I am returning to Dish from Directv and tried to get 2 Hopper 3s with a Joey3 and wirless Joey. I told them I would buy the 2nd Hopper 3. They said I needed to have 7 receivers before they would allow a 2nd Hopper 3. I went through 3 CSRs and Advanced technical support. I also used their Facebook page and got the same answer from them all.
2 Hopper 3's.
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Surprising they wont accommodate for new business, but anyway. In my case it was the same, had a H3 and a pair of Joey's (4k and Wifi), needed another room with YouTube and a separate DVR library because my father is picky and wanted to have a whole hard drive for himself, and could not get anyone on the phone to get me setup with a second H3 no mater what. Ended up getting a DPH42 ($69 on solidsignal, the switch you need to have two H3's on one dish), a Duo Hub (like $10 in Amazon iirc, its a splitter that takes the outputs of the DPH42 and gives you 2 satellite feeds for each H3, and one wired Joey output) and a H3 ($230 solidsignal). My house has RG6 in all rooms, so it was a pretty simple install. Once you have everything and call in to tell them you have and are activating purchased receivers, I have found far less pushback.
Will the local people do/know how to do the installation if the receiver is activated? If their answer is yes, you could buy a H3, call in to activate it without even taking it out of the box (serial/smartcard is printed on the outside). If it gets activated no problem then get the locals to put it in for you, as long as you provide the parts and the person knows what he is doing it should work. Worst case (like if Dish does not activate it, which I doubt) you have a sealed and inactive H3 you should be able to return no problem, and all you lost was the time/shipping costs (depending, and as long as you get it from somewhere reputable)
You can have the receiver on hand before the installer shows up with 1 H3 and your Joeys, and when he gets there, as him to add the line where you want it, and then call Dish to activate the receiver after your account is activated.
From his sig it looks like he has a H3 already, just missing the second one (and probably the Joey's). So he has an account. Could still do as you say, call in requesting an upgrade/installation of the Joey's, then have the second H3 on hand and the DPH42 (dunno if tech's can install switches from their inventory just because, I'm presuming not), and hoping he's a chill tech that does not mind doing a little extra work.
I would wait for a weekday and call the Dish Loyalty number 888-496-1260 during business hours mountain time. Be prepared to wait 20 minutes on hold but you will eventually reach a Dish Customer Support Agent in the US that can resolve problems that the normal agents can not. The normal agents are following a computer script. That is how I was able to get two Hopper3 receivers activated.
Of course you still need to buy the second Hopper3.
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Of course you still need to buy the second Hopper3.
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Asking a Dish technician to do work that is not on their work order is not fair to the Dish technician. They only get paid for what is on their work order and modifying the work order sometimes requires them to be tied up on the phone for a long time.
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Techs get paid a set rate. They have kickers for their points, I believe. That’s DNS techs. Retail techs are paid for the work they do.
Could also slip the tech a tip to run the lines. Throw him $20-$40 while he is already doing the others and he will run the line.
If only it were that simple. I had my dual H3 install all planned out and approved by the the CEO's office 4 months prior to. Yet when it came time to activate the second H3 (Leased) although it was in the records that it was approved. The CSR on the other end, with a Field Sup, Training Tech, Installer and "Follower", standing here all wanting to see how these installs happen, and then FS telling him to do it. He wouldn't. We were on the phone for so long I had to get the installer a charger to keep it from going dead. I asked, "Why didn't he just call back in?" They all said it doesn't work that way for Techs and Activation. I got so pissed off, as was everyone else, I grabbed the phone and started screeming at the guy got all his personal info, acting as if I was writing it down, threatening to report him for not following what was pre-approved and verified every month for 4 months prior to the install.
Finally he relented after making me agree to a 2 year contract that I was told in the beginning I couldn't have with the price freeze. So I lucked out. Come to find out, the FS did take down the guys info and had him fired.
Looks like it's slowly changing. Good things come to those that cause trouble!
When was that? And YMMV, as there have been plenty of setups of 2 H3’s and zero Joeys.
tl:drctria
May, 2018 or 2017. I just had to renegotiate my "2 Year" contact last January. And they are versed for people like me. Where I found that the owed device fee was actually $10, not $5.
