# My Hopper/Joey Install Experience



## James Long

Now that Hopper/Joey are available we expect a few people to join the "bleeding edge" and either change out their existing DISH system for Hopper/Joey or become a new DISH subscriber.

Once you have Hopper/Joey installed in your home tell us your experience! Make sure you tell us what you replaced and your initial reactions (whether you are pleased or regret the decision to go with Hopper/Joey, what are the good or bad experiences so far).

We hope to have a structured look at this new product in a few days but here is your chance to share - member to member - your experience. So once you get your Hopper/Joey tell us all about it right here.


----------



## mdavej

I upgraded from a 722k to a hopper today (no joeys). The install took a very long time (3 hrs) because mine shipped with an apparently very old, very buggy firmware which took many, many tries before it would update so the install could complete. The physical connections only took a few minutes, with the addition of one device outside. The installer had no problem with that, but had no idea how to work the hopper itself or the remote. I knew a lot more about it than he did.

I had a few scares with my EHD not working at first, but now all is well. I love the speed, the HD GUI, the remote and PTAT. The PQ even seems better on both HD and SD (but that could be my imagination).

Those who are upgrading need to save their favorites and timers somehow because a backup/restore from another remote will not work. I just printed out my timers from DishOnline before hand.


----------



## El Gabito

So to those of you that have it - can you set up an auto-save for PT shows that you regularly watch? I see that you can save shows manually - but I'm interested in auto-saving in case I don't get to it in 8 days, but don't want to dump it.


----------



## Blowgun

To add to El Gabito's question; if you are allowed to auto-save will the auto-save automatically add the default padding? And if not, if you manually save can you add padding in order to "copy" the entire program?


----------



## ZBoomer

mdavej said:


> I upgraded from a 722k to a hopper today


How is this possible when the unit only became available to order today?


----------



## mdavej

I didn't wait for it to be available for order online. I called my local installer yesterday and scheduled the install for today. He said he'd put in the order for me this morning, which he did, and bring it to my house and install it by lunchtime, which he also did. So now I have a hopper


----------



## VDP07

The other site has several members who had installers on site within a couple of hours of ordering. Impressive.


----------



## VDP07

El Gabito said:


> So to those of you that have it - can you set up an auto-save for PT shows that you regularly watch? I see that you can save shows manually - but I'm interested in auto-saving in case I don't get to it in 8 days, but don't want to dump it.


For those programs that you want to save beyond the 8 days that PTA offers, set those timers like you always have. They will be recorded on the same tuner as the rest of the PTA programs and they will automatically be moved from Dish's side of the hard drive to the users side of the Hard drive.


----------



## WynsWrld98

mdavej said:


> I had a few scares with my EHD not working at first, but now all is well. I love the speed, the HD GUI, the remote and PTAT. The PQ even seems better on both HD and SD (but that could be my imagination).


Can you elaborate on what happened with your EHD at first?

What output resolution options does the Hopper/Joey allow you to select from? 1080p? is there an option for native passthrough (e.g., if ABC is broadcasting 720p then output 720p, if NBC is outputting 1080i output 1080i), etc.?


----------



## mdavej

At first it showed there were zero recordings on it (almost giving me a heart attack). So I contacted Dish and they sent down some sort of update to my "home key" they said. All my recordings showed up as soon as they did that and all was well. So it turned out to be an issue with my installation, not any sort of bug.

Resolution settings only go up to 1080i, but 1080p content (what little there is) is output at 1080p AFAIK, like the VIP series. There's no native option like DirecTV.


----------



## WynsWrld98

mdavej said:


> At first it showed there were zero recordings on it (almost giving me a heart attack). So I contacted Dish and they sent down some sort of update to my "home key" they said. All my recordings showed up as soon as they did that and all was well. So it turned out to be an issue with my installation, not any sort of bug.
> 
> Resolution settings only go up to 1080i, but 1080p content (what little there is) is output at 1080p AFAIK, like the VIP series. There's no native option like DirecTV.


The lack of native passthrough as an option is disappointing. This has been on some DVRs many years back.


----------



## P Smith

WynsWrld98 said:


> The lack of native passthrough as an option is disappointing. This has been on some DVRs many years back.


Different companies


----------



## ZBoomer

Almost all current TV technology uses fixed-pixel displays, i.e. the display is of a set resolution, and cannot be changed (1080, 720, etc.) Unlike CRT's which can actually scan at different resolutions.

Even if you have native passthrough in the box, the TV itself must convert it to whatever its native resolution is before it shows it to you. So it comes down to if the conversion happens in the DVR (Dish) or the TV (DirectTV). I've viewed both, and to my eyes there is no difference quality wise.

In fact, I MUCH prefer the DVR be doing the conversion, why? Because it's always sending the native resolution out the TV is expecting, no conversion takes place in the TV itself. This means it doesn't re-sync every time you change channels, which I find MADDENING. To each his own, but with a flat-panel, non-CRT TV, I prefer the DVR do the conversion (Dish.)

Native pass-through is a feature I would turn off, if present.


----------



## WynsWrld98

ZBoomer said:


> Almost all current TV technology uses fixed-pixel displays, i.e. the display is of a set resolution, and cannot be changed (1080, 720, etc.) Unlike CRT's which can actually scan at different resolutions.
> 
> Even if you have native passthrough in the box, the TV itself must convert it to whatever its native resolution is before it shows it to you. So it comes down to if the conversion happens in the DVR (Dish) or the TV (DirectTV). I've viewed both, and to my eyes there is no difference quality wise.
> 
> In fact, I MUCH prefer the DVR be doing the conversion, why? Because it's always sending the native resolution out the TV is expecting, no conversion takes place in the TV itself. This means it doesn't re-sync every time you change channels, which I find MADDENING. To each his own, but with a flat-panel, non-CRT TV, I prefer the DVR do the conversion (Dish.)
> 
> Native pass-through is a feature I would turn off, if present.


No point in arguing about native passthrough, the concept is very simple, if the DVR has a better scaler than the display device then turn the feature off. If the display device has a better scaler than the DVR then turn the feature on. It's a very useful feature if your display device has a very good scaler. My display device has an excellent scaler. For channels that broadcast 720p I've run a test and changed the DVR output from 1080i to 720p and compared picture on my 1080p front projector (large screen reveals a lot) vs. what it looks like when the DVR is outputting 1080i for the 720p native signal and there is a BIG difference on my display device meaning my display device's scaler is far superior to my VIP722 DVR's scaler.

If your display device is 1080p and you're watching a 720p channel yet have the DVR's output set to 1080i you have 720p --> 1080i --> 1080p conversion vs. if the DVR had a native passthrough option you'd have 720p --> 1080p, less conversions the better.

Re: annoyance of slowness changing channels with native passthrough set on there aren't that many 720p channels so normally the DVR is outputting 1080i, plus in the days of having a DVR I pretty much never channel surf anymore, 99.9% of what I watch has been recorded on my DVR and watched after the fact to give the opportunity to fast forward commercials/etc. Everyone I know with a DVR time shifts this way, doesn't channel surf like was done in the "good old days". With the new Prime Time Anytime feature that's another reason watching live TV is an antiquated concept.


----------



## WynsWrld98

P Smith said:


> Different companies


Who cares if it's a different company's DVR that has native passthrough there's no technical/licensing reason a DISH DVR cannot offer it. I don't see your point at all...


----------



## pdcolemanjr

Can someone who has had the Directv Whole Home compare it to the Hopper? We had the directv whole home.. switched to dish (yay fiance) and am curious the comparisons..


----------



## Stuart Sweet

I have DIRECTV whole home. I don't have Hopper and don't mean to troll. I have been watching this thread and I'll make some comments:

DIRECTV whole home does not let you pause live TV on every receiver, unless every receiver is a DVR. On the other hand if you have DIRECTV's HR34 DVR and 3 regular recievers (the closest analogue to a Hopper/3-Joey setup) you can record 5 things on the main DVR and still watch 3 things live on the other TVs.


----------



## mdavej

I had DirecTV whole home and now hopper, but no joeys, so I can't say how the clients work. But I think it's a little too early to compare because neither is in it's final state. Dish has a thin client box today (joey) and DirecTV does not, save for a few tv's with integrated RVU. On the flip side, DirecTV can integrate multiple servers but Dish currently cannot. All of those will ultimately be features.


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

If you want to save a PTAT recording, it has to be manually saved to your HD. There isn't an auto save feature. If you do save a PTAT recording, it does keep a copy in the PTAT folder. If you have further questions, please let me know. Thanks.



El Gabito said:


> So to those of you that have it - can you set up an auto-save for PT shows that you regularly watch? I see that you can save shows manually - but I'm interested in auto-saving in case I don't get to it in 8 days, but don't want to dump it.


----------



## mdavej

WynsWrld98 said:


> Who cares if it's a different company's DVR that has native passthrough there's no technical/licensing reason a DISH DVR cannot offer it. I don't see your point at all...


I don't want to debate native too much. I understand it's a feature that some people want for various reasons. But I kind of see it as an outdated feature that Dish will probably never have. It's very rare for disc players or any DVR besides DirecTV to have it. If Dish's scaler is good, which it is, what's the point? Very few people are going to have external scalers that are any better. So I think it would be a waste of money to add a feature so few would ever use.

Personally, in the several years I had DirecTV, I was able to tolerate native for about 5 minutes for the reasons already mentioned plus the fact that in many cases native was significantly worse than upconverted. This is because many SD channels are broadcast stretched, which carries over on native. If you switch from native to pillar box, you can squash it back to a normal aspect ratio. With native, you're stuck in stretch mode, which I find unwatchable.

There are lots of DirecTV features I wish Dish had besides native, like bookmarks, skip to tick, better dual live buffers (I often lose my buffer when switching back and forth, while that never happened on DirecTV), youtube and pandora. One huge thing I get with Dish that I never got with DirecTV is being able to use IR and RF remotes simultaneously. Others include the 3 hr wide guide display, portable EHDs, sling and PTAT.

Sorry for getting off topic onto DirecTV vs. Dish. This is supposed to be about the install experience. Mine was difficult and slow, but the end result was good.


----------



## Joe Bernardi

I PMed a Dish Internet response Team member at 9:30 am yesterday, ordered an upgrade from a 922 and two 612s to two Hoppers and three Joeys. The installer arrived less than five hours later and took 2 1/2 hours to finish. My existing wiring helped him out.

Everything is working great. I love it, and I also think the PQ is better than it was.


----------



## WynsWrld98

mdavej said:


> I don't want to debate native too much. I understand it's a feature that some people want for various reasons. But I kind of see it as an outdated feature that Dish will probably never have. It's very rare for disc players or any DVR besides DirecTV to have it. If Dish's scaler is good, which it is, what's the point? Very few people are going to have external scalers that are any better. So I think it would be a waste of money to add a feature so few would ever use.
> 
> Personally, in the several years I had DirecTV, I was able to tolerate native for about 5 minutes for the reasons already mentioned plus the fact that in many cases native was significantly worse than upconverted. This is because many SD channels are broadcast stretched, which carries over on native. If you switch from native to pillar box, you can squash it back to a normal aspect ratio. With native, you're stuck in stretch mode, which I find unwatchable.
> 
> There are lots of DirecTV features I wish Dish had besides native, like bookmarks, skip to tick, better dual live buffers (I often lose my buffer when switching back and forth, while that never happened on DirecTV), youtube and pandora. One huge thing I get with Dish that I never got with DirecTV is being able to use IR and RF remotes simultaneously. Others include the 3 hr wide guide display, portable EHDs, sling and PTAT.
> 
> Sorry for getting off topic onto DirecTV vs. Dish. This is supposed to be about the install experience. Mine was difficult and slow, but the end result was good.


You're stating incorrect information but I've already stated the correct information so since this has gotten off topic like you state let's get it back to the Hopper/Joey.

So anyone who has had it installed have you seen any problems such as intermittent problems with slowness, freezing, anything like that that often occurs on the bleeding edge?

Anything you like less on Hopper vs. your previous 722/922 DVR?


----------



## jefte1

Hello all, One question here, I have several recorded programs that I have saved on my 722 that I have not gotten around to watching yet. Due to working 7 days a week at present. Should I wait to get the hopper until I have watched all the recordings or waste the money to get a external hard drive to download the recordings and than have them transferred to the hopper later? 
thanks for your help in advance!


----------



## Joe Bernardi

I've had no problems. The PTAT feature recorded as expected last night. The EHD I used with the 922 is working fine with the Hopper. Recorded a [email protected] movie to be watched later within a 30 day period. Picture quality is better than it was.


----------



## Joe Bernardi

jefte1 said:


> Hello all, One question here, I have several recorded programs that I have saved on my 722 that I have not gotten around to watching yet. Due to working 7 days a week at present. Should I wait to get the hopper until I have watched all the recordings or waste the money to get a external hard drive to download the recordings and than have them transferred to the hopper later?
> thanks for your help in advance!


