Is it just me or are the Hopper and Joey garbage?

[DB10]

I replaced my old boxes a few months ago with these and they seem super flaky. They are very slow, particularly the Joey. When you change channels or use the guide you’d think it was calculating the meaning of life or something. The signal strength between the two boxes is at max. Sometimes they change channels by themselves.

Other times you’ll find yourself shunted into an inescapable menu. A few minutes ago I had to reboot the Joey because there was no getting out of a particular screen. A little later the hopper decided it needed to reboot and run diagnostics in the middle of a hockey game. There are various other problems with the systems.

My guess is the boxes try to do too much with cheap, under-powered hardware and code created by learning disabled chimpanzees. The latter is not specific to Dish though, the world is full of lousy code.

Are these typical issues?

 

[blake20005]

The Hopper3 always had major issues, with moca connection, stuttering picture, now the OTA guide data stopped working, I been with Dish since 2004 and I am really considering leaving within the next few weeks,I am looking around between hulu or fubo live, they don't have all the channels I want, but Dish could do better, add a bunch of missing HD channels , fix the glitches and make a deal with HBO so I can have it all integrated on one service, I really would like to stay with them if they did some of these things,my contract is up in march.

 

[pattykay]

They are very slow, particularly the Joey.

Which model of Joey do you have? The Joey 3 is very fast compared to all of the other Joeys. The Joey 3 is a very thin receiver, barely thicker than the cable that connects to the back of it. So, if you have any other model of Joey, you may be well-served to upgrade to a Joey 3 instead.

you’d think it was calculating the meaning of life or something.

The answer is 42. (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference)

 

[KaptainRandom]

Which model of Joey do you have? The Joey 3 is very fast compared to all of the other Joeys. The Joey 3 is a very thin receiver, barely thicker than the cable that connects to the back of it. So, if you have any other model of Joey, you may be well-served to upgrade to a Joey 3 instead.


The answer is 42. (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference)

Ah 42,
The answer to everything*
But do you know why?

*ASCII for a friend


Sent from my SM-G986U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[KaptainRandom]

We started way back with 711s (or 911s?).
We got OG Hoppers when they first came out.
Upgraded right away with each new generation Hopper.
Currently H3, 2xJ2, 1xJ4k.

The current Hopper3/Joey3(or4k) system is industry best.

Sent from my SM-G986U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[DB10]

Hey thanks for the tip. It’s definitely not that thin. The model just says Joey, and I just noticed it also says remanufactured. I’ll have to call them up and cause trouble.

In HGTTG it only took 7.5 million years to calculate the answer. This box is much slower.

 

[HipKat]

Hey thanks for the tip. It’s definitely not that thin. The model just says Joey, and I just noticed it also says remanufactured. I’ll have to call them up and cause trouble.

In HGTTG it only took 7.5 million years to calculate the answer. This box is much slower.

This is something that drives me crazy, upgrading existing customers to Hopper 1's and 2's instead of 3's. I think it's a slap in the face to any long-standing customer that agrees to commit 2 more years with an upgrade, to give them outdated equipment

 

[i2amsam]

I replaced my old boxes a few months ago with these and they seem super flaky. They are very slow, particularly the Joey. When you change channels or use the guide you’d think it was calculating the meaning of life or something. The signal strength between the two boxes is at max. Sometimes they change channels by themselves.

Other times you’ll find yourself shunted into an inescapable menu. A few minutes ago I had to reboot the Joey because there was no getting out of a particular screen. A little later the hopper decided it needed to reboot and run diagnostics in the middle of a hockey game. There are various other problems with the systems.

My guess is the boxes try to do too much with cheap, under-powered hardware and code created by learning disabled chimpanzees. The latter is not specific to Dish though, the world is full of lousy code.

Are these typical issues?

I don't have as much of a Hopper (mine is H w/Sling) to Joey comm speed issue as you seem to have, but, yes, it can subjectively be very slow, and without question varies widely from time to time for no apparent reason.

