a few questions

rjad

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Jan 24, 2004
56
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I am thinking of getting dish and have a few questions:
1) on their website, it says a $5.99/month for local channel. Is it 5.99 per receiver or per account no matter how many receivers you have ?
2) I have a TV in bedroom and living room, but I never watch them at the same time. Do I need two receivers? Is it ok to have just one receiver and move it to living room or bedroom depending on where I am?
3) assuming above 2) is ok, can I request to have the cable to both rooms, but only purchase one receiver? Any extra cost to run more than one cables?
4) I see most plans have one year agreement, is it ok to CHANGE the plan within a year? say, I start with top50 and local, and then drop local after a few months? or upgrade to top100?
Thanks!
 
rjad said:
I am thinking of getting dish and have a few questions:
1) on their website, it says a $5.99/month for local channel. Is it 5.99 per receiver or per account no matter how many receivers you have ?
2) I have a TV in bedroom and living room, but I never watch them at the same time. Do I need two receivers? Is it ok to have just one receiver and move it to living room or bedroom depending on where I am?
3) assuming above 2) is ok, can I request to have the cable to both rooms, but only purchase one receiver? Any extra cost to run more than one cables?
4) I see most plans have one year agreement, is it ok to CHANGE the plan within a year? say, I start with top50 and local, and then drop local after a few months? or upgrade to top100?
Thanks!

1) just 5.99 total- no matter how many recievers
2) you need 2 recievers (or a new 2 tuner reciever that will allow 2 room distribution- i forget the model # but its a newer model)

4) Yes- I had signed up for a 1 year commitment but changed plans a few times. But- if you *downgrade* to a cheaper plan, they charge you a one-time $5 fee. Upgrading programming is no-fee. But theoretically you could change programming every day if you wanted.
 
willy said:
1) just 5.99 total- no matter how many recievers
2) you need 2 recievers (or a new 2 tuner reciever that will allow 2 room distribution- i forget the model # but its a newer model)

4) Yes- I had signed up for a 1 year commitment but changed plans a few times. But- if you *downgrade* to a cheaper plan, they charge you a one-time $5 fee. Upgrading programming is no-fee. But theoretically you could change programming every day if you wanted.

2) I don't see why I need 2 receivers since I never watch them at the same time. oh well, guess they just want me to pay more :)
for the new 2 tuner receiver, assuming I put it in the living room, I guess I have to run a cable from the receiver output to the TV upstairs in the bedroom? It's kinda of messy.
4) Is "dropping local" considered downgrade or does local program have its own one year commitment?

Thanks!
 
rjad said:
2) I don't see why I need 2 receivers since I never watch them at the same time. oh well, guess they just want me to pay more :)
for the new 2 tuner receiver, assuming I put it in the living room, I guess I have to run a cable from the receiver output to the TV upstairs in the bedroom? It's kinda of messy.
4) Is "dropping local" considered downgrade or does local program have its own one year commitment?

Thanks!
You don't need 2 receivers. Just have the signal "mirrored" to the second tv. To do this, you just have to hook up a splitter between the receiver and TV and split the channel 3/4 signal. Then just have a cable ran to the second TV. The mirror outlet is NOT part of the free install, and usually runs $25-50 for labor and materials. There is no monthly fee for the second TV this way. However, if you were going to do this, you may as well wait until Feb 1 and get a 322 on the DHA plan. With it, you pay the same price ($29.99) for AT60 with locals on 2 tv's as you would for the same package on 1 tv with the Free Dish offer.

If you do mirror the signal, you will need to use a remote signal sender 'repeater' system to change the cannel from the other room unless you get a DVR receiver with the UHF radio controlled remote.

-----

Any change that results in a decrease in your monthly bill, or even a sidegrade change that keeps your bill the same incurs the $5 transaction fee. If you are in a SuperDish market, you MUST keep your local channels for the term of your commitment. Othewise, in DISH 500 markets, you can drop your locals at any time. You must maintain at least AT60 for $24.99 per month.
 
Mainstreet we call it a backfeed rather than mirroring but the reality is the same, two or more TVs are fed by 1 receiver. We don't call it mirroring to avoid confusing people with the $4.99 mirroring fee DirecTV charges for duplicating programming on additional receivers. Rjad I would suggest taking the second receiver the equipment is free to new customers, installation is free and DISH will charge you an additional $4.99/Mo. to duplicate programming on that receiver or $60/yr. If you wanted to buy an additional receiver 6 Mo. after starting the contract it will cost you $99 for the receiver and at least $59 for installation because you are now an existing customer. At the completion of your 1 year contract you can deactivate the 2nd receiver if you really don't need it and sell it if you want. This is assuming you go with the FREE DISH promotion where you own the equipment.
 
