Known issue with dishonline.com preventing connecting to DVRs to manage recordings?

[ENDelt260]

So, lately I've been unable to connect to my DVR via dishonline.com. I don't have a slingbox, I'm just trying to schedule/manage recordings, not watch them on my computer.

The other day I finally got around to doing some troubleshooting on the issue. I verified that the DVR was connected and online. I attempted a soft and "hard" reset. Still no dice. So, I initiated a tech support chat. The tech had me visit Menu -> System Setup -> Diagnostics -> Analysis -> Send Status. After successfully sending in data and receiving an confirmation code, the tech said I should be able to access the DVR via dishonline.com in about 30 minutes. This successful access did not occur. I'm still unable to connect. So, tonight I initiated a new support chat. After wasting time on the most worthless chat ever (see below if you're into pain), a level two guy finally claimed that there's a known issue with dishonline.com causing my problem. Which leaves me with two questions:

1) Is there really a known issue?
2) If there is, why the hell is level 1 support not informed of this so that when I initiate a chat they can tell me right away rather than wasting so much of my time?

Here's the chat log for those interested. Enjoy.

Please wait while we find a representative to assist you...
Welcome to DISH Network Chat.
Angana (ID: RCZ): Hello Brain!
Brian Johnson: dishonline.com is unable to connect to my DVR (a VIP 722). If I select Menu, 6, 1, 9, 2 to get to the Network Setup screen, it shows my Connection Status as "Connected Online". Recently, I initiated a support chat about this problem and the support representative instructed me to go to Menu -> System Setup -> Diagnostics -> Analysis -> Send Status. I followed his directions and the DVR reported that it had successfully sent the status. He stated that I would be able to connect via dishonline.com in about 30 minutes. I was unable to connect 30 minutes later and am still unable to connect now.
Angana (ID: RCZ): I’m very sorry to hear that you are having an issue with DVR. I’d be happy to resolve that for you.
Angana (ID: RCZ): Can you please describe exactly what is on the television screen now? If there is an on screen message, please include the 3 digit number found in the top right corner.
Brian Johnson: I'm just watching live tv right now. There's no on screen message.
Angana (ID: RCZ): Okay.
Angana (ID: RCZ): ARE YOU able to view the channels.
Angana (ID: RCZ): Are you**
Brian Johnson: yes. The only problem I have is that dishonline.com reports that it is unable to connect to my DVR.
Angana (ID: RCZ): Okay.
Angana (ID: RCZ): We will happy to assist.
Angana (ID: RCZ): I see that your VIP 722 receiver on your account.
Angana (ID: RCZ): I have not heard from you in a while and your chat window shows you've been idle, are you still with me?
Brian Johnson: Yes. Ask a question and I'll answer it.
Angana (ID: RCZ): But I see it is active on your account.
Angana (ID: RCZ): I confirmed that the channels you're missing are in the package you subscribe to. I'm going to send an authorization signal to your receiver so that it recognizes the channels and makes them available to you again. This should take 1-2 minutes.
Brian Johnson: What the hell are you talking about? I'm not missing any channels.
Angana (ID: RCZ): Please let me check that for you.
Angana (ID: RCZ): Please unplug your receiver from the outlet and leave it unplugged for 15 seconds. Plug it back in, you may have to power the receiver back on. This may take up to 2 minutes.
Brian Johnson: I already attempted this. It did not resolve the problem.
Angana (ID: RCZ): Okay.
Angana (ID: RCZ): I'm going to transfer your chat to an Advanced Technical Support agent for additional troubleshooting. They may need to replace your equipment or send a technician. I appreciate your patience, please hold.
Angana (ID: RCZ) has left the session.
Please wait while we find an agent from the CH60 - Tier II Technical Support department to assist you.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You have been successfully transferred to Brad (ID: V6H) with the Tier 2 Tech department.
Brad (ID: V6H): I will be happy to assist you today. Please give me a moment to access your account and review your conversation with the previous agent.
Brad (ID: V6H): I show your needing help with your sling adapter?
Brian Johnson: No. I do not have a sling adapter. I have only a VIP 722. dishonline.com is unable to connect to it.