The hardware is far from advanced. However, I see other software (particularly FOSS *nix code) running on similar low-level platforms that has been executed fairly well. As a retired 40-year IT professional and former software developer who took great pride in his work, I think you may have given the coding chimps (and particularly their management) too much credit. The software on mine is beyond "flaky". If I owned a vehicle that exhibited the same standard of reliability, I'd be tempted to push it into the river. And unfortunately you are also correct that terrible code is the norm for just about every commercial application these days. Not only do the designers and coders appear to be incompetent and/or completely hamstrung by management in any effort to produce quality work, but actual testing of new or revised commercial code prior to release has become a artifact of the distant past. Want to know if the new code has issues? Release it and see how many users bitch. Disgusting!

 

[NYDutch]

If you have a Hopper 1 or 2, is it equipped with the "SNAP" add-on USB graphics co-processor shown below? The SNAP speeds up menus and the EPG transitions significantly.

 

[jct21]

I replaced my old boxes a few months ago with these and they seem super flaky. They are very slow, particularly the Joey. When you change channels or use the guide you’d think it was calculating the meaning of life or something. The signal strength between the two boxes is at max. Sometimes they change channels by themselves.

Other times you’ll find yourself shunted into an inescapable menu. A few minutes ago I had to reboot the Joey because there was no getting out of a particular screen. A little later the hopper decided it needed to reboot and run diagnostics in the middle of a hockey game. There are various other problems with the systems.

My guess is the boxes try to do too much with cheap, under-powered hardware and code created by learning disabled chimpanzees. The latter is not specific to Dish though, the world is full of lousy code.

Are these typical issues?

i think the joey 3's are about as fast as the directv c61 mini clients they replaced. i dont have anything to compare dish equipment to besides my directv genie & my local cable company. i like the channel selection on dish, but i like the genie dvr better. just a few tiny things that bother me about the hopper such as.... when watching a recorded program on the dvr, the channel you are live viewing loses buffer. the genie kept the buffer, which is 90 minutes vs. dish's 60. when going into any app like pandora, youtube, netflix or prime the hopper again wont keep the buffer on any tuner on the main unit. for some reason it deletes the channel you are viewing and the "input" switched channel also. the genie kept all buffers even while using double play. the joeys / moca connections are buggy and i have to power cycle them every other day or so. 0 of zero tuner issues. for those reasons im considering eating the etf and get my genie back. but directv is having its own problems, corporate wise anyway. local cable company is just junk. pure junk. id watch paint dry before id switch to imctv.

 

[pattykay]

We started way back with 711s (or 911s?).

One is a convenience store, and the other one is the day the Twin Towers fell. Perhaps they were 722's (or 922's?).
(If you go back far enough, there was also a 721 and a 921. However, that was at least a couple of generations before the ViP line. So, someone who upgraded with each new generation would have had something else between those 721's (or 921's) and the Hopper.)

 

[primestar31]

Hey thanks for the tip. It’s definitely not that thin. The model just says Joey, and I just noticed it also says remanufactured. I’ll have to call them up and cause trouble.

In HGTTG it only took 7.5 million years to calculate the answer. This box is much slower.

Be nice to the phone CSR you talk to. After all, THEY are your gateway to getting the best service right off the bat. You can always resort to the "cause trouble" mode later if need be.

I worked a worldwide helpdesk for a large company for some years after being a field tech, and believe me, you shouldn't piss off the phone CSR's right out of the gate.

 

[bnewt]

If you have a Hopper 1 or 2, is it equipped with the "SNAP" add-on USB graphics co-processor shown below? The SNAP speeds up menus and the EPG transitions significantly.

View attachment 149956

weren't these supposed to be free to existing customers?
didn't they create problems if you had more than 1 hopper in your setup?

 

[NYDutch]

weren't these supposed to be free to existing customers?
didn't they create problems if you had more than 1 hopper in your setup?

Yes, my understanding was that they would be free. Mine were, but they didn't come directly from Dish. My two Hopper 2's each have one installed, and we don't see any problems when both are sharing the same dish at our NY cottage. There were some MOCA related oddities with some earlier software versions, but that seems to have been straightened out now.

