Here are some tips for those of you thinking about a Dish Wally receiver purchase. The user interface on the Wally looks almost identical to the Hopper 3, so an Internet connection is very desirable, but not required. The Wally receiver has 2 USB ports and 1 wired Ethernet port. It has no built-in hard drive, no built-in OTA tuners, and no built-in WiFi, but all of that hardware is available and can be connected through the USB ports. So, why would you want to buy a Wally and connect all that stuff? Because the DVR function on the Wally has no monthly fees.
Face it--the Hopper 3 has a GREAT DVR and user interface, far superior to the crappy cloud DVRs on most Internet TV services (which often tack on a DVR fee anyway). But there are lots of folks struggling to pay the bills out there who are toying with the idea of cutting the cord and doing without, but really hate giving up the convenience of Dish and its wonderful DVR. Enter the often overlooked Dish Wally receiver, which is a great choice for those who need a simpler, less expensive alternative to the state-of-the-art Hopper 3. The Wally is also a great choice for most RVs, in my opinion.
As I said above, you would have to add some hardware to the Wally to take advantage of all the wonderful things it can do. If one USB port is used for a 2 TB DVR external USB hard drive, and the other USB port is used for your external over-the air tuner (if desired), that leaves the Wally's Ethernet port for wired Internet. No problem. But if you want to use a wireless USB Internet adapter (Dish offers one) and both USB ports are already in use, you will need a small USB hub (splitter) to add more USB ports to your Wally. I have three Wallys, and on two of them I use the AmazonBasics 4 Port USB 3.0 Hub with 5V/2.5A power adapter, which gives each Wally receiver 5 available USB ports. The USB hubs work great for me, and do not seem to slow down performance at all. (I do plug the hard drive directly into one of the Wally's two built-in USB ports.) Is it worth all those adapters and wires to get a tricked-out "Super Wally" with free DVR, OTA tuners, and wireless Internet access to Video on Demand programming and fancy Hopper-like program descriptions? It is for me. But then again, I'm the original cheapskate and I love to experiment. I have tried all of the various Internet live TV packages available out there and still prefer the convenience of Dish (although I do supplement my programming with Acorn and OANN on Roku).
The Wally will never be Hopper 3. It has far fewer tuners, and you lose several important features including Prime Time Anytime, the Sling server feature and the ability to use Joeys. All the DVRs on Wally receivers are separate from each other, so if you tape a show in the living room, it's not available in the bedroom unless you tape it in there too. You can still get Dish Anywhere on your portable phone and tablet devices, but only for Video on Demand programs. Yes, the Hopper 3 is much better. But if you just can't afford the monthly DVR fees, only need one or two receivers, don't need all the bells and whistles, or want to take a receiver in your RV to go camping, I think the Wally is a great choice. Just remember to add the cost of the outboard 2 TB hard drive (if needed) (~$75), OTA tuner dongle (if needed), and wireless Internet USB dongle (if needed) to your startup costs. Hope this info helps!