If you think getting an external hard drive is a waste, watch all the recordings before upgrading to the Hopper.

If there are any recordings that you'd prefer to keep for a long time, get an EHD to store it in case your 722 (or Hopper) fails.


----------



## sigma1914

WynsWrld98 said:


> ...
> 
> Re: annoyance of slowness changing channels with native passthrough set on there aren't that many 720p channels...


Really?  FX, Fox, almost every ABC, all Fox sports regional nets, A&E, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, History, History International, Crime & Investigation, Biography, Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Soccer, MLB Network, Disney, DXD, Disney Kids, ABC Family, Speed Channel, Fuel, Big Ten Network.

Yeah, there aren't that many. :lol:


----------



## mdavej

jefte1 said:


> Hello all, One question here, I have several recorded programs that I have saved on my 722 that I have not gotten around to watching yet. Due to working 7 days a week at present. Should I wait to get the hopper until I have watched all the recordings or waste the money to get a external hard drive to download the recordings and than have them transferred to the hopper later?
> thanks for your help in advance!





Joe Bernardi said:


> If you think getting an external hard drive is a waste, watch all the recordings before upgrading to the Hopper.
> 
> If there are any recordings that you'd prefer to keep for a long time, get an EHD to store it in case your 722 (or Hopper) fails.


I agree. But realize the requirements for an EHD are very minimal, so you may have an old drive lying around that will work just fine. The one I used had been sitting in my closet for at least 10 years and was nearly worn out went I put it there. It was hot and noisy, but it worked fine for the few hours I used it. You may even be able to find something a goodwill.


----------



## WynsWrld98

The "user space" on the Hopper is 1 TB?


----------



## P Smith

WynsWrld98 said:


> The "user space" on the Hopper is 1 TB?


http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=202301&highlight=250+hd+hours


----------



## n0qcu

WynsWrld98 said:


> The "user space" on the Hopper is 1 TB?


NO, it's 500 GB

http://www.satelliteguys.us/hopper-zone/279796-ehd-transfer-oddity.html#post2808932


----------



## P Smith

n0qcu said:


> NO, it's 500 GB


Here we go again ...
Then please (if you missed the thread) do publicly *your* calculation
don't forget to start from dish claimed 250 hrs of HD ...


----------



## James Long

Guys ... this is an install report thread. Please find another thread to argue other topics. Thanks!


----------



## wimac

Tech has been here since 12:30 hooking up 2 hoppers and 3 joeys. Having issues with one of the hoppers and the data is networking. They are also telling me that the joeys won't work because they have a firmware issue but are working on it.


----------



## wimac

"wimac" said:


> Tech has been here since 12:30 hooking up 2 hoppers and 3 joeys. Having issues with one of the hoppers and the data is networking. They are also telling me that the joeys won't work because they have a firmware issue but are working on it.


Data is not working...


----------



## P Smith

can you post MOCA signal snapshots ?


----------



## phrelin

mdavej said:


> The physical connections only took a few minutes, with the addition of one device outside. The installer had no problem with that, but had no idea how to work the hopper itself or the remote. I knew a lot more about it than he did.


Thanks for that info. I'd be curious to know from everyone reporting here whether the installer seemed to know how to work the system.


----------



## phrelin

Blowgun said:


> To add to El Gabito's question; if you are allowed to auto-save will the auto-save automatically add the default padding? And if not, if you manually save can you add padding in order to "copy" the entire program?





Ray [email protected] Network said:


> If you want to save a PTAT recording, it has to be manually saved to your HD. There isn't an auto save feature. If you do save a PTAT recording, it does keep a copy in the PTAT folder. If you have further questions, please let me know. Thanks.


Does this mean that the three hour recording is still there in its entirety until you choose to delete it?

Would someone who has a unit working confirm that one easily can save PTAT recorded shows onto the user hard drive space with extra time at the beginning and end effectively giving you complete copies of all those shows that don't follow the on-the-hour scheduling system - like many ABC shows that actually run from 9:00 to 10:02.


----------



## GATER

Just got my Hopper and 3 joeys installed. Technician was here from 1pm to 530pm. Had a few issues, but that is expected for the first install in my area. Connected the hopper using NETGEAR XET1001 85 MBit/s Powerline Network Adapter which seems to be working for now. The installer thought it wouldnt work, but I think they are still learning the ins and outs. EHD connected fine and all the recordings are accessable. The hopper did "freeze" twice and reseting the hopper cleared the issue without compromising any of the settings on the hopper and joeys. More to follow...


----------



## GATER

phrelin said:


> Does this mean that the three hour recording is still there in its entirety until you choose to delete it?
> 
> Would someone who has a unit working confirm that one easily can save PTAT recorded shows onto the user hard drive space with extra time at the beginning and end effectively giving you complete copies of all those shows that don't follow the on-the-hour scheduling system - like many ABC shows that actually run from 9:00 to 10:02.


From what I see my PTAT records from 755-1105pm, with the exception of sunday which is 655-1105pm. I wonder if its possible to change the PTAT recording to start at 655 pm?


----------



## inkahauts

ZBoomer said:


> Almost all current TV technology uses fixed-pixel displays, i.e. the display is of a set resolution, and cannot be changed (1080, 720, etc.) Unlike CRT's which can actually scan at different resolutions.
> 
> Even if you have native passthrough in the box, the TV itself must convert it to whatever its native resolution is before it shows it to you. So it comes down to if the conversion happens in the DVR (Dish) or the TV (DirectTV). I've viewed both, and to my eyes there is no difference quality wise.
> 
> In fact, I MUCH prefer the DVR be doing the conversion, why? Because it's always sending the native resolution out the TV is expecting, no conversion takes place in the TV itself. This means it doesn't re-sync every time you change channels, which I find MADDENING. To each his own, but with a flat-panel, non-CRT TV, I prefer the DVR do the conversion (Dish.)
> 
> Native pass-through is a feature I would turn off, if present.


Just to be clear, Directv can turn that on and off....

Aside from that, I am thoroughly impressed at how fast and well organized Dish seems to be installing these if you guys are getting them same day. DirecTV could learn from that.

Does the new system still have a coax output on it, and are all outputs live at the same time, in case you would want to hook it up to two tvs but not want any joeys?


----------



## mdavej

inkahauts said:


> Does the new system still have a coax output on it, and are all outputs live at the same time, in case you would want to hook it up to two tvs but not want any joeys?


Coax is gone. But all outputs are always active (HDMI, Component and Composite). I have HDMI going to an HD wireless transmitter to TV2 in another room, Component going to TV1, and Composite going to my DVD recorder. I have no Joeys. The cool thing is IR and RF are both active, so I can use my IR universal at TV1 and the Dish RF remote at TV2. That's something I always wanted to do with DirecTV but couldn't.


----------



## billyfury

WynsWrld98 said:


> So anyone who has had it installed have you seen any problems such as intermittent problems with slowness, freezing, anything like that that often occurs on the bleeding edge?
> 
> Anything you like less on Hopper vs. your previous 722/922 DVR?


I replaced 922 and 722 setup with Hopper and 3 Joeys yesterday. I had to reset the Hopper once. For some reason I lost my internet/broadband connection. I had clicked the Weather Channel option in the main menu and could not get the video to change back to the "live tv", menu etc without the broadband connection. The audio did change back to live tv as changing channels did change the audio but the screen was stuck on the weather channel. A reset and then a reset of broadband connection fixed this and everything has been fine since.

As far as what I like less there are two things. I have no OTA module. Many local broadcast channels that I do watch are not in the Dish menu. I had to connect my external antenna directly to the TV and switch the TV source to watch them. I am told that a future USB antenna is intended to fix this.

You cannot mix VIP and Hopper equipment on one account. The installer and his manager did not know this when they came. In fact the installer had run a third cable from my dish to the in order to accomodate the 922 and only found out that cannot be done when he tried to activate everthing. I had intended to keep the 922 (although I had multiple problems with it over the past 12 months) in order to keep my sling ability without additional up front expense. Dish wanted $30 for the sling unit. I had to give up the 922. I was able to get Dish to give me a sling unit without cost after complaining about the expense I incurred less than a year ago for the OTA module that I am no longer able to use.

I dont know how those that like to take Dish technology with them for the weekend in their RV are going to be able to do that. Not a big deal for me.

I am very happy with the new system!


----------



## MDavidM

Mine never happened. Called Thursday and set an installation appointment for Friday afternoon. No one ever showed up for the installation. Called Dish and found that the order had been cancelled. Their solution? Block off another entire afternoon and hope someone shows up. Lunacy...


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

If you're speaking of the recording that you saved to the HD from the PTAT, yes it is there until you choose to delete it. The PTAT content rolls off after 8 days. I believe each show recorded within that 3 hour block has it's own folder not 1 folder for each block. Thanks.



phrelin said:


> Does this mean that the three hour recording is still there in its entirety until you choose to delete it?
> 
> Would someone who has a unit working confirm that one easily can save PTAT recorded shows onto the user hard drive space with extra time at the beginning and end effectively giving you complete copies of all those shows that don't follow the on-the-hour scheduling system - like many ABC shows that actually run from 9:00 to 10:02.


----------



## ash

I just called to upgrade to the Hopper and 2 Joeys from 1 922 and 2 211K. I was advised to wait until mid-April to avoid the $ 99.00 upgrade fee and firmware upgrades will support TV Everywhere without a Sling adapter on the Hopper. Can anybody else confirm this ? Thanks


----------



## puckwithahalo

ash said:


> I just called to upgrade to the Hopper and 2 Joeys from 1 922 and 2 211K. I was advised to wait until mid-April to avoid the $ 99.00 upgrade fee and firmware upgrades will support TV Everywhere without a Sling adapter on the Hopper. Can anybody else confirm this ? Thanks


I'm sure eventually there won't be an upgrade fee, but I wouldn't hold my breath for it being mid-april.

Hopper will never get tv everywhere without the sling adapter, does not have the hardware to do so.


----------



## phrelin

Ray [email protected] Network said:


> If you're speaking of the recording that you saved to the HD from the PTAT, yes it is there until you choose to delete it. The PTAT content rolls off after 8 days. I believe each show recorded within that 3 hour block has it's own folder not 1 folder for each block. Thanks.


What I'm concerned about is that many shows run one or two minutes long and the ViP DVR's cut the shows off _*on the hour or half-hour*_ to start the next one, frequently even if both are on the same network, leaving me without the critical end of the show. (Really, the Dish system rounds down or up in five minute increments which really screws things up.)

Most of the time, you can obtain information in advance if a show runs long, but not always. So if all the shows can be seen with an extra two minutes beyond the scheduled start and stop time, the PTAT system will work beautifully. If not, we're back to the same problem.

ABC is the worst network for this, frequently ending 9:00 shows at 9:01 or 9:02. But they aren't the only one that does this.

I can do "work arounds" most of the time because I have both a 722 and a 612. But I want to know if people are losing the ends of shows on the Hopper PTAT system.


----------



## Blowgun

Ray [email protected] Network said:


> The PTAT content rolls off after 8 days. I believe each show recorded within that 3 hour block has it's own folder not 1 folder for each block. Thanks.


Really, PTAT? Sigh.

Anyway, if I understand what you're saying, there are 8 total blocks. Each block represents one of the 8 PTA days that are stored. On the 9th day, the oldest of the 8 blocks is deleted, replaced either after or before the 9th day block is stored. Or if you would, the 8th day 'falls off' the backside and is replaced with the 9th day.

Further, if you have all of the broadcasts of your locals in HD, then each block would contain all the Prime Time hours of the four major networks. Working in the background, the block is then pre-cut so that all of the shows contained in Prime Time end up getting stored on their own for viewing later.

As "phrelin" correctly points out, the EPG is often inadequate in determining the correct ending of many shows. Heck, the EPG can't even determine the second airing correctly.

Wouldn't this, "fast-food" pre-cut method (DISH), instead of the precision butcher cut method (ME), ultimately result in some shows getting their endings chopped off? Or, does PTA do the "fast-food" pre-cutting method based on the padding?

If the pre-cutting is based on the padding, then I suppose I could set the end padding to, lets say 15 minutes. If this is the case, then this slop-cut method would give the best chance of having the end of the show survive PTA.



phrelin said:


> ABC is the worst network for this, frequently ending 9:00 shows at 9:01 or 9:02. But they aren't the only one that does this.


I consider ABC to be one of the worst. When the show 'Lost' was still on the air, some episodes would end 2 to 9 minutes late because ABC decided to stuff commercials. This wasn't reflected in the guide. If it's popular on ABC, expect it to run over, and run over a lot.


