Defective Dish 811 Receivers?

[carter23]

Has anyone had any major difficulties with their 811 receivers? I have replaced two in the last three months (one died Saturday before the Superbowl) and now lost a third this past week!!! Two of the units did the same thing - lost signal and just kept looping while trying to acquire a signal and now the third just had a melt down. The picture on the screen became blurry and the picture actually looked like it was melting!

Dish has been great about sending the replacement units free of charge but come on, enough is enough! I realize they send out refurbished units, but don't they have a QA department that regulates these things?? It seems they "fix" a unit for one problem, but once you receive that unit something else fails on it?? I have had my original 501 for four years now without any problems!! I missed both the Superbowl and the Daytona 500 in HD... I'm beginning to wonder if the Dish HD is worth it?

The CSR told me that "they have had several issues with the 811, however the 921 is a much better unit. They can upgrade me to the 921 for a low low price of $549.00 and that even includes installation." .....Are they serious??

 

[jbcheshire]

LOL, yes they are very serious!!! They want our money w/o really giving us anything in return for it that makes it worth the money we paid for it.... see the picture???... haha.. I have an 811 and mine has issues too, but fortunately not as bad as yours.. yet....

 

[tonyp56]

Um, the 921 is at least as bad as the 811, if not worse.(listening to all these 921 owners) Not to mention the 921 has a lot more features, and a lot more things to go wrong. Another thing I didn't know until last night, the hard drive never spins down, and therefore even in standby it spins, and the fan can and apparently does run. Then, the 942 is supposed to be coming out, and the 921 will probally become extinct! Read some post on the 921 here, I wouldn't buy it, if they sold it to me for $100, let alone $549!

 

[pcarter]

I would guess that the problems with yous 811s have been software issues, which is why sending new hardware hasn't helped. I have had the 811 for over a year now, and for a lot of that time, the box was very unstable, always losing signal, locking up, etc.

When I got the 283 software release, it finally started working fairly reliably (although this release didn't work for everyone), and now with 284 - I have had no problems at all.. (I'm kinda afraid to let it upgrade to the next release, since I finally have one that is working well..)

I wouldn't bet that switching to a 921 is going to fix things..

I would recommend checking which software release you have, and see if the problems you have had are documented here or on dbstalk...

 

[jbcheshire]

I have the v284 software, and if you call this stable, man it must have been terrible before!!!

I am looking forward, or at least somewhat hesitantly, to the v285 so that I can expand my favs channel listings and an extended EVG...

 

[mdonnelly]

Has anyone had any major difficulties with their 811 receivers? I have replaced two in the last three months (one died Saturday before the Superbowl) and now lost a third this past week!!! Two of the units did the same thing - lost signal and just kept looping while trying to acquire a signal and now the third just had a melt down. The picture on the screen became blurry and the picture actually looked like it was melting!
...

One of the known 811 issues deals with how it handles PSIP from a local station that isn't formatted correctly. That sounds like your looping issue. Check this link .

 

[carter23]

Update:

The first two 811's ran perfectly, even locals, UNTIL the software was updated to the v284. No problems what so ever on the 283 version?? The last one "melted" immediatley after Dish ran a force software update to the 284 version, leading me to beleive that it has something to do with the software..

 

[gpflepsen]

Um, the 921 is at least as bad as the 811, if not worse.(listening to all these 921 owners)

How can you say that with any credibility and admit you have never had a 921?

 

[BFG]

My 811 is functioning properly since p284. Haven't had to reboot since the update no other problems etc...

 

[GaryPen]

Wow. Where can I get one of these magic 811's? For instance, the acquiring signal/downloading guide issue can never be fixed.

I got an email from one of their engineers explaining why. It is a HW design flaw. He didn't call it that, of course. They don't see anything wrong with the flawed design that deactivates the sat tuner, when the OTA tuner is being used, causing the 811 not to refresh required data at predetermined intervals.

In my opinion, Dish "engineers" only deserve the moniker if they wear little hats and play with model trains. They certainly do not have any business designing consumer electronics equipment.

