Switched to Dish - Now What?

[jodeb720]

I've been a directv customer for the last 15 years and just switched to dish.

I know that the satellite dishes are different, but is the setup much different?

For example, on Directv I had a 18" dish and it received Standard Definition. I had a LNB 3 which I got setup once for HD.

With Dish i know the dish is different. Can someone give me some pointers?

Also, I think I can take my home receiver with me - but what other than the satellite dish do I need to make it work?

Thanks in advance -

Josh

[Dutch_12078]

Solo wrote:

luvztheoutdoorz1 wrote:

You are assuming that where we live and where we camp, we can get OTA free television. Not everyone can do that. Wish we could.

Exactly. Where we travel out west, even cell coverage for any provider is sketchy. OTA TV? Not a chance. Our Dish Wally and Trav'ler is our only link to the outside world at times (other than the radio!). Dish works for us in our travels. OTA TV may work sometimes so having options is always nice.

Yes, even in more populated areas, OTA can be problematic. We're currently in northern Florida midway between Jacksonville and Tallahassee (~50 miles either way) and OTA service is poor in either direction. Our Dish service is bringing in the Jacksonville locals just fine though. And since the Jacksonville locals are CONUS beamed on the 77 sat, the second Hopper we leave up north at our Adirondack cottage is also getting them... 🙂

[chuckbear]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Now what? YOu can expect the same programs, the same re-runs, the same stuff, the same commercials, and commercials, and commercials, and commercials that you can get free on over-the-air free television. Then you can expect your rates to increase, increase, and increase some more. You have a bleak future.

Not at all helpful and has NOTHING to do with any of the OP's questions. So why do you need to post this? Chuck

[Solo]

luvztheoutdoorz1 wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
Now what? YOu can expect the same programs, the same re-runs, the same stuff, the same commercials, and commercials, and commercials, and commercials that you can get free on over-the-air free television. Then you can expect your rates to increase, increase, and increase some more. You have a bleak future.

You are assuming that where we live and where we camp, we can get OTA free television. Not everyone can do that. Wish we could.

Exactly. Where we travel out west, even cell coverage for any provider is sketchy. OTA TV? Not a chance. Our Dish Wally and Trav'ler is our only link to the outside world at times (other than the radio!). Dish works for us in our travels. OTA TV may work sometimes so having options is always nice.

[luvztheoutdoor1]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Now what? YOu can expect the same programs, the same re-runs, the same stuff, the same commercials, and commercials, and commercials, and commercials that you can get free on over-the-air free television. Then you can expect your rates to increase, increase, and increase some more. You have a bleak future.

You are assuming that where we live and where we camp, we can get OTA free television. Not everyone can do that. Wish we could.

[Bill_Satellite]

Unless you bring your own internet with you (cellular data of some kind), it's unlikely that an RV park will have enough bandwidth for you to stream much of anything (Sling, Netflix, You Tube, etc.) Many block streaming completely to allow fair access to everyone.

[Itching2go]

You're welcome, Jodeb. I think your second option of adding a second Wally to your S&B account is far and away, the best option. This way your cost would be only $7.00/month for the additional receiver. If you set up a new, second account, you'll be paying the full freight for the programming in your RV in addition to what you're already paying for your S&B services. Also, if you're going to go the OTA route, I'd do it at your home, assuming you have good OTA coverage there. Sometimes when you're on the road, OTA reception can be a bit dicey at some locations. But if you have good coverage at home, that won't change over time. For $150 installed, DISH has a high quality, powered OTA antennae and adapter for your Hopper that works great and is well worth the money, IMHO.

[jodeb720]

Itch & Bill - Thanks so much for the clarification!

I have family members at home while I'm on the road with the Mrs. So - I'm one of "those" who wants to have his cake and eat it as well. Since everyone has so eloquently explained what I thought, I would need to establish a second account for the Wally when I'm on the road - and then change my service address to the zipcode where I"m at on the road.

Of course, I could always just get a wally, add it to the account, and when I'm on the road get an OTA adapter and get the channels from my antenna (which, ironically I've never used!). That may be the best and simplest solution of all of them!

By the way, one thing that I do really like about dish is the integration of Sling into their hopper and the ability to stream live local content from the S&B hopper to where I'm at on the road. It's assuming I have enough bandwidth where i'm at in order to stream successfully. I used to have a Sling box until the unit failed and it was after Dish purchased Sling.

