Switch to AT&T Dish from Dish
- Thread starter rr7296
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I have Homezone and am actually thinking of ditching it and moving to something else. It works well in some areas, but there are some significant usability issues that are really annoying, including:
- No way to sort 'My Recordings' : The only option is to view items in the order they were recorded. If you have 5 episodes of a show saved, you have to flip through page after page to find each one individually.
- Very poor 'Search' function in the Guide : Search looks for keywords in both the title and description - there's no way to change this. So if you're looking for a show like 'House' - forget it. The search will bring back 100 non-related shows and you can't find what you're looking for to add to the series subscription list.
- Strange defaults on Series Subscriptions : The default is to record only new episodes, but to retain all of those and to record on any channel. I'd prefer the option to set what the defaults are so I don't have to change it every single time.
- Poor interface on changing series subscription priority : you can only move things one position at a time, and each time you move it, it makes you wait while it resets the priority. When you add a new series, it automatically goes to the bottom of the list - so if you want to move it up, you'll have to spend a few minutes dorking around with this. The web interface is better, however...
- Iffy web connectivity : The Homezone requires port 55080 open to work with the Webremote. The 2Wire Gateway doesn't allow you to do this. It treats the Homezone receiver uniquely for some reason and it's not available in the Attached Devices list to assign a firewall rule against. It's supposed to do this automatically when you authenticate the Homezone receiver, and I've had it actually do that once. However, mysteriously, 3 days later, the firewall rule disappeared. A couple of calls to Tech Support later and we still couldn't figure out what was going on. When it works, it works well - but it hasn't worked dependably for me.
- No music through Webremote : Marketing literature says you can listen to the MP3's you load on the Homezone through the web remote. You can't.
- Movielink : neat in concept, poor in actual usage. Expensive, limited titles and you can only keep the movie for 24 hours after you begin watching it. It's not a value compared to the normal PPV stuff directly off the dish.
- No HD : no word on when it will be available. Not really a 'flaw' per se, but it would be nice to have an option.
- Stability : Checked my device last Sunday morning as was surprised to find that all of my recordings, all my photos, all my MP3s and all my Series Subscriptions were gone. The device had reformatted itself. No reason why - it just did. Kind of makes the DVR functionality irrelevant when it just randomly wipes out all of your saved content.
I do like the remote, I really like the Launchcast music integration, and Tech Support at 2Wire/ATT has been great (though I'd rather not have to call them at all). It's tantalizing close to being a good product, but the level of frustrations with its shortcomings is beginning to overweigh the coolness of its unique features. The 'free' 622 DVR promotion beginning in February will be very tempting.
- No way to sort 'My Recordings' : The only option is to view items in the order they were recorded. If you have 5 episodes of a show saved, you have to flip through page after page to find each one individually.
- Very poor 'Search' function in the Guide : Search looks for keywords in both the title and description - there's no way to change this. So if you're looking for a show like 'House' - forget it. The search will bring back 100 non-related shows and you can't find what you're looking for to add to the series subscription list.
- Strange defaults on Series Subscriptions : The default is to record only new episodes, but to retain all of those and to record on any channel. I'd prefer the option to set what the defaults are so I don't have to change it every single time.
- Poor interface on changing series subscription priority : you can only move things one position at a time, and each time you move it, it makes you wait while it resets the priority. When you add a new series, it automatically goes to the bottom of the list - so if you want to move it up, you'll have to spend a few minutes dorking around with this. The web interface is better, however...
- Iffy web connectivity : The Homezone requires port 55080 open to work with the Webremote. The 2Wire Gateway doesn't allow you to do this. It treats the Homezone receiver uniquely for some reason and it's not available in the Attached Devices list to assign a firewall rule against. It's supposed to do this automatically when you authenticate the Homezone receiver, and I've had it actually do that once. However, mysteriously, 3 days later, the firewall rule disappeared. A couple of calls to Tech Support later and we still couldn't figure out what was going on. When it works, it works well - but it hasn't worked dependably for me.
- No music through Webremote : Marketing literature says you can listen to the MP3's you load on the Homezone through the web remote. You can't.
- Movielink : neat in concept, poor in actual usage. Expensive, limited titles and you can only keep the movie for 24 hours after you begin watching it. It's not a value compared to the normal PPV stuff directly off the dish.
- No HD : no word on when it will be available. Not really a 'flaw' per se, but it would be nice to have an option.
- Stability : Checked my device last Sunday morning as was surprised to find that all of my recordings, all my photos, all my MP3s and all my Series Subscriptions were gone. The device had reformatted itself. No reason why - it just did. Kind of makes the DVR functionality irrelevant when it just randomly wipes out all of your saved content.
I do like the remote, I really like the Launchcast music integration, and Tech Support at 2Wire/ATT has been great (though I'd rather not have to call them at all). It's tantalizing close to being a good product, but the level of frustrations with its shortcomings is beginning to overweigh the coolness of its unique features. The 'free' 622 DVR promotion beginning in February will be very tempting.
From my experience I would not recommend AT&T/Dish Network to anyone right now. If you check their website you will note there is no mention of ViP622 or ViP211/411 as far as receivers are concerned, so that should give you some idea about availability of Mpeg4 HD stations. I had to jump thru many, many hoops to get my receivers from them, which was really Dish.
I wouldn't go with HomeZone until they get all the bugs worked out. Also, I don't know if you have to be within so many thousand feet of a central switching station for it to work as it designed to do.
I wouldn't go with HomeZone until they get all the bugs worked out. Also, I don't know if you have to be within so many thousand feet of a central switching station for it to work as it designed to do.
Thanks for all the information, wow! HD Homezone is supposed to be available the 1st qtr of this year.(we shall see) Per several searches, the HD Homezone receiver is mpeg4 capable so I don't see any issues about any HD Stations. Thanks again for all the information. AS long as you have DSL with at least a 1.5Mb connection then you are fine. Distance to the CO is irrelevant.
