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Last reply Jun 24, 2018 · posted in DIRECTV General Forum

DIRECTV and DIRECT NOW Streaming Merger Complete?

Read this on Solid Signal:

DIRECTV and DIRECT NOW Streaming Merger Complete? - The Solid Signal Blog

Anything accurate in it?

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slice1900

Jun 8, 2018

The contracts for OTT vs managed IP traversing private networks only are different. For instance, maybe they can't offer NFLST on the OTT version of Directv coming later this year but perhaps could on an IPTV version, or pricing might be different etc.

In an ideal world it doesn't matter, but once you get lawyers involved all bets are off

NashGuy

Jun 9, 2018

slice1900 said:
The contracts for OTT vs managed IP traversing private networks only are different. For instance, maybe they can't offer NFLST on the OTT version of Directv coming later this year but perhaps could on an IPTV version, or pricing might be different etc.

In an ideal world it doesn't matter, but once you get lawyers involved all bets are off

I don't think Uverse TV has ever offered NFL Sunday Ticket. It's always been a DirecTV (satellite) exclusive. Aside from that, Uverse TV has only ever offered all the usual local and cable channels that everyone else tends to carry. I'm sure AT&T will have sewn up contracts for pretty much all of those channels before launching their forthcoming OTT service. I know that AT&T's CEO has mentioned that he ultimately foresees this service as offering NFL ST, although who knows if that will be the case when it first launches (which will likely be pretty late in the upcoming season).

The key thing I wonder about are all the locals, which are a big deal. Hard to imagine them rolling out a "premium" TV service that's essentially on the same level as DTV satellite and Uverse TV but without having the local ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CW and PBS affiliates. (Maybe they could get away with not having the CW and PBS affiliates, at least at first, if they incorporated their on-demand content into their platform.) I wonder how long AT&T has been trying to get all those affiliates on board? Maybe the new service will launch market-by-market only as all of the local affiliates in each market are on board. If that's the case, I would expect AT&T to try to get the new OTT service launched first in all of their landline markets (where Uverse TV already exists).

I also wonder if we'll see AT&T include support for multicast linear channels in this new service if the STB is connected to AT&T broadband service. That would reduce their own network traffic and allow for faster channel changes. Shouldn't be that difficult for them to do.

slice1900

Jun 9, 2018

NashGuy said:
I also wonder if we'll see AT&T include support for multicast linear channels in this new service if the STB is connected to AT&T broadband service. That would reduce their own network traffic and allow for faster channel changes. Shouldn't be that difficult for them to do.

The problem with doing multicast even within AT&T's network is the consumer's home network. They'd have to supply networking equipment that's been properly configured, because most consumer routers won't work with multicast out of the box - or at all. Its especially difficult over wifi, but even wired support is pretty spotty. Which makes sense because it hasn't been used in a consumer setting so there is no incentive for OEMs making routers intended for the home to support it...

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NashGuy

Jun 9, 2018

slice1900 said:
The problem with doing multicast even within AT&T's network is the consumer's home network. They'd have to supply networking equipment that's been properly configured, because most consumer routers won't work with multicast out of the box - or at all. Its especially difficult over wifi, but even wired support is pretty spotty. Which makes sense because it hasn't been used in a consumer setting so there is no incentive for OEMs making routers intended for the home to support it...

AT&T doesn't allow the use of consumer-owned retail routers. (That's a cable internet thing.) AT&T Internet (FTTN, which I have) and AT&T Fiber (FTTH) use the same few different models of gateways (combined modem/routers) provided by AT&T. These routers all already support Uverse TV (which uses some form of multicast -- compatible with their Ericsson Mediaroom platform, I suppose) for linear channels. (Oh, and BTW, Uverse TV has a few different models of wireless STBs, so they're obviously supporting multicast video over wifi.) I don't know if AT&T's gateways already support multicast-to-unicast conversion (as Comcast's own internet gateways do) but, even if they don't, it shouldn't be that hard for AT&T to push out firmware updates adding that feature. We subscribers have zero control over when and whether our AT&T gateways get updated by the mothership (apart from unplugging them completely).

But honestly, all that may be beside the point for AT&T. I would imagine that the C71 STB (or whichever Android TV thin-client STB that AT&T uses for their forthcoming "streaming DirecTV" service) would have built-in native support for whatever multicast protocol that AT&T would use. And frankly, those are the endpoints that really matter. Sure, other devices in the home, such as smartphones and tablets with the DirecTV app, could be served via the multicast-to-unicast conversion feature within the AT&T gateway, should it exist. But, as I say, AT&T may just figure that relatively little in-home live linear channel viewing would actually happen on those devices anyway, so screw it, just serve up unicast streams for linear channels on those devices, the same way they would do for the C71 STB if it was connected to any ISP other than AT&T Internet/Fiber.

slice1900

Jun 10, 2018

NashGuy said:
AT&T doesn't allow the use of consumer-owned retail routers. (That's a cable internet thing.) AT&T Internet (FTTN, which I have) and AT&T Fiber (FTTH) use the same few different models of gateways (combined modem/routers) provided by AT&T.

You can't disable the router function and put it in bridging mode? If not, I guess AT&T is out as anything I will EVER consider for home internet!

NashGuy

Jun 10, 2018

slice1900 said:
You can't disable the router function and put it in bridging mode? If not, I guess AT&T is out as anything I will EVER consider for home internet!

