A Wally to replace a VIP211k?

[Radioguy41]

As long as the LNB is DP Plus is there any technical reason why a 211k couldn't be replaced with a Wally? Straight plug & play? Has anyone had experience with both an OTA dongle and an EHD connected to a Wally? Any issues? Overheating etc? I heard there is a minimum size EHD requirement for a Wally?

I'm not interested in a Hopper. A 211k has served me really well but it's already been replaced with a refurb by Dish and the handwriting's on the wall. Not sure how much longer before they are obsoleted but I suspect not long so I'm just gathering information.

 

[pattykay]

As long as the LNB is DP Plus is there any technical reason why a 211k couldn't be replaced with a Wally? Straight plug & play? Has anyone had experience with both an OTA dongle and an EHD connected to a Wally? Any issues? Overheating etc? I heard there is a minimum size EHD requirement for a Wally? ...

Yes, the Wally is designed to be a straight plug-and-play replacement for a ViP211k on a DPP LNB or switch. Even with an older DP LNB or switch, there is a code that Dish can place on your account to disable the second satellite tuner on the Wally, which would make it compatible. In that case, the model listed on the Diagnostics screen would change to Wally T.

Having the OTA dongle and EHD both connected to the Wally works very well. I have tried this with the really old single-tuner dongle and multiple models of dual-tuner dongles (although only one OTA dongle at a time, obviously) and have not had any issues related to that. By adding a simple USB hub, you can even have more than two USB devices connected to the Wally at the same time. It is recommended to plug the external hard drive directly into one of the Wally's USB ports, and plug the hub into the other USB port. The hub would allow you to have the OTA dongle, Wi-Fi adapter, and Bluetooth adapter all plugged into the Wally at the same time. I have never used the Bluetooth on a Wally, but I have had the OTA, Wi-Fi, and EHD all hooked up at the same time without any issues. At least one other member here has reported having all four USB devices connected to a Wally at the same time, and that also worked well for him.

The minimum EHD size for a Wally is 500GB, which is larger than the minimum needed for other ViP or Hopper receivers. The maximum EHD size supported by a Wally is 4TB.

...
I'm not interested in a Hopper. A 211k has served me really well but it's already been replaced with a refurb by Dish and the handwriting's on the wall. Not sure how much longer before they are obsoleted but I suspect not long so I'm just gathering information.

If you are interested in a spare ViP211k just in case, I recently offered mine to another member here, but never heard back from that person. So, I will make the same offer to you, if you would rather keep using ViP211k instead of switching to a Wally.

 

[Radioguy41]

Thanks! That's exactly the information I was looking for. Thanks for the offer but if I do anything it will probably be to buy a Wally outright and swap out the 211k. Is there any way to copy files from a smaller HD to a 500GB?

 

[jpmarto]

Your mileage may vary, but when I upgraded from a 211z to Wally the 211z EHD was not recognized by the Wally. Despite what a CSR assured me. As reliable as the 211z was, the newer UI is much more robust (and the same as our Hopper3). I hooked up a cheapo bluetooth adapter to the l/r output and powered it with the upper USB socket. Then I velcro'ed the 2.5" EHD to it and I haven't looked back.

 

[Radioguy41]

Can you have one Wally and one VIP211k on together or must the receivers match?

 

[Tvland1]

Can you have one Wally and one VIP211k on together or must the receivers match?

I have a VIP222k,211k and Wally on my account..

 

[pattykay]

... Is there any way to copy files from a smaller HD to a 500GB?

Your mileage may vary, but when I upgraded from a 211z to Wally the 211z EHD was not recognized by the Wally. Despite what a CSR assured me. As reliable as the 211z was, the newer UI is much more robust (and the same as our Hopper3). I hooked up a cheapo bluetooth adapter to the l/r output and powered it with the upper USB socket. Then I velcro'ed the 2.5" EHD to it and I haven't looked back.

jpmarto is correct, unfortunately. I have switched back and forth between a ViP211k and a Wally multiple times, and every time the EHD from one receiver was not recognized by the other. So, it needed to be reformatted. Despite originally being announced by Dish as being compatible with EHD's from the ViP211 series, this has never worked properly on the Wally as far as I know. Fortunately, I already knew about that from reading here before I ever got my first Wally. So, I made sure that there was not much left that I wanted to keep on the hard drive each time I switched.

 

[Radioguy41]

OK, I'm getting a handle on what I think I want to do but have another question. If I get Dish to send one Wally to replace one VIP211k receiver on my account, will it come with an OTA tuner dongle or would I have to buy that separately and if I would, where's the best price?

 

[Bobby]

OK, I'm getting a handle on what I think I want to do but have another question. If I get Dish to send one Wally to replace one VIP211k receiver on my account, will it come with an OTA tuner dongle or would I have to buy that separately and if I would, where's the best price?

You would have to purchase a dongle, it doesn't come with it. The best place to purchase it is from AirTV. The AirTV dongle has exactly the same innards as the DISH dongle and is half the price. It is $29.99.

Products | AirTV

Stream your local HD channels to your mobile devices with AirTV.

www.airtv.net

 

[Radioguy41]

Thanks.

 

[Radioguy41]

Well, I called Dish and they are adamant they will not mix old and new equipment on the same account so my idea of upgrading one box at a time is not, apparently, doable although we all know that it is. What's the workaround? I really don't want to do both boxes at the same time because I want to be able to break the wife in on my box for a while so she's ready when her 211k gets upgraded. Otherwise if she wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to watch TV she might get befuddled and then I won't hear the end of it. Gotta keep grandma happy. The CSR insisted the 211k and the Wally are not the same (Solo) family and won't work together. Hmmmm.

