Noob Hopper and Joey questions

Micallen

Well-Known SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2014
33
3
I plan to get Dish next month, and have a few questions.

How does the Joey connect to the Hopper (what kind of cable)?
Is it strongly preferred to have a wired internet connection to the Hopper?
I read somewhere about the Hopper feeding internet to the Joeys. What does that mean?
 
Wiring for the Hopper - Joey is a bit different than the way wiring is done on the other receivers. You have two RG-6 coax cables that come from the dish and feed a 'node.' There is a single RG-6 coax that goes from the node to the Hopper. The usual Joey connection is an RG-6 or RG-59 from the same node to the Joey. There is also a way to feed the Joey from the Hopper using a 'tap.' If you are going to get a Hooper with Sling, the Hopper has built in wifi. If you have an easy way to get a wired internet connection to the Hopper, I would do that, there is less chance of interference. Internet to the Joey is not required because the Hopper-Joey system uses 'MOCA' which is a kind of an internal local area network. You are able to watch video on demand and use built in apps through the MOCA connection.
 
So if I let the second line feed my existing cable distribution box, would all those cable outputs be "Joey ready? My thought is to have a Joey in my son's room, and a second Joey that can move back and forth between my BR and the shop (man cave).
 
There are two coaxes that feed the node from the dish. A single node, which is what you have with a single Hopper, can feed the Hopper and also the Joey/Joeys via a splitter. So, yes, if that splitter is located in your cable distribution box, you can feed all the Joeys via that output.... One thing to note, it is important to 'terminate' the empty ends of coaxes that have nothing attached to them. 75 ohm terminators are available for that purpose but Dish does not supply them.
 
Is "Hopper with Sling" the standard issue Hopper? Or is that extra?
 
Tell the tech where you want the Hopper and the Joeys, and he/she will do all the work to make it happen. He/She will deal with the details including access to the internet.

The only thing you need to provide is that you have broadband/fast internet service. Everything else is provided by Dish including getting the internet to where it needs to be, etc. and a tech may decide to run new cable for your Hopper system rather than using existing cable due to existing cable being of insufficient grade (at least RG6 capable of passing up to 3GHz for the Hopper, but RG59 and below 3GHz is sufficient for Joye's) or interference issues, but if your existing cable can handle it and you aren't using it for either anything else nor will there be any interference issues, techs may use your existing cable runs.

Perhaps the best answer to your question is that Dish installs a MoCA network using either existing or installing new cable runs to connect all the Hopper and Joeys completely separate and isolated from your home network. DirecTV's type or MoCA is called DECA because it uses a different band of frequencies than the MoCA spec, but in every other respect, it is MoCA technology from the Alliance to which DirecTV, Dish (through sister company Echostar), TiVo, and 51 others belong and, therefore, have rights to implement. Dish and DircTV do this because they cannot know nor depend upon your home network being robust enough to handle the load, and the separate MoCA ensures everything working well as it should irrespective of your home network. TiVo "highly recommends" and pushes its users to use MoCA, as well, for the same reason of not knowing how robust anyone's home network. The Hopper system does access your gateway/router/modem to access your internet service to download content, etc, from the internet, but after/before that, it is all sent through the installed MoCA network to/from your Hoppers and Joeys.

FWIW my all wired Gigabit home network can handle my Hoppers and Joeys, my TiVo's and TiVo Mini's and HD streaming from Amazon, Netflix, and other on the net browsing etc., but Dish and DircTV (and TiVo) can't depend on that. They will NEVER install the Hopper or Genie system on anyone's LAN. Installing the separate/exclusive MoCA network is the only way to ensure the best possible customer experience without stuttering or freezes due to too much traffic, and Dish and DirecTV will stand behind their installed MoCA network, not your LAN. Besides, it is better to not burden or clutter or slow down your home network with your TV service network. Separate networks in this case is the most desirable of situations. Some older or really cheap routers could never handle the demands of Hopper or Genie system or would run so hot (possibly beyond the Router's processor's capabilities) with so much high bandwidth going to so many places pretty much part of the day to all night, the router just might die :). So installing a separate MoCA network is the best business decision for Dish and DirecTV.

Because other specific pieces of equipment (Nodes vs. splitters, etc) need to be in place to make a connection suitable for a Hopper vs. a Joey or Super Joey, you cannot, after installation, move a Hopper to where a Joey or Super Joey was connected nor vice-verse. DYIng this is can be a bit complicated to someone who is not truly aware of what they are doing, like Joe Blow and Joe Sixpack (the same guy?). It is easy to make a simple error and mess up your system. Most people are better off calling a tech to change locations of your Hopper and Joeys.

Hope that helps.
 
Last edited:
Tell the tech where you want the Hopper and the Joeys, and he/she will do all the work to make it happen. He/She will deal with the details including access to the internet.

The only thing you need to provide is that you have broadband/fast internet service. Everything else is provided by Dish including getting the internet to where it needs to be, etc. and a tech may decide to run new cable for your Hopper system rather than using existing cable due to existing cable being of insufficient grade (at least RG6 capable of passing up to 3GHz for the Hopper, but RG59 and below 3GHz is sufficient for Joye's) or interference issues, but if your existing cable can handle it and you aren't using it for either anything else nor will there be any interference issues, techs may use your existing cable runs.

Perhaps the best answer to your question is that Dish installs a MoCA network using either existing or installing new cable runs to connect all the Hopper and Joeys completely separate and isolated from your home network...

That's a lot of good information. You paint a nice picture of the installers. I hope the one I get is that qualified and thorough. Last time I had Dish installed (maybe 8 years or so ago) the installer was terrible. Took every shortcut imaginable.

When you say they install a separate network so as not to burden my home network and router, what exactly does that mean? I have a wired ethernet connection at the TV from my home router. Will they not use that?
 
Yes, a Hopper with Sling would be standard.

If you sign up remember to hit one of us up for a referral code so we each get $50.
Does anyone just have a single hopper? That's all I require. Although we have a second tv in our bedroom it's used so infrequently it would not be worth paying for an extra device. But I would still like to upgrade out DVR.
 
Does anyone just have a single hopper? That's all I require. Although we have a second tv in our bedroom it's used so infrequently it would not be worth paying for an extra device. But I would still like to upgrade out DVR.
Yes you can have just one Hopper.
 
When you say they install a separate network so as not to burden my home network and router, what exactly does that mean? I have a wired ethernet connection at the TV from my home router. Will they not use that?

Yes, they can use that wired ethernet connection for internet purposes. Don't confuse ethernet with MoCA. They are two different things. Ethernet will allow your Hopper to access various programming over the internet. MoCA is another thing. It is a closed network that allows the Hoppers and Joeys to talk to each other independent of any WiFi that you may have in your home. The Joeys can access internet programming that the Hopper can over MoCA....
 
Another question... This one for my mom. She would only need Hopper and 1 Joey. She does not have internet at all. Is that a problem?
 
One FYI, even though though the Joeys are driven via the MoCa, your router will have issued an IP address for each Joey in your network. I have an older wired Hopper and two wired Joeys. My router shows 3 IP addresses issued.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Question:
Just got Dish with Hopper installed. Channels are fine,but no Apps seem to work. Ethernet is wired, and tests at 18.8 Mbps download speed. Any ideas?
 

SuperJoey- work standalone?

Dish Anywhere and Skipped Timers

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)