Ready to jump ship from DISH to D*

[Doug on the farm]

I used to be a D* subscriber 15 years ago. I had issues with audio quality and switched to DISH. Then I moved from CA to AL, and we had cable. Bought a farm in TN and went with DISH again, we've had it now for 3 years.. My wife doesn't like this latest lawsuit and called to complain about it; she's ready to switch. I am tired of the PQ and am ready to switch.

D* has been sending me these "We want you back!" mailers for the past 15 years; they have literally followed me cross country. The latest one has an offer for a $250 VISA card for signing back with D*. That seems like a good incentive, but my daughter (who is a D* subscriber) says that if I use her subscription ID when we sign up, we both will get $10 off of our bill for the next 12 months.

1. Can I do both of those offers, or is it one or the other?

2. Since we currently have DISH, will we have to take down their equipment, or will the D* installer handle it?

3. We don't have a land line anymore and we have s-lo-w (6 Mbps) Internet. Will that be a problem?

4. We have 2 HDTVs in the house and don't plan on moving up to 4K anytime soon. My wife doesn't want D* for the upstairs TV, so it would just be for the 55" LG. Should we request the HR-54 anyway? Or would it be better to upgrade when we actually get a 4K set?

Thanks,
Doug

 

[bmetelsky]

#1 - Yes, but make sure you mention the referral code when you call in. There may be a special phone number associated with calling for that deal.
#2 - You are responsible for removal of any DISH equipment, but a tip to the DirecTv installer may prompt him/her to assist or remove it altogether.
#3 - The slower internet can still be used for "on demand" video, but you may need to download/save the on-demand content and then play it back later.
#4 - The HR-44 or HR-54 would be your best bet. Don't let them install an HR-34.

 

[mdram]

request an hr-54
verify with installer when they call they have a 54
verify when they show up they have a 54
dont let them install unless its an hr-54

always get the latest equipment, it can save headaches later

 

[Doug on the farm]

Called in and signed up today. I'm getting the $250 card, plus I was able to use my daughter's acct info to get both of us a $10/mo discount for the next year. They said that I'll be paying $50.62/mo for the next year, works for me

 

[Jimbo]

request an hr-54
verify with installer when they call they have a 54
verify when they show up they have a 54
dont let them install unless its an hr-54

always get the latest equipment, it can save headaches later

If your not doing the 4k stuff, the HR44 is an awesome unit as well.

 

[mdram]

If your not doing the 4k stuff, the HR44 is an awesome unit as well.

true, but if you want to change before the contract is up, well then your out of luck

 

[Doug on the farm]

I really don't see us going the 4K route for at least a few years, unless our current LG 55" craps out on us. Besides D*, the only other 4K outlet that I know of is Netflix, and our Internet speed is way too slow for that. But I will still try to insist that the guy puts in an HR54. I'm hoping that it's not an issue.

 

[Zashel]

the hr44 uses the same internals as the hr54 (54 uses different connections on the back though). its not the end of the world. now if you get a hr34, you will have issues and should ask about it up front. may end up rescheduling if thats all he has on his truck. its unlikely thats all he has but its not impossible.

 

[Doug on the farm]

The installer is here right now. I asked if he had an HR54 for me, he said that he had an HR24! I said "No, no, no, no". He did have an HR44 on the truck, so we're getting that.

Poor guy, my wife got steamed when she saw that the actual dish was even bigger than the one from DISH. It's not much bigger, but it got her to roll her eyes. He must be used to stuff like this tho, he just grinned while I dealt with her. Good thing is, he's installing it right where the old one was, so I don't have to take it down.

 

[Jimbo]

The installer is here right now. I asked if he had an HR54 for me, he said that he had an HR24! I said "No, no, no, no". He did have an HR44 on the truck, so we're getting that.

Poor guy, my wife got steamed when she saw that the actual dish was even bigger than the one from DISH. It's not much bigger, but it got her to roll her eyes. He must be used to stuff like this tho, he just grinned while I dealt with her. Good thing is, he's installing it right where the old one was, so I don't have to take it down.

Did your order call for a Genie and a HR24 ?
The 24 he brought in is a good recur, just not a Genie.

 

[maestro7]

I really don't see us going the 4K route for at least a few years, unless our current LG 55" craps out on us. Besides D*, the only other 4K outlet that I know of is Netflix, and our Internet speed is way too slow for that. But I will still try to insist that the guy puts in an HR54. I'm hoping that it's not an issue.

The HR44 is fantastic; we've had ours since May, 2014, and haven't looked back.

Of course, it may be too late at this point to be able to add on any wireless/line Genie minis, as equipment changes always entail a new two-year contract. Those devices are similarly very good; I'm always recommending them.

Regarding 4K, I can confirm for you (having sources in the industry) that it will not be a "baseline" technology -- similarly to how HD 720p/10801 is today (notice I didn't say 1080p) -- for at least a few more years. The short explanation is that all broadcasters (and anyone else similarly invested in such equipment) would have to make a whole new buy (millions of dollars) to upgrade equipment, cabling, signaling and the like to be able to handle the format and bandwidth. On top of this, the standards for the tech -- not dissimilar to VHS or Beta -- are still being finalized. Remember -- one hour of 4K uncompressed content equals 500GB data. Granted, that's uncompressed, but you get the picture.