Brad (ID: V6H): I see
Brian Johnson: dishonline.com is unable to connect to my DVR (a VIP 722). If I select Menu, 6, 1, 9, 2 to get to the Network Setup screen, it shows my Connection Status as "Connected Online". Recently, I attempted a soft reset of the DVR, then a "hard reset" by unplugging the box, leaving it unplugged for 30 seconds, then plugging it back it. This did not resolve the issue. I initiated a support chat about this problem and the support representative instructed me to go to Menu -> System Setup -> Diagnostics -> Analysis -> Send Status. I followed his directions and the DVR reported that it had successfully sent the status. He stated that I would be able to connect via dishonline.com in about 30 minutes. I was unable to connect 30 minutes later and am still unable to connect now.
Brad (ID: V6H): What are you trying to do on dish online?
Brian Johnson: Access the DVR!
Brad (ID: V6H): To access the DVR on dish online you must have a sling adapter.
Brad (ID: V6H): You cannot watch live TV or access DVR recordings without
Brian Johnson: I'm not attempting to watch live tv. I can't even connect to the DVR to schedule recordings, review recordings presently stored, etc.
Brian Johnson: I should be able to do these things without a sling adapter.
Brad (ID: V6H): Okay so you are trying to set recordings, not actually access the DVR.
Brad (ID: V6H): I'd be glad to help you with that
Brian Johnson: I should be able to see a list of the recordings on the DVR as well. I recognize I can't watch them on the computer. When I click the DVR icon in the upper right corner of the web page, I get an error that says the DVR isn't connected in spite of the fact that it is. This is the problem.
Brad (ID: V6H): Thanks.
Brad (ID: V6H): Are you at home right now?
Brian Johnson: Yes.
Brad (ID: V6H): Is the box connected to the Internet via Ethernet cable or via wireless means?
Brian Johnson: an ethernet cable
Brad (ID: V6H): Thanks.
Brad (ID: V6H): Is it going direclty to a modem, or to a router?
Brian Johnson: It's going through a router. And is connecting successfully.
Brad (ID: V6H): Thanks.
Brad (ID: V6H): On your computer what web browser are you using right now?
Brian Johnson: firefox
Brad (ID: V6H): Thanks.
Brad (ID: V6H): On your dish remote, can you please hit menu twice?
Brad (ID: V6H): It will go to the system info screen.
Brad (ID: V6H): On that screen what does it say by software version?
Brian Johnson: L721RJQD-N
Brad (ID: V6H): Thank you.
Brad (ID: V6H): I do apologize for the inconvenience Brian. We are currently tracking an issue with that portion of dishonline.com. We are aware of the issue and hope to have it resolved as soon as possible. To better assist our engineers with this, we will file a problem report on behalf of your account, using the info we have gathered from you in this chat session. Again, I do apologize for the inconvenience with this and I want to let you know, resolving this issue is currently our number one priority.
Brian Johnson: Wow, what a waste of time. Think you could let your level 1 support folks know this?
Brad (ID: V6H): Unfortunately our level one support cannot file or gather the info needed to put in an official report
Brian Johnson: So, they can't also know that there's a known issue with dishonline.com?
Brad (ID: V6H): No, they do not troubleshoot dishonline exclusively like we do.
Brad (ID: V6H): I understand your frustration. We are doing everything possible to resolve this issue quickly. Is there anything else we can assist you with today?
Brian Johnson: No.
Brad (ID: V6H): Thank you for using DISH Network chat and have a great night!
Thank you for visiting DISH Network. You may now close this window.
Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

 

[ENDelt260]

I just saw in another thread that dish.sling.com still exists. So, I logged on there and it also cannot connect to my dvr. So, I guess whatever my problem is, it's not restricted to dishonline.com.

I have successfully accessed my dvr via both dishonline and dish.sling.com in the past... and I haven't changed my home network configuration since then.

 

[dan188]

Cany any dirt confirm this is a known issue and is it be worked on

 

[bgnewb]

Cany any dirt confirm this is a known issue and is it be worked on

I have been having issues with BBMP and yesterday while chatting online with one of the dish technicians he did have me try the same thing and told me there was a issue with dishonline and managing recordings. I am not a DIRT member but that is what i was told as well.

