Is it possible to connect wireless Joeys via powerline adapters?

olds403

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Feb 3, 2009
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michigan
I have been having issues with wireless joeys disconnecting, freezing, etc... Is it possible to run the ethernet connection from the HWS to a powerline adapter, and then connect the joeys via ethernet to powerline adapters at the joeys? I do not have coax available at the locations of the joeys but do have electrical outlets there and would like to try a more stable connection. Thanks for any suggestions.
 
I have been having issues with wireless joeys disconnecting, freezing, etc... Is it possible to run the ethernet connection from the HWS to a powerline adapter, and then connect the joeys via ethernet to powerline adapters at the joeys? I do not have coax available at the locations of the joeys but do have electrical outlets there and would like to try a more stable connection. Thanks for any suggestions.

Yes, you can probably do that, though I offer a couple of caveats.
  1. Early powerline adapters had pathetic bandwidth and I doubt they would work for the WJ.
  2. Your throughput may depend upon whether both power outlets are on the same leg (phase) of your breaker box.
Don't wireless joey's come with their own high-bandwidth dedicated AP? Ah... Yes they do: A look at the Wireless Joey and Access Point. Where did you put yours, and can you move it to a better location than where it is now? Better = closer, going through fewer walls/ceilings.
 
The hopper is on the main floor in the living room, the WAP is about 6 feet away from that, on a 4ft high shelving unit. The master bedroom WJ is approximately 24 feet away if you drew a straight line between them, but it is upstairs and the signal also goes through a couple walls to get there. I get a consistent 58-63 signal strength from the WJ connection but for some reason I cannot figure out, I get periodic freezing and pixelization on the TV in the master bedroom.

Dish replaced the Hopper with sling in December and it has been mostly trouble free until a few weeks ago. Last week I had to reset the system 4 out of 5 days. I had to do power cord resets on the Hopper, the WAP and the WJ. On Tuesday last week the WJ would not even respond to the remote, I had to do two power resets on it just to get it up and running. The wife is getting pissed off again and is talking about wanting to dump dish and get cable because as she puts it "when I turn it on it works", and I can't really argue with her logic. She doesn't think we should have to reset all the equipment just to watch TV. I like dish and the hopper and don't really want to deal with the crappy DVR from the cable company so I am looking for options to make things better.
 
I’ve used a WiFi to cat5 bridge with my 4K Joey. Traditionally all joeys would connect to any Ethernet available, moca, cat5 (and WiFi for wireless joeys). I miss my old 722 which had Powerline built in, another way to get Ethernet to remote devices.
The H3 does as well, the bottom port.
 
I called dish yesterday, was told I needed to call when it is acting up. I said it sometimes might not be until 10pm, they said to call and they are available 24/7 for tech support. That surprised me, I did not know they are available 24/7. We will see what they say when I call when it is actually acting up.

It is frustrating, I have seemingly good signal at the WJ, and yet it still does it. I did notice that the Hopper has update 727, and it was installed on 3/11/2020. It was "around" that time when I had to start resetting stuff, I wonder if that is related. Hmmm.....

I may get a longer ethernet cable and try moving the WAP closer to the master bedroom, don't have a lot of options on placement but there is one location that is about 7 feet closer, just need a longer cable to reach it.
 
Dish has a new Hopper software update 728 that came out on Friday. Try downloading manually instead of waiting for Dish to download. Maybe the new update will fix it.
 
Wife wanted me to research WOW cable/DVR's as we have them for internet (only game in the area) and she thinks we would get a better deal bundling. The only thing they have that compares to the Hopper is their ULTRA dvr, and it doesn't look like much of a comparison. I really like the Hopper system and don't want to downgrade equipment, I really hope I can get this figured out.
 
Wife wanted me to research WOW cable/DVR's as we have them for internet (only game in the area) and she thinks we would get a better deal bundling. The only thing they have that compares to the Hopper is their ULTRA dvr, and it doesn't look like much of a comparison. I really like the Hopper system and don't want to downgrade equipment, I really hope I can get this figured out.
I'm guessing that you have that wireless Joey in your bedroom because you don't have a coax there. I don't think the cable companies have any wireless receivers so you would need a coax to have cable service in that bedroom. If that's the case, you might think about adding a coax to the bedroom and that would take care of any issues cable or Dish.
 
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I'm guessing that you have that wireless Joey in your bedroom because you don't have a coax there. I don't think the cable companies have any wireless receivers so you would need a coax to have cable service in that bedroom. If that's the case, you might think about adding a coax to the bedroom and that would take care of any issues cable or Dish.

There is coax to that room but it is on another wall behind a dresser. Where the TV is located there is no way to get to it without having cables on the floor. TV is located between two doorways (walk-in closet and bathroom) and I think it would be difficult to get coax through the wall or under the floor (second story)
 
There is coax to that room but it is on another wall behind a dresser. Where the TV is located there is no way to get to it without having cables on the floor. TV is located between two doorways (walk-in closet and bathroom) and I think it would be difficult to get coax through the wall or under the floor (second story)
Does the ceiling in the bedroom go all the way to roof or is there a bit of attic there? Once again cable TV would need to use a coax to support a TV in that room so you gain nothing by going to cable.
 
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Does the ceiling in the bedroom go all the way to roof or is there a bit of attic there? Once again cable TV would need to use a coax to support a TV in that room so you gain nothing by going to cable.

There is I believe some attic space above the bedroom, there is a small access hole in the ceiling of the walk-in closet. Maybe that is my saving grace, if I tell the wife that Dish is the only option to keep the TV there without pulling coax to that wall.
 
There is I believe some attic space above the bedroom, there is a small access hole in the ceiling of the walk-in closet. Maybe that is my saving grace, if I tell the wife that Dish is the only option to keep the TV there without pulling coax to that wall.
There could be options. First, is there any way you can get that WAP closer to the bedroom. You can use an extended ethernet cable if it is possible. Second, it could be possible to extend that coax on the wrong wall to the new wall. When i say extend, I mean just that, you can't use a splitter. You could drop a new coax down each wall and use a coupler to tie the new coax to the old. You might need a professional to get this done but it fixes everything.
 
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There is coax to that room but it is on another wall behind a dresser. Where the TV is located there is no way to get to it without having cables on the floor. TV is located between two doorways (walk-in closet and bathroom) and I think it would be difficult to get coax through the wall or under the floor (second story)
I had the same situation. Here's the FIX: Get a HIC (Hopper Internet Connector) and connect to coax on other wall (make sure it is connected to the node). Attach coax to HIC's Home Video Network connection. Cap off the neighbor Pass Thru connector. Set up WAP next to it. Connect HIC and WAP with ethernet cable. Make sure slide witch is set to Access Point. Now you're "In The Room". It's called a HIC in reverse.
 
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I had the same situation. Here's the FIX: Get a HIC (Hopper Internet Connector) and connect to coax on other wall (make sure it is connected to the node). Attach coax to HIC's Home Video Network connection. Cap off the neighbor Pass Thru connector. Set up WAP next to it. Connect HIC and WAP with ethernet cable. Make sure slide witch is set to Access Point. Now you're "In The Room". It's called a HIC in reverse.
Perfect answer, easily done and if you talk to Dish about it they may send a tech who can place that HIC for free and change out the wireless to a Joey 3.
 
Another suggestion, try using a Firestick and Dish Anywhere with the bedroom TV. Might solve your problem and save a couple of bucks too.

Would that provide access to all dvr content, even EHD, and VOD services just like using the wireless Joey? And is the interface/guide the same? Also the :30 skip foreward and :10 skip back just like the dish remote so shows can be paused and commercials skipped?
 
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