Recommendations for upgrade hardware?

[BarnRat]

I've been trying to determine the best upgrade hardware for our house. Been looking at the Dish site but I'm not familiar enough with the latest hardware to know what to choose.

Our current setup is very simple and I would like to duplicate this setup, but with modern hardware.

Current setup: From the dish antenna on the roof there are two coax cables, one to each end of the house. Each cable is connected to a DVR 625 box (don't laugh) with only one TV attached to each box. That's two DVR 625 boxes and two TVs. Now, this hardware is working perfectly. One DVR 625 box is 12 years old and the other is 9 years old. I know that these boxes can't last too much longer, but they have been wonderfully reliable so far.

What new hardware would I need installed/replaced in order to maintain this exact configuration? I want to have DVR capability. My best guess would be two Hopper Duos plus new antenna hdw on roof?

Both TVs are HDMI capable but of course in our current configuration the DVR 625 is not HD capable.

What is the size of the hard drive in a our current DVR 625? It looks like the Hopper Due has a 500GB hard drive.

(I'm a 23-year Dish customer -- 1999)

 

[pattykay]

Dish is not likely to allow two Hopper Duos, unless you are willing to jump through a lot of hoops, and purchase at least one (probably both) of them. Your cheapest replacement option would likely be Wally. You can add an external hard drive to each Wally, to have DVR functionality. Wally supports a minimum 500GB hard drive, up to a maximum of 4TB. Your monthly equipment fees would also likely be less than what you are currently paying for your two 625's.

Do you know which satellites you have with your current dish? Even with an installation that old, it is possible that you already have a Dish 1000 that includes the 129 satellite. In that case, you would not need a new dish. Otherwise, you would need to replace your Dish 500 with a Dish 1000.

If you would be interested in purchasing a Wally, one just got listed today in the Classifieds section of this site.

 

[BarnRat]

PattyKay,

Thanks for responding.

I'm not too concerned with cost, unless it's just outrageous. How much would two Hopper Duos cost? And I don't understand why Dish would not allow this config? Could you explain?

Is the external HD for the Wally just an ordinary USB-attached drive that can be purchased from Amazon say? Like a Seagate HD?

We have a Dish 500 antenna.

 

[navychop]

Say goodbye to your 500/LNB.

Wally sounds good. Hopper 3 with a Joey 4 might be good. Might be overkill. But they’d likely throw in a Hopper Plus.

 

[ethanlerma]

I've been trying to determine the best upgrade hardware for our house. Been looking at the Dish site but I'm not familiar enough with the latest hardware to know what to choose.

Our current setup is very simple and I would like to duplicate this setup, but with modern hardware.

Current setup: From the dish antenna on the roof there are two coax cables, one to each end of the house. Each cable is connected to a DVR 625 box (don't laugh) with only one TV attached to each box. That's two DVR 625 boxes and two TVs. Now, this hardware is working perfectly. One DVR 625 box is 12 years old and the other is 9 years old. I know that these boxes can't last too much longer, but they have been wonderfully reliable so far.

What new hardware would I need installed/replaced in order to maintain this exact configuration? I want to have DVR capability. My best guess would be two Hopper Duos plus new antenna hdw on roof?

Both TVs are HDMI capable but of course in our current configuration the DVR 625 is not HD capable.

What is the size of the hard drive in a our current DVR 625? It looks like the Hopper Due has a 500GB hard drive.

(I'm a 23-year Dish customer -- 1999)

Pulling out of memory, I think the 625 is 320gb. Might be wrong.

I would go with Patty’s suggestion, Wally’s and Hopper Duos are nearly identical, both are DPH based dual tuners that are able to also have a OTA tuner attached afterwards, only features I think you’ll miss with two Wally’s is the integrated instead of external HDD (which I would argue is a benefit), and the ability to add one extra Joey per Hopper, for a max of 4 TV’s (at that point just get a Hopper3). Also, getting the two Duos going will put you trough CSR roulette hell, even more so then us that run H3’s I believe. Two Wally’s on the other hand are a common setup so most agents should be able to get that working fine.

You are most likely paying $0+$7 or $0+$14 in equipment fees now, with Wally’s you are looking at $0+$5 and the two Duos $10+$10 or possibly $10+$5.

The Wally’s have a MSRP of $100, you can pick some up from Solid Signal or DishformyRv, the latter often runs promotions where you can get them for $40-$50, but no such offer at the moment. Duos are $130 a pop on Solid Signal at the moment.

You most likely have a DPP 500 dish, which is compatible with Wally’s/Duos but you will be missing 80% of your HD channels, so I would see if Dish can replace this one for free otherwise you can look for a DPP 1000.2 EA or WA depending on your needs/market.

Overall, you are spending slightly more on the Wally setup (let’s say you go for a 1TB HDD of around $50, so $150 upfront per box) but saving massively in the long run, since the Duos would both have a monthly DVR fee while Wally’s are just a single $40 payment per account to activate DVR features.

 

[BarnRat]

OK, to summarize what you folks are recommending:

- new Dish 1000 antenna
- (2) Wallys, each with an external HDD

Is the external HDD just your run-of-the-mill USB-attached external HDD that can be purchased from Amazon?

 

[ethanlerma]

- new Dish 1000 antenna

Really important that if you buy this or get it from Dish that it is the DPP version, not the DPH. With the DPH you would need either a switch or a channel stack splitter, and DPP is plug and play with the way you have it wired up.