----------



## phrelin

This is cross thread posting, I know, but I got my question answered.


mdavej said:


> BobaBird said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> phrelin said:
> 
> 
> 
> (from Installation Experiences thread)
> 
> Would someone who has a unit working confirm that one easily can save PTAT recorded shows onto the user hard drive space with extra time at the beginning and end effectively giving you complete copies of all those shows that don't follow the on-the-hour scheduling system - like many ABC shows that actually run from 9:00 to 10:02.
> 
> 
> 
> That's one of the questions I'd like answered to complete the EKB page, and Dish PR has been unresponsive. Would someone save the 9:00 show, and then save the 10:00 show (or any show and the one immediately following on the same channel)? I expect the 9:00 save will have 3 minutes late into the 10:00 show, but does the 10:00 show also have the 1 early at the end of the 9:00 show? There should be a few minutes that appear both at the end of the first and beginning of the second.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I can confirm that start early / end late is preserved on all programs, even overlapping ones when viewed or saved. So as in your example the last few minutes of program 1 is repeated in the first few minutes of program 2.
Click to expand...

Thank you!


----------



## Blowgun

So it's based completely on the default padding, provided that the default padding is adequate to get the entire show. This also suggests that the blocks remain intact and are not pre-chopped up, until the user wants to copy out from the PTA area.


----------



## James Long

Blowgun said:


> So it's based completely on the default padding, provided that the default padding is adequate to get the entire show. This also suggests that the blocks remain intact and are not pre-chopped up, until the user wants to copy out from the PTA area.


It seems to record shows as they air. How they are stored is a decent technical question but I'm not sure it is important. The important part is what is available to play back.

Series timers can still be set for your favorite shows, and those recordings will be kept as long as you like (within the settings of the DVR).

This being day 3 of release there are a few who can test saving programs one didn't have a timer set for, and other issues. CBS is a good channel tonight with the NCAA Basketball Tournament automatically starting at 7:30pm and 48 Hours scheduled at 10pm. If the game goes past 10 we can see what "late sports" does to PTA timers.


----------



## rds

I talked to Dish and asked what was the wiring requirements for installing a Hopper and 2 Joeys. I was told that I needed 5 coax cables at the site of the Hopper installation - one from the dish to the Hopper, one going from the Hopper to each Joey and one from each Joey to the Hopper. Does anyone know if this correct? I currently have 2 quad shielded RG-6 cables at each site. Can I have a Hopper/Joey installed with this setup?


----------



## Stewart Vernon

You should check out some of the threads, particular the stickies at the top of this forum...

There is only a need for one run of coax to the Hopper. The basics of the wiring are:

2 runs of coax from a DP switch (could be a 1000.4 built-in or could be a DPP34/44 switch) to a single node. One run of coax from the node to the Hopper. One run of coax from the node to 1 or more Joeys, the Joey runs of coax can be split from each other like part of a home distribution setup.

A dual Hopper config is slightly different, mainly at the node, but still only one run of coax to where the Hopper is installed.


----------



## olguy

rds said:


> I talked to Dish and asked what was the wiring requirements for installing a Hopper and 2 Joeys. I was told that I needed 5 coax cables at the site of the Hopper installation - one from the dish to the Hopper, one going from the Hopper to each Joey and one from each Joey to the Hopper. Does anyone know if this correct? I currently have 2 quad shielded RG-6 cables at each site. Can I have a Hopper/Joey installed with this setup?


That person is in serious need of training. My Hopper has one RG6 coming to it and that is 2 way. Sat signal down and Hopper signal to Joeys back up. They are all connected to the node which distributes the signals where they need to go. The only thing the tech had to do was replace the existing 59 to the Hopper with 6. The Joeys are using the existing 59. You only need one drop to each box.


----------



## tstucki

I had 2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys installed on Friday. The tech spent a lot of time trying to get everything to "Link". If I go to the Network Settings the internet is working just fine on the Hoppers, however when you switch to the MoCA view, on ALL Hoppers and Joeys the connection fails. Is this supposed to work? Will a firmware update help?

Also, When I go to the Whole-Home page, it shows ALL Hoppers and Joeys. The Tech who was doing the install thought that they should all be "Linked", but everything is "Un-Linked" except the Joeys that are connected to the hoppers. The tech said he was going to ask around after he left and call me back, but he never did.

Is this how it's supposed to be set up? (Hopper 1 ONLY "Linked" to it's Joeys, and Hopper 2 only "Linked" to it's respective Joeys)

Plus, I ALWAYS have a MoCA signal indicator on the bottom right of my screen. I'd really like to get rid of that!


----------



## James Long

tstucki said:


> I had 2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys installed on Friday. The tech spent a lot of time trying to get everything to "Link". If I go to the Network Settings the internet is working just fine on the Hoppers, however when you switch to the MoCA view, on ALL Hoppers and Joeys the connection fails. Is this supposed to work? Will a firmware update help?


I'm not sure where in the menu you are talking about. Walk us up to that point.
Menu (button) ... choose Settings ??? etc (see example below)



> Is this how it's supposed to be set up? (Hopper 1 ONLY "Linked" to it's Joeys, and Hopper 2 only "Linked" to it's respective Joeys)


Currently yes. Joeys can only be liked to one Hopper. Software update pending.



> Plus, I ALWAYS have a MoCA signal indicator on the bottom right of my screen. I'd really like to get rid of that!


Menu ... Settings ... Network Setup ... Whole Home ... Display Settings
Set to Notifications Only or Disabled. Enabled leaves it there all the time.


----------



## skyway

My Hopper install is scheduled for tomorrow. Replacing my two VIP 722's with two Hoppers and two Joey's. Thanks to DIRT [email protected] for getting me scheduled. Looking forward to the new system.


----------



## P Smith

skyway said:


> My Hooper install is scheduled for tomorrow. Replacing my two VIP 722's with two Hoopers and two Joey's. Thanks to DIRT [email protected] for getting me scheduled. Looking forward to the new system.


Shame ! Check what name *you* created for the product.


----------



## tstucki

James Long said:


> I'm not sure where in the menu you are talking about. Walk us up to that point.
> Menu (button) ... choose Settings ??? etc (see example below)
> 
> Currently yes. Joeys can only be liked to one Hopper. Software update pending.
> 
> Menu ... Settings ... Network Setup ... Whole Home ... Display Settings
> Set to Notifications Only or Disabled. Enabled leaves it there all the time.


Menu -> Settings -> Network Setup -> Broadband -> (Red Button; choose MoCA)

It says "DHCP Acquired: Failed", "Server Connection: Failed", "Internet Connection: Failed".

The tech doing the install didn't seem to think this was correct. Shouldn't these be "connected" for all hoppers/joeys? Or is that all part of the future firmware updates?


----------



## P Smith

tstucki said:


> Menu -> Settings -> Network Setup -> Broadband -> (Red Button; choose MoCA)
> 
> It says "DHCP Acquired: Failed", "Server Connection: Failed", "Internet Connection: Failed".
> 
> The tech doing the install didn't seem to think this was correct. Shouldn't these be "connected" for all hoppers/joeys? Or is that all part of the future firmware updates?


Connect CAT5 cable RJ-45 jack from your hub/switch/router/DSL modem/cable modem/etc into h2k's Ethernet port first.


----------



## tstucki

P Smith said:


> Connect CAT5 cable RJ-45 jack from your hub/switch/router/DSL modem/cable modem/etc into h2k's Ethernet port first.


I'm not talking about the "Bottom Ethernet" option in the Broadband, I'm talking about the MoCA view on the Network Settings->Broadband page.

Everything is "OK" (DHCP, Server, Internet) when I'm looking at the Ethernet view.


----------



## gtal98

You will only see the MOCA settings have IP addresses if you use the HIC to connect your system to the internet. If you just have ethernet straight to the Hopper nothing will show under MOCA, nor does it need to.


----------



## P Smith

How is simple, duh !


----------



## James Long

tstucki said:


> Menu -> Settings -> Network Setup -> Broadband -> (Red Button; choose MoCA)
> 
> It says "DHCP Acquired: Failed", "Server Connection: Failed", "Internet Connection: Failed".


And I show the same results as you ... on a system that I have noticed no serious issues on.



gtal98 said:


> You will only see the MOCA settings have IP addresses if you use the HIC to connect your system to the internet. If you just have ethernet straight to the Hopper nothing will show under MOCA, nor does it need to.


That makes sense.


----------



## Jsleona

Dish Network Hopper and Joey installed Friday. My experiences:

A) came home to play with it. I had the screen locked up in 5 minutes hearing sound but seeing Hopper screen saver- reset
B) technician plugged in my USB sling from my vip722. tried to use dish app to change a channel like I could before -broken
C) tried to use iPad to play a DVR show on my TV as before. -broken
D) called and added blockbuster and removed HBO. Funny the free show had huge moments where the stream failed and had to buffer. But today we buy a movie for additional 6.99 and flawless play back. My interpretation monthly included part of blockbuster is that it is purposely throttled to allow more important ppv traffic to take priority.
E) saw ads showing Pandora, love it. Got the Hopper no Pandora yet they tell me.
F) liked the idea of playing my library of music, videos, and pictures via that home media app. Guess what, I tried all four examples. None work and I know the network is not an issue, I setup Cisco amd Juniper network gear for a living.
G) was told on the Wednesday night it was a $99 upgrade. Guess what they charged me $300 Thursday morning. Would not honor the promises made the night before.

Install took over 3 hours and I did not even need a new dish.


----------



## duffasaurus

olguy said:


> That person is in serious need of training. My Hopper has one RG6 coming to it and that is 2 way. Sat signal down and Hopper signal to Joeys back up. They are all connected to the node which distributes the signals where they need to go. The only thing the tech had to do was replace the existing 59 to the Hopper with 6. The Joeys are using the existing 59. You only need one drop to each box.


I has 1 Hopper & 3 Joeys installed on Thursday morning. It took 3 techs 5 hours to install this upgrade from a 722 & 222 existing system. The techs were clueless about the install and started using the same procedure as with other equipment. I also agree that both CSR and Techs should have had more intensive training prior to the release of the Hopper! This was definitely OJT and 5 hours out of my day. Can you imagine if this was a new install with a dish and wiring to be done first! :eek2:
Otherwise, everything is working as expected with a couple of Joey lockups, but I'm sure some future software updates will fix the bugs!


----------



## wtrjock

I replaced my 722 with 1 hopper and 2 joeys today. Installer showed up at 12:15pm and left at 3:00pm. Largest time suck is the downloading of the firmware to each of the boxes. He already came with some OJT...reset defaults as soon as you turn on the hopper to get the check switch screen to come up and leave everything unplugged until you get the Hopper to work. Then work on 1 joey at a time to completion before going to the next. Everything linked fine. 1 extra call needed to activate my channels.

I imagine that the boxes in the future will come with a version of Firmware on it to speed up the firmware download. I also think that dish should use the ethernet to download the firmware instead of the satellite. My FIOS would have been much faster than the satellite. They could check for the quickest speed and use that connection instead. Something will have to be done to speed up download or the install times with continue to be LONG!

I ran into my first issue this evening when creating all my timers. I reached a maximum timers at 50. I really hope this is a bug. It is a shame to have such a big hard drive and I can't even put as many timers as I had on my 722.


----------



## barcop

I replaced my 722 with 1 Hopper and 1 Joey yesterday.

Tech was onsite for 6.... yes 6 hours. Tech had no clue what he was doing other than the wiring.

But that's not even the worst part... the Joey still isn't linked. He left because he had other jobs to do. I have another tech coming today to try and fix the link issue.

Honestly, I think this is utterly ridiculous that a 1 hour upgrade is taking so long, and now my weekend is gone since I'm waiting at home watching these techs instead of being more productive with other things I need to do.

And they charge me $100 for this?! I'm debating demanding a refund of the install cost for this stupidity.


----------



## wtrjock

I chatted with Tech Support last night and they said that we should be able to have 96 timers. She logged an Engineering ticket. Hopefully they fix this bug soon.


----------



## domingos35

barcop said:


> I replaced my 722 with 1 Hopper and 1 Joey yesterday.
> 
> Tech was onsite for 6.... yes 6 hours. Tech had no clue what he was doing other than the wiring.
> 
> But that's not even the worst part... the Joey still isn't linked. He left because he had other jobs to do. I have another tech coming today to try and fix the link issue.
> 
> Honestly, I think this is utterly ridiculous that a 1 hour upgrade is taking so long, and now my weekend is gone since I'm waiting at home watching these techs instead of being more productive with other things I need to do.
> 
> And they charge me $100 for this?! I'm debating demanding a refund of the install cost for this stupidity.


they charged u $100 for the upgrade to the hopper not for the install


----------



## Stewart Vernon

domingos35 said:


> they charged u $100 for the upgrade to the hopper not for the install


True... but they charged him the whole $100 but only partially installed the equipment. Bad enough taking 6 hours and sending out techs that aren't experienced enough (should have had months to train people) or equipment activations that are buggy (again should have had months to figure all this out)... but he leaves with the job undone?