I know it was in the month of May, because the weather was good as I planned it for the Installer, which ended up being the Install Trainer, cuz he saw the work order for a 40' ladder and wanted to see what that was all about as did a Field Super, wouldn't have any issues on that 40' ladder. While I stood on the roof on the other side of the chimney with everything being waist height and handed him the gear. Of which we got into a fight about "Capping Concrete". He was right, the newer stuff is softer. But only because it's cosmetic and newly installed. Mine, there was only one kind of concrete when this house was built and it was over 50 years old which is when concrete is fully hardened. It took him an hour and a half and 6 new bits just to drill 12 holes. Glad the actual Installer was delayed. Then he reachored and reaimed the two dishes and doing all the, sloppy/not entirely informed, install of the 42 Switch and the hubs. I thought I'd get a new dish and LNB. Now I have to paint my old ugly dish. Then the switch, of which the new LNB would have alleviated and stuff that feeds down an unused chimney to the level where all the gear is that I ended up redoing a couple weeks later. 2018 or 2017.
Thanks!!! I called the number you posted and negotiated a deal to get a 2nd Hopper 3 installed plus other equipment and programming changes. The agent saw I was a Dish customer for more than 25 years and worked very hard to give me some great deals. I bought a Hopper 3 from Solid Signal and it is on its way. The install will happen next Monday. I will let you know how it goes.
The work order did not include the customer owned 2nd H3. So when the installer called to confirm an early arrival. I asked him if he had the right LNB, switch, duo hub and power inserter on the truck. He didn't have the LNB and had to drive back to the shop to get it. It was an hour out of his way. He now has everything and is installing it. Everything is now complete and all activated. I cannot get the voice commands to work on the 2nd H3 nor Alexa commands . I will try those again after tonight's update. I can see each H3's DVR from all receivers.
Excellent news. Give that new H3 a few days to settle in and I think all will be well.
Is internet connectivity working at all? Like with apps? If not, then bridging (Settings > Internet > Advanced > Bridging) needs to be disabled on the second H3, because it gets an internet connection from the first H3. Also, the second H3 should not be connected to the internet by any other means (wifi/ethernet)
If bridging is already disabled then yeah, waiting for the nightly is a good idea.
I think the lesson here is if some want a 2nd H3 is that they MUST deal with USA CSR's and AFTER being denied, then get kicked up or get numbers to Loyalty, CEO, on-line feedback, whatever dept., etc. that has authority to make 2nd H3 happen.
Usually Dish will only require that you purchase (at full retail price) from them or you can purchase 2nd H3 from a 3rd party retailer at a lower price (like those mentioned on this thread), and Dish will (at least has always done in the past) provide all necessary support switches, LNBF's, labor, etc. to make it all happen.
Usually you will be told that the 2nd H3 is ON the work order and that the tech will know that the customer will have that 2nd H3 at the site, and then the tech takes your 2nd H3 and does all the work and provides all equipment necessary to install the whole system because the work order states a TWO H3 install with customer providing 2nd H3. You can confirm on the phone with Dish at time of setting all this up that there will be no additional charge to you so long as you purchase that 2nd H3 at your own expense from whomever, if a tech dares to charge you extra, call that same special rep or office back and they will set things straight with the tech. As long as you provide the additional Set-top box, Dish provides all the other support equipment at NO extra charge to the upgrade price. At least that has been the way Dish has handled such installs in the past, and my last experience was 3+ years ago for TWO H3's.
Sometimes there may be bumps, as it was with my TWO H3 install. We had to call my special rep, but he was gone for the day and so we could not get the 2nd H3 up and running, but I told the tech to just forget it because the rep mentioned I may have to call him to send the hit to have it function (because at that time ONLY special reps could authorize the FIRST hit for 2nd H3 as part of initial install). After the tech left, I felt he didn't do the full software download because the 2nd H3 was not seen on the network (from previous installs going back to the 721, those boys didn't follow through on doing a hard re-set and/or further attempts at downloading software). Anyway, after doing it MY WAY, the H3 was finally seen on the net and was requesting authorization, it was evening already, so I emailed my special rep to please HIT the 2nd H3 (providing the proper Receiver ID #), and went to bed, and then woke up the next morning to see my 2nd H3 fully functional and letting me watch TV and record, etc., with a confirmation from my special rep via email that he sent the hit.
I add all that above because I don't want people to get frustrated or give up. A 2nd H3 or a TWO H3 at one time install is not a common install, and there are sometimes a few hoops to jump through even AFTER the tech as done all he can, and even the tech may not get it exactly right. Just be certain to get the name and number of the special rep you had dealt with so that if there are any wrinkles, they know you and the history and can fix things for you.
