The OP's experience is a clear case of the effects of  Dish's draconian additional box fees.  If Dish had a real whole home solution, one probably wouldn't need additional boxes, in many cases.  Right now the ONLY real problem/complaint I have with Dish's pricing and what would be the single biggest factor to leaving Dish, is the outrageous additional boxes fees.  I am really re-evaluating my option, and I have to say I am willing to take all the compromises of DirecTV DVR's compared with Dish's--even the excellent external HDD option with Dish--for the power and SAVINGS of DirecTV's whole home solution.