I would be mad too.


----------



## James Long

barcop said:


> I replaced my 722 with 1 Hopper and 1 Joey yesterday.
> 
> Tech was onsite for 6.... yes 6 hours. Tech had no clue what he was doing other than the wiring.


Curiosity, but was much of that time spent watching the Hopper do its initial download / setup?



> But that's not even the worst part... the Joey still isn't linked. He left because he had other jobs to do. I have another tech coming today to try and fix the link issue.


That is confusing. Perhaps the Joeys are not seeing the Hopper over the wiring. When my Joeys were connected (taken from a factory sealed box, connected to "to client" coax and TV then powered up) they made their own links. I watched the Joey start up screen for a while until the screen saver appeared. Then I pressed the power button on the box and saw television. I had to pair the new-in-box remote with the Joey but I don't recall any fight to link Hopper / Joey.



> Honestly, I think this is utterly ridiculous that a 1 hour upgrade is taking so long, and now my weekend is gone since I'm waiting at home watching these techs instead of being more productive with other things I need to do.


If the Hopper was pre-downloaded with the latest software and all the cabling was good I could see it taking an hour to "plug and play" and start up a Hopper / Joey system, but otherwise that is very optimistic.

I would consider 2-3 hours to be a minimum install, longer if the Hopper was cut out of a factory sealed box and needed the initial downloads. Once the installers get more real life experience the extra hours taken by being methodical should be able to be reduced.



Stewart Vernon said:


> (should have had months to train people)


Nothing beats real life experience. I suppose DISH could have pushed off the release until April or later and had their techs "practice install" Hoppers and Joeys for the next few weeks. But those hours "practicing" would be days that real customers would not get equipment.

Today is install day 4 ... I expect that it will not take long to get up to speed.


----------



## EdSchmitz

I ordered the system (1 Hopper/3 Joeys/Sling) as soon as the website allowed it on the 15th. Set up the appointment for noon on the 16th. Two techs and a supervisor were sent from 160 miles away in El Paso, TX, to do the job. This was their first Hopper setup, and the first in my town. 

They showed up on time, and took five hours to complete the job. I think it'd've been shorter had I not yanked every bit of coax from my house the day before. I did this on purpose, so it would necessitate the running of all new coax. Most of the stuff was from my CATV days (over 10 years ago), and I wanted a completely new setup. They had no complaints about running new cable.

I moved from DirecTV, whom I'd been with since '05. Had an HR20 & HR23, plus two receivers. I had been with Dish ('02-'05), but dropped them during the OLN dispute. 

I was very impressed with the quality of work these guys did. All runs were very clean, as compared to my previous setup from Direct. Everything has performed without issue and to my expectations, and I have no regrets whatsoever; though the DVR and search differences are taking some getting used to.

Primary reason for getting this was DIY HD, Cooking Channel HD, and the local networks in HD. DirecTV didn't have the local networks in HD in my town, and the affiliates--after several petitions--refused to allow the national feeds. Otherwise, I'd've kept Direct. As it is, I'm glad they were so stubborn. I really like this system!


----------



## barcop

domingos35 said:


> they charged u $100 for the upgrade to the hopper not for the install


I'm sorry... but the install is part of the upgrade in my eyes. I'm leasing this product, not buying it. They refused me to install it myself because it's a leased product.


----------



## Bladi90

rds said:


> I talked to Dish and asked what was the wiring requirements for installing a Hopper and 2 Joeys. I was told that I needed 5 coax cables at the site of the Hopper installation - one from the dish to the Hopper, one going from the Hopper to each Joey and one from each Joey to the Hopper. Does anyone know if this correct? I currently have 2 quad shielded RG-6 cables at each site. Can I have a Hopper/Joey installed with this setup?


The cables you need are two cables from the dish to the node, one cable from the node to the hopper and one cable from the node to each Joey that can be split with the use of splitters. If you have two cables to each location you have more than enough.


----------



## Bladi90

Stewart Vernon said:


> You should check out some of the threads, particular the stickies at the top of this forum...
> 
> There is only a need for one run of coax to the Hopper. The basics of the wiring are:
> 
> 2 runs of coax from a DP switch (could be a 1000.4 built-in or could be a DPP34/44 switch) to a single node. One run of coax from the node to the Hopper. One run of coax from the node to 1 or more Joeys, the Joey runs of coax can be split from each other like part of a home distribution setup.
> 
> A dual Hopper config is slightly different, mainly at the node, but still only one run of coax to where the Hopper is installed.


You need to use a dpplus signal... You can use a dpplus lnb (110,119) a 44 switch, a 33 switch 1000.2 western (110,119,129), 1000.2 eastern ( 61.5, 72,77) or the same orbital locations for a 1000.4, but YOU CANNOT USE DPPRO EQUIPMENT, OR LEGACY EQUIPMENT SO YOU CANNOT USE A 34 SWITCH.


----------



## tommiet

Called to see about upgrading my 722 and my 622. Was told it would cost me 10.00 a month more. Not sure I would get an extra 10 bucks worth a month out of it. I have a 4 tuner system now. 

Moving to directs whole house system would save me over $400.00 in 2 years (240 extra for a hopper and 2 joeys fees and 200 programming savings.)

How can dish stay in business with prices like this? Interesting in that dish recommended that I remove the monthly service fee to save money.

Love dish, but it's probably time to move to a more mature whole house system and save over $400.00 at the same time.


----------



## skyway

This morning Dish arrived and replaced my two VIP722's with two Hopper's and two Joey's. I really only needed a single Joey but could only order it with two Hopper's and two Joey's.

The install only took 3 hours. The tech had to add a another line from the LNB to the new Duo Node. The rest of the time was the software/firmware on the two Hopper's. Once activated, he added the Joey which took no time at all. I just had them leave the second Joey off since it won't be used at this time. This was the tech's first Hopper install and he was very nice and helpful.

First impression is the quickness of the new Hopper system. Channel changing, guide, page, etc. all very quick. I know it is based on the VIP922, but this is my first time actually playing with the new system. Love the new updated graphics and guide. The picture quality looks very good, even better than the VIP722.

This week I will try the Home Media section and see how well its DLNA features work with my WHS 2011 and other PC's.

The only thing I have not seen is the Pandora app. Anyone from DIRT have an idea when Pandora will be available? Hopefully it won't be long before DISH will have the software ready to link the two Hooper's.


----------



## sigma1914

Does the Duo Node need to be powered by at outlet?


----------



## P Smith

sigma1914 said:


> Does the Duo Node need to be powered by at outlet?


The receiver(s) do provide the power - see EKB the page with diagrams and devices:


----------



## dtvgone

Had Hopper and 2 Joeys installed Sat, Joeys wouldn't link, although recognized by the Hopper.

Tech support couldn't restore them to factory default, and no recessed switch (or button combo) as with most routers to do so. 

The installer thought that all three units should be replaced, returned Sun and install went smoothly, and order of setup and activation (Follow install wizard fully on Hopper and no Joeys connected until live TV shows on Hopper) appear to be critical.

My EHD was recognized, but showed no content, with size of drive listed as being less than drive size less actual content. Reset the Hopper and recognized, displaying all content and correct drive size. Have transferred recordings from EHD to Hopper, which play correctly, and played recordings from EHD without error. Haven't tried saving to EHD yet, but seems fully functional, different than the 922.

BB and On-Demand failed to display anything after initial acceptance screen for a while, then content displayed, and successfully streamed two HD shows.

No software bugs thus far, but haven't moved any PTAT to user HD space yet, as just enabled. PTAT should have an option for pre-post padding adjustment, same as scheduled recordings.


----------



## El Gabito

"Bladi90" said:


> The cables you need are two cables from the dish to the node, one cable from the node to the hopper and one cable from the node to each Joey that can be split with the use of splitters. If you have two cables to each location you have more than enough.


So if I had a hopper and two joeys I need two lines from the dish inside? May be a deal breaker for me.

I currently have directv with one line from dish inside to SWM and one line to each receiver. I don't want more holes in my house.


----------



## desiguy2447

I am scheduled for this weekend for the 1 hopper and 3 joey install. Replacing my 722K, and two 211K receivers.

My question is my RG6 line for TV2 only reaches where my 722K is currently, and where the Hopper will be placed so I am hoping like in one install diagram I did see can a splitter can be placed for the install so no new wire has to run to TV 2? I don't mind new wiring being run provided Dish doesn't leave it showing on the exterior of the house (main concern).

The 211K receivers have direct RG6 lines running to the Dish Switch, and for the internet connection I have Ethernet ports in all locations.


Thanks


----------



## OinkinOregon

Installer came on Friday to install 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys. He pretty much ripped out the old coax from the Dish to the internal house wiring. Crawled under the house to run a home run from the new DUO switch to the Hopper. Activated the Hopper and then my problem with Dish began. I had 2 722's and a 622. I planned on keeping the 622 active. Dish made sure that was not going to happen.

Got on the phone with CSR to Loyalty Department to Executive. "Sorry sir, we cannot have a Hopper system with the old VIP receivers they are not compatible." Even though the installer had his install diagrams that clearly stated it could be done and it was done and working just fine until the CSR deactivated all 3 VIP receivers. I argued and got nowhere except having to fork over another 100 bucks for another Hopper to replace the 622, that is coming this morning. Has anyone else had this problem? I was told that I would be able to keep my 622 that I own by the original CSR.

As far as the Hopper Joey performance goes, it is worth it. I love how everything looks and feels and the system is running perfectly. I really love how the remotes can learn commands from the original remote and how there is no more fumbling for the remote codes. Primetime anytime is an excellent feature and find myself watching other shows I would not normally record.

I will be interested to see what happens to others as they have this system installed and whether or not they are forced to give up legacy receivers.


----------



## gtal98

James Long said:


> If the Hopper was pre-downloaded with the latest software and all the cabling was good I could see it taking an hour to "plug and play" and start up a Hopper / Joey system, but otherwise that is very optimistic.
> 
> I would consider 2-3 hours to be a minimum install, longer if the Hopper was cut out of a factory sealed box and needed the initial downloads. Once the installers get more real life experience the extra hours taken by being methodical should be able to be reduced.


Yeah, there is no way to do the install in one hour. I did my own Hopper install (1H/1J replacing 722k & 612) on Saturday and it was my 5th one. Since it was my house I knew I didn't have to fix anything, and adding the node took all of 10 minutes. After that the Hopper was immediately hooked up. After downloading, activating, then linking the Joey the whole install took 1 Hr 20 min. That's with no customer meet & greet, WO confirmation, customer education, or rebuilding of the system. I takes at least 1 Hr and 15 min just for the Hopper and 1 Joey to download the latest firmware and set themselves up. Add another 10-15 min for each additional Joey. Not sure why they take so long, but they do.


----------



## gtal98

El Gabito said:


> So if I had a hopper and two joeys I need two lines from the dish inside? May be a deal breaker for me.
> 
> I currently have directv with one line from dish inside to SWM and one line to each receiver. I don't want more holes in my house.


It depends on your house, but it may be possible to put the node outside and run one cable into the attic and use a tap and splitter in there.


----------



## gtal98

desiguy2447 said:


> I am scheduled for this weekend for the 1 hopper and 3 joey install. Replacing my 722K, and two 211K receivers.
> 
> My question is my RG6 line for TV2 only reaches where my 722K is currently, and where the Hopper will be placed so I am hoping like in one install diagram I did see can a splitter can be placed for the install so no new wire has to run to TV 2? I don't mind new wiring being run provided Dish doesn't leave it showing on the exterior of the house (main concern).
> 
> The 211K receivers have direct RG6 lines running to the Dish Switch, and for the internet connection I have Ethernet ports in all locations.
> 
> Thanks


You should be able to put the node and a 2-way splitter where the switch currently is, and then a tap behind the Hopper to connect the existing TV2 line. No wiring should need to be changed.


----------



## desiguy2447

Thanks for the information, and reply!


----------



## ZBoomer

Installer showed up promptly at 8am, and is working on mine. We're going to need at least one new cable run to my office, but the rest should be OK.

I have an old Dish 1000 hybrid with no internal switch going to an external 3x3, and he decided to completely swap out my old Dish for a new one... It's his first Hopper, but he's been in contact with some coworkers who have done a few, and they gave him some tips.

The biggest tip so far he said is they told him to be sure the Hopper is installed properly, and finishes its firmware updates before you attach and turn on any Joey's. Then, you should do the Joey's one at a time after that...

Fingers crossed, but it looks like he expects to be here a few hours...and they have him scheduled for four more today! Going to be a long Monday for him.

Forgot to mention, when he went up to take down my old Dish, it was INFESTED with ANTS! I mean they were all inside the LNB's, everywhere. Wow...not as bad as wasps, but still.


----------



## P Smith

El Gabito said:


> So if I had a hopper and two joeys I need two lines from the dish inside? May be a deal breaker for me.
> 
> I currently have directv with one line from dish inside to SWM and one line to each receiver. I don't want more holes in my house.


