SatelliteGuys FIRST LOOK - DISH's Hopper and Joey

Well I was bashing the Hopper/Joey when I was still a DishNetwork customer. As soon as I saw the information on the system and how they neutered it and threw it together with only 3 tuners due to costs issues, my mind was made up and went for the 5 tuner "Hopper" from DirecTV with 3 "Joey"s from DirecTV for a grand total of 8 tuners in the house instead of only 3 tuners for 4 TV's. Cheaper monthly cost, more channels, more features, and more tuners. It was a win-win for me. And actually now I have 9 tuners for the 4 TVs for the same monthly cost as I added another DVR to the multi-room viewing.

I'm not sat-racist at all, I can care less which company it comes from, it all comes down to the features and price for me. No way was I going to listen to the wife and kids complain about the 3 tuners every night, not my idea of fun especially for the amount of money you pay every month.

Sat-racist? That's awesome. We need to make that a new term here. LOL
 
digiblur said:
No tuner. Only power users record everything they watch and this system was meant to fit the typical user.

With 2 Hoppers there is no need to have a tuner in the Joey. If they had a tuner in there the unit would be no where near as small as the current one is.

Sent from my iPad 2 using Forum Runner
 
With 2 Hoppers there is no need to have a tuner in the Joey. If they had a tuner in there the unit would be no where near as small as the current one is.

Sent from my iPad 2 using Forum Runner

Yes they would be as small. I was talking about the typical setup you guys are calling the norm with 1H.
 
If they just turn the TV off the tuner is no longer available to the system?
Turning off a TV does nothing to the receiver. Well, if connected via HDMI, if could auto-off the Joey but I'm not sure if Dish implements that in any receiver(s). I will presume you have to hit the (receiver) "off" button on the remote. Presuming it's a similar remote to what Dish has used for years, there's (2) power buttons. One can be programmed to turn the TV off/on and the other turns the receiver on or puts it in standby (off) mode.
 
I was just told on a chat that I just need one hopper because joeys are tuners. I told her I would rethink how to get my 4 tv's hooked up. She said one hopper and 3 joeys give me 4 tuners
 
So I went to install my first Hopper and Joey in my sister in laws house today. 2 days ago attended the DNS training at our local hub. 5 hours later from a 2 room install and the joey will not display any video. The Hopper shows the joey (label Masterbedroom) in its list and the joey shows Home Theatre in its menu. No video. This after the Hopper booting and stating "error 80" smart card does not belong with this receiver. I called tech support and they walk me through the "software issue". Had to reset to default factory settings. Once I did the reset the hopper came to life. As instructed in training I went to the joey and install at that point. Connect the solo node and power on and follow the set up screen. Once I started the on screen help the joey would not go any further. Hours and hours later I gave up. It "searches for available Hopper" both or listed in each other menu as being available but wont access.
I am pro Dish and always will be, (I have both Dish, 922 and Directv, Hr24) but these roll outs are tough sometimes. They told us in training that the joey could take a few hours to activate. I probably wont be installing anymore until they can resolve the activation process. I cant afford to stand in a customers house for a few hours while the joey waits to be born.
 
Same problem. If the Joey is installed in the incorrect manner they say it could take hours to activate. At least thats what they told me in training. But I followed the instructions to the T. I think my problem was the Hopper had a software issue. I am goin back in the morning to check to see if it activated. The Hopper was fine when I did a factory reset. But the joey (which was listed in the Hopper and vice versa) would not bring up any video
 
What is the monthly fee per Joey/hopper? I currently have a 722 and 2 211's was thinking maybe just replace the 211's to start.

Also, I know it says that it uses coax, but what about ethernet? is the ethernet connection only for the online content or can it too replace the coax even?

lastly, the $99 fee I assume is just a one time upfront fee and then no matter if I get 1 joey or 10, it is still the same?
 
smakovits said:
What is the monthly fee per Joey/hopper? I currently have a 722 and 2 211's was thinking maybe just replace the 211's to start.

Also, I know it says that it uses coax, but what about ethernet? is the ethernet connection only for the online content or can it too replace the coax even?

lastly, the $99 fee I assume is just a one time upfront fee and then no matter if I get 1 joey or 10, it is still the same?

It's an all or nothing setup. You cant mix ViP receivers with the Hopper/Joey receivers. Ethernet can't replace coax. As far as upfront costs, it seems to vary with each customer.
 
So the Joeys need to be wired too? Since our original installer lied to us 4 and a half years ago, we still have a third room that's NOT wired (we have a Roku in there, sorry Dish). Unless the third room being wired is free from Dish, we won't be getting the Hopper. We have 3 Rokus and will probably drop Dish altogether (train your installers not to lie to people about what their options are. And don't hire lazy installers). Too bad too, we would have been loyal customers another 10 years I'm sure?
 

Super Joey Problem

AB Switches and two Satellite Dishes

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