The Solid Signal Blog

Every so often I run into a really good question, something I never really thought about writing an article about. This is one of those cases. It’s really just simple geometry, but let me show you the problem. Cell phone service, like all types of radio waves, spreads out equally in all directions from the point where the broadcast is made. In other words, a cell phone signal looks like this: The problem is, your RV looks like this: which means, in order for the cell signal to cover your entire RV, it seems like a lot of it would spill out, like this: These are pretty simple pictures but you get the idea. So, the question is, why isn’t this a bigger problem that people are talking about? Here’s the real story Cell phone...

There was a once-common mantra that said DIRECTV receivers needed software updates early and often. Of course, it was also a once-common mantra to avoid wearing white after Labor Day. Look around and I suspect you’ll find at least one person who’s wearing white this very minute. Things change. I rarely if ever recommend downloading new software manually for DIRECTV receivers, DVRs, clients, or servers. In fact I stopped recommending it long ago. Here’s a post from 2013 when I talked about it. What’s the harm in downloading? Downloading new software onto your DIRECTV receiver shouldn’t have long-lasting ill effects, but in the short term it could actually make things worse. You could download software that’s older than what you have...

When people think of cell phone signal boosters, they generally think of something that connects to their phones. That makes sense, of course. That’s how most people use cellular technology. But, there’s another whole class of device. The industry calls them M2M (machine to machine) or IoT (internet of things) boosters. You’ve probably never heard of them, because they’re sort of a specialized part. We don’t even list them at SolidSignal.com, because they’re only available through our enterprise team. Here’s what I’m talking about You know how you used to put actual coins in vending machines? These days it’s much more common to have vending machines that take payments from your device like Apple Pay or Google Pay, or take credit...

DIRECTV satellite technology has gotten very stable. Although there have been changes over the last decade, overall the story is one of slow and steady growth and stability. When DIRECTV moved to Genie technology, they set in motion a process. This process led to the Genie clients we have today, which are more stable and capable than ever before. But which one should you choose? There are four families of Genie client. They’re all good, but you might want to know the plusses and minuses of each. What is a Genie Client? Genie technology has one simple point. Simple, inexpensive, efficient boxes that deliver the DVR experience to every room. Before Genies, you needed a DVR in order to pause live TV in every room. People want to pause...

This article incorporates new content from reader comments. Without a doubt, North America is the biggest paid satellite TV market. DIRECTV alone counts 24 million subscribers. However, if you were to look at all of Europe’s satellite services, it’s probably a bigger market than that. It’s impossible to know, though. Most of Europe’s satellite TV services are free! That’s right, most people in Europe can put up a satellite dish and get free TV, just like we do with antennas here in the US. There are paid services like SKY that offer a more DIRECTV-like experience for a fee, but if you’re in most European countries you can just put that satellite up and get several channels of live TV. European countries can get away with this, and...

Summertime’s here, and that means very little scripted content on broadcast TV. In years past, you’d find reruns all summer. That’s still sort of true, but unscripted content has really taken over the summer. It makes sense – who needs reruns when you can get all the shows you want on-demand? But in the last few years, it seems that summers and winters alike have become overrun by primetime game shows. Is it time for the trend to slow or stop? I love game shows, I do I grew up on prime time game shows. Not only traditional shows like Match Game PM and the evening The Price is Right, but early reality/competition shows like Beat the Clock. In fact, you’ll have to look long and hard to find someone with more adoration for game shows...

Not that you should have to, but it’s possible to completely reset your Gemini Air to its original settings. This lets you set it up completely from scratch. That’s a good choice if you’re giving it to someone else or if it’s really misbehaving. Here’s the easy way to do it Take a look at the image at top. It shows the underside of the Gemini Air. There’s a small reset button on it. Here are the steps you’ll need to take: Make sure the Gemini Air is connected to power and to a TV. The light on the Gemini Air should be on, although it doesn’t really matter what color it is. Press and hold that reset button for at least 30 seconds. You should see the TV screen turn black for a while then you’ll see the DIRECTV bootup screen, which...

If you have a luxury yacht, you know the importance of having things “your way.” If you have a larger yacht, you probably have a captain who takes care of it. That captain’s busy with a lot of things, not just steering the boat. No matter where you fit as part of the marine world, you’re probably looking for ways to do more in less time. When was the last time anyone reached out to you and said, “don’t worry, we’ve got it from here…” That’s exactly what we’re doing with our new “white glove” service. It’s this simple: we take care of everything involved with your satellite TV service. We arrange for the installation, handle the activation, and take care of all the little details like temporarily suspending service or changing vessels...

