Help me with my Wiring

[jrapps]

Dish is coming tomorrow to replace my 522 & 722 with a 2 Hopper/2 Joey system and I want to make sure I'm ready..Can someone here chime in and let me know if I can re-use all of these lines? (I custom wired my house with RG6 when it was built in addition to the crappy cable lines my builder ran so these are all fresh 3 year old wires)

House:

I am in a 2-story house. Dish is mounted on the roof. Living Room (Hopper #1) and MBR (Joey #1) on 1st floor, Office (Hopper #2) and 2nd Bedroom (Joey #2) on second floor.

Wiring:

From the Attic down to the Living Room (where old 722 was and now Hopper #1 will go) I have a 3GHz RG6 line with a blue barrel for the SAT feed, and another 3GHz RG6 line for the OTA roof mounted antenna (I realize I can't use this now with hopper, but hopefully one day). From the Living Room to the MBR (which share a wall) I have a pass-thru box that fed a short coax from the 722 "TV2 Out" to my MBR TV (I assume now this would connect from Hopper 1 to Joey 1, or do I need a RG6 line from the attic down to Joey 1?). I also have my cable modem & router right at the Living Room TV so there is an Ethernet line already there to plug into Hopper 1.

From Attic to the Office (where old 522 was and now Hopper #2 will go) I also have 2 3GHz RG6 lines w/blue barrels (one for my old 522, one unused) that would now connect to Hopper #2. The wiring for Joey #2 is the main part I am unsure of. Today I have the "TV2 Out" from the 522 going into a wall jack that connects to the original pre-wired coax my home builder used for the whole-home cable lines (no idea what kind of coax it is but i doubt it is RG6) And then in BR2 a coax connects the TV to this same whole-house feed. Will this work to connect Hopper 2 to Joey 2?

Do the 2 hopper outputs need to be tied together somehow?

Do I need to connect an ethernet line to Hopper 2 or either Joey?

Sorry for the long description here...thanks in advance to everyone for your help.

Jason

 

[rocket69]

sounds like a cut and dry install for tech

he might need to fish a new line into attic so he can have 3 sat lines into the duo node.

From that point he will use one line and a tap to feed joey for your main tv and do the same for the office and second joey. He might get a hard wire to network the hopper or install a hic.

Smart move going to 2 hoppers.

 

[jrapps]

Thanks for the quick response.

Just so I am clear, the line from the attic down to the living room would go into a tap first, and then out of the tap, 1 line to Hopper, 1 Line to joey? (and then the same for the upstairs). So there is no Coax "Out" on the hoppers then?

Would it be better to have a hard ethernet line run to each hopper and Joey, or install a HIC?

Thanks

 

[JM42]

Just so I am clear, the line from the attic down to the living room would go into a tap first, and then out of the tap, 1 line to Hopper, 1 Line to joey? (and then the same for the upstairs). So there is no Coax "Out" on the hoppers then?

Correct x 2.

Would it be better to have a hard ethernet line run to each hopper and Joey, or install a HIC?

The best option is a HIC in my opinion. Seems to cause the least trouble overall and wil connect the entire Hopper network with a single ethernet port.

You can go with a single connection to one of the Hoppers and enable bridging as well, but some have had issues with bridging. Dish currently has bridging disabled and hidden by default.

The tech will likely say you don't need a HIC if you have easy access to plug in a Hopper directly. If he says that, make sure you verify both Hoppers and both Joeys have internet access before he leaves. Push for it if you want it. It is easier to get a "free" HIC while the tech is there than to have one sent for free later (it's $25 if purchased later).

 

[jrapps]

I've read a little bit on the pros/cons to bridging vs HIC...I guess my thought is that I can get a hard Ethernet line to both Hoppers and 1 Joey with zero effort. Is hard wiring each device to an ethernet line better/worse/no different that the HIC?

 

[sparc]

Is hard wiring each device to an ethernet line better/worse/no different that the HIC?

If you want a more "set it and forget it" in terms of networking, then go HIC. Of course, if ethernet is available near a hopper then a HIC won't normally be installed by a tech.

up through firmware s212, it probably didn't matter much. There were some firmware releases after that which made the ethernet and 2 Hopper combo look like more hassle in the long run.

 

[jrapps]

OK...a new thought here. Since I have 2 RG6 runs down to my LR & MBR (they share a common wall) is it better to use 1 line with a tap for the hopper/joey, or is it better to use 1 run for the hopper, and the other run for the Joey (connect both lines directly to the to the Duo Node). Reason I ask is that if I am going to ask for the HIC, then don't I'd need a tap on the line to my Living Room to connect the Hopper/HIC. Can you put 2 taps on one line?

 

[JM42]

OK...a new thought here. Since I have 2 RG6 runs down to my LR & MBR (they share a common wall) is it better to use 1 line with a tap for the hopper/joey, or is it better to use 1 run for the hopper, and the other run for the Joey (connect both lines directly to the to the Duo Node). Reason I ask is that if I am going to ask for the HIC, then don't I'd need a tap on the line to my Living Room to connect the Hopper/HIC. Can you put 2 taps on one line?

Generally, I'd always go for the home-run approach, but you wouldn't need two taps. A single tap to the HIC, then from the HIC pass-thru to the MBR. Save the extra run for OTA.

 

[ScottChez]

I am getting a 2 Hopper and 1 Joey install. With recent software updates is using a HIC still the best option? Bugs all fixed for Bridging?
I have ethernet wired already at both Hoppers and the One Joey, but I could hide the wires if it means I would get a free HIC.
I also have where would he put the HIC, next to the Joey?
If the bugs are fix is it still worth getting free a HIC in case I need it later.

Correct x 2.


The best option is a HIC in my opinion. Seems to cause the least trouble overall and wil connect the entire Hopper network with a single ethernet port.

You can go with a single connection to one of the Hoppers and enable bridging as well, but some have had issues with bridging. Dish currently has bridging disabled and hidden by default.

The tech will likely say you don't need a HIC if you have easy access to plug in a Hopper directly. If he says that, make sure you verify both Hoppers and both Joeys have internet access before he leaves. Push for it if you want it. It is easier to get a "free" HIC while the tech is there than to have one sent for free later (it's $25 if purchased later).

 

[3HaloODST]

Bridging is flawless here. See sig. HIC will work well too.

Sent from my iPhone 4S using SatelliteGuys

 

[ScottChez]

Are there any performance issues with Bridging (Network cable connected to the Hopper)?

I ask because on the DireCTV MOCA setup if the network is connected to the DVR the DVR has to spend CPU cycles to Bridge it out. The DVR is already slow so this is an impact.
If you use the Home Internet Connector (HIC) that box does the work sending the internet over the MOCA channel not the DVR.

 

[3HaloODST]

So far no issues here whatsoever. Bridged Hopper is fast 99% of the time. Same speed as the other two. I can't say whether or not it will slow down if you plan on doing unsupported things with the Hopper's MoCA network. If you do, Hopper Internet Connector may be the way to go.

 

[Dishman1978]

I would still use a HIC.