Yeah, you can. I'm sure it's a very small percentage of customers who do though. Actually, there's a sort of "halfway" bridge mode called DMZ+ that allows you to use your own router but that still lets the AT&T gateway properly handle special traffic like IPTV and VOIP. You may also be allowed to do a full-out bridge mode too, where the AT&T gateway just blindly forwards everything to your own router. I haven't delved too deeply into it all since I'm happy with my BGW210 gateway after having initially assigned static IPs for certain devices on my LAN.

slice1900 said:
I agree, but there's no advantage to building it in and several disadvantages like added cost for all the people who DON'T want OTA, early obsolescence when ATSC 3.0 arrives, etc.

Given that locals cost more than $10/month now it would be an easy sell to customers if they let people shut off their locals and save money. The first step to selling people on that though is to break out the charge for locals like Mediacom does, so you can see how much they really cost and watch that price keep going up, up and up. Though I wonder if dropping locals is even an option for them - their contracts might not allow it or might specify that they pay x dollars per month per customer not "per customer who receives locals". The local stations know that if everyone getting cable/satellite who could pick them up OTA chose to do so, they'd lose a ton of money. Directv has been busy trying to get streaming rights for all local stations, they might have been forced to accept some terms that limited their ability to let customers drop locals to get those streaming rights...

Yeah, the big issue for MVPDs is the contracts that they make with the network owners. In the largest markets, the broadcast nets actually own and operate their local affiliates, accounting for a huge chunk of viewers nationwide. "Hey DirecTV, you wanna carry ESPN? Then you better include WABC in every package tier for all of your subs in the NYC area, and KABC for all your subs in the LA area, and KRTK in the Houston area, etc." Yes, if every DTV sub had a built-in OTA tuner and antenna in their existing DTV set-up, it would give DTV a much stronger hand when negotiation stand-offs lead to blackouts. But I guess they figure that the actual benefits they'd see there don't justify the cost to include ATSC 1.0 tuners in every STB or home server tower. (As for ATSC 3.0, who knows how that's really going to end up playing out.)

Now, if AT&T launches this proposed $15 skinny bundle (dubbed "AT&T Watch"), then I can see them doing a bit of legwork to let viewers integrate ATSC 1.0 signals. That bundle isn't going to include any locals or any cable channels owned by those companies (nothing from Disney/ABC, Comcast/NBC, CBS or Fox). So why not make the AT&T Watch app capable of integrating those DLNA-compliant streams from HDHomeRun OTA network tuners? I have one of those tuners and can use it with apps from HDHomeRun as well as Channels, Plex and probably others. Heck, to my amusement, I even found that my old Panasonic smart Blu-ray player was able to detect and display live channels from the tuner, I'm sure because the streams are DLNA-compliant.

Perhaps we'll see AT&T even sell their own low-cost retail Android TV streaming box, as Sling TV has done with their AirTV Player, with either a built-in or optional USB ATSC 1.0 tuner. And maybe they'll let the user plug in a USB hard drive so that local TV channels can be DVR'd. Everything -- OTT and OTA live TV, plus cloud DVR and local DVR -- could be elegantly integrated into the same UI.

Why would AT&T do this? Assuming the Time Warner acquisition happens, I think their main strategies with regard to video distribution going forward are threefold:

Use video subscriptions as something to bundle (at reduced cost or even free) with their mobile and broadband services, as a way to enhance those products and reduce churn
Make money from subscription fees, both on their premium a la carte services (e.g. HBO, Cinemax, Filmstruck, Boomerang, etc.) as well as their basic cable networks (CNN, TBS, TNT, etc.) distributed through other MVPDs and vMVPDs
Maximize ad revenue from their ad-supported networks (CNN, TBS, TNT, etc.) by expanding distribution as much as possible and charging more per ad impression via targeted ads on those networks when distributed through their OTT services

When AT&T Watch was initially announced, I thought, "Why give this skinny bundle its own brand and separate app rather than just sticking it in DTV Now as a new starter bundle? Putting it in DTV Now would make it easier to upsell those new subs to a more expensive bundle later." Then it hit me: maybe AT&T would actually prefer that they didn't upgrade to a bigger DTV Now bundle. Sure, they make a bit of extra money in carriage fees on those extra channels but not much. The margins are VERY thin, especially among OTT vMVPDs. (As this piece puts it, "the business of bundling and distributing live networks—either through traditional managed networks or over the top—is not that good anymore.") And the more non-AT&T-owned channels that a viewer has in his bundle, the less time he is likely to spend watching AT&T-owned cable channels (and the ads they carry). The more basic cable channels he has, and the more he is spending on them, the less likely he is to subscribe to HBO.

So why not sweeten this $15 bundle even more by letting the viewer integrate whatever free OTA TV he can receive into it? Imagine spending $100 or less on new hardware (either an HDHomeRun OTA network tuner or an Android TV box packaged with an OTA tuner) and then you could spend just $15 per month going forward (or completely free if you're an AT&T Unlimited wireless subscriber) to have the following:

all the HD and SD locals you can get via antenna (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, The CW, Me-TV, Antenna TV, Cozi TV, etc.)
TBS*
TNT*
CNN*
HLN*
Cartoon Network*
TCM*
TruTV*
Audience*
A&E
AMC
Animal Planet
BBC America
BET
Bloomberg TV
C-SPAN
C-SPAN 2
CMT
Comedy Central
Discovery
E!
Food Network
Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
HGTV
History
Investigation Discovery
Lifetime
MTV
MTV2
Nick Jr.
Nickelodeon
Ovation
Paramount Network
RFD-TV
TeenNick
TLC
TV Land
Velocity
VH1
Viceland
WE tv
Weather Nation

Now, none of us know yet exactly what will be in the $15 AT&T Watch bundle. But the above list is a good guess, I think. It's everything in the cheapest $35 DTV Now bundle but without any locals or anything owned by the big four networks. The asterisked networks at the top of the list are those that would be owned by AT&T after the acquisition of Time Warner.