 

[SimpleSimon]

In my opinion, Dish "engineers" only deserve the moniker if they wear little hats and play with model trains. They certainly do not have any business designing consumer electronics equipment.

Sadly truer words have never been spoken.

 

[yogensha]

I'm a new subscriber. My 811 started the loop dance about 12 hours after it was installed. The replacement the tech brought did exactly the same thing. After rewiring my entire setup, it magically started working. The tech said I had a loose RCA cable that caused the problem. He reinstalled the original receiver and left.

The "loose" cable was actually completely unplugged, since it's unnecesary with my setup. I use the DVI output along with the analog audio. I had the video connector on the composite cable dangling loose on both ends. Composite video output seems redundant with an HD receiver, but....

Anyway, I put everything back the way I wanted (with the composite video disconnected) and it's been fine for weeks.

After reading the stores in this thread, sounds to me like Charlie should give us all extra receivers

 

[Foxbat]

... and now the third just had a melt down. The picture on the screen became blurry and the picture actually looked like it was melting!

carter23, did your 811 look like the pictures in this post?

 

[BFG]

I had the guide downloading crap come back this weekend

 

[tonyp56]

I had the guide downloading crap come back this weekend

It has not gone completely away for me, I just got used to it. Hold your power button down for five and then hopefully it will leave you alone for awhile. Hopefully if and when they start releasing 285 tomorrow it will completely fix it for everyone.

 

[Jaspear]

I got an email from one of their engineers explaining why....

In my opinion, Dish "engineers" only deserve the moniker if they wear little hats and play with model trains. They certainly do not have any business designing consumer electronics equipment.

Was your email from casey.jones@echostar.com?

 

[jbcheshire]

Yeah, my 811 was acting up all weekend too.. I think I had to hold the power button down on the unit at least 3 times.

 

[carter23]

Foxbat, No it literaly looked like it was melting on the screen. (ie. image was running to the bottom of the screen with the top of the screen being black) I actually thought it was my 4 month old HDTV melting!!! The 811 would no longer power on after that?

 

[jbcheshire]

WOW, that is scary!
I would have been FREAKING if that happened to me!!

 

[peid]

Here is my defective 811 story.

Just finished the basement with all new wiring etc.

Wanted to take me big screen and Dish 811 down in the basement. Unhooked the 811 on Saturday, got enough people to help move the big screen down in the basement Sunday, and finally got around to hooking everything back up on Monday. Spent 3+ hours neatly wire tying everything together, only to find out as soon as I power up my 811, it constant cycles through the Acquiring Satellite Signal screen. Goes between "Default odd & even transponders" and 105 odd & even transponders," never looks at 110 or 119 which are the only thing it can see.

Check and re-check 100 times my cabling to make sure it was plugged into the correct "Satellite In" coax jack and not the OTA antenna jack or the remote jack. All is well.

Thinking it must be a cabling problem since it is all new wire in the basement, I trace all wires and properly label them. I then take my 311 which was moved into the basement bedroom with all new cables and hook that up. Works like a charm. So then I take the cable from the back of my 811 and run it over to the back of the 311 and it works also. That eliminates any bad cabling. They agree after 3 different phone calls it is the 811 and probably right where the coax enters the machine.

I have a defective 811 and Dish says I can buy a refurb one for $49.95 plus $14.95 S&H. Or I can sign up for the no commitment Dish Home Protection Plan for $5.99 per month and get a refurb one sent to me for free. I can then cancel the Protection Plan and be on my way. But next time I have a issue, they may not let me cancel the plan if I sign up to use it again.

My questions are:

1. Anybody else have this issue with an 811?
2. I chose the Protection Plan route to get a replacement here my the end of this week, is that the better route than paying the $49.95 + $14.95? Either way they say once I get the replacement receiver I will still own it, as I do the defective unit.
3. Should I cancel the Protection Plan or is it worth it to have?
4. Should I be scared of Dish saying I have intention damage to my cosmetically PERFECT looking 811 receiver after they inspect it and charge the crap out of me?

Any other comments welcome. Whew, this got long, sorry.