What to do, what to choose, need a some thoughts answered.

Just to clarify, a USB wifi adapter, or a wireless bridge connected to Joey via Ethernet?

Yes, this is confirmed to be working by a dozen people, including myself. You can also use CAT5 directly into your network. But a WiFi bridge makes it easy to extend your TV to anywhere, like a garage or shed :)
 
Your Joey will connect to the hopper wirelessly after unplugging it from the wall and plugging it back in? In my experience, the Joey has to be hard wired either by coax or Ethernet to connect to the hopper after losing power, the wifi adapter seems to not connect until the Joey is up and running.
Using the Dish/Netgear USB adapter, no problem after power outage for at least the past couple versions. Early on it did seem a little flaky after losing power, but not recently.
 
Well, I am signed up for an install later this month! Wasn't happy with the extra $199 one-time charge for the extra Hopper, but I guess that isn't too bad since the first one was free....had thought I read that the second was $99, but apparently that isn't the case anymore...?

Otherwise, the person that set it up for me was very good at being patient with all my questions! Excited to see it in action after install. :)
 
From what you say that you guys watch and enjoy I would say the directv "entertainment" programming package which is 54.99 a months and doesn't have all the regional sports networks like the others, and with 3 tvs In the house it would be an additional 12, 6 per tv, directv always pay for the 1st receiver, directv is the leader in hd and has over 170 channels available in hd, hd access is 10 a month but if you sign up with auto bill pay its free for life, also the dvr service is 8 a month, and whole home is 3 a month, so with the new customer offer that u can see on directv.com under the tv programming-English packages u can see what directv has to offer and what kinds of equipment they have, also if you have internet currently at your house ask about the cinema connection kit that has access to over 7000 on demand movies and tv shows anytime you.want them. Like someone stated earlier ask about the hr34 that has 5 tuners so u can record up to 5 shows at a time. All of the pricing mentioned is before rebates.
 
Sweet, you'll love it. I'm the one who said $99, but I was wrong apparently. Others are reporting the second Hopper is $199 as well. It's still well below what it would cost you online from a 3rd party. Hopper integration v1 was just rolled out a week ago, so the updates and improvements keep on coming.
 
Well, that's good to know that I'm getting charged the same as others at least!

That said....

I am really questioning the second hopper since it's an extra $200. I'm guessing I could drop it and update my order prior to install to get that $200 back. Maybe I should cancel and add it later when they do a promo for an extra one for the $200, which I'm guessing probably happens often enough......?
 
Does the remote that controls a Joey actually need to RF control all the way back to the Hopper?? I'm going to be installing a Joey some 150 feet from the Hopper, with many walls in between. If it talks RF to the Joey, then it'll work. But if the small remote extender antenna on the Hopper is so the Joey's remote can reach it, then I'm probably screwed.
 
Well, got my order summary...See anything glaring that I'm missing? (I decided to add Sling later if needed...)

ORDER SUMMARY
One Time Charges & Credits$199.00
Leased Receiver $99.00
Leased Receiver $199.00
Cr: Leased Receiver ($99.00)
Monthly Charges$142.99
AEP / BB@Home - 3 Mo $104.99
DVR Service $6.00
Protection Plan $7.00
HD 250 Free ($10/Mo) $0.00
Whole Home DVR Service $4.00
Joey Receiver $7.00
Joey Receiver $7.00
Hopper Receiver $7.00
Monthly Credits($57.00)
Cr: New Cust $15x12 Mo ($15.00)
Cr: Premium $35x3 Mo ($35.00)
Cr: Protect Plan $7x4 Mo ($7.00)
Monthly Charges & Credits$85.99
Amount Due Now$0.00
One Time Charges & Credits $199.00
Monthly Charges & Credits $85.99
Taxes $2.25
Paid ($287.24)
Paid$287.24
Receiver(s) to be Installed
2 Receiver Hopper
2 Receiver Joey
 
Does the remote that controls a Joey actually need to RF control all the way back to the Hopper?? I'm going to be installing a Joey some 150 feet from the Hopper, with many walls in between. If it talks RF to the Joey, then it'll work. But if the small remote extender antenna on the Hopper is so the Joey's remote can reach it, then I'm probably screwed.

No. The Joey remote talks to the Joey, not the Hopper.
 
