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Bull_Rider's avatar
Bull_Rider
Explorer
Sep 28, 2013

Dish Network? Changing to Hopper + Joey costs.

Greetings: I will try and keep this short and to the point.

Long time Dish customer. We currently have two receivers in our home. One VIP622 that we own, and one VIP722K that we lease.

One receiver serves two upstairs TVs, and the second receiver runs the two downstairs TVs.

The upstairs receiver has the sling adapter connected, and we "sling" TV programs to our RV when traveling IF the cell signal is adequate. We have the unlimited data plan from Verizon.

The downstairs receive is moved to the RV when we travel, and we use a portable sat dish with the Western Arc. We usually setup the sat. dish if we're staying on one spot for more than a couple of days.

We're paying an extra $17.00 a month because we have two DVR receivers on our DISH account. I was told that even if I purchased a second DVR receiver, it would still be %17.00 a month.

So, I'm wondering if a Hopper and Joey would be a better, less expensive option. We would like to keep one receiver at the house for Slinging TV.

Maybe a Hopper and Joey(s) for the house, and just move the second receiver (the downstairs one) permanently to the RV, and only activate it when we go south in the winter.

Anyhow, if you have a suggestion please advise.
  • I see that you are correct doing a bit of a Google search. I guess that's what the TV commercials are referring to when they say you can watch the Hopper anywhere.
    Thanks for that info.
  • Bill:

    The tech rep that I spoke to this morning was pretty knowledgeable. He said that you can get a Hopper with the Sling Adapter built in.

    We've decided to pass on the upgrade at this time, there's no significant savings, and I don't want to relearn the DVR routine.

    Seems like a big charge, $17.00, for the second DVR. Thanks.
  • Bull Rider wrote:


    The tech. at Dish suggested that we could move the 622 to the RV permanently and only activate it when we're traveling. But then we would have the added $17.00 a month up charge, so we'd be paying even more a month.

    Still pondering this one, thanks for any suggestions.
    careful with this one item. The last we knew and this was directly from dish, the ONLY receiver you could use on the same account for your RV was a 211, which is what we have now. They refused to let us use our 512 in the RV when we switched to a Hopper and 2 Joey's.
  • That's correct as the Hopper only has 3 tuners and the Joeys are not receiver but rather access data on the Hopper.
    They advertise that you can record 6 channels "during Primetime" but this can only be accomplished by activating the PTAT option which allows one tuner to record ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox and the other 2 tuners are available for others to watch or record.
    The DirecTV Genie has 5 tuners so up to 5 TV's are supported.
  • We have a similar setup with 2 DVRs in our house supporting 4 TVs. I called Dish to order the Hopper and was told it would cost an additional $9/month to replace the 2 DVRs with a Hopper and 3 Joeys. Sounded reasonable so scheduled an appointment for the next morning for installation. As we were ending the call the CSR mentioned that we would be able to watch 3 channels simultaneously. I stopped her there for additional info and it was explained that 3 of our 4 TVs would be able to watch different channels while the 4th TV would be required to watch recorded stuff or watch the same channel as one of the other TVs. I didn't like that since out current setup allows all 4 TVs to watch whatever they choose. In order to get the same setup, I would need to get 2 Hoppers and 2 Joeys which was quoted as an additional $27/month. I ended up canceling the "upgrade" and will probably just stick with what we have.
  • Does anyone know if a Sling would work with a Hopper/Joey combo or would you only be able to use the 211 with the Sling?
  • Bull Rider wrote:
    I called Dish (again) and there doesn't seem to be any real difference in the cost of a 1 Hopper, plus three Joey system verses what we currently have. Maybe ten bucks a month cheaper to do the upgrade.

    I used to have a system like yours but then upgraded to a Hopper and two Joeys -- the new system is much more superior than the old VIP receivers.


    Bull Rider wrote:

    The tech. at Dish suggested that we could move the 622 to the RV permanently and only activate it when we're traveling. But then we would have the added $17.00 a month up charge, so we'd be paying even more a month.

    This is news. I thought you could only get a 211 when you had a Hopper.
  • Thanks for the info...

    I called Dish (again) and there doesn't seem to be any real difference in the cost of a 1 Hopper, plus three Joey system verses what we currently have. Maybe ten bucks a month cheaper to do the upgrade.

    The tech. at Dish suggested that we could move the 622 to the RV permanently and only activate it when we're traveling. But then we would have the added $17.00 a month up charge, so we'd be paying even more a month.

    Still pondering this one, thanks for any suggestions.
  • We just had the hopper system installed and really like the way it works better than maually skipping through the commercials. We also got a Tailgater and 211K with the external hard drive for the TT. The tailgater is really easy to use and works almost anywhere. After a 6K trip we only ended up with one site where it didn't get satellites. The whole thing cost about $500 for the extra receiver, Tailgater and hard drive but our monthy bill actually went down a few bucks.

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