As I tell folks, if you have the means to get a 4K-capable TV, go for it. However, you won't be using the 4K capabilities for more than very specific applications (such as the upcoming Master's golf tournament) for the next few years.

 

[Doug on the farm]

Did your order call for a Genie and a HR24 ?
The 24 he brought in is a good recur, just not a Genie.

No, it just called for a Genie. Apparently it got screwed up by the CSR, but the installer was able to get everything straightened out.

Question - do I need to activate HBO and Showtime on the webpage? Right now it says that we aren't subscribed to any of the channels, but we're supposed to get them free for 3 months. It's only been around an hour since everything was set up, does it take 24 hours for everything to get in sync?

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

You can try to refresh the receiver online under your equipment tab, but your better off calling in 800 531 5000 and questioning your programming package.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Doug on the farm]

Tried refreshing, didn't help. I'm waiting online right now, been transferred a few times. That's nothing new

 

[Doug on the farm]

43 minutes with CS, not horrible, but nothing that I'd like to do every day. Turns out that NONE of our promotions had been activated. The Escalation Team has been notified and should get it fixed shortly. Right now the only bad part is no premium channels until they get this resolved. My wife was hoping for HBO today.

 

[usnret04]

Poor guy, my wife got steamed when she saw that the actual dish was even bigger than the one from DISH. It's not much bigger, but it got her to roll her eyes. He must be used to stuff like this tho, he just grinned while I dealt with her. Good thing is, he's installing it right where the old one was, so I don't have to take it down.

I'm getting ready to go back to Dish from D*. Is your new antenna pointed in generally the same direction as the Dish you replaced?

 

[Jimbo]

I'm getting ready to go back to Dish from D*. Is your new antenna pointed in generally the same direction as the Dish you replaced?

If your on the Western Arc for DISH, then yes your dish will point in the same area ... if your gonna go on the Eastern Arc, then it won't.

 

[Doug on the farm]

I'm getting ready to go back to Dish from D*. Is your new antenna pointed in generally the same direction as the Dish you replaced?

Yes, the installer used the same location, even took down my DISH dish.

 

[Doug on the farm]

It took them one day to get the premium channels up and running, that was no biggie. My initial billing statement said $224, whoa! A couple days later I got notification of some of the discounts being applied, and I should be receiving a $250 VISA card in 2-4 weeks. The bill then dropped to $173. They was still WAY wrong - my billing estimate said that my first bill should be $52.04. I waited to see if it got corrected over the weekend; nothing had changed. So today I tried the chat feature. The rep got everything fixed and we now have a very affordable bill. Much thanks to D* for getting it fixed and honoring the promised discounts.

The HR44 is a nice receiver. We do not miss Prime Time recording at all, however the GUI really could use updating, particularly using channel logos. There is a slight pause when changing channels, the Hopper was faster. My wife likes the smaller remote, it does everything she wants and doesn't have as many buttons as the DISH remorse did. The PQ is better in HD, but definitely worse in SD. Also, when you watch an SD show, the guide switches to SD. Ugly! The guide should always be in HD.

As a matter of fact, because SD looks so bad, we only want to watch the HD channels. Is there a way to set the guide to show only HD as the default? We have to open the guide, then toggle down to HD. I know, first world problem ;-)

We also prefer the channel selection we get with D*. It does seem like there are some duplicate channels (AUDIENCE, for example), but only a few. All in all we are very glad we made the switch.

 

[Troch77]

It took them one day to get the premium channels up and running, that was no biggie. My initial billing statement said $224, whoa! A couple days later I got notification of some of the discounts being applied, and I should be receiving a $250 VISA card in 2-4 weeks. The bill then dropped to $173. They was still WAY wrong - my billing estimate said that my first bill should be $52.04. I waited to see if it got corrected over the weekend; nothing had changed. So today I tried the chat feature. The rep got everything fixed and we now have a very affordable bill. Much thanks to D* for getting it fixed and honoring the promised discounts.

The HR44 is a nice receiver. We do not miss Prime Time recording at all, however the GUI really could use updating, particularly using channel logos. There is a slight pause when changing channels, the Hopper was faster. My wife likes the smaller remote, it does everything she wants and doesn't have as many buttons as the DISH remorse did. The PQ is better in HD, but definitely worse in SD. Also, when you watch an SD show, the guide switches to SD. Ugly! The guide should always be in HD.

As a matter of fact, because SD looks so bad, we only want to watch the HD channels. Is there a way to set the guide to show only HD as the default? We have to open the guide, then toggle down to HD. I know, first world problem ;-)

We also prefer the channel selection we get with D*. It does seem like there are some duplicate channels (AUDIENCE, for example), but only a few. All in all we are very glad we made the switch.

Go into your menu settings, and unchecked 480i and 480p and your guide won't switch to SD anymore.
There is also a setting to remove SD duplicates in the menu.
Also the receiver will default to the HD channel if you enter the channel number manually.

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