4 channels+ the other 15 = 19 sat channels plus the two OTA channels with the appropriate adapter giving you the capability to record 21 channels simultaneously, but of course you would never have enough time to watch them all.
Thanks, @Jim5506 I was doing my best to convey what someone in this forum or some other forum told me. He probably said exactly what you just did, but my weakening memory just retained the "Joey" part. The take away for me was that the cabling from the dish thru the attic would not need to be changed, and my ancient Genesis Universal remote wouldn't need to be reprogrammed. Do you agree with that?
The take away for me was that the cabling from the dish thru the attic would not need to be changed, and my ancient Genesis Universal remote wouldn't need to be reprogrammed.
The Hoppers require different connections to the dish than other models. What those differences are depends on the Hopper model chosen. The installer will make the necessary changes.
There are some Hopper specific functions that may or may not be supported directly by the Genesis remote requiring that you go through a menu but for the basic functions, everything should work more or less the same.
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