I'm confused after two conversations with DISH CSR's about whether my 811 receiver HAS to be replaced due to the MPEG4 transition, or if I can keep using it as an SDTV-only receiver.
context: my 811 (owned, not leased) was demoted to the guest room a couple of years ago when I got a vip622 DVR. It is hooked up to an SDTV, so I don't use it for HDTV programming. The main reason I use it, instead of a 301 which I also have, is that the UHF remote allows me to locate the 811 in a CLOSET. So I don't want to switch to an IR-only receiver like the vip211. The 811 also doesn't seem to object to the fact that it is not connected to a phone line, unlike my vip622 (and I assume the vip211). So bottom line is my best case is to just continue with the 811 in the closet as an SDTV receiver.
First call with DISH was a couple of months ago when they wanted to replace my owned 811 with a leased vip211. I told them about the need for UHF and the lack of need for HDTV. The guy said in that case, no problem, the 811 would continue to function as an SDTV receiver indefinitely. Case closed, I thought.
Then I turned on the 811 yesterday, for first time in 3 months (guest room!), and got a "smart card not authorized" message on every channel except the DISH information channels. So I called DISH and reached an ill-trained CSR who sounded like a broken record repeating something like "the 811 has been discontinued, can I send you a vip211?" about ten times rather than trying to figure out what was actually going on. I quizzed her about whether MPEG2 transmissions had been stopped, and told her how the previous DISH rep had said my 811 would continue to work indefinitely, just without HDTV. She didn't seem to understand my questions. Then I asked her if the 301 had also been discontinued. She said no. So I pointed out the apparent contradiction that if the 301 could still receive SDTV on MPEG2, then my 811 should be able to as well. Again, it seemed she just wasn't understanding what I was talking about.
Finally, she said she would check for more info with someone else; she came back with the first new piece of info that made some sense: she said that they were in process of swapping out all smartcards with new versions, and that the 811 would not be part of the replacement program, so that by the end of 2008 no 811's would be allowed on the DISH network. (btw... my 811 has a smartcard slot, but currently there is no physical smartcard... not sure if that is relevant or not)
So finally my questions:
1) is it true that there will be no way to continue to use my 811 on DISH after Dec 2008?
2) if yes, then what would be the best option to replace the 811? Is there a UHF equivalent to the vip211? Or will dish still support an old 322?
btw.... after hanging up with DISH last night, I googled the "smartcard not authorized" message and found some info suggesting I try a 10 second power button reset... that started about a 20 minute process of rebooting, and then downloading new software and rebooting again, after which all my programming came back! So as of this moment, my 811 is working just the way I want it to!
context: my 811 (owned, not leased) was demoted to the guest room a couple of years ago when I got a vip622 DVR. It is hooked up to an SDTV, so I don't use it for HDTV programming. The main reason I use it, instead of a 301 which I also have, is that the UHF remote allows me to locate the 811 in a CLOSET. So I don't want to switch to an IR-only receiver like the vip211. The 811 also doesn't seem to object to the fact that it is not connected to a phone line, unlike my vip622 (and I assume the vip211). So bottom line is my best case is to just continue with the 811 in the closet as an SDTV receiver.
First call with DISH was a couple of months ago when they wanted to replace my owned 811 with a leased vip211. I told them about the need for UHF and the lack of need for HDTV. The guy said in that case, no problem, the 811 would continue to function as an SDTV receiver indefinitely. Case closed, I thought.
Then I turned on the 811 yesterday, for first time in 3 months (guest room!), and got a "smart card not authorized" message on every channel except the DISH information channels. So I called DISH and reached an ill-trained CSR who sounded like a broken record repeating something like "the 811 has been discontinued, can I send you a vip211?" about ten times rather than trying to figure out what was actually going on. I quizzed her about whether MPEG2 transmissions had been stopped, and told her how the previous DISH rep had said my 811 would continue to work indefinitely, just without HDTV. She didn't seem to understand my questions. Then I asked her if the 301 had also been discontinued. She said no. So I pointed out the apparent contradiction that if the 301 could still receive SDTV on MPEG2, then my 811 should be able to as well. Again, it seemed she just wasn't understanding what I was talking about.
Finally, she said she would check for more info with someone else; she came back with the first new piece of info that made some sense: she said that they were in process of swapping out all smartcards with new versions, and that the 811 would not be part of the replacement program, so that by the end of 2008 no 811's would be allowed on the DISH network. (btw... my 811 has a smartcard slot, but currently there is no physical smartcard... not sure if that is relevant or not)
So finally my questions:
1) is it true that there will be no way to continue to use my 811 on DISH after Dec 2008?
2) if yes, then what would be the best option to replace the 811? Is there a UHF equivalent to the vip211? Or will dish still support an old 322?
btw.... after hanging up with DISH last night, I googled the "smartcard not authorized" message and found some info suggesting I try a 10 second power button reset... that started about a 20 minute process of rebooting, and then downloading new software and rebooting again, after which all my programming came back! So as of this moment, my 811 is working just the way I want it to!
