Second Hand Osprey Box / DirecTV Stream

[evenout]

Can you purchase second hand Osprey boxes (Is that what the $5/mo or $120 box is that you can get with DirecTV Stream called?) from eBay or other retailers and they work? Or do all of the boxes have to be provisioned by DirecTV Stream?

I know satellite DirecTV eventually stopped allowing third party purchased satellite boxes from being used, all boxes had to be provisioned by DirecTV to work with your account. Is DirecTV Stream like that?

Ideally, I'd probably just use a Roku with DirecTV Stream to start out and see how cumbersome it is. The Osprey boxes have channel numbers and a more typical DirecTV interface, correct? Just wanting to know how difficult it would be to add an Osprey box after already signing up for the service. And they're cheaper on eBay than from DirecTV direct.

 

[lparsons21]

Yeah, the used ones on EBay work fine, I’ve got 2 of them. Plug in, and it takes about an hour to download stuff from them, all stepped through with on screen prompts.

 

[NashGuy]

Can you purchase second hand Osprey boxes (Is that what the $5/mo or $120 box is that you can get with DirecTV Stream called?) from eBay or other retailers and they work? Or do all of the boxes have to be provisioned by DirecTV Stream?

I know satellite DirecTV eventually stopped allowing third party purchased satellite boxes from being used, all boxes had to be provisioned by DirecTV to work with your account. Is DirecTV Stream like that?

Ideally, I'd probably just use a Roku with DirecTV Stream to start out and see how cumbersome it is. The Osprey boxes have channel numbers and a more typical DirecTV interface, correct? Just wanting to know how difficult it would be to add an Osprey box after already signing up for the service. And they're cheaper on eBay than from DirecTV direct.

Lately I've read a few posts saying that some of the used boxes will no longer properly update because they're trying to connect to a server that's no longer in use. Apparently if a box was disconnected during a certain time frame, it missed a software update that told it the new server address to use for future updates. So if you buy a used one, make sure that it's still able to connect and update itself.