See install diagram on bottom of the page http://www.dishuser.com/hopper.php


----------



## ZBoomer

Well, the install went surprisingly good. It did take longer than expected (5 hours start to finish), but it was his first one, and he also installed a new dish, and ran a new cable run to my office. When he was done he had no complaints, and actually was glad his first install was a video geek like me, so he said he learned enough to make it worth the time.

His tip a coworker had given him about installing the Hopper first, letting it update, activating all units, then installing the Joey's seemed spot on. Each unit came online, updated, rebooted a few times, and worked perfectly out of the gate.

I will say, when you first plug in either a Hopper or Joey, they appear dead for a good 5-10 minutes, so just leave them alone. The Hopper took about 20 minutes to do it's firmware updates, the Joey's less. The remotes all linked up first try, and the system wizards on each unit to setup worked flawlessly; the Joey's found and connected to the Hopper automatically, and without issue. It's probably my imagination, but the picture quality coming out of the hopper seems better than the 922, but that's probably not actually true, lol.

The interface is like the 922's, but much better IMO. The whole unit is faster, and it switches channels and transponders a lot faster too.

Really the only issues we ran into was when we went to connect internet. First thing we discovered is the Hopper does not have Homelink built in. 2nd, if you connect internet to a Joey's ethernet port, that Joey shows connectivity, but it does not share it with the other units.

It boils down to (at least for now), you have to have an internet connection to the Hopper via ethernet or optional USB wireless, or insert the HIC box, which he didn't have. In lieu of the HIC, he gave me the USB wireless key for free, and it works great actually. It's plugged into the Hopper. Interestingly, if you go to Broadband setup on the Joey's, it shows no internet connectivity, but they share the Hopper's connection in that they can view Dish on Demand or Blockbuster through the Hopper.

It would make more sense if the Joey shared internet to the Hopper if I plugged into the back of it, but apparently that doesn't work yet.

We also plugged a Sling adapter into it, and so far, it appears to be working as well!

So it wasn't without minor hitches, but to be honest, the Hopper and Joey's all went in without a hitch, and are working perfectly. Can't wait for my PTAT tonight! 

Here's what it looks like in Dishonline with the Sling Adapter:


----------



## olguy

My install was Saturday and my Dish On Line account still shows a 922 and 722K. Oh well. Soon, right?


----------



## txsrooster

I don't understand why they didn't build sling into the hopper since it already has a network connection.


----------



## Daniel

My 2H/2J install was yesterday and everything went well. (OK, there were a couple of small glitches, this being the installer's first Hopper install and all. But were quickly resolved.) 

I am truly loving this system. It still has a few quirks, but it is already better than my HR21s!


----------



## EdSchmitz

Ok, found out my inability to use search was due to the predictive function not working at all, even after over 48 hours of the system being functional. Only way to record by search was to hit "Seek & Record", which yielded recording of a program on both the HD and SD channel, for the exact same program, at the exact same time. It was either a call to customer service last night, or waiting a little longer, but the predictive search is working fine now.

Also, the expand and collapse on Sirius and Dish music channels stopped working, until I turned the Hopper off then on, and now that's working again. A little buggy, but I'm still very satisfied.


----------



## P Smith

txsrooster said:


> I don't understand why they didn't build sling into the hopper since it already has a network connection.


My thoughts you could read here.


----------



## smasters

I had an install scheduled for this morning with an 8-12 window. Was getting 2 Hoppers and 4 Joeys. 11:00 came and nothing. Tweeted CSR and was told they would be there between 11:30 and 12:00. 12:15 came and went. I looked online and my estimated arrival time was pushed back to 1:30. CSR said that the install before me was as large as mine and had run into a snag. 
Long story short the arrival time kept getting pushed back until I had to cancel. The latest arrival time was 5:30 and I've got kids and baseball games to get to. 

Unfortunately I had to cancel rather than reschedule. I can't afford to take another day off to wait and every weekend is full until May.

I understand problems happen and this is a new system that the tech's are having to work out but what irritates me the most is that I never received a call from anyone. I received my reminder call last night but no one ever called to say they would be late or that there was an issue. If I hadn't called or tweeted I would be stuck twiddling my thumbs. 

I really wish that companies could figure out a way to schedule appointments and keep them. I wasted a day off sitting at home waiting for nothing and no one is going to compensate me for that.

I'll guess I'll give everyone a few months to work out the bugs before I'm able to try this again.


----------



## Bladi90

El Gabito said:


> So if I had a hopper and two joeys I need two lines from the dish inside? May be a deal breaker for me.
> 
> I currently have directv with one line from dish inside to SWM and one line to each receiver. I don't want more holes in my house.


Not necessarily, the duo node can be install outside and with the use of a tap inside before the splitter you only need one line from the outside. As long as you are installing a maximum of 1 hopper and 3 joeys.


----------



## Bladi90

OinkinOregon said:


> Installer came on Friday to install 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys. He pretty much ripped out the old coax from the Dish to the internal house wiring. Crawled under the house to run a home run from the new DUO switch to the Hopper. Activated the Hopper and then my problem with Dish began. I had 2 722's and a 622. I planned on keeping the 622 active. Dish made sure that was not going to happen.
> 
> Got on the phone with CSR to Loyalty Department to Executive. "Sorry sir, we cannot have a Hopper system with the old VIP receivers they are not compatible." Even though the installer had his install diagrams that clearly stated it could be done and it was done and working just fine until the CSR deactivated all 3 VIP receivers. I argued and got nowhere except having to fork over another 100 bucks for another Hopper to replace the 622, that is coming this morning. Has anyone else had this problem? I was told that I would be able to keep my 622 that I own by the original CSR.
> 
> As far as the Hopper Joey performance goes, it is worth it. I love how everything looks and feels and the system is running perfectly. I really love how the remotes can learn commands from the original remote and how there is no more fumbling for the remote codes. Primetime anytime is an excellent feature and find myself watching other shows I would not normally record.
> 
> I will be interested to see what happens to others as they have this system installed and whether or not they are forced to give up legacy receivers.


The installation can be done because 1 hopper only need two ports out three coming out of 1000.2/1000.4 lnb's. However, dish doesn't allow mixed equipment to be active on the same account.


----------



## Bladi90

desiguy2447 said:


> I am scheduled for this weekend for the 1 hopper and 3 joey install. Replacing my 722K, and two 211K receivers.
> 
> My question is my RG6 line for TV2 only reaches where my 722K is currently, and where the Hopper will be placed so I am hoping like in one install diagram I did see can a splitter can be placed for the install so no new wire has to run to TV 2? I don't mind new wiring being run provided Dish doesn't leave it showing on the exterior of the house (main concern).
> 
> The 211K receivers have direct RG6 lines running to the Dish Switch, and for the internet connection I have Ethernet ports in all locations.
> 
> Thanks


The tech could use a tap at the receiver to feed the Joey (currently tv2) and use a splitter from the node for the for the other 2 joeys. (both 211s) He doesn't need to run a new line. Hopefully he understand how the tap works.


----------



## jack51pine

mdavej said:


> Coax is gone. But all outputs are always active (HDMI, Component and Composite). I have HDMI going to an HD wireless transmitter to TV2 in another room, Component going to TV1, and Composite going to my DVD recorder. I have no Joeys. The cool thing is IR and RF are both active, so I can use my IR universal at TV1 and the Dish RF remote at TV2. That's something I always wanted to do with DirecTV but couldn't.


What brand of HD wireless transmitter are you using and how far away is the TV? Do you have any connection issues?


----------



## mdavej

I got a used Actiontec MyWirelessTV off ebay. Mine goes about 40' through a floor and a couple of walls. Connection is solid.


----------



## rkklinke

I have never been more frustrated with an install than I am tonight, I am not blaming the installer, he did everything he could to get it to work and spent 5 hours at my house and left with only the two hoppers working. I ordered two hoppers and 4 joeys and he tried everything he could and nothing would get the damn joeys to see the hoppers as hoppers. He tried several different install methods as specified from dish support to no avail. Hopefully the overnight update will resolve the issues. Otherwise they will have to come tomorrow and rip the entire system out.

Update: After doing some research and trial and error, I finally have the joeys working. The 1303 error was fixed with a solution I found on the Sat Guys site, it might be somewhere here but that is where I found it first. Anyway, the way I fixed it was to 

1. Unplug all Power/AC and coax from all joeys.
2. Make sure all Hoppers are activated plugged in and running.
3. Plug in one joey WITHOUT the coax. You will still see 1303 error.
4. Hit the power button and put the joey in standby.
5. Plug in the coax with the joey still in standby.
6. Unplug AC power from joey for 5 seconds.
7. Plug AC power back and stand back. The joey should go to screen 61, download some programming and should activate in a few minutes.
8. Once joey is working, unplug coax and power from that working joey and move onto the next problem joey and repeat.


----------



## ZBoomer

Ok, shutting down for the night, and discovered one nice thing about the Hopper and Joey: Both have NO lights on at all when shut down! No glaring blue LED's like my 922 had. Kudos for this minor detail!

BTW, my Hopper and Joe's have worked flawlessly all day, including Sling, PTAT, and Blockbuster. I was seeing Blockbuster streaming > 20Mbps on my 30Mbps internet connection, through wireless. The search function wasn't working at first, but now it's working as expected.

I have to say, I upgraded for the PTAT feature mostly, and it's truly awesome. Just what I was hoping for. Amazing to record that may shows using a single tuner!

My config is pretty simple I guess; it's identical to the diagram here on page 5 of http://horizonent.net/uploads/HopperJoeySystem_JobAid.pdf (except we're using a wireless USB dongle and have a Sling Adapter)

I'm amazed how much faster the Hopper changes channels than my 922 did, even if the new channel you change to is on a different satellite, it's very fast.

If I had to make one recommendation, it's do it like my installer did. Install the Hopper alone, turn it on and let it update and become fully operational (~20-30 minutes). Call Dish, activate all of the units including Joey's, then install the Joey's one at a time. That sequence worked perfect here. Also remember, all the units sit for 5-10 minutes when first turned on, and appear dead (Hopper's fan running full speed). Don't touch them, they will come to life!


----------



## david_jr

OinkinOregon said:


> Installer came on Friday to install 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys. He pretty much ripped out the old coax from the Dish to the internal house wiring. Crawled under the house to run a home run from the new DUO switch to the Hopper. Activated the Hopper and then my problem with Dish began. I had 2 722's and a 622. I planned on keeping the 622 active. Dish made sure that was not going to happen.
> 
> Got on the phone with CSR to Loyalty Department to Executive. "Sorry sir, we cannot have a Hopper system with the old VIP receivers they are not compatible." Even though the installer had his install diagrams that clearly stated it could be done and it was done and working just fine until the CSR deactivated all 3 VIP receivers. I argued and got nowhere except having to fork over another 100 bucks for another Hopper to replace the 622, that is coming this morning. Has anyone else had this problem? I was told that I would be able to keep my 622 that I own by the original CSR.
> 
> As far as the Hopper Joey performance goes, it is worth it. I love how everything looks and feels and the system is running perfectly. I really love how the remotes can learn commands from the original remote and how there is no more fumbling for the remote codes. Primetime anytime is an excellent feature and find myself watching other shows I would not normally record.
> 
> I will be interested to see what happens to others as they have this system installed and whether or not they are forced to give up legacy receivers.


There has been a ton of discussion on the net since the H/J was announced about VIPs being a no go. Even though the installation diagrams clearly show that the VIP will work with the system, DISH is NOT allowing mixed setups at this time. There have been numerous complaints especially from RVers and tailgaters as the H/J setup is not portable and the tailgater only works with 211. All that said it has been known for several weeks that DISH was not allowing mixed setups at least at launch.


----------



## brewsky

called to upgrade from 2 722's to hopper joey system... dish rep told me sure we can do that ....for only 750.00 ....????Dish rep also stated that with 1 hopper and 3 joeys i could view 4 independent " live " programs which i know is not true ffrom what i can tell....the dma i live in does not have hd locals and im using an ota on my 722's Is there an ota option on the hopper/joey system that anyone knows??


----------



## rkklinke

brewsky said:


> called to upgrade from 2 722's to hopper joey system... dish rep told me sure we can do that ....for only 750.00 ....????Dish rep also stated that with 1 hopper and 3 joeys i could view 4 independent " live " programs which i know is not true ffrom what i can tell....the dma i live in does not have hd locals and im using an ota on my 722's Is there an ota option on the hopper/joey system that anyone knows??


Even though my system is still not working I can tell you there is no direct input for an OTA antenna, I wanted to hook mine up and that is not possible.

EDIT: After more reading and research it looks like OTA support will be coming this summer but I am still not sure where the antenna input will go.