[EDIT: I would add that another reason that AT&T may want to segregate the $15 bundle under its own app/brand is because it may have a different feature set/usage rights than DTV Now has. Perhaps AT&T Watch will not offer a cloud DVR, or -- more likely, IMO -- it will have one but without the ability to FF past ads as you can always do on DTV Now. Remember, AT&T's main strategy with those Turner nets they plan to acquire is to use them to sell as many targeted ads as possible. Fresh targeted ads can be inserted just as easily and effectively in a recording from two weeks ago as on a live channel.]

CSM said:
Could DTV OTT and DTV NOW easily get the local HD sub-channels rights?

I don't see them fooling around with all those subchannels, which only add to the complexity of contracts with locals. However, we are seeing some of the diginets, such as Decades, offer a national feed to vMVPDs. Some, like Comet, live stream a national feed on their websites. Apparently their agreements with local stations do not preclude them from OTT distribution.

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slice1900

Jun 11, 2018

NashGuy said:
Yeah, you can. I'm sure it's a very small percentage of customers who do though.

I don't know, this question comes up ALL THE TIME on Centurylink boards. Now you're right I'm sure it is probably less than 10%, but I think more people do this than you'd think. The routers built into the modems/gateways are typically pretty limited, so if you want something newer bridge mode is your only option.

Or if like me (and now we're talking a very small percentage) you want to run DD-WRT, OpenWRT or one of the other open source packages so you aren't at the mercy of closed source vendors with their backdoors and built in security holes - this is happening right now with the VPNFilter attack that hits most popular OEM routers, and I'll bet most likely affects the routers built into stuff like AT&T's gateway as well. F.B.I.'s Urgent Request: Reboot Your Router to Stop Russia-Linked Malware

NashGuy

Jun 11, 2018

slice1900 said:
I don't know, this question comes up ALL THE TIME on Centurylink boards. Now you're right I'm sure it is probably less than 10%, but I think more people do this than you'd think. The routers built into the modems/gateways are typically pretty limited, so if you want something newer bridge mode is your only option.

Or if like me (and now we're talking a very small percentage) you want to run DD-WRT, OpenWRT or one of the other open source packages so you aren't at the mercy of closed source vendors with their backdoors and built in security holes - this is happening right now with the VPNFilter attack that hits most popular OEM routers, and I'll bet most likely affects the routers built into stuff like AT&T's gateway as well. F.B.I.'s Urgent Request: Reboot Your Router to Stop Russia-Linked Malware

Yeah, as soon as I read that news several days ago, I unplugged and rebooted my router. Ugh, Russia.

Yeah, maybe I'm underestimating the number of technologically sophisticated folks like you out there who want to use their own special routers for whatever reason. But keep in mind that guys like us who post on these kind of message boards just AREN'T very representative of the general public.

At any rate, to get back to the thing which (I think) prompted this talk about retail routers with AT&T service, yes, you CAN use your own router in conjunction with an AT&T gateway and still properly receive Uverse TV multicast IPTV streams IF you only put the AT&T gateway into DMZ+ mode, which is a bit more limited than full bridge mode. I don't think you can use full bridge mode and Uverse TV at the same time. So I suppose the same rules would be in effect should AT&T provision multicast streams for linear channels with their upcoming "streaming DirecTV" service.

slice1900

Jun 12, 2018

NashGuy said:
Yeah, as soon as I read that news several days ago, I unplugged and rebooted my router. Ugh, Russia.

Yeah, maybe I'm underestimating the number of technologically sophisticated folks like you out there who want to use their own special routers for whatever reason. But keep in mind that guys like us who post on these kind of message boards just AREN'T very representative of the general public.

At any rate, to get back to the thing which (I think) prompted this talk about retail routers with AT&T service, yes, you CAN use your own router in conjunction with an AT&T gateway and still properly receive Uverse TV multicast IPTV streams IF you only put the AT&T gateway into DMZ+ mode, which is a bit more limited than full bridge mode. I don't think you can use full bridge mode and Uverse TV at the same time. So I suppose the same rules would be in effect should AT&T provision multicast streams for linear channels with their upcoming "streaming DirecTV" service.

I would imagine there's probably a simple way of using bridge mode and Uverse TV - you'd just have to configure the router correctly for multicast, VLANs or whatever it is that trips up bridge mode with default settings.

Didn't I read somewhere that AT&T will use the Directv Now infrastructure to deliver this new "streaming Directv" service? Obviously they can't do multicast for non-AT&T customers, and while they could for AT&T customers they might figure it isn't worth it since they already have to do the "hard way" for the rest. Its not even clear it is worth it for their future fixed wireless offering, depending on how many customers they end up serving per tower. The size of an HEVC stream isn't that large in a 5G network, and antenna diversity would mean broadcasting the same thing multiple times from a given tower anyway.

You'd only see savings from multicast on fixed wireless if you had multiple customers watching the same thing off the same antenna off the same tower. A single customer watching the same thing on multiple TVs could be handled by having the box at one TV stream to the other TVs within the home network.