Suppose I just went ahead and had them send two boxes but only installed one and waited a week or so to install the second box. Could that work?

 

[pattykay]

Well, I called Dish and they are adamant they will not mix old and new equipment on the same account so my idea of upgrading one box at a time is not, apparently, doable although we all know that it is. What's the workaround? ...

The workaround is to call the RV department. (Someone here probably has a direct number to that department that they could post here for you to use.) If you have already purchased and installed the Wally, then they should have no problem activating it. The RV department specializes in purchased equipment, especially Wally and ViP211 receivers, so they would have the correct answer for you.

 

[Tvland1]

I used dish chat to switch out my 211k for a Wally with no problems about 6 months ago..If you are purchasing a Wally you can call dishformyrv once you have it hooked up and ready to go.. that's who I used.. Offshore dish CSR has no clue what they are doing..
1-800-472-1039

 

[Radioguy41]

Received one Wally yesterday. For some reason or other the 2nd hasn't shown up. I called and we finally arrived at a consensus and another Wally is on it's way. Meanwhile the person says to go ahead and install the one I have. I said it won't work alongside a 211k, She says it will so off I go and install it. At that point she sends me to someone else to activate it and he says it won't work alongside a 211K. Okey dokey then, so I tell him to deactivate both 211Ks and away we go, all up, running, and activated.

So here are some early impressions. The picture is smoother but not as bright. Audio is better. It's certainly smaller, lighter, and runs cooler. Not liking the remote. Much prefer separate power buttons for TV and box. If I want to go to the streaming apps on the TV I can't turn off just the box, the TV goes off too and then I have to use the TV remote to turn it back on.

Really not liking the guide system. Trying to create Favorites lists is frustrating and considering there's no Save button it would have been nice to know how to save a list (I know, just back out but it's not very intuitive). Maybe I missed it but I couldn't find where to set the guide to only display HD channels. Gotta look some more I guess.

The OTA tuner leaves a lot to be desired. The 211K scanned in 86 channels, the Wally OTA adaptor scanned in 37!!

 

[pattykay]

... Not liking the remote. Much prefer separate power buttons for TV and box. If I want to go to the streaming apps on the TV I can't turn off just the box, the TV goes off too and then I have to use the TV remote to turn it back on.
...

Switching to a 40.0 remote would solve this problem. That is the older style of Hopper/Wally remote that looks more similar to the one you are used to using with your old receiver. If you would like a 40.0 remote, I still have one that I would be happy to send you. I am clearing out my old Hopper equipment, so I really have no use for this remote any more.

Another option would be to set the Wally for infrared remote reception, and simply continue using your old remote to control the Wally, instead of the remote that came with the Wally. To do this, go to:
Menu > Settings > Remote Control > Advanced > Infrared Reception > On
Make sure the remote address on your old remote is set to 1. This will allow it to control the Wally.

I still recommend switching to the 40.0 though, since the 40.0 is a UHF remote that will control the Wally from other rooms if you ever want to do that.

... Maybe I missed it but I couldn't find where to set the guide to only display HD channels. Gotta look some more I guess.
...

Menu > Settings > Guide > Advanced > Hide Duplicate SD Channels > On
(Of course, if the SD channel is not a duplicate of an HD channel, then it would still be displayed.)

...
The OTA tuner leaves a lot to be desired. The 211K scanned in 86 channels, the Wally OTA adaptor scanned in 37!!

Yes, the poor reliability of the Wally OTA scan has been a gripe of mine for quite some time. For what it's worth, with the exact same OTA adapter, I find the OTA scan on any model of Hopper (that I have tried) to be much more reliable than the Wally's scan. I have no idea why Dish cannot seem to get this to work properly with the Wally.

 

[Radioguy41]

I should correct a typo, I scanned 57, not 37 channels but that's still 29 less than the 211K. On the upside, after recalibrating the TV I am really impressed with the quality of the picture compared to the 211K. Now that I found I can get rid of that awful black background in the guide and can make the font larger I'll give another go at creating favorites lists.

 

[Tvland1]

Yes, the poor reliability of the Wally OTA scan has been a gripe of mine for quite some time. For what it's worth, with the exact same OTA adapter, I find the OTA scan on any model of Hopper (that I have tried) to be much more reliable than the Wally's scan. I have no idea why Dish cannot seem to get this to work properly with the Wally.

My wally is like a slot machine..never the same channels with each scan..I have 4 Orby receivers that scan 60 channels..My 211k gets 60... Wally best scan was 58 but when I count the channels theres 60..go figure..Now if I rescan the wally it's 48... next time 45 .. next 53 and so on..Never 60..I always cancel before it finishes since I'm afraid I will lose channels and not get them back..

 

[Radioguy41]

Well now this is getting frustrating. I ordered a pair of Wallys on the 9th. They were supposedly shipped on the 10th but when I go to Mydish page it does show two orders but only one has a ship date and tracking number. The one with the tracking number arrived Friday. Every time I call about it (3) they tell me the system shows it was shipped and I should be patient. However, they can't explain the lack of a tracking number. UPS was just here and no Wally again. This shouldn't be this difficult.

 

[Nebugeater]

Well now this is getting frustrating. I ordered a pair of Wallys on the 9th. They were supposedly shipped on the 10th but when I go to Mydish page it does show two orders but only one has a ship date and tracking number. The one with the tracking number arrived Friday. Every time I call about it (3) they tell me the system shows it was shipped and I should be patient. However, they can't explain the lack of a tracking number. UPS was just here and no Wally again. This shouldn't be this difficult.

If the CSR tells you it shipped ask them to give you the tracking number verbally and see if they can.

 

[Radioguy41]

They don't have a tracking number for it.