From what you say that you guys watch and enjoy I would say the directv "entertainment" programming package which is 54.99 a months and doesn't have all the regional sports networks like the others, and with 3 tvs In the house it would be an additional 12, 6 per tv, directv always pay for the 1st receiver, directv is the leader in hd and has over 170 channels available in hd, hd access is 10 a month but if you sign up with auto bill pay its free for life, also the dvr service is 8 a month, and whole home is 3 a month, so with the new customer offer that u can see on directv.com under the tv programming-English packages u can see what directv has to offer and what kinds of equipment they have, also if you have internet currently at your house ask about the cinema connection kit that has access to over 7000 on demand movies and tv shows anytime you.want them. Like someone stated earlier ask about the hr34 that has 5 tuners so u can record up to 5 shows at a time. All of the pricing mentioned is before rebates.

I see you can read and parrot advertising quite well.

FYI, DirecTV makes that "more HD" claim based on more HD PPV. In fact, Dish has more national HD channels. And Dish also has no monthly charge for the first receiver, "free" HD with autopay, etc etc etc.

We should keep a skeptical attitude and look at offerings critically. One may be better for you, the other for somebody else. There is no wrong choice, just some choices may be better for some than others. Blind loyalty does us no good.
 
Soooo.....i think we are going to drop the extra hopper and switch to a Joey. So, will have one hopper and three joeys. Does that setup work well? It will be unusual to have all on at once.......

Secondly, will they let me do that at this point?
 
Soooo.....i think we are going to drop the extra hopper and switch to a Joey. So, will have one hopper and three joeys. Does that setup work well? It will be unusual to have all on at once.......

Secondly, will they let me do that at this point?
The most common install is with 1 hopper + some joeys. Only a few percent of hopper installs are getting two of them. It's a matter of knowing your household viewing habits very well using three tuners.

Message someone at DIRT. I can't see why they couldn't modify an order.
 
All about the tuners!!!!
You have (3)

(1) how much do you record?
(2) how much network tv do u watch?
(3) how many TV's at the same time.
(4) will you use PTAT?

It's looking at ur individual needs and decided.
For me, I have a family of 5 , we all like to record our own shows ... We have 24 timers setup....not that many compared to some people. But when I want to watch TV, I want a tuner to be available.

Example: I want to watch a ball game. PTAT is on tuner 3...My wife or kids is watching something on tuner 2 , and a recording is going on tuner 1. See the situation !!!!

I have two hoppers ( 6 tuners ) ... Still had conflicts for a while....with 213 upgrade I can disable PTAT on one Hopper and we deleted duplicate timers. This will free up tuners due to the Hoppers sharing.
 
So regardless if the hopper setup is for you or not, if you sign up as a new customer with a hopper and 3 Joey's. You can apparently 'downgrade' to a 722k and 3 612's (8 tuners not counting 612 ota's) at no charges other than a $5 increase on monthly bill. ($3 more for each 612 for $9, but $-4 from whole home dvr fee removal) And ofcourse the $15 tech visit fee to come install it. You sign a new 2 year contract, but a few weeks is not even worth mentioning.

Note that this customer had the everything package, not sure if that was a factor or not.

You can modify your install up until the technician activates the receivers. If the tech is smart enough to carry extra receivers on their truck may be a different story.
 
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sperry85 said:
?..You can apparently 'downgrade' to a 722k and 3 612's (8 tuners not counting 612 ota's) at no charges other than a $5 increase on monthly bill. ($3 more for each 612 for $9, but $-4 from whole home dvr fee removal)

I seriously don't know what those things mean!!!
 
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vaaccess said:
I seriously don't know what those things mean!!!

722k- 2 tuner HD dvr capable of running 1 or 2 TVs
612- 2 tuner HD dvr capable of running 1 TV
Ota- over the air, as in plug an antenna into for local programming.

So by getting 722k and 3 612's, that's a HD box at each TV that can record 2 shows at one time (not counting ota tuners).

Do keep in mind this set up you lose primetime anytime, and sharing recordings between receivers. But end up with 8 satellite tuners.

Just an option to keep in mind if the hopper doesn't work out for you.

Normally you would pay pretty big upfront costs to get all these receivers, you would have to purchase one of the 612's outright at $350-$450, plus possibly $100 upgrade for 2nd and 3rd HD dvr on account. But by getting hopper & 3 Joey's at no additional upfront cost, you can downgrade and not pay the $600ish upfront costs.
 

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