I have a 211 and would be purchasing a Wally (because I want an RF remote for this setup). I saw some older posts about Dish not allowing this. Can I have both?
I have a 211 and would be purchasing a Wally (because I want an RF remote for this setup). I saw some older posts about Dish not allowing this. Can I have both?
You absolutely can do this. Dish may want to give you a hard time about it, but it can be done. Dish may not lease both models of receiver for use on the same account, but since you are purchasing the Wally, this restriction would not apply. The only thing to watch out for is if you want DVR service on your 211 and Wally. If you move the external hard drive from one to the other, the receiver will prompt you to reformat the drive, which would erase all of the existing recordings. This is one reason why it would be a good idea to keep your 211 in addition to the Wally, if you have existing recordings made with the 211 that you would like to keep.
I had a brief phone conversation with Dish CSR 'Craig' (seemed US based). While he didn't pull up my account, I explained my setup to him and what I wanted to do. He didn't seem to think it would be a problem. Meanwhile, the Wally is on the way. Stay tuned.
It helps if the Wally or Hopper is purchased. When I purchased my first Wally in 2017, I did not have any problem adding it to my account with a purchased ViP211k. There was even a thread quite awhile back from someone who got Dish to authorize a purchased Hopper 3 on an account with a ViP222k. It does not happen very often, but it does happen. Obviously, it also helps if your ViP receiver is a non-DVR. However, I have read about people who upgraded to a Hopper, but convinced Dish to let them continue using a purchased ViP DVR in their RV on the same account as the Hopper. This situation is more rare, though.
Success! The Wally arrived, booted right up, talked to a nice CSR from Wisconsin and told her I would be using the Wally while camping (may or may not have mattered, but is truthful). No problem, she said. She did try to upgrade my 'antiquated' setup (722+211+Wally-all owned) to Hopper, but I thanked her and declined. I like not being under contract.
I started out with a 211K on a pay-as-you-go account in 2008, and had no problem adding a H2 in 2010 and a second H2 plus a Joey in 2014 before dropping the 211K a few weeks later.