I currently have one reciever's output fed back into my antenna feed, so I can watch Dish on any television in the house. It is also handy because I can record it on any VCR in the house while watching a different channel on a TV equipped with its own reciever. One of these days the VCR problem will be cured with a 921... But, it is nice to have the feed going all over the house for free to TVs I do not use often.

I just bought a few extra UHF remotes so I can change the channel from whatever room I happen to be in.
 
Thanks all for the information and things are getting clearer now :)

I will probably go with single receiver for now because a friend of mine just told me he could give me his old unused 301 receiver if I ever need it in the future. I read from the website and it seems the newer dish pro stuff is compatible with 301 receiver. Does anybody know if the old/earlier 301 receiver will have a problem? And if I activate this 2nd receiver in the future, what kinda of cost? will dishnet give me a hassle?

regarding dropping local, I just see from dishnet.com that some of my local channels are requiring a second dish (dish 300?), I guess this second dish will have 1 year commitment of the local program ??

there are a few offers now available on dishnet.com site, since I want to own the equipment, I guess I have to go with either "Free DISH" or "Free-For-ALL". What's the real difference between them? Does "Free DISH" mean I only own the DISH, not the receiver?
 
The old/earlier 301 receiver will have no problem because it will work on either a DishPro or legacy lnbf's. The DishPro lnbf's MUST be used on DishPro receivers unless you get a DishPro adapter for the legacy receiver. All 301's are DishPro. Just make sure you have enough outputs on the switches/lnbf's to output to the second receiver.

Dish Network will not give you a hassle as long as there is no balance owed on that receiver. He will also have to transfer that receiver for you or they will not let you activate it. If there is a balance on the receiver they will make you pay the balance of what is owed on it (on his account) before it will be activated.
 
mike123abc said:
I currently have one reciever's output fed back into my antenna feed, so I can watch Dish on any television in the house. It is also handy because I can record it on any VCR in the house while watching a different channel on a TV equipped with its own reciever. One of these days the VCR problem will be cured with a 921... But, it is nice to have the feed going all over the house for free to TVs I do not use often.

I just bought a few extra UHF remotes so I can change the channel from whatever room I happen to be in.


That's a great idea, I just hope it's not a rooftop antenna. The FCC usually frowns upon broadcasting your signal all over the neighborhood. :D
 
Mainstreet said:
You don't need 2 receivers. Just have the signal "mirrored" to the second tv. To do this, you just have to hook up a splitter between the receiver and TV and split the channel 3/4 signal. Then just have a cable ran to the second TV. The mirror outlet is NOT part of the free install, and usually runs $25-50 for labor and materials. There is no monthly fee for the second TV this way. However, if you were going to do this, you may as well wait until Feb 1 and get a 322 on the DHA plan. With it, you pay the same price ($29.99) for AT60 with locals on 2 tv's as you would for the same package on 1 tv with the Free Dish offer.

If you do mirror the signal, you will need to use a remote signal sender 'repeater' system to change the cannel from the other room unless you get a DVR receiver with the UHF radio controlled remote.

-----

Any change that results in a decrease in your monthly bill, or even a sidegrade change that keeps your bill the same incurs the $5 transaction fee. If you are in a SuperDish market, you MUST keep your local channels for the term of your commitment. Othewise, in DISH 500 markets, you can drop your locals at any time. You must maintain at least AT60 for $24.99 per month.

is dropping one receiver considered downgrade or is it not allowed?
 
rjad said:
is dropping one receiver considered downgrade or is it not allowed?

Dropping a receiver doesn't incur a downgrade fee. However; if you are under your initial contract, you need to keep the additional receivers on the account until the end of the agreement. After your initial agreement, you can take off as many receivers as you please.

If you remove a receiver from your account in the first 6-8 months, your retailer will be charged back for the equipment and/or installation. If so, they'll come looking for you. ;) Most people don't like working for free or having money taken back for work already performed.
 
The only way you get a downgrade fee is if it pertains to programming, not receiver/hardware changes on the account.
 
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