Installation Question

675 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by BattleZone, Aug 8, 2008

jungleland

Discussion Starter · Aug 7, 2008

When Directv comes out to do the install and I elect to install directv in 4 out of the 6 rooms in my house. Say 5 months after installation, I want to have directv in the other 2 rooms, is it as simple as getting two receives, hooking them up to the COAX jack in the wall and activating?

Also, rather than paying full price for 4 HD DVR PLUS receivers through directv, could I not just buy 1 from them have them come do the install and buy 3 others elsewhere and hook them up the same way I discussed above?

Thank you for the help.

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NR4P

· #2 · Aug 7, 2008

When you have an installation from Directv, the work order will run the required number of cables from dish to receiver to support your installation.

If you start with 4 receivers without DVR's, that requires four lines for 4 tuners. Which a 5LNB handles. But if one of the receivers is a DVR, you will probably get a WB68 8-port multiswitch.

If you end up with a multiswitch and have ports available you can add more recievers later and hook them up yourself. Could you use the existing wall jacks, maybe. If the cable is RG6 and not RG59.

Now to complicate matters, there's a product in this Installation thread called a SWM. That can use RG59 and no multiswitch is required. But it's not likely you will get one at install. They are few and far between.

If you are a new customer, I recommend you work out a deal for the most receivers and install up front. Current generation receivers and DVR's aren't that much of a bargain on ebay. You still pay $5 monthly fee on every receiver anyway.

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jungleland

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 7, 2008

NR4P said:
When you have an installation from Directv, the work order will run the required number of cables from dish to receiver to support your installation.

If you start with 4 receivers without DVR's, that requires four lines for 4 tuners. Which a 5LNB handles. But if one of the receivers is a DVR, you will probably get a WB68 8-port multiswitch.

If you end up with a multiswitch and have ports available you can add more recievers later and hook them up yourself. Could you use the existing wall jacks, maybe. If the cable is RG6 and not RG59.

Now to complicate matters, there's a product in this Installation thread called a SWM. That can use RG59 and no multiswitch is required. But it's not likely you will get one at install. They are few and far between.

If you are a new customer, I recommend you work out a deal for the most receivers and install up front. Current generation receivers and DVR's aren't that much of a bargain on ebay. You still pay $5 monthly fee on every receiver anyway.

WOW! Thanks for the reply.. That's a lot of info. I does sound like it would be best to do the install upfront.

However, I was under the impression that if you OWNED your receiver you would not pay a monthly fee (lease fee, no?) for it...

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RobertE

· #4 · Aug 7, 2008

jungleland said:
WOW! Thanks for the reply.. That's a lot of info. I does sound like it would be best to do the install upfront.

However, I was under the impression that if you OWNED your receiver you would not pay a monthly fee (lease fee, no?) for it...

Nope you don't pay the $4.99 lease fee. Instead you pay the $4.99 mirror/additional receiver fee. :grin:

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Jin So

· #5 · Aug 7, 2008

jungleland said:
WOW! Thanks for the reply.. That's a lot of info. I does sound like it would be best to do the install upfront.

However, I was under the impression that if you OWNED your receiver you would not pay a monthly fee (lease fee, no?) for it...

for each ird on the acct there is a monthly fee of $4.99 a mirroring charge, this is for both leased and owned equip

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jungleland

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 7, 2008

RobertE said:
Nope you don't pay the $4.99 lease fee. Instead you pay the $4.99 mirror/additional receiver fee. :grin:

So then would it not make sense to LEASE the receivers? In the event your receiver fails, you're protected. If you own, you're not and still paying $5 a month..

I don't see the point.

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BattleZone

· #7 · Aug 8, 2008

Since DirecTV went to a lease model in March 2006, virtually all new customers lease their equipment. For the vast majority, that is to their benefit, because the upfront cash that they have to invest to get expensive equipment (DVRs and HD) has been greatly reduced, plus if it breaks, it will be replaced for the cost of shipping, which itself is waived if you have the Protection Plan. Also, you won't have to pay the full retail cost of a receiver that is worthless to you without a subscription, and nearly worthless to anyone else (used receivers have relatively little value, especially when technologies change).

The only time owned equipment might be an advantage is if you KNOW you're going to cancel within the first 3 months (but then, why pay all the money up-front just to save a bit of Early Termination Fee if you're only going to be with DirecTV for 3 months?), because if you buy all of your equipment, you don't have to have a programming commitment. Also, I suppose, if you plan to open up your receiver, say to replace the hard drive in your DVR, then you'd want to own it. But DirecTV designed their HD-DVR to allow external drives to be used, and they work exactly like an internal drive would, so even then, there's little reason to do that.

Lots of people freak out about their receiver being leased instead of owned, but why would you want to own something that was only good with an active DirecTV subscription, and useless without? If you cancel your account, what good is owning the receiver? Certainly it isn't worth paying full retail price, which is the alternative.

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