 

[DB10]

Want to know if the new code has issues? Release it and see how many users bitch.

I think companies figured out it's cheaper to fire the QA department and let users be your beta testers.

 

[DB10]

If you have a Hopper 1 or 2, is it equipped with the "SNAP" add-on USB graphics co-processor shown below? The SNAP speeds up menus and the EPG transitions significantly.

View attachment 149956

No, I don't have one of those. I'll see if I can get one, thanks.

 

[DB10]

Be nice to the phone CSR you talk to. After all, THEY are your gateway to getting the best service right off the bat. You can always resort to the "cause trouble" mode later if need be.

I worked a worldwide helpdesk for a large company for some years after being a field tech, and believe me, you shouldn't piss off the phone CSR's right out of the gate.

I'm always nice to CSRs. Generally they are nice people with no real control over what is going on. I find the eastern Europeans tend to be the sharpest, probably because they are doing work they are over-qualified for. I've always had good luck with Dish people.

 

[dweber]

I have two Hopper3 receivers, a Joey3 client, and I use Dish Anywhere through an Amazon 4K Firestick. I am always surprised with people having problems since my setup works very well. I watch 4K content with Netflix and Amazon Prime with no problems. I have watched 4K sports on channel 540-01 with my only complaint being less vivid color since Dish does not use HDR.
The Hopper3 Google Assistant controls all of my Lutron Caseta lights, keeps track of my calendar, and does a decent job on program searches. Alexa does a great job controlling my Dish equipment. I have 3 Hard Drives of saved content from 2000 - present. I also love PTAT and Autohop.
My one son has Spectrum DVR and my other son has YouTube TV. They will use Dish Anywhere to watch content on their dad’s dish. Their systems don’t even compare to my Dish equipment. I have an Amazon Recast Fire TV but it is much harder to use. The only advantage that the Recast has is the Guide is complete while my Dish Guide is missing info for 28 of the 55 OTA channels. The AirTV tuner on both of my Hopper3 receivers is about equal to the tuner on the Recast or the Sony Bravia TV tuners.
In summary the Dish Hopper3 and Joey3 system is great and nothing compares to it.


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[DB10]

In summary the Dish Hopper3 and Joey3 system is great and nothing compares to it.

Well I just got off the phone with them and apparently I have a Hopper Duo and a Joey 2 or something like that. I have to either buy a Hopper 3 for $350, or pay $150 and more per month, contingent on signing a new 2-year contract. I wish they told me they were giving me garbage at the outset so I could have made a more informed decision. I wasn't aware you needed to pick between boxes that work sometimes and others that are better. The fact that a coprocessor is even available is pretty funny in itself. That just screams kludge.

 

[HipKat]

Well I just got off the phone with them and apparently I have a Hopper Duo and a Joey 2 or something like that. I have to either buy a Hopper 3 for $350, or pay $150 and more per month, contingent on signing a new 2-year contract. I wish they told me they were giving me garbage at the outset so I could have made a more informed decision. I wasn't aware you needed to pick between boxes that work sometimes and others that are better. The fact that a coprocessor is even available is pretty funny in itself. That just screams kludge.

OK, the Hopper Duo is about as fast as the Hopper 3. The Joey 2, however, is junk. Not quite the junk that the Joey 1 is, but still junk. It's been announced to us that Hopper Duo installs will include the Joey 3 sometime in the near future. You should be able to get one of those at the very least.

I would do this, call back and you need the Loyalty Depart, not an "advanced customer support" specialist - the BS "title" they use when the first person who answers tries to head you off. Tell them you're canceling your account or something that forces you to the loyalty Dept. Here's a hint - I never talked to a Retention person in the Philippines.

Be firm and explain that 1, you're not able to record the way you were originally told you could (Whether you were ever told anything or not). 2, you've been a customer for x number of years and you expect better treatment. You want a Hopper 3 and that's it (You can probably get them to drop to $50 or maybe even a free upgrade, but the $50 is worth it, IMO).