Curious about Whole Home Service equipment needs

[evanwins]

I just got off the phone with a rather rude DTV rep. I wanted to add the Whole Home DVR service to my existing account. I have 3 HD receivers, 2 of which are HR24/500's (both are connected to the internet) and a H24 (not connected to the internet).

She told me that I would need another piece of equipment, (some type of hub) to make the Whole Home service work and that it would cost me $229 for the install.

This does not sound right to me and I was curious if someone could confirm whether this is true or not.

Thanks.

[robjlevin]

Very surprised to hear the rep was rude. I've had lots of dealing with customer service and they are always very polite and helpful. That said, the 24s all have DECA built in. Do the DVRs have one satellite connection or two? If only one, you already have a SWiM setup and there really shouldn't be much of need for anything other than a Cinema Connection Kit which takes about 5 minutes to set up. You'll need that to get the internet connection for on demand and tv apps.

[BobStokesbary]

How are your HR24s connected to the internet? If you are using hardwired connections you are killing your coax MRV signal. As robjlevin says, just add the wireless CCK for $32, and remove your hardwired connection (if that is what you have) and be done with it. And you need to add MRV for $3/month and make sure it is authorized on all receivers. (Or you could just wire your H24 receiver to the internet and be done with it. You still need the MRV service turned on.)

[jcrandall]

One factor, they may need a swm upgrade thus the cost. Hit dash on your remote and tell us if it says swim connected or not.

[evanwins]

An Update:
A tech came out this morning and looked at my system and set up and then proceeded to ask me what he was doing there, as he obviously knew I didn't need him. My set up was correct and all I needed was for DirecTv to enable MRV (multi Room Viewing), which they wouldn't do because the insisted I needed a SWM, which I didn't.

robjlevin: I know, the reps are usually great...not this one. I have had my receivers connected to the internet for 2 years now (I was a beta tester of their on-demand service) and I have 2 Sat inputs on both. You (and I) were right - I didn't need any equipment for whole home service. I just needed DirecTv to enable MRV which, again, they refused to do without the tech coming.

BobStokeBary: They are ethernet connected and I'm not sure what you mean by hardwired killing coax MRV signal, it's not. Again, the tech did nothing (NOTHING) at my house with my equipment. All he did was call and have them switch on MRV and it worked perfectly.

In the end it was a big waste of my time and the tech's time and if the first rep I spoke to just shut up and listened to me the whole thing would have been over with.

So for those that get the same response from DTV: If your receivers are connected to the internet YOU DO NOT NEED ANY EXTRA EQUIPMENT.

[mcintire123]

An Update:
A tech came out this morning and looked at my system and set up and then proceeded to ask me what he was doing there, as he obviously knew I didn't need him. My set up was correct and all I needed was for DirecTv to enable MRV (multi Room Viewing), which they wouldn't do because the insisted I needed a SWM, which I didn't.

robjlevin: I know, the reps are usually great...not this one. I have had my receivers connected to the internet for 2 years now (I was a beta tester of their on-demand service) and I have 2 Sat inputs on both. You (and I) were right - I didn't need any equipment for whole home service. I just needed DirecTv to enable MRV which, again, they refused to do without the tech coming.

BobStokeBary: They are ethernet connected and I'm not sure what you mean by hardwired killing coax MRV signal, it's not. Again, the tech did nothing (NOTHING) at my house with my equipment. All he did was call and have them switch on MRV and it worked perfectly.

In the end it was a big waste of my time and the tech's time and if the first rep I spoke to just shut up and listened to me the whole thing would have been over with.

So for those that get the same response from DTV: If your receivers are connected to the internet YOU DO NOT NEED ANY EXTRA EQUIPMENT.

Well, really u don't need to be connected to the internet to use MRV if thats what you mean by that.

On the thing where they always say that being ethernet hard wired kills your MRV connection. I doesn't always do that, I had one hooked up that way before we got the cinema connection hub and my MRV worked fine.

[kovach]

Ok, now I'm curious, I called in a couple weeks ago and was told something similar, that I needed someone to come out and install something for $199 (but then they said they could knock $100 off that price). I have 2 HR22's both hooked up to the internet via powerline, and an HR21 which isn't hooked up to the internet but very easily could be, all via SWM.

What equipment would I need for whole home service? And how would that work with my set up, would the HR21 be connected to 1 of the HR22s, or would both DVRs be accessable from any receiver?

[Hutch1814]

An Update:
A tech came out this morning and looked at my system and set up and then proceeded to ask me what he was doing there, as he obviously knew I didn't need him. My set up was correct and all I needed was for DirecTv to enable MRV (multi Room Viewing), which they wouldn't do because the insisted I needed a SWM, which I didn't.

robjlevin: I know, the reps are usually great...not this one. I have had my receivers connected to the internet for 2 years now (I was a beta tester of their on-demand service) and I have 2 Sat inputs on both. You (and I) were right - I didn't need any equipment for whole home service. I just needed DirecTv to enable MRV which, again, they refused to do without the tech coming.

BobStokeBary: They are ethernet connected and I'm not sure what you mean by hardwired killing coax MRV signal, it's not. Again, the tech did nothing (NOTHING) at my house with my equipment. All he did was call and have them switch on MRV and it worked perfectly.

In the end it was a big waste of my time and the tech's time and if the first rep I spoke to just shut up and listened to me the whole thing would have been over with.

So for those that get the same response from DTV: If your receivers are connected to the internet YOU DO NOT NEED ANY EXTRA EQUIPMENT.

What you have is an unsupported version is all. If you have problems they won't send a tech out for you due to it not being connected via coax. That's the only issue, as far as that goes, I doubt you'll have issues considering it seems more stable at this point then using SWM

[robjlevin]

With two lines coming into the DVRs you don't have SWiM and the set up, as already mentioned, is not supported...but it does work. The problem you'll have is if you add a receiver in a room without ethernet you won't be able to use MRV.

[kovach]

Ok, now I'm curious, I called in a couple weeks ago and was told something similar, that I needed someone to come out and install something for $199 (but then they said they could knock $100 off that price). I have 2 HR22's both hooked up to the internet via powerline, and an HR21 which isn't hooked up to the internet but very easily could be, all via SWM.

What equipment would I need for whole home service? And how would that work with my set up, would the HR21 be connected to 1 of the HR22s, or would both DVRs be accessable from any receiver?

So how about my setup, is there a simple way to turn this into a whole home dvr system?