Thinking of Switching to Dish for Hopper, have some questions first

[sahilm]

Hi,

Current Directv subscriber seriously considering switching to Dish for the hopper, but have some questions about it first.

1. My home has 5 TVs (1 downstairs, 4 upstairs). Dish says I need 2 hoppers. Will an internet cable need to be run to all receivers or wherever the second hopper is?
2. Two Hoppers: How does this work? I hear of some software update coming, but some say there's limited functionality already. If there's an update coming, has Dish given an ETA?
3. For this system, can each Joey access one of the 6 feeds, or will each Joey be limited to the 3 of that assigned Hopper?
4. Does the Sling adapter use a feed?

Lastly, I'm coming from a home with 3 DVRs and 2 receivers. This works well enough, but I like the idea of whole-home a lot. Is it worth going for the Hopper right now, or should I wait for the software update for 2 Hopper systems and then decide?

Thanks so much for the help everyone.

 

[sparc]

1) http://www.satelliteguys.us/hopper-...-network-connectivity-hopper-joey-system.html
2) The two hoppers will be able to see each other's DVR recordings when a future update is rolled out, but not the tuners
3) There's a link menu in the software. Joey can switch back and forth between hoppers.
4) Leaving sling for an expert....

 

[navychop]

1. No
2. Right now each Joey can switch between Hoppers. By the end of the summer, each Hopper will see each other. Later, we might see seamless integration, where the 6 tuners are just automatically assigned as needed.
3. See #2. Each Joey can see each Hopper one at a time. Later, both at the same time.
4. The Sling Adapter can use a tuner to watch live, or not use any tuner to just watch what's on the DVR.

Hard to say. People are quite happy (well, MOST people) today. That being said, I plan to hold off till the end of summer, by which time they should have the USB OTA tuner out. I really want OTA.

 

[sahilm]

1. No
2. Right now each Joey can switch between Hoppers. By the end of the summer, each Hopper will see each other. Later, we might see seamless integration, where the 6 tuners are just automatically assigned as needed.
3. See #2. Each Joey can see each Hopper one at a time. Later, both at the same time.
4. The Sling Adapter can use a tuner to watch live, or not use any tuner to just watch what's on the DVR.

Hard to say. People are quite happy (well, MOST people) today. That being said, I plan to hold off till the end of summer, by which time they should have the USB OTA tuner out. I really want OTA.

Thanks so much for your response. Just a few (I swear!) more questions for you:

1. Each Joey can see one hopper at a time, which means with the click of a button I can switch between Hoppers, and the open feeds they have? For ex, I finish watching a show on Joey streamed from Hopper A (Which is recording 3 shows). I want to watch Live TV. I hit a button to switch to Hopper B, and I can use a open tuner in Hopper B?

2. What's the benefit of OTA? I've been reading a lot about it on this forum.

 

[Dishman1978]

Thanks so much for your response. Just a few (I swear!) more questions for you:

1. Each Joey can see one hopper at a time, which means with the click of a button I can switch between Hoppers, and the open feeds they have? For ex, I finish watching a show on Joey streamed from Hopper A (Which is recording 3 shows). I want to watch Live TV. I hit a button to switch to Hopper B, and I can use a open tuner in Hopper B?

2. What's the benefit of OTA? I've been reading a lot about it on this forum.

1: yes.

2. More local broadcast channels.

 

[navychop]

What Dishman said.

OTA is the highest PQ you can get, short of Blu-ray. Dish does not carry ALL locals, including all subchannels, in every DMA.

Also, you might be able to get a neighboring DMA's channels with an OTA antenna.

 

[mdavej]

If you didn't use OTA with DirecTV and Dish has all your locals, you aren't losing anything you had before. Depending on where you live, you may not be able to receive anything via OTA without a big outdoor antenna. Also realize Dish will drop AMC, IFC, Sundance and WE completely next month. So consider that if you are a fan of those.

 

[navychop]

"May" drop. And even if they do, they "may" add them back later. As stated, there are many other sources for those channels. A factor, yes. The sole determinant, no.

I have a big outdoor antenna. I realize that's not for most. Of course, many can get by easily with a set top antenna. How urban are you?

If you're not using OTA today, as seems the case, this probably is not a big factor for you.

 

[mdavej]

Not sure where you get "may" when Charlie and others have repeatedly said "will". Those are the only facts we have. The rest is speculation. Anyway, I only said to consider it, not that it was necessarily a big deal.

 

[navychop]

I figure it ain't over till the fat lady sings. Too many last minute, or a bit after the last minute, deals have been struck. Could be a negotiating ploy.

 

[dare2be]

I agree with navychop. Have they dropped the channels yet? No? Then they MAY drop them.

 

[Leardch]

I would hate to lose The Walking Dead. However, there are other methods for obtaining the episodes I suppose.