Is Wally the receiver that would allow me to pay no fee for its use? What would my charges look like if I had four Wallys? (All of this based on the "locals only" option if it's available to me.)
I'm pretty sure that there's a fee on even the first wally now for new customers..
I remember pattykay saying that new customers pay the fee for even the first wally
That all depends on how long you have been a Dish subscriber. I am not sure what the cutoff date was, but everyone who signed up before that date continues to get no fee for their first receiver. That is how I get Dish service with no equipment fees as long as I only keep one receiver active at a time. The fine print on Dish's price chart shows that the cutoff date for Welcome Pack at the lower rate was 1/15/2019. I don't remember if the no equipment fee grandfathering was before or after that date, but I know it was a separate announcement from the Welcome Pack one. My sister opened a new Dish account on 1/1/2020, and she had the fee on the first Wally. So, this change was definitely before that date.
IIRC, the first Wally has no fee, but subsequent Wallys leased would be $7 each and if owned (all Wallys) those after the first would be $5 each.
That is correct. This is a change to the fee structure that happened along with Dish's first price increase of 2021. The first year my sister's account was open, she paid the full $7 fee, even though her Wally was purchased. As soon as this change went into effect, that fee went down to $5 on the purchased Wally.
So, to answer the original question, that all depends on whether you feel it is worth it or not to purchase your Wally receivers. In other words, is the savings ($2 per month per Wally for each month you still have Dish service) going to be enough to offset the upfront cost of purchasing them? Tvland1 was offering to give away a Wally awhile back. (Did TheKrell end up with that one? I never heard back about that.) So, that would reduce the upfront cost, if that Wally is still available.