NashGuy

Jun 12, 2018

slice1900 said:
I would imagine there's probably a simple way of using bridge mode and Uverse TV - you'd just have to configure the router correctly for multicast, VLANs or whatever it is that trips up bridge mode with default settings.

Yes. As I mentioned above, it's not called "bridge mode," it's DMZ+ mode. It doesn't give the user quite as much freedom as a true bridge mode would but it does allow the user to continue receiving Uverse IPTV. See this thread if you want to read more:
Anyone have success with U-Verse IPTV on thrid party router?

slice1900 said:
Didn't I read somewhere that AT&T will use the Directv Now infrastructure to deliver this new "streaming Directv" service?

Yes, you probably read that from me, as I've posted it multiple times.

slice1900 said:
Obviously they can't do multicast for non-AT&T customers, and while they could for AT&T customers they might figure it isn't worth it since they already have to do the "hard way" for the rest. Its not even clear it is worth it for their future fixed wireless offering, depending on how many customers they end up serving per tower. The size of an HEVC stream isn't that large in a 5G network, and antenna diversity would mean broadcasting the same thing multiple times from a given tower anyway.

You'd only see savings from multicast on fixed wireless if you had multiple customers watching the same thing off the same antenna off the same tower. A single customer watching the same thing on multiple TVs could be handled by having the box at one TV stream to the other TVs within the home network.

Yeah, it may well be that AT&T decides that they have sufficient network bandwidth that it isn't worth fooling with multicast for live linear channels in their OTT TV service when accessed on their own network. As for delivering TV service via fixed 5G, AT&T's latest comments make it sound as though they've really cooled off on the idea of fixed 5G. They say that it doesn't make economic sense for them in most cases. (Verizon, OTOH, is very gung-ho on it.) For now, sounds like AT&T is mainly going to concentrate on upgrading more places to FTTH. (And, who knows, maybe their AirGig project is coming along and they think it will be an important factor in a couple of years.) At any rate, for FTTH and especially FTTN customers, it would seem to me that the efficiencies of multicast video would be significant during popular shows that lots of folks in the neighborhood are simultaneously watching, like major sports events, etc.

Here's an interesting article about how ABR multicast can be integrated alongside unicast in the same system using a "nanoCDN" solution. I imagine that AT&T has something along the lines of this capability in-house now and could implement it (or perhaps already has implemented it) in the new cloud-based streaming video platform that powers DTV Now and will eventually power all of their TV services.

Multicast ABR and low-latency streaming are the starting gun for migration to an all-HTTP video future | Videonet

slice1900

Jun 12, 2018

NashGuy said:
Yes. As I mentioned above, it's not called "bridge mode," it's DMZ+ mode. It doesn't give the user quite as much freedom as a true bridge mode would but it does allow the user to continue receiving Uverse IPTV. See this thread if you want to read more:
Anyone have success with U-Verse IPTV on thrid party router?

What I'm saying is that since true RFC1483 bridge mode apparently works for AT&T Uverse customers who don't have TV (assuming the others who posted it are correct) then it is surely possible to get it working for Uverse TV. Someone would just have to figure out what AT&T is doing in their routers that a standard router isn't doing. Would easy to figure out using something like Wireshark.

NashGuy

Jun 12, 2018

slice1900 said:
What I'm saying is that since true RFC1483 bridge mode apparently works for AT&T Uverse customers who don't have TV (assuming the others who posted it are correct) then it is surely possible to get it working for Uverse TV. Someone would just have to figure out what AT&T is doing in their routers that a standard router isn't doing. Would easy to figure out using something like Wireshark.

I dunno, maybe it would be possible to figure out how the AT&T gateway is handling multicast IPTV streams and then have them passed along to your retail router, which would handle them in the same way and pass them on to the Uverse TV STBs on the network. Although then you run into the possibility that the Uverse TV STB is locked in a way so that it can't connect to any router other than an AT&T gateway.

nelson61

Jun 24, 2018

Looks like there are several ways to ramp up subscriptions.

https://gizmodo.com/at-t-employees-reportedly-encouraged-to-use-unethical-s-1827088406

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iJustine

49 minutes ago · posted in iJustine

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Smuuth

Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge

Last reply Today at 10:15 PM · posted in SatelliteGuys Classifieds

WANTED DirecTV LCC

Anyone have a DirecTV Local Channel Connector that you'd like to get rid of at a reasonable price? DirecTV is currently in a contract dispute with owner of my local ABC affiliate.

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b4pjoe

Jun 2, 2026

Smuuth said:
Anyone have a DirecTV Local Channel Connector that you'd like to get rid of at a reasonable price? DirecTV is currently in a contract dispute with owner of my local ABC affiliate.

You should ask DIRECTV for one if you are affected by the dispute. I know in the past they have given them out during a dispute. Not sure if they still do that but it is free to ask.

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Smuuth

Jun 2, 2026

b4pjoe said:
You should ask DIRECTV for one if you are affected by the dispute. I know in the past they have given them out during a dispute. Not sure if they still do that but it is free to ask.

I already asked, but the CS agent said they wouldn't do it. They said the only thing they could do is $10/month bill credit.

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Jimbo

Jun 3, 2026

Smuuth said:
I already asked, but the CS agent said they wouldn't do it. They said the only thing they could do is $10/month bill credit.

Take the $10 and Call Back ...

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Smuuth

Monday at 10:22 AM

Jimbo said:
Take the $10 and Call Back ...

I did that. The response was that the LCC is not available. Escalated the issue to a tech support person with the same results.