FWIW, there are some households, such as mine and the OP's where a 2nd DVR STB is legitimately needed, and so it keeps the peace in the house if certain people or groups have their OWN DVR to themselves! There is no way that the two of us would have enough HDD space for all our recordings if we shared one H3, and dear OLD mom would never be able to weed through my recordings to get to hers. She has slight dementia and so having her own recordings all to herself allows her the ability to find what she wants without her getting frustrated. Yeah, I know about Custom Folders--we still would not have enough HDD space to share on ONE H3-- but it is so much easier for her knowing it is all HER recordings.
Usually Dish will only require that you purchase (at full retail price) from them or you can purchase 2nd H3 from a 3rd party retailer at a lower price (like those mentioned on this thread), and Dish will (at least has always done in the past) provide all necessary support switches, LNBF's, labor, etc. to make it all happen.
Usually you will be told that the 2nd H3 is ON the work order and that the tech will know that the customer will have that 2nd H3 at the site, and then the tech takes your 2nd H3 and does all the work and provides all equipment necessary to install the whole system because the work order states a TWO H3 install with customer providing 2nd H3. You can confirm on the phone with Dish at time of setting all this up that there will be no additional charge to you so long as you purchase that 2nd H3 at your own expense from whomever, if a tech dares to charge you extra, call that same special rep or office back and they will set things straight with the tech. As long as you provide the additional Set-top box, Dish provides all the other support equipment at NO extra charge to the upgrade price. At least that has been the way Dish has handled such installs in the past, and my last experience was 3+ years ago for TWO H3's.
Sometimes there may be bumps, as it was with my TWO H3 install. We had to call my special rep, but he was gone for the day and so we could not get the 2nd H3 up and running, but I told the tech to just forget it because the rep mentioned I may have to call him to send the hit to have it function (because at that time ONLY special reps could authorize the FIRST hit for 2nd H3 as part of initial install). After the tech left, I felt he didn't do the full software download because the 2nd H3 was not seen on the network (from previous installs going back to the 721, those boys didn't follow through on doing a hard re-set and/or further attempts at downloading software). Anyway, after doing it MY WAY, the H3 was finally seen on the net and was requesting authorization, it was evening already, so I emailed my special rep to please HIT the 2nd H3 (providing the proper Receiver ID #), and went to bed, and then woke up the next morning to see my 2nd H3 fully functional and letting me watch TV and record, etc., with a confirmation from my special rep via email that he sent the hit.
I add all that above because I don't want people to get frustrated or give up. A 2nd H3 or a TWO H3 at one time install is not a common install, and there are sometimes a few hoops to jump through even AFTER the tech as done all he can, and even the tech may not get it exactly right. Just be certain to get the name and number of the special rep you had dealt with so that if there are any wrinkles, they know you and the history and can fix things for you.
FWIW, there are some households, such as mine and the OP's where a 2nd DVR STB is legitimately needed, and so it keeps the peace in the house if certain people or groups have their OWN DVR to themselves! There is no way that the two of us would have enough HDD space for all our recordings if we shared one H3, and dear OLD mom would never be able to weed through my recordings to get to hers. She has slight dementia and so having her own recordings all to herself allows her the ability to find what she wants without her getting frustrated. Yeah, I know about Custom Folders--we still would not have enough HDD space to share on ONE H3-- but it is so much easier for her knowing it is all HER recordings.
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The installer must have enabled the bridging and internet on the 2nd hopper 3 . I am able to use all apps though. What I cannot do is get Alexa to work on the 2nd H3. How do I disconnect from the the internet? I see how to turn bridging off.
Is the first/original H3 connected to the internet through Wi-Fi/Ethernet already, with bridging enabled? Because if its not then it cant provide connectivity to the second one (and Joey's). If so, go ahead and leave bridging on the second H3 off, and disconnect it from the internet. If its connected via Ethernet, then you need to pull the Ethernet cable (obviously). Wi-Fi is kinda weird, there is no direct method of making it forget a signal (there is a set of buttons you can press in a specific menu, but I cant remember it right now). What I like to do is just go through the WI-FI setup wizard, and give it a wrong password on purpose, then save. That will kill WI-FI. Then, a network reset to see if it can connect via the primary H3. You do pretty much all this in [Settings > Internet]
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