James

 

[mfs54729]

I did an online chat yesterday also. I told the CSR I couldn't access My DVR from Dish Remote Access and
he immediately transferred me to level 2 support. The level 2 tech had me check the broadband status.
The status was OK. I was then told it was a known issue and the engineers were working on it. They could
not tell me when it would be fixed.

Mark

 

[Dishman1978]

Level 2 has specific training to tell you what you want to hear. Level 1 does not. Lol

 

[TG2]

I primarily use Dish Remote Access via dish.sling or from the old Dishnetwork link (before they removed the DRA link from their website)... and still do not have any issues outside of known "quirks" with things like show sorting, show naming, etc.

At DishOnline, when I connected (which I haven't done for a few days or so) it already recognized me.. which again tells me that DishOnline's cookies are not properly set to expire at the close of the browser.. as I *strongly* recommend no one "log on automatically" with either dish online or dish remote access.

on the right side it showed me my DVR name, however it called it a "slingbox" not a "sling adapter"... and I was "Not connected". I clicked the reconnect button, it connected nearly instantly with a blank "My Recordings" box.. so I hit refresh ... got nothing ... so hit it again.. and it refreshed and showed me everything.

I then opened the recordings I have for Craigie Ferg. ... and selected the top one hitting its play button.. and immediately I was given THIS as the url

http://www.dishonline.comhttp//www.dishonline.com/shows/33859/dvr/8043

If you're not familiar.. they did a URL Re-write, and concatenated the URL so that its no longer valid. So I corrected the URL and it started to load.. still the same issues with starting the audio feed no video (unless you full screen it) for more than a minute, then 3 to 4 minutes later it did start that episode of LateNight with Craig.

The site is as slow as it usually is. And as is usual I can't view the "My DVR" pages in IE8 normal mode it has to be IE8 in "Compatible Mode" or else it reloads the page and crashes. When it switches to show the video (again after correcting the URL) I can then switch it *back* to normal mode and it loads and gives me the controls (the "compatible mode" often doesn't give me the controls under the playback window) and of course it started playback on TV1.

So.. to me.. DishOnline still operates.. just as poorly as it has for more than 4 months.. with little or no change except that the programmers and management thought it more important to redesign the interface adding other things... but not actually make the Sling & DVR functions work correctly.

 

[David_Levin]

My 722 is frequently "Not Available". While my 622 and 612 are mostly Online. I'm not sure if the problem could be the specific switch that the 722 is plugged into (moving boxes or moving switches is quite a pain).

I'm thinking there might be an issue with how the boxes poke the service for Dynamic IP address updates. I have a Sling Adapter, but am almost ready to plug the old sling box back in. At least there I can directly access the box without being reliant on anyone's server.

 

[dwarren2]

The level 1 csr I just had an online chat with was aware of the issue. She had me check that my network was working and then checked the version of my sling adapter.

Customer ChatChat TranscriptPlease wait while we find a representative to assist you...Welcome to DISH Network Chat.Stephanie (ID: EV3): How may I help you today?

Dan Warren: I can't connect to my dvr (722) via Dish Online

Stephanie (ID: EV3): I’m very sorry to hear that you are having an issue. I’d be happy to resolve that for you.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Are you able to view live TV?

Dan Warren: yes

Stephanie (ID: EV3): In order to do proper troubleshooting we need you to have access to your equipment. Are you currently at home?

Dan Warren: haven't tried it on dish online

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Ok.

Dan Warren: yes. I'm watching TV2 output right now

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Thank you, Dan. This is currently a known issue we are working to resolve.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): I'd like to double check your internet connection to the receiver.

Dan Warren: ok

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Please use the remote and go to menu, system setup, installation, broadband setup, network setup, reset connection.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Do you show an IP address on the TV?

Dan Warren: just did that before I opened chat. but I'll do it again

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Thank you.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): I just need to verify you do show an IP address on your TV.

Dan Warren: at network set up it says Connection status is Connected on line

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Thanks, Dan! What browser have you been using?

Dan Warren: I've tried both FF 4 and IE 8

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Thank you.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Who is your internet provider?

Dan Warren: ip 1925.xxx.x.x in ip address field

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Thank you.

