Receiver Upgrade For Elderly Father In-law

tobsandmags

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Aug 20, 2011
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My 88 year old father in-law wants to upgrade his dish receiver. He has a 211z now, pays no monthly receiver fee, and probably wouldn’t use a DVR. Looking online, is the Wally the upgrade path for non-DVR receivers? Will he get a monthly receiver fee if he upgrades?


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What does he expect the upgrade to accomplish?
The Wally is essentially the same as the 211, but it has a GUI interface (which might mean a learning curve).
If the 211Z is functioning satisfactorily, I'd say just keep it, since he already knows how to operate it.
When My 92 year old mother-in-law moved nearby we set her up with a dual tuner OTA Tivo, she mostly uses it as she would any TV.
After 3 years I set up Jeopardy to record so she could see it if she missed it live.
 
I don't know anything about the Wally or the 211. However, based on what Jim5506 says, I'd agree that if it ain't broke, keep the 211.

We recently moved my father into an assisted living facility. He just turned 89 and has an Xfinity DVR after years of being with Verizon. He's in Pennsylvania, I'm in Hawaii.

Coversations go something like:

Dad, just calling to remind you the Ranger game is on now and it's on 3086 for you.

(him) 3086? (me) yes (him) let me punch that in - 3086. It's a lady selling pastry.

(me) I think you typed in a different number. It's 3086. (him) 1-0-8-6 (me) no - 3086

(him) 3-0-8-6. NYR-CI (me) That's it! NY Rangers Center Ice. That's the package you have. Now press enter.

(him) the middle button? (me) I'm not sure. I've never seen that remote. (him) It's a lady selling pastry.

You get the idea.
 
I think he meant the CUI interface (Carbon UI) on the Wally. In any event, it is more tile-based, compared to the 211 interface. Obviously, the 211 interface is still a GUI. However, it is more text-based. It just looks pretty. :)
Being almost 80 myself and after a couple of months since swapping my 211k's for Wallys with the CUI, I much prefer the old GUI myself. Completely changing the look of the interface for him might be another consideration. It could end up being confusing for him. As you get up into our age bracket you tend to prefer things to be familiar and try to avoid learning curves if at all possible, especially if you're not tech savvy. Fortunately for me I am but he might not be. Another consideration would be the remote. The convoluted remote that ships with the Wallys is, in my opinion, junk. The buttons are at entirely different locations, most of which make no sense and that too can be confusing for an elderly person. However, thanks to crodrules, I found out a #40.0 remote will give him the old look and feel while operating a new Wally if you go in that direction.
 
I don't know anything about the Wally or the 211. However, based on what Jim5506 says, I'd agree that if it ain't broke, keep the 211.

We recently moved my father into an assisted living facility. He just turned 89 and has an Xfinity DVR after years of being with Verizon. He's in Pennsylvania, I'm in Hawaii.

Coversations go something like:

Dad, just calling to remind you the Ranger game is on now and it's on 3086 for you.

(him) 3086? (me) yes (him) let me punch that in - 3086. It's a lady selling pastry.

(me) I think you typed in a different number. It's 3086. (him) 1-0-8-6 (me) no - 3086

(him) 3-0-8-6. NYR-CI (me) That's it! NY Rangers Center Ice. That's the package you have. Now press enter.

(him) the middle button? (me) I'm not sure. I've never seen that remote. (him) It's a lady selling pastry.

You get the idea.
I feel for you and have had similar experiences with older family. Have to ask though, how were the pastries when he got them? ;)
 
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I also had similar issues with my 90+ year old dad and the Dish VIP722. He would manage to change his TV input and he would call to tell me that his Dish had stopped working.
This is precisely the reason that Dish includes “Limited Mode” as a remote control setting.


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Thanks everyone for the great feedback. I spoke to him about keeping the 211z. I have a follow-up question about the ethernet connection on the 211z. Does connecting it to the network offer anything? Any remote troubleshooting abilities?


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Thanks everyone for the great feedback. I spoke to him about keeping the 211z. I have a follow-up question about the ethernet connection on the 211z. Does connecting it to the network offer anything? Any remote troubleshooting abilities?


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Connecting the ethernet cable to the 211z basically does the same thing as connecting a landline phone line to the back of the receiver. It allows the receiver to dial out to authorize pay-per-view programming and stuff like that. It also allows you to use the Customer Support app in Dish Home to view your bill and current account balance. Otherwise, not much benefit at all.
 
Connecting the ethernet cable to the 211z basically does the same thing as connecting a landline phone line to the back of the receiver. It allows the receiver to dial out to authorize pay-per-view programming and stuff like that. It also allows you to use the Customer Support app in Dish Home to view your bill and current account balance. Otherwise, not much benefit at all.
No 'On Demand'?
 
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