----------



## renpar61

Got my Hopper + 2 Joeys installed yesterday. Very impressed so far. EHD was recognized immediately with all recorded shows. Fast response with every command. Hopper did froze once while playing with an app. Had to reset it but everything looks fine.
It's my understanding the Hopper has 2TB hard drive, one for Dish, one for user.
Does anyone know if the PTAT is stored on Dish partition?


----------



## domingos35

rkklinke said:


> Even though my system is still not working I can tell you there is no direct input for an OTA antenna, I wanted to hook mine up and that is not possible.
> 
> EDIT: After more reading and research it looks like OTA support will be coming this summer but I am still not sure where the antenna input will go.


USB


----------



## chadwick110

New Dish customer here. 

Had the system installed yesterday and the tech left thinking everything was fine. The we got to primetime when I wanted to watch two shows and record a third (1 Hopper/1 Joey setup).

It was then that I realized that there wasn't a signal coming in to the third tuner. Today another tech has been here all day changing out the Hopper, and the Joey, and the LNB (?), to no avail.

Has anyone had trouble with a third tuner working on a system with only 2 boxes? It's my understanding that all three tuners are in the Hopper and just diseminated to the Joeys remotely.

Suggestions welcome, and appreciated...


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

Are your local channels broadcast in HD? If you don't have HD local channels, it will not record PTAT. Please PM your account number to me so I can check on this for you. Thanks.



chadwick110 said:


> New Dish customer here.
> 
> Had the system installed yesterday and the tech left thinking everything was fine. The we got to primetime when I wanted to watch two shows and record a third (1 Hopper/1 Joey setup).
> 
> It was then that I realized that there wasn't a signal coming in to the third tuner. Today another tech has been here all day changing out the Hopper, and the Joey, and the LNB (?), to no avail.
> 
> Has anyone had trouble with a third tuner working on a system with only 2 boxes? It's my understanding that all three tuners are in the Hopper and just diseminated to the Joeys remotely.
> 
> Suggestions welcome, and appreciated...


----------



## chadwick110

I'm in the Atlanta broadcast area and have my locals in HD. The PTAT isn't the issue. We just couldn't get the third tuner to get a signal.

After replacing all hardware, the tech took a shot in the dark and replaced the RG6 from the dish to the node...ta da! That was it.

So, word to the wise, make sure you get new cabling if there are any issues.

Thanks.



Ray [email protected] Network said:


> Are your local channels broadcast in HD? If you don't have HD local channels, it will not record PTAT. Please PM your account number to me so I can check on this for you. Thanks.


----------



## New2Hopper

Hello,

I don't mean to bother any of you, but I had tried to "PM" Ray C of the DIRT team, and since I'm just a newbie with less than 5 postings here, it bounced back on me.

Anyhoo, if Ray C of the DIRT team, or any others on here can help, I could use some assistance.....

We got a 2-Hopper/4 Joey installation on Sunday, and everything went somewhat smoothly with the exception of 2 things: 

1) A Broadband connection wasn't put in (explained below); and
2) all four Joey's got linked to one Hopper, for some reason. 

Regarding the broadband situation, my internet was down the day of the installation, so we didn't get it connected then. The installer left me with an ethernet cable, showed me how to get to the Broadband screen, and told me that I simply had to plug in the ethernet to the back of the Hopper and then into the router. The lights are on at the ethernet jacks on the Hopper and router, so there's life in the cable, so to speak. 

I had mentioned to the tech that I have MAC address filtering established on my router, and he said the MAC address was also on the Broadband screen. So, I put the MAC address into the router, went to the broadband setup screen on the Hopper, clicked on the 'Reset Connection' button and recycled the Hopper (as well as my router) -- that didn't work. Next, clicked on the 'Reset Network' button, recycled the Hopper, and the router -- still have the "failed" in the list. 

It wasn't until I did the 2nd reset, that I noticed that the Hopper seems to have a static IP address attached to it, or at least I think so since it's not getting a DHCP-assigned IP address from my router. I also noticed that the Hopper's IP address is in the 169 range, with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0, while my router works in the 192 range, with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. I tried setting up a "port forwarding" rule, but the router wouldn't allow it giving me an "out of range" error msg. I have thought of trying to establish a "DMZ port" for it, but I'm worried about it being outside of the protection of the router's internal network. 

Would you have any ideas or suggestions on how I would go about getting the Hopper connected to the internet? I'm hoping this is just an easy fix, and that I'm just overlooking something.

Any help you could supply would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance, and I look forward to any assistance any of you could supply.

Rick W


----------



## oldengineer

Replaced my 722/612/211 with a 2H/2J system yesterday. The tech had trouble with both Hoppers but they finally installed OK. No such luck with the Joeys. Those things are an abortion; if they are not installed correctly they can get to a state where they will not initialize but will immediately start looking for a Hopper to link to. No amount of reset sequences will fix it. Another tech showed up today and tried some more with no success. He finally replaced 1 Joey and ordered a replacement for the other.


----------



## MDavidM

After a failed appointment on Friday, Raymond reentered the order and did a great job of scheduling a technician. The technician replaced my dish as well as my 922. The GUI in the Hopper seems much faster than the 922, and as some others have mentioned, I think the picture quality is better as well.


----------



## fourhokiefans

It's been nearly ten years since I was with Dish, but on Sunday the 18th I returned with the installation of a Hopper and 3 Joeys. Other than the long time it took to install (nearly 6 hours total), download and mate the Joeys with the Hopper, I can say that I am quite pleased. (One Joey was particularly stubborn). Having been with D* for the past 10 years, I was amazed with the speed of the DVR functions, guide and "forgotten features" - most notably the 30 second skip. So far, I think that Dish got this system right.


----------



## bnewt

mdavej said:


> I got a used Actiontec MyWirelessTV off ebay. Mine goes about 40' through a floor and a couple of walls. Connection is solid.


Is it possible for the wireless transmitter to use the component out put & still send the hd signal?


----------



## mdavej

That model is HDMI only. But it has a pass-thru. So you run HDMI from the DVR to the transmitter, then out the transmitter to the TV. So you get HDMI to the primary TV and wireless HD to the second TV at the same time.


----------



## ZBoomer

Discovered something cool about PTAT tonight. Was watching a show recorded last night, and when it reaches the end of that show, it seamlessly goes right into the show that follows it, without even stopping.

What this means is if a show runs long into the next time slot, you can just keep watching seamlessly. You can't even tell it's running long. If you want to watch the next show, just let it keep going, or stop when the first show finishes up. No cares about deleting it when done.

No more missing the end of a show if it runs a bit long, no more having to pad timers.

PTAT just takes all pressure off watching network shows. You don't have to remember if you setup a timer for that new show you wanted to catch, worry about juggling priorities, etc.

I am just LOVING the PTAT feature. I have to say, it's a huge advance in the way DVR's function. Stellar...

My Hopper and Joey's are the bomb. It is bittersweet that my 922 never worked this well, but this system is just *sweet*.


----------



## James Long

ZBoomer said:


> No more missing the end of a show if it runs a bit long, no more having to pad timers.


It appears that saved shows (recorded by PTA and saved to "your" section of the drive, not individual tuner timers) also save in this manner. I've played the entire night's broadcast of that channel from a saved recording.

PTA doesn't run late for sports. They do start early and end late if any prime time show is scheduled to start before "prime time" or scheduled to run over, but if the programming exceeds the schedule (as 48 Hours Mystery and CSI:Miami did this past weekend) the end isn't there.



> My Hopper and Joey's are the bomb. It is bittersweet that my 922 never worked this well, but this system is just *sweet*.


I'd like to thank your 922 for paving the way for the Hopper.


----------



## treecastle

Well, I kicked D* to the curb and went for a Hopper and 3 Joeys  The install took 2 days due to a hardware problem and this being the tech's first Hopper install. The first day Hopper ended up being DOA and no others on his truck, so the next morning bright and early (7 AM) he showed up with a new Hopper and Starbucks for me and the wife - a very dedicated tech . It took a while but the second Hopper worked like a champ, and the Joeys installed perfectly. I am very impressed with the HD picture. My only problem now is learning new channel numbers.


----------



## RasputinAXP

Install went pretty easily. Was done in about two hours, including replacing a couple of faceplates that had bad barrels. Now that I have some time to breathe: 
1. Guide didn't populate fully until the 4th reboot. Couldn't turn PTAT on until it did.
2. EHD worked perfectly, tech was pleasantly surprised. Transfer is still in effect, so I'll know that everything's back sometime today.
3. Joey takes a bit to find the Hopper first thing in the morning.
4. Logitech Revue was working fine without having to tell it the receiver (ex 211, now Joey) had changed.

The bad:
1. DLNA stuff is dead in the water, as mentioned in the Software thread. Pain in the butt.
2. Search doesn't ...quite work right. I'll give it another 24 hours before I panic, since I'm a veteran of the old 922 "bake-in" process.

Otherwise it's weird to say but it LOOKS better, PQ-wise. I don't know why. PTAT is pretty freaking slick. I was under the impression it was 7-11 not 8-11 but meh.


----------



## mdavej

Took a few days before search was fully functional on mine.

PTAT is 7-11 on weekends I think, 8-11 otherwise with a few exceptions for special events (sports, etc.).

PQ seemed better to me too, both HD and SD.

There is apparently a bug making timers from DishOnline (which is how a made all of mine ). So I had to delete them all and create them on the DVR or they wouldn't work properly. Be aware of that.


----------



## New2Hopper

Hello again,

I haven't heard anything regarding my original posting (#113), but in "sleeping on it" a bit, I may have narrowed down the issue -- at least, it sounded good in my head while I was dreaming about it.....

Being new to the world of DISH acronyms and the various components, it dawned on me that the MAC address I was looking at, and put into my router was for the "MoCA", not the ethernet card..... Does this sound correct?

So, if that's the case, then HOW or WHERE do I discover the MAC address of the ethernet card(s) that are in the Hopper(s)?

I am only able to see the details of the "MoCA" under the Broadband screen on the Hopper .... the cursor will not scroll over any of the other options that are there. (Ethernet Top, Ethernet Bottom, or Wireless)

Please, I could REALLY use your help here.

Thanks.

Rick W


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

It sounds like the Hopper is not seeing the router. A 169.x.x.x is normally a default address assign by the computer, ex. Windows. You have already stated your router IP range begins with 192.x.x.x so something is preventing the Hopper from obtaining the correct address. It sounds like a configuration issue with the router. Is DHCP enabled on your router? Have you spoken to your ISP provider? Thanks.

I found this information on the Internet:

If your IP Address starts with 169.XX.XX.XX you have an invalid IP Address and will not be able to access the Internet. The reasons you would have such an IP Address are: (1) You've hooked a new computer up to your modem (or a different computer), (2) You have reformatted your hard drive, (3) You connected another device to your modem or router and have lost your correct IP Address. The aforementioned are usually the reasons you lose your IP. A correct IP Address starts with 192.168.X.XXX if you have a router, if you're connected directly from the modem to one computer your IP Address will start with 2 numbers before the first decimal point instead of 3, in a format like 24.XX.XX.XX, or 72.XX.XX.XX, or 68, 69, 72, etc.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5963613_change-169-ip-address.html



New2Hopper said:


> Hello again,
> 
> I haven't heard anything regarding my original posting (#113), but in "sleeping on it" a bit, I may have narrowed down the issue -- at least, it sounded good in my head while I was dreaming about it.....
> 
> Being new to the world of DISH acronyms and the various components, it dawned on me that the MAC address I was looking at, and put into my router was for the "MoCA", not the ethernet card..... Does this sound correct?
> 
> So, if that's the case, then HOW or WHERE do I discover the MAC address of the ethernet card(s) that are in the Hopper(s)?
> 
> I am only able to see the details of the "MoCA" under the Broadband screen on the Hopper .... the cursor will not scroll over any of the other options that are there. (Ethernet Top, Ethernet Bottom, or Wireless)
> 
> Please, I could REALLY use your help here.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Rick W


----------



## gulfwarvet

New2Hopper said:


> Hello again,
> 
> I haven't heard anything regarding my original posting (#113), but in "sleeping on it" a bit, I may have narrowed down the issue -- at least, it sounded good in my head while I was dreaming about it.....
> 
> Being new to the world of DISH acronyms and the various components, it dawned on me that the MAC address I was looking at, and put into my router was for the "MoCA", not the ethernet card..... Does this sound correct?
> 
> So, if that's the case, then HOW or WHERE do I discover the MAC address of the ethernet card(s) that are in the Hopper(s)?
> 
> *I am only able to see the details of the "MoCA" under the Broadband screen on the Hopper .... the cursor will not scroll over any of the other options that are there. (Ethernet Top, Ethernet Bottom, or Wireless)*
> 
> Please, I could REALLY use your help here.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Rick W


Instead of trying to scroll the cursor to the left, move it all the way up to the top. It should jump over to it OR you can simply hit the "red" shortcut button.