The other day I came across a video that really made me think. It’s from YouTuber “Dark Corners Reviews” and it deals with something we really need to think about today: lost films. Here’s that video if you want to get caught up: This particular video talks mostly about films made before 1930 that are culturally significant. Movies themselves started becoming common in the late 19th century and that means that about 40 years of film history is being represented by a very small number of films that still exist. Those films, even if they’re bad or culturally insensitive, still give us a window into a culture that’s long gone. Before the invention of cinema, it was literally impossible to save a moving record of something. That means we...

If your DIRECTV receiver, DVR or Genie Client is running slowly or acting a little strange, there are a few things you can try right away. A slow receiver isn’t always a sign that it’s broken. In fact most slow receivers just need a few tweaks and you’ll find they work much better. First thing to try: reboot twice Rebooting your receiver fixes a lot of things. We tend to not think about rebooting because the receiver rarely needs it. Find the red button on the receiver. It may be hidden behind a panel, but in most modern DIRECTV hardware, it’s on the side. Push it and wait. As soon as you get to live TV, push it again. That will empty out some of the logs. While this will actually slow the receiver down for the first half hour, but...

Remember when you couldn’t watch videos over the internet? Oh those days. Back then we had to watch live cats doing cute things. My how the world has changed. It was a bit over 19 years ago… …that a little site called YouTube was born. It was independent for its first year or so of life, and ever since 2006 it’s been part of the Google empire. It wasn’t the first video sharing site but it certainly grew to be the biggest. By letting users have virtually unlimited space to upload virtually anything they wanted (unless there was a copyright or human rights issue) it’s turned into the world’s video library. Want to learn how to fix something? There’s probably a YouTube video for that. Want to know all about those paintings where dogs...

What’s the big difference between a marine satellite system and one for your home? It’s pretty obvious: the marine system needs to aim itself constantly. If your marine satellite system isn’t making chances several times a second, you’ll lose communication. There are two parts to a marine satellite system: the dome and the ACU. The dome is probably something you’re familiar with. It’s up there on the top of the boat, this big white gumdrop that has the satellite dish inside. There’s a bunch of electronics in there too, which allow the dish to respond quickly and keep signals coming in. It’s all locked into that watertight package which is obviously exactly what you want on a boat. But, the dome isn’t everything. There’s also the...

Satellite TV is awesome. Sure, internet is great too. It’s even better to have both. There’s a time for leaning into the internet experience, but don’t you just feel like sitting back and watching TV sometimes? I know I do. It’s a great way to unwind, and life on the water is all about relaxing, right? Occasionally, our tech support reps will take a call from someone who says their satellite TV works great while they’re on the water, but stops working when they pull into the slip. It’s frustrating of course, because plenty of people spend the night in the marina and just want to relax. So, let’s talk about the most common reason that you’ll lose signal when you’re in the slip. It’s usually a bigger boat In order for your satellite TV...

I recently ran into a facebook comment where someone said, I don’t know why someone would say something like that on Facebook. I’m glad he didn’t give the tech’s name because that person probably would have gotten in trouble. But, it’s worth talking about. What’s so different about the Genie 2? Genie 2 is really a different beast, even compared to other Genies. Why? It’s a pure “server.” While DIRECTV always wanted you to think of your HR34, HR44, or HR54 as a server, the truth is most people thought of it as a super DVR that could also use client boxes. Genie 2 doesn’t have a video output. It’s designed to sit quietly out of the way while the client boxes handle all the work. Genie 2 does the work of a DVR, a server, a wireless...

Important: I am not a doctor. I am not even a scientist. I’m a blogger and I research things pretty well. I’m telling you what I believe to be right. If you don’t believe it, prove me wrong in the comments. Some people won’t keep their Wi-Fi router in the same room where they sleep. Some won’t let their kids near the router (a good idea, but for a different reason. I totally get it. There’s a lot of electromagnetic radiation out there and it’s scary to think about what it could be doing to your body. How much power does a router put out? The best that I can figure, the output power of a router is around one tenth of a watt. That’s it. I’m really not sure that one tenth of a watt is going to fry anything no matter how close it is to...