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Jimbo

Monday at 10:39 AM

Smuuth said:
I did that. The response was that the LCC is not available. Escalated the issue to a tech support person with the same results.

Could be out of them I guess ... I'd keep trying, every 3-4 days.

If they are not out of them as them WHY you can't get one, seeing Your in a Dispute. Thats what they are for.
I would make them give you a real answer, don't let them off the hook.

I had one, and it worked well, but I believe I gave it to another D* friend (also had a AM21), I know I gave them away ...

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Smuuth

Monday at 10:44 AM

Jimbo said:
Could be out of them I guess ... I'd keep trying, every 3-4 days.

If they are not out of them as them WHY you can't get one, seeing Your in a Dispute. Thats what they are for.

According to the tech support guy, they don't have any in stock. He said I should receive an email when and if they have them. I even told him I would accept a refurbished unit.

Jimbo

Monday at 10:45 AM

Smuuth said:
According to the tech support guy, they don't have any in stock. He said I should receive an email when and if they have them. I even told him I would accept a refurbished unit.

I'm not sure your going to find any Refurbished ones as D* doesn't ask for them back.

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Smuuth

Monday at 10:48 AM

Jimbo said:
I'm not sure your going to find any Refurbished ones as D* doesn't ask for them back.

Yeah, I know. At one point, I even had 3 AM21s but gave them away when I got rid of my last HR54 and switched to the HS17.

Arctic_fox

Today at 10:00 PM

Good luck they haven't made them in years. you could poke around on ebay and see if there's any on there. if not why not a tablo or a zapper box with an antenna connected to it

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Smuuth

Today at 10:09 PM

Arctic_fox said:
Good luck they haven't made them in years. you could poke around on ebay and see if there's any on there. if not why not a tablo or a zapper box with an antenna connected to it

I have my OTA antenna connected to my television directly already so watching is not the issue. The reason I want the LCC is so I could record programs if I'm not at home to watch them live, especially since ABC is carrying both the NBA and NHL playoffs.
I have an active search on eBay and there is one there but he wants $180 plus shipping and I am not going to pay that.

Arctic_fox

Today at 10:12 PM

Smuuth said:
I have my OTA antenna connected to my television directly already so watching is not the issue. The reason I want the LCC is so I could record programs if I'm not at home to watch them live, especially since ABC is carrying both the NBA and NHL playoffs.
I have an active search on eBay and there is one there but he wants $180 plus shipping and I am not going to pay that.

a tablo box is cheaper

Amazon.com

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Arctic_fox

Today at 10:15 PM

why invest in hardware that's going to be boat anchors in a few years?

zippyfrog

Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 10:05 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Price Increase on Owned Equipment?

Did anyone have a price increase today on their equipment? I own my VIP211k's, and they have been $5.00. My bill that I received last week shows the "add-ons" as being $5.00. However, I just logged into my Dish account, and my "add-ons" are now $10.00. Did the additional receivers go up by $5.00 recently?

As I mentioned, my last bill shows $5.00 and under the notes, nothing is mentioned about a price increase.

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telstar_1

Today at 1:28 PM

Does cable charge box rent?

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RJT79

Today at 4:47 PM

telstar_1 said:
Does cable charge box rent?

The cable company I was with years ago did charge $9.99 for a receiver.

RJ T.
From Illinois

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RJT79

Today at 5:03 PM

zippyfrog said:
Did anyone have a price increase today on their equipment? I own my VIP211k's, and they have been $5.00. My bill that I received last week shows the "add-ons" as being $5.00. However, I just logged into my Dish account, and my "add-ons" are now $10.00. Did the additional receivers go up by $5.00 recently?

As I mentioned, my last bill shows $5.00 and under the notes, nothing is mentioned about a price increase.

I went to try to add the Heartland channel as dummy to see what it would do for me as I own my receiver and have DISH Outdoors and this is what mine shows. (Note however I had to take the 2nd receiver I told you I added the other day off because I was told you can only have 1 receiver when you have a one outlet on the Dish Playmaker and was having issues with the 2nd receiver and I didn't know that and that was done yesterday as well so I am back to one receiver.)

Let's upgrade your package.

Your monthly bill will increase by $6.00 per month.

Breakdown

June 11, 2026 - July 11, 2026
You are changing your programming in the middle of the bill cycle. The bill shown below is your bill for next month including prorations and credits. Your following bill will return to the fixed rate. This bill will take effect from now until July 11, 2026.
Monthly Services
$86.99
Flex Pack
$72.99
Local Channels
$14.00
Add-Ons
$68.98
National Action Pack
$12.00
Regional Action Pack
$12.00
News Pack
$10.00
Paramount+ with Showtime
$10.00
Drama and Classics Pack
$6.00
Heartland Pack
$6.00
Starz Encore Movies
$6.00
On DISH Magazine
$4.99
Starz 2 Mo ($11)
$1.99
Prorated Charges
$7.93
Heartland Pack Jun 11 - Jul 20
$7.93
Order Total
$7.93
Prorated Total
$7.93
Due Today
$7.93

Transition Bill Total
$156.10
Proposed Changes
Your monthly bill will increase by $6.00 per month
Monthly Services
$86.99
Add-Ons
$68.98
FCC Regulatory Surcharge
$0.13
Taxes & Surcharges
$0.00

Monthly Total
$156.10
Prorated Total
$7.93
Order Total
$7.93

Due Today
$7.93

Sounds like an issue with DISH Billing

RJ T.
From Illinois

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zippyfrog

Today at 5:19 PM

I asked again, and the rep I talked to said it is a glitch and that "Access for TV" shouldn't be there - the rep pulled up my future month bills and that charge isn't on it. So I am not going to worry about it right now, but it will be interesting to see when the price changes happen later this year. Will this line item show up? The fact that it is a specific item that is different from anything makes me think it is more than a glitch. But we shall see.