Thanks again to all!

josh

[Bill_Satellite]

The above description is very good. Moving a receiver in your RV only effects local Network (ABC, NBC, etc.). If you are not at home, who cares if the home receivers stop receiving Networks! Or, if you simply take your Hopper with you, there's no receiver at home anyway. If some folks are at home and some are in the RV then you have to consider how you want to handle who gets to watch Networks via DISH (or DirecTV) or if one or the other simply uses the OTA antenna for Networks.

[Itching2go]

Hey jodeb720... If I'm understanding what what the DISH rep said, this makes no sense at all. I have a Hopper 3 and Joey at my S&B, and a 211 in the fiver, all under a single account. I can and have watched TV at both locations, on different arcs, at the same time with no problems. The channels I get on the guide are the same for both locations. The only thing that might make some sense from her statement relates to local channels as they are 'spot beamed' to specific areas. Keep in mind that a DISH account has two addresses to contend with. One is the billing address, which is typically your S&B location. The second is the 'service address'. This is what you would change in order to get local channels in your RV if, for example, you are spending time in Arizona, while your S&B is in a different state. In this example, if you have your 'service address' set to a zip code in Arizona in order to get local channels there, local channels would not work at your S&B as the spot beam only covers your area in Arizona. We get around this by using an OTA antennae, connected into our S&B Hopper, for local channels there. This is a really nice option from DISH as it saves us $12.00/month for local channels via satellite, and allows us to have local channels both at our home & RV locations when on the road. It's also a nice option as by running the OTA antennae through the Hopper, these channels also show up on the guide. Sounds like you may have gotten one of those reps that might be very friendly, but not all that knowledgeable when it comes to use in an RV. I've frequently run into that when dealing with DISH customer service reps. I suggest you Google "Dish Outdoors", and give them a call on the number shown on their web site. You're likely to get a better explanation/answer there. Good luck...

[jodeb720]

Itch,

I was told by the DISH customer service that if I added a Wally or 211 to my S&B account, when i activated for my local zipcode, my S&B Hopper would stop working (it would think it was in the zip code where I was - not my home zipcode).

She told me to create/add a new account separate from S&B so that when I was on the road i could still watch the stuff recorded on my Hopper at home through my Dish Anywhere app - (when I have internet that is) and then watch what I want when I'm on the road for the weekends/vacations (I'm not retired for another 5.5 years - but who's counting!).

Did I miss something in translation?

[Itching2go]

Thanks Big Katuna, for the info on the eastern arc. Since almost all of our traveling is either west or south of Indiana, we should be fine with just the western arc, so no worries there. As for changing the locals, I was assured that as long as we were tagged as 'Dish Outdoors' customers in their system, we could change locals regardless of whether we also have service at our S&B home. Having said this, I've yet to try it. So, I guess we'll just have to see. One thing I have found with DISH is while their technology is good and their people polite and generally helpful, it is hit and miss when it comes to getting someone who really knows their stuff when it comes to using their stuff on the road.

[Big_Katuna]

Itching2go wrote:
One other nice feature that DISH has added under their DISH Outdoors moniker is the ability to change the local channels via their MyDish app when arriving at a new location. Being retired and on the road for a good 4 to 6 months out of the year, DISH works well for us, and especially with this feature. We have a Tailgater mounted on the roof of our fiver, and a 211z receiver in the rig that we own. As we also have DISH services in our S&B, the additional cost for service to the 211z is $7/month, which we can add or remove from the account depending on if we are on the road or at home. I don't know for sure if the Tailgater can see the eastern arc satellites, but I do know that the dish at our S&B home is pointed to the eastern arc, while our fiver is pointed to the western arc. Get the same programming at both locations, at the same time.

The Tailgater only gets the western arc; Winegard Pathway gets either..

I tried to change locals with the app but it wouldn’t let me as I had home equipment.
I didn’t try to call them.

You can also reauthorize your box if it’s been sitting.

[Itching2go]

One other nice feature that DISH has added under their DISH Outdoors moniker is the ability to change the local channels via their MyDish app when arriving at a new location. Being retired and on the road for a good 4 to 6 months out of the year, DISH works well for us, and especially with this feature. We have a Tailgater mounted on the roof of our fiver, and a 211z receiver in the rig that we own. As we also have DISH services in our S&B, the additional cost for service to the 211z is $7/month, which we can add or remove from the account depending on if we are on the road or at home. I don't know for sure if the Tailgater can see the eastern arc satellites, but I do know that the dish at our S&B home is pointed to the eastern arc, while our fiver is pointed to the western arc. Get the same programming at both locations, at the same time.

[jodeb720]

Thanks to everybody - I just confirmed with Dish that's exactly what they do. They bill you upfront for the service and when you cancel you've got a credit.