Directv Genie and RV

I'm ordering the Genie today. I'll keep the HD DVR I use in the RV or ask them to replace with a newer one.

Regarding local channels, I had Dish network on the road for a while with what they call "out of market local channels." Worked great but each time I restarted service it took a minimum of 45 minutes on the phone to get service back up and restart local channels.

How well does Directv manage local channels while on the road?
Frank
2009 View A
Pensacola

Guess it depends who you ask or maybe how long you are a customer I traded a SD DVR for an HD DVR and they gave me an extra HD box,when I converted to SWM.
I also have the extended service package so maybe that gives them more leeway.
I seem to have a box perbyearvfailure rate so I think it's worth it.

calewjohnson wrote:

ChopperBill wrote:
For what its worth we just had a Genie and one client installed to go with our three other receivers. $50 installation and free stuff. Two days later the Genie quit. A WEEK to get them back out! I was furious! I ran a cable from a spitter and hooked up the other receivers where the Genie******was. 15 year customer and NEVER had a problem until the magical Genie appeared. I told them to bring along regular receivers in case I wasnt happy with their service call.
P.S. If you didnt know it if the main Genie quits ALL related Genie components quit. So if you change make sure you keep at least one standard receiver.

With this known information, would it be too much to ask the installer to let me have a stand alone receiver (no DVR....). Would they be likely to do it? It has been about 10 years since I had DirecTV, so I am sure a lot has changed, but I never had a problem with them. As a matter of fact, when we moved overseas, we found six receivers in the floor of our coat closet, I guess we kept getting "free" equipment, but never used it....

Cale

I asked if I could swap out our DVR for just a standard HD receiver and they said I would have to pay for it. So we kept it and its a good thing. When the Genie took a dump my wife still had her DVR to watch Duck Dynasty reruns for the umpteenth time!

My setup: Home HD Slimline 5, RV HD RF Mogul SWM and SD 18" portable dish. One HR24 receiver used on all 3 dishes.

And there are setup differences between all three. Not sure if we'll continue to carry the portable dish. We went to Alaska this summer and left it home for the extra space and didn't miss it.

Sometimes having a portable dish in the RV is useful. Of course we could buy a HD portable dish.

Another option is to install a SWM dish in the RV then you can move the Genie from the house to the RV.

Be advised that there are some areas on the country where DTV does not transmit SD local channels, all local channels are HD. Hence no local reception unless you have HD.

ChopperBill wrote:
For what its worth we just had a Genie and one client installed to go with our three other receivers. $50 installation and free stuff. Two days later the Genie quit. A WEEK to get them back out! I was furious! I ran a cable from a spitter and hooked up the other receivers where the Genie******was. 15 year customer and NEVER had a problem until the magical Genie appeared. I told them to bring along regular receivers in case I wasnt happy with their service call.
P.S. If you didnt know it if the main Genie quits ALL related Genie components quit. So if you change make sure you keep at least one standard receiver.

With this known information, would it be too much to ask the installer to let me have a stand alone receiver (no DVR....). Would they be likely to do it? It has been about 10 years since I had DirecTV, so I am sure a lot has changed, but I never had a problem with them. As a matter of fact, when we moved overseas, we found six receivers in the floor of our coat closet, I guess we kept getting "free" equipment, but never used it....

Cale

For what its worth we just had a Genie and one client installed to go with our three other receivers. $50 installation and free stuff. Two days later the Genie quit. A WEEK to get them back out! I was furious! I ran a cable from a spitter and hooked up the other receivers where the Genie******was. 15 year customer and NEVER had a problem until the magical Genie appeared. I told them to bring along regular receivers in case I wasnt happy with their service call.
P.S. If you didnt know it if the main Genie quits ALL related Genie components quit. So if you change make sure you keep at least one standard receiver.

frankharwood wrote:
I wanted the Genie since my current DVR is always hovering around 15% usable space remaining. Sounds like I should be able to get the Genie and keep the old box for the RV without getting another account. Thanks for all the great input.

Please let us know how this works. I just ordered DirecTV today and will have a Genie. I will be looking to get a dish and a receiver for the RV, so I will be very interested.

Cale

I wanted the Genie since my current DVR is always hovering around 15% usable space remaining. Sounds like I should be able to get the Genie and keep the old box for the RV without getting another account. Thanks for all the great input.

I just did exactly what you're asking about, so I can tell you how it works. We got the Genie system and a new dvr. We have 4 boxes in the house but only mainly use two. They took my old dvr and put it in the bedroom, so I can access the main Genie from there and also record 2 more channels in that room and I can access that room from the main unit. The one box I want to take out in the rv (a spare bedroom) cannot be a genie unit so they had to leave one of my original boxes, I take that one out and have used it once already and it works ok, but that box has no access to the Genie box but will get all my regular channels by itself, whether at home or in the rv. We don't have HD in the rv so its just a regular box. When I take it to the rv I have to go to the setup menu and reset it for the antenna out there but it only takes a minute.

Bottom line, if I had it to do over I think I'd NOT get the genie system unless you really need to record more than two at a time and want to watch your recordings from another room. No advantage other than that that I can see. They also gave me a small box to enable downloading of movies over my wifi but we have Netflix so I don't even use it. I only installed all the stuff because all the equipment was free and the charge is only $3/month extra.