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RJT79

Today at 5:29 PM

zippyfrog said:
I asked again, and the rep I talked to said it is a glitch and that "Access for TV" shouldn't be there - the rep pulled up my future month bills and that charge isn't on it. So I am not going to worry about it right now, but it will be interesting to see when the price changes happen later this year. Will this line item show up? The fact that it is a specific item that is different from anything makes me think it is more than a glitch. But we shall see.

I am hoping they don't add this down the road. Things are expensive the way it is now. Even DIRECTV allows the first receiver free. This would go against DISH and DISH is already loosing subscribers I wouldn't think they would do these kind of tricks but you never know. Always look at your bills for unknow charges. I heard horror stories of people getting charged for things they didn't know were there.

RJ T.
From Illinois

Reactions: charlesrshell

Arctic_fox

Today at 10:05 PM

telstar_1 said:
Does cable charge box rent?

yes big cable charges crazy dvr fee's and box rental fee's

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View all replies (11)

teachtom

Last reply Today at 9:21 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Problem when I switch from Bonus View channels back to regular Dish channels

Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm trying to solve problem I'm having with Dish bonus view channels. When I'm watching the bonus view channels then I switch back to regular dish channels, after few minutes the screen flips to black and after 30 seconds flips back to regular channels and continues to flip back and forth until I turn off TV. After I wait 30 minutes and turn back on , I can use regular channels again. So, its after I switch from bonus view channels to regular dish channels the problem starts. Been trying to fix this for a month, but no luck
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks

6 Replies · 96 views

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HipKat

Today at 5:07 PM

teachtom said:
Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm trying to solve problem I'm having with Dish bonus view channels. When I'm watching the bonus view channels then I switch back to regular dish channels, after few minutes the screen flips to black and after 30 seconds flips back to regular channels and continues to flip back and forth until I turn off TV. After I wait 30 minutes and turn back on , I can use regular channels again. So, its after I switch from bonus view channels to regular dish channels the problem starts. Been trying to fix this for a month, but no luck
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks

First off, great TV. I'm torn between the 77C5 or the 77G5.
It sounds like the handshake between the Receiver and the TV is having a problem. Are you using the free cable that came with the Joey or a higher speed HDMI cable?? That's the f irst place I'd look

Reactions: Foxbat, TheKrell, charlesrshell and 1 other person

RJT79

Today at 5:17 PM

teachtom said:
Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm trying to solve problem I'm having with Dish bonus view channels. When I'm watching the bonus view channels then I switch back to regular dish channels, after few minutes the screen flips to black and after 30 seconds flips back to regular channels and continues to flip back and forth until I turn off TV. After I wait 30 minutes and turn back on , I can use regular channels again. So, its after I switch from bonus view channels to regular dish channels the problem starts. Been trying to fix this for a month, but no luck
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks

First off, The analog to digital switch, also known as the digital television transition, is the process of converting older analog television broadcasting technology to digital broadcasting. It's used through coaxial cable for the an antenna during the mandatory switch from Analog to Digital on June 12, 2009. You either had to get a converter for your analog (Tube TV) or use a converter box that has the analog or digital tuner or an HDTV which your is and has the tuner built in. Your TV is HD and using an HDMI Cable and nothing is connected by coaxial cable so this wouldn't apply.

In my theory it probably means a new TV. I had a TV go out on my switching between the Smart Screen from the HDMI inputs before because they went faulty. Sometimes electrical surges can cause this. If you have an older home or rent an older home or apartment sometimes the electrical outlets are not grounded and these days HDTV's need a ground which can cause them to malfunction and go bad quicker. Never plug it directly in an outlet. It will damage the TV.

Hope I could be of some assistance.

RJ T.
From Illinois

Reactions: charlesrshell

teachtom

Today at 7:33 PM

RJT79 said:
First off, The analog to digital switch, also known as the digital television transition, is the process of converting older analog television broadcasting technology to digital broadcasting. It's used through coaxial cable for the an antenna during the mandatory switch from Analog to Digital on June 12, 2009. You either had to get a converter for your analog (Tube TV) or use a converter box that has the analog or digital tuner or an HDTV which your is and has the tuner built in. Your TV is HD and using an HDMI Cable and nothing is connected by coaxial cable so this wouldn't apply.

In my theory it probably means a new TV. I had a TV go out on my switching between the Smart Screen from the HDMI inputs before because they went faulty. Sometimes electrical surges can cause this. If you have an older home or rent an older home or apartment sometimes the electrical outlets are not grounded and these days HDTV's need a ground which can cause them to malfunction and go bad quicker. Never plug it directly in an outlet. It will damage the TV.

Hope I could be of some assistance.