Dan Warren: Road Runner

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Thank you.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): I would like to submit a technical problem report to our engineers on your behalf. I will need some information from you to assist me in this. Using your Dish remote, please press the menu button then 6 then 1 then 3 which should bring up your system info. Do you see the software version listed?

Dan Warren: 192 not 1925

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Thank you.

Dan Warren: l721

Dan Warren: L721

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Thank you.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Please press "Next" at the bottom of the screen.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): This should bring you to system info 2.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): What's the sling version showing?

Dan Warren: it also did not work from my laptop running Windows 7 over the weekend when we were out of town

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Ok. Thank you for that.

Dan Warren: where do i see sling version?

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Are you on the system info 2 screen?

Dan Warren: still 1 it's still in check switch mode

Dan Warren: how do I get to screen 2?

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Select "Next" at the bottom of your screen.

Dan Warren: AACMCAAM

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Thank you, Dan.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): We have now completed all of our troubleshooting steps for this issue. I will be submitting a technical problem report to our engineers on your behalf at this time. Please keep in mind that our engineers will not contact you. However, if you still experience this issue, please feel free to contact us again for further assistance. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you today.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): I would be happy to offer a free PPV movie coupon for you to enjoy a movie on us for reporting this incident.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): What's your email address?

Dan Warren: So right now I can not use the sling adapter?

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Correct for live TV.

Dan Warren: That's OK, we don't watch ppv movies on line

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Ok. I understand.

Dan Warren: I cannot connect to the dvr to watch what I've rcorded on my dvr?

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Unfortunately, not at this time.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): My apologies for the inconvenience, but I can say this is currently a top priority with us to resolve.

Dan Warren: Tried Dish remote access and that didn't work either

Stephanie (ID: EV3): I understand.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Is there anything else I may assist you with?

Dan Warren: Frustrating

Stephanie (ID: EV3): I understand since I have been having the same issue with my equipment.

Dan Warren: DRA was working

Stephanie (ID: EV3): I understand.

Dan Warren: I hope they figure it out soon

Stephanie (ID: EV3): I do also.

Stephanie (ID: EV3): Thank you for using DISH Network chat and have a great day!

Dan Warren: Bye

 

[TG2]

Quick note to Dan .. your ip address of your Dish receiver is probably 192.168.x.x ... as is probably 99% of the people out there.. When you're behind a NAT Firewall/Router/Gateway device.. you have one real address on the outside (http://www.whatismyip.com) and that one you don't want going to the on line public but the internal IP ... no biggie.




p.s. your outside IP address most likely changes over time too

 

[mfoster711]

This is getting old. Dish needs to fix Dishonline already!!!!

 

[RT-Cat]

Sure makes me think I do not want to ever use chat. Wonder if they are people or robots????

RT.

 

[RaymondG@Dish Network]

This is currently a known issue that our engeneers are addressing. There is no ETA as to when this will be fixed, but I will post an update when I have any new information.

 

[TG2]

This is currently a known issue that our engeneers are addressing. There is no ETA as to when this will be fixed, but I will post an update when I have any new information.

How about a list of the items they confirm they are working on?

 

[ENDelt260]

This is getting old. Dish needs to fix Dishonline already!!!!

For a person, Angana made a pretty poorly written robot.

 

[avaswa]

All,

Same issue happened to me today. I can view Live TV from my laptop, cannot see my recording though & I get a Yellow light from my iPhone & iPad. I was taken for a ride by Level 1 & Level 2 support as others have described here. How much longer is this going to take to resolve?

 

[elmafu69]

I cant even get dishonline to see that my receivers are online... Works half the time or less.

 

[elmafu69]

I guess I can confirm this happens to me. If I go to DishOnline right now both my receivers appear offline. If I press live TV I can view remotely only on the computer but I still can't access my DVR contents or view on the remote apps for Android or iOS.

 

[schwa]

I ran into the same issues as everyone else here when I was trying to show a colleague how "cool" it was that I could stream video from my 922 to my iPad. Naturally, my 722 and my 922 both didn't appear online despite the fact they were. This nonsense has been going way too long. It boggles my mind as to what's taking Dish so long to get it fixed.

 

[bhawley]

This still works for me: https://dish.sling.com/