Ongoing frustration with quality of Dish service

mentsmin

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Feb 10, 2010
70
0
Austin, TX
Let me say from the outset here that I have searched the archives here often throughout the 1.5 years we have had Dish. I've occasionally seen people briefly mention the same issues I've had; though often times they are within long threads that seem to actually be about different issues.

I got in contact with Dish about a month or two ago when our problems with HBO became annoying enough that I felt we really had to do something about it. Each time I contact tech support, I ask if the problem I'm describing is anything they have heard of. None of the 2nd level techs I've spoken with have ever confirmed this.

Up until a week ago I had a 722k that I received during the spring of 2010. We began experiencing an audio dropout problem, mainly on HBO. I'm not certain when it began. The sound drops out for about a second or less, and the display on our receiver shows a break in the signal. Occasionally these drops will occur in rapid succession. Nothing happens to the video. These distortions are reproducible by use of the DVR. If the 722 is instead connected directly to the television, it sounds like more of a static or popping noise than a drop. I'm fairly certain this has happened on other channels, but you only need to watch HBO for maybe 20 minutes before you'll hear one. It happens a lot on that particular channel.

The first time Dish came out, the tech replaced a bunch of connections, removed some splitter that he said the install tech improperly left, and said he was sure he had fixed the issue. Of course, that wasn't the case. The second tech was fairly certain that he would not be able to do anything about it, but he gave me a new 722k. That box immediately began giving random error messages and signal failures. So, Dish sent another one (At some point during all of this, our SD service for our second television stopped working. I still haven't figured that one out).

This box appears to be functioning. However, we are now getting a fair amount of a different type of distortion where the audio stutters for a second or so, sometimes with a video distortion. I've also been seeing a white horizontal line occasionally pop up with a popping noise. Of course, the HBO audio dropout issue isn't resolved. We are always told that we have a strong satellite signal.

Are these sorts of problems just a regular part of the dish service that people just deal with? Does DirectTV have the same sort of problems? Add in quite a few customer service issues (and the fact that customers are charged for tech visits or for 'insurance') and I'm really getting tempted to jump ship here.
 
The audio drop outs have been widely discussed. I started a thread about them months ago. several people have reported the freezing/stuttering. We have been deling with the Dirt team (Dish Internet Response Team). They will have their names in red with a dishnetwork email address.
 
I had actually seen your thread before but saw descriptions of problems that I believe relate to different issues. However, I now see a response from a Dish person regarding the HBO problem specifically. Here's a link to that post for anyone who comes across this thread.
 
But that relates back to another thing I mentioned: If this is actually a known issue, why do their people seem to not know anything about it? Why send techs out, replace receivers, and most importantly charge customers money if they already know there is an audio issue with the HBO channels?
 
the first tech that came out may have removed a diplexer, not a splitter that feeds tv2. Or more likely, the modulator may not have been setup to match the channel tv2 runs on

As far as the white lines and video distortion, have you tried a different HDMI cable or switching to component cables?
 
If they have switched receivers several times, it is most likely that one needs to go into the receiver menu's and set the tv 2 output to whatever channel is wanted for tv 2 or go to the remote sd tv and rescan for channels and it should pick up whatever channel tv 2 output has been set to.
 
I've seen a white line with a popping sound whenever there's a power surge, such as my air conditioner starting or stopping. At first I was surprised to see it on a digital TV, but then I remembered that I was using component cables (HDMI port is broken on my 622) and also running them through my audio receiver.
 
As far as the white lines and video distortion, have you tried a different HDMI cable or switching to component cables?

I have tried different HDMI cables in the recent future, but if I start seeing the white lines more often, I'll try switching it out again.
 
If they have switched receivers several times, it is most likely that one needs to go into the receiver menu's and set the tv 2 output to whatever channel is wanted for tv 2 or go to the remote sd tv and rescan for channels and it should pick up whatever channel tv 2 output has been set to.

This may be the issue. I was under the impression there are only two options (this is based on the guide that came with the new box)?
 
If you're using an HDMI cable, remove it and use component cables.

But Dish says HDMI is the 'best' option, no? I will look into this, although I think we already have two other boxes (xbox360 & wii) on the component inputs on our receiver. And those component cables take up so much space!
 
So is the audio drop out issue that dish is currently "investigating" associated with HDMI? Optical or RCA for audio? If I switch to component and an optical cable, will the audio dropping issue resolve? I am curious to know what Dish is actually doing with regards to this issue. It as been months and I am starting to consider switching to D*. I have been with Dish since 1998 and really don't want to change.
 
So is the audio drop out issue that dish is currently "investigating" associated with HDMI? Optical or RCA for audio? If I switch to component and an optical cable, will the audio dropping issue resolve? I am curious to know what Dish is actually doing with regards to this issue. It as been months and I am starting to consider switching to D*. I have been with Dish since 1998 and really don't want to change.

I don't think so. I'm using an Optical cable for audio to my older audio receiver and I'm getting the dropouts also.
 
The information about HBO and Starz was dealing with an issue with their feed, requiring a software fix. Since you are still having problems, I would need a PM with your receiver and smart card numbers so I can open a new ticket for this problem. Thanks.
 
The information about HBO and Starz was dealing with an issue with their feed, requiring a software fix. Since you are still having problems, I would need a PM with your receiver and smart card numbers so I can open a new ticket for this problem. Thanks.

Hi Ray,

I'll be happy to PM you this information when I'm home and it's available to me. I'm curious though; is there a known problem/solution to the separate issue of audio stuttering?

I've had a tech out twice. He says the levels are fine and he can't figure out what the issue might be. He claims he will bring his supervisor with him next time. I've been trying to record instances of it occurring to show whoever comes out.

But I believe the stuttering issue is different than the HBO dropout issue.
 
mentsmin,

I will need to test our equipment here to replicate the problem. It may be that I'll need to submit a trouble report to our engineers if it is not a known issue. I will get back with you after I have concluded my tests. Thanks.
 
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