Directv On The Road Satellite Options and Equipment

Thank you everyone for your info.! Obviously I have some research to do!

Op is gone.

You can change locals everyday with DISH. I was never able to change with DTV.

You don’t switch between east or west while watching. You SELECT east or west from a menu you get when you connect the Pathway. You can get everything on either set.
It DOES only gets one sat at a time and switches between sats automatically.
The second tv can only watch channels on which sat the primary tv is on.

We were in FL Sunday, Albany GA yesterday and Helen GA today.
I changed locals everyday. You have to call.

If you have an RV account (vs Residential acct) you can change locals with their app from a Smart phone. I can reauthorize my sat box from my phone.

I must stay in too many shady campgrounds but I haven’t used my rooftop dome in years.

I consider them useless.

I switched from DTV to DISH and bought a Winegard Pathway X2 auto seek carry out dish that gets HD. Pathway is the only one that lets you choose either east or west sats.

This is an advantage when there are trees or hills. The east sats are in a different area of the sky than the west sats so you have options when there trees.

Directv is not RV friendly.

Sat internet is very pricey and slow.

We use Verizon. I just bought a Wilson Weboost RV and it is working great in weak areas.

While the info about DirecTV is accurate, DISH uses 2 sets of 3 satellites and those that travel coast to coast my be required to use the Eastern set of satellites (EA or Eastern Arc) to receive local Network programming. Most domes antennas (and none of the open face antennas) can automatically switch between the WA and EA set of satellites.
As to the "do you want to pay" question, YES, I want to pay to ensure I have TV everywhere I go. The OTA antenna cannot do that! You might say that satellite cannot either since a tree blocking the signal would prevent that. The good news is that my RV has wheels. I can move a few feet (or more) and I WILL have a clear view. With nearly 20 years of practice I can tell you that I CAN get satellite TV EVERYWHERE!

YOu may wish to consider DISH instead of DirecTV Since AT&T took over DirecTV they do offer Sat-TV/Internet bundles but.. they are different services. either two dishes (Via-Sat is the other dish and not really a good RV choice from what I understand) or Internet yia land line (not good for RV either).

Xfinity (i think) if you have an account (VERIFY BEFORE YOU BUY) you may be able to connect as "Guest" on other people's routers VERIFY BEFORE YOU BUY. I AM NOT SURE OF THIS.

DirecTV I'm told is dropping or has dropped service on Sat 101 (SDTV) but is still prociding 99/103 (HDTV but rumors abound on the future of it as well as AT&T tries to force everyone to land line.

Dish still works.

Direc HDTV only works with Dish style antennas. Domes and In-motion are not going to work Dish it's a bit more complex

A Single channel receiver will work with a Dome In-Motion or not or with a Dish provided the dome is one that can re-point under receiver control This includes most of the portable "Cube" or Dome type antennas.
MUlti-channel systems need a Triple LNB dish or multiple domes as sure as I'm typing one channel is going to be looking for one satellite (bird) and the other(s) will want different bird(s).

NO matter what antenna you use get one that sets on the ground away from your RV (Even if you have an automatic on the roof) as.. Well the evil signal eating tree I am parked under as I type will eat the roof mount's signal.

Finally: Do you really want to pay 100/month give or take for TV when .. Well I( pay 25/year for a TV guide and use my "Batwing".

In another thread the Garmin InReach is being discussed. One of its many features is downloading weather info from the satellite network, anywhere in the world.

You can get basic forecast and radar from the weather channel by adding a zip code. If you want a better forecast just use the ota. For internet I use a Verizon MIFI, which is all I use in the stick an brick also.

rr2254545 wrote:
In addition Direct TV will not give you local weather outside of your home area - that would be changing addresses often and that is not part of their service although some people say they can call in and have them change it

DTV (and DISH) cannot give you local anything (or any Network programming) outside of your home area. If you want local info it just generally takes raising your OTA antenna and watching the local news and weather. If you will be in an area for an extended period you can call either service and have your "service address" changed. If you travel full time you can get DNS Networks and then only have to deal with the OTA antenna for the 5 o'clock news!

Are you stuck on using DTV? Dish has a better choice of equipment and plans for RV use including a month to month prepaid plan that you drop when you don't need it. Dish also makes it very easy to change to the locals where you are. For Internet, most of us are using cell based plans primarily from Verizon or AT&T. Satellite Internet is available, with equipment costs starting around $1K and up. Setting up with each move can be time consuming.

In addition Direct TV will not give you local weather outside of your home area - that would be changing addresses often and that is not part of their service although some people say they can call in and have them change it