----------



## New2Hopper

Hi Ray,

Thanks for taking the time to respond and to research a bit.

I was finally able to figure out the issue, and it did turn out to be somewhat simple, and on the same track as I had posted in my 2nd msg....

I ended up just turning off the MAC address filtering on the router, and once I did that, the Hopper recognized the connection, attached, received it's DHCP address from my router, and the ethernet connection became an active menu item in the Broadband screen of the network settings on the Hopper. At that point, the MAC address for the ethernet card (bottom) displayed, so I was able to put it into the router table and turn MAC address filtering back on..... simple, hey?!

So, all is well, but there should be a way to get the MAC addresses from the Hopper BEFORE going thru all of this, but hopefully this will help anyone else out there who may have gone thru (or are currently going thru) this.

Again, thanks for your input and your assistance.

RW


----------



## New2Hopper

Hi Gulfwarvet,

Thanks for answering.

What I found is that only "active" menu items will display in the Network Settings menu, so since before I got the Ethernet to work, the only thing that could be displayed was the "MoCA" settings. 

Now that the bottom Ethernet port is active and working, the cursor will move to it and display its settings, too. But, the top Ethernet port and the Wireless options cannot be displayed.

Still getting used to how everything works on this new system.

Now, if only we can figure out why all four Joey's got put onto one Hopper.... but, that's another can of worms, I'm sure.


----------



## P Smith

New2Hopper said:


> Hi Ray,
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to respond and to research a bit.
> 
> I was finally able to figure out the issue, and it did turn out to be somewhat simple, and on the same track as I had posted in my 2nd msg....
> 
> I ended up just turning off the MAC address filtering on the router, and once I did that, the Hopper recognized the connection, attached, received it's DHCP address from my router, and the ethernet connection became an active menu item in the Broadband screen of the network settings on the Hopper. At that point, the MAC address for the ethernet card (bottom) displayed, so I was able to put it into the router table and turn MAC address filtering back on..... simple, hey?!
> 
> So, all is well, but there should be a way to get the MAC addresses from the Hopper BEFORE going thru all of this, but hopefully this will help anyone else out there who may have gone thru (or are currently going thru) this.
> 
> Again, thanks for your input and your assistance.
> 
> RW


By [FCC] regulation, all devices having Ethernet interface(s) must accompanied by a label with MAC address on back or bottom or by sticker in a box.
The company should obey the regulation.


----------



## RasputinAXP

P Smith said:


> By [FCC] regulation, all devices having Ethernet interface(s) must accompanied by a label with MAC address on back or bottom or by sticker in a box.
> The company should obey the regulation.


My laptop's wireless card has the MAC address on a sticker on the card, internally. I can't get it without opening the access door or checking in the OS. That's not against the law, and neither is wherever Dish elected to put the labels.


----------



## New2Hopper

Quote:
Originally Posted by P Smith View Post
By [FCC said:


> regulation, all devices having Ethernet interface(s) must accompanied by a label with MAC address on back or bottom or by sticker in a box.
> The company should obey the regulation.





RasputinAXP said:


> My laptop's wireless card has the MAC address on a sticker on the card, internally. I can't get it without opening the access door or checking in the OS. That's not against the law, and neither is wherever Dish elected to put the labels.


Right... My thinking was more along the lines that the Hopper should have some sort of "Device Manager" discovery menu item, or simply list the MAC addresses somewhere in the diagnostics, or something.


----------



## P Smith

RasputinAXP said:


> My laptop's wireless card has the MAC address on a sticker on the card, internally. I can't get it without opening the access door or checking in the OS. That's not against the law, and neither is wherever Dish elected to put the labels.


Well, there is a moment of installing additional component like WiFi card, then the manufacturer of the additional card is responsible for provide the label. What was done in accordance the rules. 
That is serviceable compartment/slot and end user has access to it.

Back to the topic - the company well known as a seeker to cut cost: not certifying USB, eSATA, FireWire, etc.
I'm surprised not see MAC label on STB by DTV and dish.How they managed to escape of the requirement ? Perhaps skip the certification too.
Cable boxes had these labels.


----------



## wuv_dish

Just go into the config of the router and you will see the MAC address of the hopper listed under DHCP clients.


----------



## P Smith

wuv_dish said:


> Just go into the config of the router and you will see the MAC address of the hopper listed under DHCP clients.


Good enough, but only if your STB got DHCP lease from the router.

Working, but not always. See the discussion above.


----------



## James Long

MAC addresses are available on the Hopper and Joey GUI.
Menu - Settings - Network Setup - Broadband

Press the red button on the screen to select each adapter in use on the receiver.

The MoCA network will show 169.254 addresses unless one has a HIC connected on the coax network. But the MAC is still there - and video streams fine despite being "not connected".

Without the HIC each Hopper or Joey apparently needs to be connected to Ethernet to access your home network.


----------



## steff3

My install was scheduled between 8 & noon. Tech called me at 7 to say he would be here by 8. Showed up about 7:50 and waited outside until 8. One Hopper and One Joey, (coming from DirecTV with three DVR's). Install took about 3 and a half hours to complete install (to put up dish, run new R6 from node to Dish, set up Hopper and then Joey). Went very smooth. Only small glitch was the Hopper did not see my DCHP & IP. Reset Hopper several times including a hard reset (pulled power) and same results. My network requires the Mac to be input which I did but still no go. When I reset my modem and router still no go. Went back to my router filters and this time noticed Xip813 showed up in the name and I cloned and then the Hopper recognized it right away. Maybe coincidence and it just need a bit of time. Other than that all went well. Tech was very professional and cleaned up everything. Was pretty willing to do about anything I needed but didn't really need to much. Overall...very happy at this point.


----------



## ZBoomer

James Long said:


> MAC addresses are available on the Hopper and Joey GUI.
> Menu - Settings - Network Setup - Broadband
> 
> Press the red button on the screen to select each adapter in use on the receiver.
> 
> The MoCA network will show 169.254 addresses unless one has a HIC connected on the coax network. But the MAC is still there - and video streams fine despite being "not connected".
> 
> Without the HIC each Hopper or Joey apparently needs to be connected to Ethernet to access your home network.


I have internet only to my Hopper right now (no HIC); the Joey's show red "not connected" in their broadband setup, however, they access online streaming, Blockbuster, etc. just fine; obviously through the Hopper. I don't see why the Joey's even need their own connection? They are just slaves to the Hopper apparently.

Why do the Joey's have their own internet setup, and what's a reason we'd want it connected?

On another note, I keep noticing people who seem to think the picture quality looks better with the new setup! I also noticed this, and I wonder why this is happening? With so many people noticing it, beginning to wonder if there's something to this? Interesting...

I especially notice it on DishHD channels, tuff like HBO, ESPN, etc. just seem to be very nicely saturated, less artifacts, etc. I wonder if these units have better video decompression chips or something.


----------



## P Smith

ZBoomer said:


> I have internet only to my Hopper right now (no HIC); the Joey's show red "not connected" in their broadband setup, however, they access online streaming, Blockbuster, etc. just fine; obviously through the Hopper. I don't see why the Joey's even need their own connection? They are just slaves to the Hopper apparently.
> *
> Why do the Joey's have their own internet setup, and what's a reason we'd want it connected?*
> 
> On another note, I keep noticing people who seem to think the picture quality looks better with the new setup! I also noticed this, and I wonder why this is happening? With so many people noticing it, beginning to wonder if there's something to this? Interesting...
> 
> I especially notice it on DishHD channels, tuff like HBO, ESPN, etc. just seem to be very nicely saturated, less artifacts, etc. I wonder if these units have better video decompression chips or something.


Could be alternative path to MOCA ?


----------



## inkahauts

"P Smith" said:


> Could be alternative path to MOCA ?


Do the joeys have an Ethernet connection on the back?


----------



## inkahauts

"ZBoomer" said:


> I have internet only to my Hopper right now (no HIC); the Joey's show red "not connected" in their broadband setup, however, they access online streaming, Blockbuster, etc. just fine; obviously through the Hopper. I don't see why the Joey's even need their own connection? They are just slaves to the Hopper apparently.
> 
> Why do the Joey's have their own internet setup, and what's a reason we'd want it


all moca is in a very basic way to state it is a way to use a coax cable instead of an Ethernet cable. Anything hooked up to a network generally has networking setup.

What's a HIc? Is that like a ick for DirecTV? If so, then I can easily see that at some point, maybe you will be able to plug your Internet into the Joey and have it distribute to all the other units, instead of having the hopper do it. That would just make installs easier is all.


----------



## James Long

ZBoomer said:


> Why do the Joey's have their own internet setup, and what's a reason we'd want it connected?


From what I understand, apps that rely on the home network for data work or work better if the Joeys are connected to a HIC or directly to the home network.

Not relying on MoCA to the Hopper then Hopper to the home network cuts out the middleman, so to speak. The HIC has the single purpose of being a router between MoCA and the home network. It doesn't have to do anything else (such as tune, store or display TV) so it provides a better connection.



> On another note, I keep noticing people who seem to think the picture quality looks better with the new setup! I also noticed this, and I wonder why this is happening? With so many people noticing it, beginning to wonder if there's something to this? Interesting...
> 
> I especially notice it on DishHD channels, tuff like HBO, ESPN, etc. just seem to be very nicely saturated, less artifacts, etc. I wonder if these units have better video decompression chips or something.


Perhaps. Since they get the same feeds as every other DISH receiver I don't see why else the picture would be better.



inkahauts said:


> Do the joeys have an Ethernet connection on the back?


Yes.


----------



## P Smith

inkahauts said:


> Do the joeys have an Ethernet connection on the back?


You could start from basic knowledge here: EKB: h2k http://dishuser.org/hopper.php joey http://dishuser.org/joey.php


----------



## ZBoomer

The Joey's do have an Ethernet connection, but if you connect it, it does NOT share this connection with the Hopper or other Joey's.

That's the first way we tried to hook it up, since it made sense - attach internet to any unit, and it should share it, but apparently you have to connect internet directly to the Hopper itself, at least for now. (or use a HIC) My installer didn't have a HIC, so we used a wireless USB dongle on the Hopper, and it works great actually.

When I had the Joey connected to Ethernet, it showed connected to the internet, but I couldn't see anything you could do with it.

IMO, the Joey's should work like a HIC, and if you attach Internet to them, it should share it to the Hopper via MoCA. (I am not that familiar with MoCA, so not sure this is possible, just saying that would make sense physically to have it work that way.)


----------



## ZBoomer

Ok, tonight is proving to be an interesting night as far as PTAT operation goes.

The NCAA playoff's are on CBS, running to 11pm central, which is 1 hour past normal PT stoppage (10pm here). The timer added an hour to that, so it's recording PTAT from 7-12, 5 whole hours it appears. (Plus the 5-minutes PTAT pads on the front and end, for a total of 5 hours, 10 minutes)

What's interesting is what it did with a normal timer I have set to record local NBC news, right after PTAT, at 10PM.

Since PTAT was automatically set to run past that, it disabled my own timer for the news, with a message "Skipped: PrimeTime Anytime Event"

It then recorded my NBC news program, _using the PTAT tuner_ (which is still recording basketball on CBS). It shows it _in my DVR area_, not the PTAT area, as a single 35-minute program, as if I'd recorded it using my own timer. So it basically recorded it like a PTAT program, and saved it to my area for me automatically.

If I go watch it, and pause, the "timeline" at the bottom of the screen,it shows the entire NBC timeline for the night, all 5-hours and 10 minutes of it. So it's recording 5+ hours of every network, but it was smart enough to cancel my timer, and extract the news out of it for me.

This is harder to explain than see, but it's freaking slick. What it makes me wish is I could extend PTAT to whatever time I wanted, or maybe use it at other times. Maybe someday...

Dish needs some kind of award for the PTAT invention and operation. I'm really impressed.


----------



## James Long

ZBoomer said:


> IMO, the Joey's should work like a HIC, and if you attach Internet to them, it should share it to the Hopper via MoCA. (I am not that familiar with MoCA, so not sure this is possible, just saying that would make sense physically to have it work that way.)


Agreed. It would be nice if either the Hopper or Joey could be the "router" between the MoCA network and the home network (and the Internet). Then one could tie in the network at any convenient point without using a HIC.

But the HIC is easy enough to install and could be placed near a Joey or a Hopper if that is where your network is or in a completely different location if your house isn't wired so I suppose as long as HICs are free (when installed) and installers have them on the truck it works around the issue of not having a "router" built into the Hoppers or Joeys.


----------



## James Long

ZBoomer said:


> It then recorded my NBC news program, _using the PTAT tuner_ (which is still recording basketball on CBS). It shows it _in my DVR area_, not the PTAT area, as a single 35-minute program, as if I'd recorded it using my own timer. So it basically recorded it like a PTAT program, and saved it to my area for me automatically.


