Satelite TV eqipment questions.

We decided on a Winegard G2 with DirectTV and love it. The G2 does not support HD, which we decided was not a deal-killer on a 22" TV in our Lance 20' trailer. We have DirectTV at home and so we just added a receiver and away we went. Here's a post I did about it on my blog ...

http://Ins & Outs of Portable Satellite TV for RV

We love our G2 - and since it supports both DirectTV and DISH, we can always switch.

jorbill2or wrote:
Re dish just like calling customer service nobody "gets it" lots of not exactly right info posted here
The first receiver is always "free"( no receiver charge ) paid for as part of the main account charge. you can own the receiver or get one " free" under contract ( you must keep service1-2 years ) any additional receivers on the same account are 7 bucks a month whether you own it or not ! Buying a receiver alows you to pay on month to month plans and not be committed to a contract
If your buying off the internet be very careful as if the receiver was on a account that isn't paid up they won't activate it and it's useless! buy from a reputable dealer

You're right, "lots of not exactly right info posted here".

I have 2 Dish receivers - bought brand new in the box. I also bought the Winegard Pathway X2 sat antenna new, in the box. None of it from Dish. I do NOT pay any kind of 'rental' on anything. I do NOT pay $7/month. Nothing. Zero. Nada. Do NOT need to keep my service for 1-2 years. I own all my 'stuff'. Been using it this way for 2 years now. And I can stop and start as I want.

I suspect, but am not sure, that you are confusing Dish residential plans with Dish RV plans.

With Dish you own, not lease, the equipment. If you go with the dishformyrv monthly pay as you go plan you can start and stop the service on a monthly basis. RVing in June and July but not in Sept thru Oct? No problem. Pay for June and July, then pause the service with no monthly payment until you are ready to start it again. At the extreme you could even use it for only one month per year.

Re dish just like calling customer service nobody "gets it" lots of not exactly right info posted here
The first receiver is always "free"( no receiver charge ) paid for as part of the main account charge. you can own the receiver or get one " free" under contract ( you must keep service1-2 years ) any additional receivers on the same account are 7 bucks a month whether you own it or not ! Buying a receiver alows you to pay on month to month plans and not be committed to a contract
If your buying off the internet be very careful as if the receiver was on a account that isn't paid up they won't activate it and it's useless! buy from a reputable dealer

The above comments may or may not be true for sat dishes permanently installed on the roofs of RVs but I can tell you from personal experience that you own everything outright if you get one one of the portable 'golfball' units.

I have a Winegard Pathway X2, receiving Dish HD prgramming under their pay-as-you-go program. I own the sat antenna and the receiver boxes (VIP211Z) (<$100 on Amazon). There is no contract and I don't rent anything. And there are no cancellation fees if I want to drop service.

My comments would also apply if you bought a Tailgater.

You can buy units on EBay and buy a new card and get service but as the poster above said, get the serial number and call to ask if there are any issues or liens with the unit.

shadows4 wrote:
First let me say I don't know anything about satelite TV. I have been looking at both DTV and Dish. Mainly my question is about the equipment.

Specifically the recievers, do you have to rent theirs? I have seen where I could buy recievers on ebay. Doing this would really keep the monthly cost down.

Thanks, John

With BOTH, you DO "rent" the receivers, the monthly price INCLUDES the cost of the equipment.. You WILL be locked into a 24 month (2 yr) CONTRACT because of cost of the equipment. EARLY TERMINATION will result in YOU paying a rather large sum of money..

As far as buying used units on Ebay, buyer be aware. Not really sure if either DTV or Dish will be all that excited to activate those units.. You most likely will have a difficult time getting them to agree to it and you are taking a huge chance of either stolen and or obsolete receivers.

The equipment BELONGS to DTV AND DISH, for current receivers they typically require you to send them back if you cancel. Old obsolete units they don't want back so they don't care about those.

So, you might buy a used one that is current enough and they refuse to activate it due to it not being returned (technically stolen)..

Your money, do with as you wish.

I have used sat equipment with RVS for years.

I recently switched from DTV to DISH.

Right now they are offered no 190 channels for $49/mo for two years.

Plus three mos of all premiums plus a year of free Netflix OR a sports package

Plus if you sign up thru Good SAMs you get a $100 gift card for Camping World.

Also no HD or DVR fees ever.

shadows4 wrote:
First let me say I don't know anything about satelite TV. I have been looking at both DTV and Dish. Mainly my question is about the equipment.

Specifically the recievers, do you have to rent theirs? I have seen where I could buy recievers on ebay. Doing this would really keep the monthly cost down.

Thanks, John

Your questions will prompt a lot of answers. I will speak from my experience...mostly with Dish.

First, you have the option of either buying a portable .. ground sitting dish or you can have a permanent dish installed on your RV. Factors to consider....will you be camping where a roof mounted dish may be shaded by trees? Also, a major difference between DirecTV and Dish is that DirecTV requires a more expensive type dish antenna if you want HD, but Dish Network does not....you will receive Dish HD with even a small portable dish.
Second.....if you want a second Satellite TV account for your RV AND if you only want to pay for service for the months you actually are using your RV then Dish is the way to go with their Pay-as-you-Go account. (Dish for my RV). It is a No Contract account...no automatic billing! I had this for years but since I had Dish service in my home I found it cheaper to simply add my RV Dish receiver to my home account for $7.00 per month.
Lastly, you can buy a nice inexpensive Dish receiver and own it....no Dish Network rental fees. The model ViP211K is recommended.... A model ViP211Z receiver is also available but for reasons I won't go into in this post the K model is superior.

RamWilderness wrote:
Dish for my RV

This is what we did. Purchased a receiver and Tailgater.