RJ T.
From Illinois

Thank you for the information. I do keep the TV plugged into a surge protector, but we have had pretty strong thunderstorms/lightning in the last month so that have contributed to my problem.The house was built in 2009 so everything seems to be grounded correctly. We have had a power surge also. Seems like no one fixes anything any more, so just get a new one or live with the problem. Thanks

Reactions: charlesrshell

teachtom

Today at 7:39 PM

HipKat said:
First off, great TV. I'm torn between the 77C5 or the 77G5.
It sounds like the handshake between the Receiver and the TV is having a problem. Are you using the free cable that came with the Joey or a higher speed HDMI cable?? That's the f irst place I'd look

I think the HDMI cable is good, i used one of my own from my 4K atmos system, i'll switch it with another just to check. Also I have a bid in at Greentoe for 77" G5. Thanks

Reactions: HipKat and charlesrshell

HipKat

Today at 8:17 PM

teachtom said:
I think the HDMI cable is good, i used one of my own from my 4K atmos system, i'll switch it with another just to check. Also I have a bid in at Greentoe for 77" G5. Thanks

I hope that works. I'm waiting til Black Friday sales

Reactions: charlesrshell

Darrell S

Today at 9:21 PM

I've had this problem with my older Sony TV. It happens when I just punch in a regular channel number. The only way it works right for me is to push guide and select a regular channel from the guide screen.

Reactions: charlesrshell

Scott Greczkowski

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge

Last reply Today at 9:13 PM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Song Name Game Part 3!

Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne

Get it?

An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....

67109 Replies · 2662359 views

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gms49ers

Today at 11:00 AM

Time Stand Still - Rush

Reactions: long_time_DNC

Bobby

Today at 11:08 AM

I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You) - B.J. Thomas

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long_time_DNC

Today at 3:37 PM

Help Is On Its Way - Little River Band

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sdfntx

Today at 6:00 PM

Little Band of Gold - Sonny James

RaiderPower

Today at 9:13 PM

Band Of Gold - Freda Payne

View all replies (67109)

teachsac

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!

Last reply Today at 8:59 PM · posted in TV Shows

House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones, premieres on HBO Max on 8/21. I will be warching

'Game of Thrones' spinoff 'House of the Dragon' fires up release date at HBO, drops new character pics

The wait’s felt a little like watching for a dragon egg to hatch, but HBO’s hugely anticipated Game of Thrones prequel series finally has a release date. House of the Dragon will debut the first of its initial 10-episode season this summer, the network revealed today in a series of tweets that...

www.syfy.com

View: https://youtu.be/fNwwt25mheo

S~

39 Replies · 5644 views

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KAB

Sep 30, 2024

That was as bad as the rest of the show. Jean Smart was mostly invisible.

Jim S.

Oct 6, 2024

I prefer the trailer for the movie adaptation of Mario Kart. At least that had Pedro Pascal in it.

klang

Feb 19, 2026

View: https://youtu.be/i6w7O1kwuBk?si=Q557kzRMDJYsAl4j

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harshness

Feb 20, 2026

"A new line of unsullied kings" would seem impossible given the GoT definition of "unsullied". :biggrin

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osu1991

Today at 8:59 PM

View: https://youtu.be/0JlMjgqduVw?is=wLRc7xhSLRSgsUML

3rd season starts June 26

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 8:52 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Why New FCC Rules Could Crush Phone Privacy in the US

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unH0Z1jl228

Direct YouTube Link - Why New FCC Rules Could Crush Phone Privacy in the US
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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natevw

Last reply Today at 8:02 PM · posted in FTA Receiver / Equipment Support

GEOSATpro Does anyone recognize these channels (/audio loop)?

Hi all, I recently inherited a FTA system off Craiglist and have been trying to get it set up. What I got was a Glorystar-branded ~90cm offset dish with a ground mount (/flat roof) frame, and GEOSATpro DSR200c receiver. From that initial equipment, I've replaced the old LNBF with a (cheap!) new one and also splurged on an SG-2100 H-H motorized rotor which does respond from the receiver's USALS menu.

The previous owner had it set up for religious programming on Galaxy 19 and I've been trying to start by finding that same bird at least. After a couple sessions I'm not sure I have, but I've found *something* at least! A handful of motor ticks further than the dish wants to be for 97W after starting from motor 0 pointing as much south as I can guess at. (I don't have great references to aim for and it's really hard to sight where exactly the dish is pointing anyway….)

Anyway, so far there's only one transponder that I've ever been able to catch as I search. It's 12146 V and when the receiver scans it I get this list of video channels:

1.1 Srv_1
2.84 OU_Chan
3.2 Srv_2
4.5 Srv_5
5.3 Srv_3
6.4 Srv_4
7.6 Srv_6
8.7 Srv_7

There's iirc three audio channels it finds too but I didn't get a good snapshot of those. All the channels except for one seem to be dead (black screen and silent audio), except for the OU_Chan one which on both days I found it was just rolling one same ad over and over on a loop. I won't repeat the full roll since I don't want to spam the forums as my first post

but it's a long-winded spiel about "you know us as an industry-leading satellite solutions provider with over a quarter million sites" and to call them For All Your Every Needs™ type thing.

While I get little blips from other frequencies, this is the only strong transponder I've been able to come across. My receiver shows it as S 75 and Q up to 85 when I adjust it. It actually seemed to get better as I **un**skewed my LBNF — iiuc G19 was supposed to be -20º for me but however I'm supposed to be reading/referencing the angles the puck is now basically at 0º relative to the dish/arm got the strongest on this transponder.

Anyway sorry this is so long winded already… my question is, do I even have the right satellite? None of the other transponders that are supposed to be active on G-19 seem to come in. And if not the right satellite does anyone happen to recognize which one I might have found instead? I think knowing that would help me then adjust for a truer south aim and then hopeful the USALS will work automatically once I can get it dialed in.

