3 HD, 4 STD sets, which provider?

[tdillon]

Okay, another in-law wants to know which way to go. She has 3 HD televisions in her house and 4 standard def televisions. She wants to know whether to order Dish or Direct. She is fed up with Time Warner cable. I've heard that Dish has a 4 tuner limit, but Direct requires 2 cable runs to their boxes, and after showing up at the house told her to order Dish. She lives in a 2 story house that had all of the RG6 cable pre-run inside walls. All runs terminate in the attic at a distribution block, which should make the install fairly easy. The installer told her that "Nobody has more than 4 tv's in their house unless they live in Laguna." Her house was built 5 years ago, so I think the cables should be high enough bandwidth for the Dish multiplexing.

What are the suggestions? I looked into pulling another cable run to the HD locations, but it would be impossible to do because of the way the house was constructed.

 

[Todd Humphrey]

You could go with 3 DISH 622's which would provide 3-hdtv tv's with DVR, and 3 SD TV's with satelltie, but that can get VERY costly. Plus, you would still need a SD receiver. IMO, this gets very costly and most people will not consider this option.
The real question is. Does she need DVR's on all the HDTV's? That is the only reason DTV needs two coaxes.
I think if you narrowed your plan to 1 or 2 DVR's and used non-DVR receivers on the rest of the TV's the cost becomes more reasonable. Then again, it is not my money.
Before this question can really be answered properly, we need to know how much she is spending now, and how much is she willing to spend?

Here are some specs of DISH receivers

 

[tdillon]

She is currently spending $109 per month with Time Warner, which includes 1 HD DVR (with a totally difficult to use UI), and 6 SD tuner boxes, which makes her other 2 HDTV's only standard def. I think that she said she was getting HBO and STARz including for that price, somehow on all the TVs.

She would like to have an HD DVR on one of the HD sets. HD boxes (no DVR) on the 2 other HD boxes, and then SD DVR's on the 4 other SD tv's in her house. She wants any TV to be able to turn to any channel without worrying about overriding a DVR timer. (sometimes an issue in my own 2 box, 4 tv setup).

Verizon FIOS is still at least 18 months out in her city.

She would like to keep the cost under $120 per month.

 

[Todd Humphrey]

I would post her options now, but 24 is coming on. I will list the possible details later tonight.

 

[Todd Humphrey]

So if going with Dish, you would need 1-622's, 2-211's, and 4-311's.

Dish will allow as many receives as you need, but if you go over 6, you will have to go through an authorization process. Call 888-371-9077.
On a new account you should be able to get the 622 and both 211's. Then you will need to purchase the 311's. At about 100 to 130 each, $400 to $500.

The 622 will provide dual tuner access to one HD TV. You could eleminate one of the 311 and use the 2nd TV out of the 622, but running the 622 in single mode is pretty cool.

I am not sure of you can purchase 2-322's inplace of the 311's but if you can, and both are pluged into a phone line, that saves you $5 month/each.

The monthly bill depends on programming, but you can get all this for under $110 month. If she get the everything pak, the DVR fee is waived. If you can use 2-322's, the 2nd tuner is free on those and the 622 2nd tuner. That brings your monthly equipment cost down to $20 over programming cost.

There is going to be some equipement cost to handle this many receivers. You will need two cables for the 622, and the 322's , unless you use one D1000 for the 622 and 1-211, another D1000 for the 2-322's and yet another D1000 for the last 211. That would be a mess. If you did not use the 322's and went with 4 - 311's. You could use 3/4 switches, run two cable only to the 622 and use a single D1000. That of course is if the D1000 works well for 129 in your area. We have to use a seperate 24" dish to receiver 129 (WA state).

This is a custom installation. You mother sounds like she knows what she wants and is willy to pay for it. Find a local store you like and go with them. If you need help finding a local dealer/installer, let me know I have many in my online database and hundreds more in my off-line files.

Find a Dish Network Dealer

 

[Todd Humphrey]

One last thought. The dual tuner units count as two receivers towards your total of 6 allowed before you need to call that phone number.

 

[tdillon]

Thanks for your help. She has called Dish, but hasn't told me what the outcome is. Direct is definitely out of the picture because the installer that they sent wanted no part of the installation. She may "settle" on Time Warner. I will be visiting again in February, so I will report back what she decided.

 

[Todd Humphrey]

If she called DISH, they will say the same thing the DTV guy said. She needs to contact a LOCAL experianced dealer / installer.
I have several resources to help her do that. Look in my directory first. If that does not yield someone, send me an e-mail with her Zip and I will use my off-line resources.
If she allows DISH corporate to do this, odds are she is not going to be happy.

 

[sunelec]

You're allowed only 4 leased tuners but you could have up to 8 more if you purchased 4 dual tuner receivers. Your account limit is 6 receivers so you could have up to twelve tuners if you used dual tuner receivers.

 

[sunelec]

With Dish Network I meant.

 

[lakebum431]

Not always true, I have 6 leased tuners - 2 622s and 1 322. Also unless she wants all of the TVs to be able to watch independent programming she can backfeed the signal from the dual tuner boxes and distribute that throughout the house.

 

[sunelec]

I know what you say because I have 5 leased tuners. I want to upgrade one of my 811 receivers to the 622 but Dish told me that although they allowed more than 4 on occasion in the past ( by mistake they say ) they will not allow it anymore. Dish is requiring me to reduce my leased tuners from 5 to 3 so that when I upgrade my 811 to the 622 I will only have 4 leased tuners. So in effect they are saying they will get you when you upgrade if you have more than 4 now.