Is the external HDD just your run-of-the-mill USB-attached external HDD that can be purchased from Amazon?

Yes, needs to be HDD and not flash (so no thumb drives or SSD’s), between 500GB and 4TB, and preferably have it’s own power source (this last one is not much of a deal nowadays, most recent HDD’s are efficient enough to just run off of the USB port alone without issues). Also avoiding off brands would be smart, so I would shop for WD/Seagate/Toshiba etc.

 

[chiodo]

Well I have 2 TV's and my setup is a 1000.2 Dish (Hybrid LNB) Hopper 3 directly connected to Dish with 1 coax and a Dish WiFi Joey HotSpot connected to H3 and a Wireless Joey 2 connected to other TV. So this is probably what you should get but with a New Joey 4

 

[BarnRat]

Well I have 2 TV's and my setup is a 1000.2 Dish (Hybrid LNB) Hopper 3 directly connected to Dish with 1 coax and a Dish WiFi Joey HotSpot connected to H3 and a Wireless Joey 2 connected to other TV. So this is probably what you should get but with a New Joey 4

Thanks for the info.

Is the WiFi strong enough to penetrate 4 walls to the 2nd TV, maybe 80-90 ft away?

 

[pattykay]

Pulling out of memory, I think the 625 is 320gb. Might be wrong.

I know the HD models (612 and 622) have 320GB, if I remember correctly. I thought all of the SD models (such as the 625) had smaller ones than that, but I could be wrong.

You are most likely paying $0+$7 or $0+$14 in equipment fees now, with Wally’s you are looking at $0+$5 and the two Duos $10+$10 or possibly $10+$5.

With two 625's, my guess would be that the receiver fees are $7 (DVR) + $10 (additional Duo receiver) so at least $17 total. For the short time I had two Hopper Duos, it was $10 (DVR) + $15 (second Hopper Duo) so $25 total. That price hasn't changed since then as far as I know. Dish really doesn't want to allow that configuration, so they charge through the roof for anyone who has that. Wally is definitely the cheaper option.

The Wally’s have a MSRP of $100, you can pick some up from Solid Signal or DishformyRv, the latter often runs promotions where you can get them for $40-$50, but no such offer at the moment.

I listed my used Wally in the Classifieds section here for $50, including the Wi-Fi adapter.

Is the external HDD just your run-of-the-mill USB-attached external HDD that can be purchased from Amazon?

I also have two 1TB external hard drives available, both of which I have successfully used with Wally. One is a Seagate (external powered) and the other is Western Digital (powered through USB).

Is the WiFi strong enough to penetrate 4 walls to the 2nd TV, maybe 80-90 ft away?

I wouldn't count on it. Other members here have had mixed results with Wireless Joeys. The usual recommendation is to go wired whenever possible.

 

[BarnRat]

I wouldn't count on it. Other members here have had mixed results with Wireless Joeys. The usual recommendation is to go wired whenever possible.

Thank you!

Well, the coax wiring is already there so two Wallys seems like the best way to go for us. I can safely say that at our age (my wife and I) we won't be having any more TVs than the two we have now.

 

[BarnRat]

One (hopefully) final question: How long has the Wally been out? The reason I ask, will support for it be withdrawn any time soon?

 

[HipKat]

Thanks for the info.

Is the WiFi strong enough to penetrate 4 walls to the 2nd TV, maybe 80-90 ft away?

Probably not from my experience

 

[HipKat]

One (hopefully) final question: How long has the Wally been out? The reason I ask, will support for it be withdrawn any time soon?

The Wally‘s are relatively new. I think about four years, maybe five but there is going to be a long-term support since the OS is based on the carbon UI that the hoppers use. I don’t know if anybody said anything previously in here, I didn’t see it but there is going to be a one time $40 charge to add DVR capability to the Wallys and that is a one time charge that covers both receivers.

 

[BarnRat]

The Wally‘s are relatively new. I think about four years, maybe five but there is going to be a long-term support since the OS is based on the carbon UI that the hoppers use. I don’t know if anybody said anything previously in here, I didn’t see it but there is going to be a one time $40 charge to add DVR capability to the Wallys and that is a one time charge that covers both receivers.

Thank you!

 

[pattykay]

One (hopefully) final question: How long has the Wally been out?

2016

The reason I ask, will support for it be withdrawn any time soon?

There are no immediate plans for a replacement model, as far as I know. So, I wouldn't expect support for the existing Wally to end until after a new type of Wally is announced.

 

[BarnRat]

Sorry. I guess my last question was the penultimate question. Here (hopefully) is my last dumb question . . .

Do the Wally's support all the Dish programming packages that exist on my current Dish 500 antenna/DVR 625 system?

 

[pattykay]

Do the Wally's support all the Dish programming packages that exist on my current Dish 500 antenna/DVR 625 system?

You can even get Dish programming packages that don't exist on your current system, such as streaming add-on packages.

 

[BarnRat]

You can even get Dish programming packages that don't exist on your current system, such as streaming add-on packages.

Thank you! I think now I have all the info I need.

 

[BarnRat]

I don't intend to upgrade right away, unless I have a hardware failure right away. But with the info that you guys have given me I can order a new house system more confidently when my hardware eventually does fail.

Thanks again to all who responded.