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cyberham

Jun 2, 2026

Correct LO setting to 10600 MHz. Set receiver to 12053 V 22000. Use USALS to motor over to 97W Galaxy 19. Then, loosen bolts and rotate entire assembly (motor & dish) very slightly east or west until you peak on that transponder.

You should be able to blind scan in 6 transponders (DVB-S) and dozens of channels.

When using a motor, just set skew of LNB for 0 degrees and don't change it. The motor automatically rotates the dish to the correct skew.

natevw

Jun 4, 2026

cyberham said:
Correct LO setting to 10600 MHz. Set receiver to 12053 V 22000. Use USALS to motor over to 97W Galaxy 19. Then, loosen bolts and rotate entire assembly (motor & dish) very slightly east or west until you peak on that transponder.

Done and done and done! I ended up doing a bit more iteration (back and forth between the left-right and up-down adjustments) but I've now got it landing on G19 at its default position for 97W.

cyberham said:
You should be able to blind scan in 6 transponders (DVB-S) and dozens of channels.

Yep, ended up with a page or two full on my receiver's search. Didn't double-check that my receiver has all six of the right transponders but I can mess with that later if it turns out I'm missing something interesting but still DVB-S / MPEG-2 compatible.

cyberham said:
When using a motor, just set skew of LNB for 0 degrees and don't change it. The motor automatically rotates the dish to the correct skew.

Yep, can see definite signal degradation as soon as I skew the LNB either way from "straight" (seam on the LNB lined up with the clamps on the mounting bracket). Will make setup easier if I want to try swapping anything else in!

I don't know if there's any good (unencrypted, DVB-S) satellite farther away to really check the sweep against, but I was at least able to program in my original find at 101.0 W back in (now at the correct "12000 V 20000" setting) and can get both birds automatically.

Shouldn't be *that* exciting since it's just an ad, but still really fun to choose channels on the other one and have it jog over and lock on

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cyberham

Jun 4, 2026

Motor over to 123W Galaxy 18 and try for 12078 V 3680 (Korean Broadcasting System). It is DVB-S. And 12008 H 12660 (Daystar mux) on the same satellite.

Beyond these, you'll need your new receiver that supports DVB-S2.

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Brct203

Jun 4, 2026

natevw said:
Done and done and done! I ended up doing a bit more iteration (back and forth between the left-right and up-down adjustments) but I've now got it landing on G19 at its default position for 97W.

Yep, ended up with a page or two full on my receiver's search. Didn't double-check that my receiver has all six of the right transponders but I can mess with that later if it turns out I'm missing something interesting but still DVB-S / MPEG-2 compatible.

Yep, can see definite signal degradation as soon as I skew the LNB either way from "straight" (seam on the LNB lined up with the clamps on the mounting bracket). Will make setup easier if I want to try swapping anything else in!

I don't know if there's any good (unencrypted, DVB-S) satellite farther away to really check the sweep against, but I was at least able to program in my original find at 101.0 W back in (now at the correct "12000 V 20000" setting) and can get both birds automatically.

Shouldn't be *that* exciting since it's just an ad, but still really fun to choose channels on the other one and have it jog over and lock on

beside 123W, another one to try (if it's above the horizon at your location) is Hispasat @30W. It has at least 2 DVB-S transponders with SD/Mpeg2 channels

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natevw

Today at 7:36 PM

cyberham said:
Motor over to 123W Galaxy 18 and try for 12078 V 3680 (Korean Broadcasting System). It is DVB-S. And 12008 H 12660 (Daystar mux) on the same satellite.

No luck finding this one. I motor over and it seems like a pretty dead spot of sky. I did get a slight blip (Q up to 1% or 2%) if I lowered the dish slightly. So I wonder if my polar mount itself maybe needs a bit of fine tuning?

Even when loosening the bolts and manually nudging the dish up/down/left/right nothing seemed to really wake it [new receiver, see below!] up and never saw anything more than 4% or 5% which I don't know is even real or could have been just noise?

Brct203 said:
beside 123W, another one to try (if it's above the horizon at your location) is Hispasat @30W.

I'm in Washington state (northwest CONUS) so this one's not an option for me.

cyberham said:
Beyond these, you'll need your new receiver that supports DVB-S2.

I now have a V8 Finder 2

I've been able to scan in more now on G-19, and as well as watching the ad on SES 1 and getting some PBS stations there and G-16 both. So three satellites kinda in the general vicinity of each other (97W/101W/99.1W) programmed and able to rotate between.

Is G-18 at 123W as strong as the others? According to Satbeams I should be at least somewhat in its footprint although it looks like it's maybe focused more on Alaska.

Now that I'm back at my computer waiting for the Finder to charge back up looks like the Eutelsat(s) 117W have a couple Ku transponders I could look for too.

Reactions: cyberham

cyberham

Today at 8:02 PM

On 117W, try for BVN. It has a C/N lock of just 1.0 dB so it's easy to receive. See transponder data on Lyngsat. 123W is receivable. Your motor is not perfectly on the arc yet.

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 7:52 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Google’s New Translate Tool

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW3qReY-JYA

Direct YouTube Link - Google's New Translate Tool
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

0 Replies · 11 views

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 7:52 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Another Cisco SD-WAN 0-day?

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zh1RgcJue0

Direct YouTube Link - Another Cisco SD-WAN 0-day?
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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DIRECTV and DIRECT NOW Streaming Merger Complete?

Good Bye, Tim! Last WWDC 🥹

WANTED DirecTV LCC

Price Increase on Owned Equipment?

Let's upgrade your package.

Breakdown

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Song Name Game Part 3!

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