My curiosity is what happens on Day 9 when the program is officially out of PTA. Does a half hour program like "30 Rock" get saved as the entire evening of programming? Would saving a season of "30 Rock" episodes take up a minimum of three hours per recording (tonight two new five hour recordings)? 250 hours could go away real quick if 30 minute programs take up 3+ hours each.


----------



## ebaltz

Is there anyway around paying for the "technician" install of the Hopper/Joey?


----------



## inkahauts

"James Long" said:


> My curiosity is what happens on Day 9 when the program is officially out of PTA. Does a half hour program like "30 Rock" get saved as the entire evening of programming? Would saving a season of "30 Rock" episodes take up a minimum of three hours per recording (tonight two new five hour recordings)? 250 hours could go away real quick if 30 minute programs take up 3+ hours each.


That's a great question. Has anyone manually moved a show from ptat to their hard folder and seen of it still shows so much being recorded for that one program?


----------



## txsrooster

My appointment was between 12-5pm. The installer showed up at 7. No phone calls nothing, and I had to go get him from the neighbors house..thought here we go, this is going to be a nightmare...but I was wrong. He was super nice and was on his 4th Hopper/Joey install of the day. The longest part seemed to be the downloading of software. Only have hardline internet to one hopper, and the installer did not have a HIC on the truck, but promised to bring one by and install later. I figured out how to switch the joey from hopper to hopper, which will come in handy. He finished up around 11pm...once I get home this afternoon I can actually customize it then will know if I made the right decision or not.


----------



## desiguy2447

Thanks for the information! Will find out in about 24hrs from now (provided the installer) shows up at 8am on Saturday as planned.


----------



## jefte1

hello all, I have a question. I have 2 722's hd dvr's due to my daughter having her own programs to record. I thought of just upgrading to 1 Hopper and 1 joey but there are programs she likes on the off network channels such as TLC,Nat Geo, etc. and we like others ,so, there would be a conflict with recording of shows if we didn't have 2. can Dish install 2 hoppers and no joeys? Thanks for your help.


----------



## marcuscthomas

jefte1 said:


> hello all, I have a question. I have 2 722's hd dvr's due to my daughter having her own programs to record. I thought of just upgrading to 1 Hopper and 1 joey but there are programs she likes on the off network channels such as TLC,Nat Geo, etc. and we like others ,so, there would be a conflict with recording of shows if we didn't have 2. can Dish install 2 hoppers and no joeys? Thanks for your help.


I had this same issue (only with two teenage boys). The cost of 2 Hoppers and 2 Joey's was the same for me as 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys. It did cost $100 extra at startup (my upgrade per receiver fee), but it is well worth it. For the first time in years, we can't watch all of our tuners at the same time, and haven't had a conflict with recording either. I am not sure about the "no Joeys" part. However, do know that, while both Joeys can see either Hopper, the Hopper's cannot yet "see" each other, and therefore cannot share programming between each other.


----------



## James Long

inkahauts said:


> That's a great question. Has anyone manually moved a show from ptat to their hard folder and seen of it still shows so much being recorded for that one program?


So far it does ... but I have not seen the end of eight days.


----------



## gboybama

jefte1 said:


> hello all, I have a question. I have 2 722's hd dvr's due to my daughter having her own programs to record. I thought of just upgrading to 1 Hopper and 1 joey but there are programs she likes on the off network channels such as TLC,Nat Geo, etc. and we like others ,so, there would be a conflict with recording of shows if we didn't have 2. can Dish install 2 hoppers and no joeys? Thanks for your help.


I have tried this. Either it is impossible or reps are highly resistant to letting a hopper go without at least one joey paired with it at the install.

I wanted to have two hoppers, one joey and two additional TV's serviced by the 322 that I own. I was told this is in no way doable by two reps both for the legacy receiver violation and for requesting more hoppers than joeys.

So, I am getting two hoppers and three joeys next Friday. I'm going to be short on tuners until the OTA module is released, so I'm considering canceling the appointment. (Currently have 722 (single mode), 211, 211 and 322 (duo))


----------



## dunkonu23

I got two hoppers and two joeys installed today. There are some problems.

1. The second Hopper won't link with the other Hopper or the two Joeys. Each hopper is on a wired network connection to 1gig ports. 
2. The hard drives (previously used for DVR and copy to storage) are not recognized. They each worked prior to the install.

There are other problems but this is a good start. 

Edit: I discovered the Hoppers are not yet able to be fully meshed. I also discovered the hard drives will probably be enabled after 24 hours. I found this out by calling support.

Edit2: External Hard Drives are still not functional. 
As another note, the installation took 3.5 hours. The installer was quite knowledgeable. The installer replaced the LNB with their latest LNB. We now have no switch. However, we do notice locals and some other channels show loss of signal when we switch channels. On Demand is now working as is [email protected] 

Scott


----------



## bobiii

The installation took place on 3/21. The installer arrived at approximately 11 AM and the worst thing that had to be done, I thought, was a new run to the hopper using RG-6. This was done pretty fast and then all hell broke loose! The installer didn't leave my house until approximately 6 PM that evening. Most of the problems were trying to get the proper software downloaded! First the hopper wouldn't cooperate until it was left on standby for 1 hours, then it finally took the necessary software. Then it was each joey one at a time and again, they refused to download their software. Finally through searching online, I found some helpful hints from Scott ____. He had a special procedure for resetting the joeys so that it would trigger a proper download. So around 5 o'clock everything starting working as it should! I'm a happy camper. Love the system. Problems I had was 1) trouble with close captioning which was resolved by the following day (new software?) and 2) While I can listen to Xm music on the hopper, trying to listen to the same channels on joeys causes stuttering so bad that you can't understand what the song is. 3) the dnla on joeys do not see any of my servers which are seen by the hopper. I guess I need to supply a network connection to each joey for this to work. Primetime is great!


----------



## GeeWhiz1

OK, today I replaced 2-Vip622s with a Hopper and 2 Joeys.

My appointment was between Noon and 5:00. The installer arrived at 3:00 and was done at about 7:00. Most of the time was spent replacing my dish so that it was mounted more securely. So in addition to everything else, I got a new 1000.2 dish and LNBs.

The first Hopper that he tried to hook up was DOA. Luckily, he had one more on the truck. Most of the time after that was waiting for the software updates, etc. Once the Hopper was up and running, he set up the 2 Joeys. There were no real problems, just more time while they downloaded and installed their updates.

So now I am up and running on all 3 TVs, so it's time to play.


----------



## tommiet

Minor issues as the tech could use my current wiring. Hopper is a little buggy and has locked up once already (unplug to fix,) but overall nice...

My install was one Hopper and 2 Joeys. The Hopper in my Living Room and a Joey's in my home office and kitchen.

*THE GOOD:*

Whole house DVR works!
Picture seems sharper (no idea why)
DVR Interface
Apps option
Install tech was very nice and knowledgeable about the Hopper

*The Not so Good...*

Hopper and Joeys can heat a 3 bedroom house!
My living room and kitchen are close and the joey runs about 2-3 seconds ahead of the Hopper when on the same channel. I was mirroring my kitchen from my living room and will probably go back to that setup as the echo is really bad.
Dish tech support really not ready to support it - poor support
Had to install a "HIC" to get internet access (no idea why)

Would I do it again.... Hmmmm. Give me a few weeks to make that call. I may wait for the cost of a Joey to drop and buy instead of renting. $170.00 to now, but it would pay for itself in 2 years.


----------



## sjohannes

Made the switch to dish last weekend after directv refused to send me a replacement receiver with a new hard-drive to fix a failing receiver. I had the entire directv whole home setup before getting the hopper, so I can tell you what I think works better on either solution. I was replacing two HD DVRS for 2 tv's and got a single hopper and joey setup for my house(2 televisions). The install took a little longer due to storms and guide download issues, but overall pretty easy. 

In terms of the setup, I'm impressed by the speed of both the hopper and joey. The directv dvr's are just plain slow and noisy. My house is a lot more quiet given the joey and the hopper. I miss having a fourth tuner but the PTAT makes up for that as we record a lot of network programming at the same time, so less need. My biggest problems right now is that sling with ipad/iphones on ios 5.1 does not work well even on home wifi. I also have issues with my Joey losing the hopper connection every so often and needing a reset. Beyond that everything else works as expected, although I called dish and the program guide search was broken. 

I'm sure some of the bugs will be fixed long-term and honestly when I first got whole home on directv it was kinda of buggy and slow. The bugs went away and are still slow. 

IMHO since I used both here are the strengthes/weaknesses of each solution

Hopper/Joey
- Speed
- Modern UI - Even the new HD UI of directv is not as "clean" as the Dish UI
- Wiring - No ugly adapters, true single wire solution
- PTAT
- Speed did I mention that
- Ability to see "entire schedule" of recordings

Directv Whole Home
- Stability - I rarely had to reboot receivers
- Remote access - The directv ipad app and nomad functionality actually works and is much easier to use than the sling solution.
- Tuners - you can have multiple DVR's so tuner limits is not as much of an issue(multiple tvs, more than 2)

I think both solutions have their merits and if you can actually get Directv to give you new or equipment that's not 4 years old as a replacement, then it's not a bad option. I went to Dish strictly because it was cheaper to cancel my directv service, than the cost of getting a dvr with a new hard drive instead of another 4 year old DVR from directv.

Although I miss the remote access features, so far Dish has been a pleasant experience. 

Take care,
Stephen


----------



## rsicard

Just had a hopper and 1 joey installed (replacing a 922 and a 722) in about 2 hours with some minor cabling. Installer did a great job, software did take a little bit to download but seem ok. Very happy so far with the new equipment.


----------



## mdavej

"sjohannes" said:


> ...Although I miss the remote access features...


Nice review. But what features are you talking about? Dish seems to have a lot more than DirecTV (live streaming, DVR streaming, DVR management, etc.). All you need is the $30 sling adapter and you get streaming. Directv can only stream in your house or copy recordings to carry with you. And they can't manage your recordings online, only schedule new ones.


----------



## mdavej

"tommiet" said:


> ...I may wait for the cost of a Joey to drop and buy instead of renting. $170.00 to now, but it would pay for itself in 2 years.


That would be nice, but they're still going to charge you $7 a month to watch it whether you own or rent. So there is no cost advantage at all to owning.


----------



## rcamburn

I replaced my 722 with a the Hopper & 1 Joey on 3/19.

The installer showed up @10AM, replaced my 2 dishes w/one on the eastern arc, installed the Hopper/Joey using the existing RG6 cable that was already run to TV2 from the existing 722.

He said that this was his second install of these new units.I'd say he knew what he was doing.

He was gone by 11:30, the longest part was waiting for the Hopper to download software updates & the program guide to most of the day to load.

So far, I've only had one problem, the Joey was not seeing the Hopper, so I reset the Hopper & that restored communication.


----------



## sjohannes

"mdavej" said:


> Nice review. But what features are you talking about? Dish seems to have a lot more than DirecTV (live streaming, DVR streaming, DVR management, etc.). All you need is the $30 sling adapter and you get streaming. Directv can only stream in your house or copy recordings to carry with you. And they can't manage your recordings online, only schedule new ones.


As I said the sling adapter does not work well with my hopper over my home network and is not stable. The remote scheduler and remote control iPad apps on directv are much easier to use than sling. Offline access to my recordings was nice because sling uses one of the three tuners. If my sling adapter that I bought from dish would work as designed I might not miss the directv apps. I am hoping that eventually this will get fixed, but livetv is dicey and watching a recording only works when nobody is watching tv at the house and no recordings are being done.

That being said I would still recommend the hopper/Joey combo especially if you only have two tv's and don't need the nfl package. The receiver speed is drool worthy compared to an hr20.

Take care,
Stephen


----------



## domingos35

just replaced 1 722k and 2 regular HD receivers with 1 Hopper and 2 Joey's.
tech got here at 2.25pm 
it was his first Hopper/Joey install but he knew exactly what he was doing.
install was done in 3.30 hours and EVERYTHING works perfectly(first try)
the Sling adapter works perfectly to.according to him the Hooper should be installed first ,let it download software ,guide etc and then intall 1 joey and then another(not all at the same time)
gotta say i LOVE the new Whole home DVR its awesome
oh and the speed of this things is incredible


----------



## desiguy2447

As planned the Dish installer showed up on time at 8:00am on Saturday with calling at 7:30am prior to coming out. The install took four hours to get one hopper, and three joey's connected.

The first hour of the install was spent at the Dish box where the DP44 switch was housed, and having to run a new line for the power insert for the DP44 switch as to the number of SAT I pick up (have international channels here), and because the Power insert cannot be on the same line with the Hopper and Joey's. A separate run is required.

The new line got run from my second kitchen which happened to be located by the dish switch took about 15 minutes. Then the NOD got wired to the DP44 which took the remaining time to get connected as four new cables had to be made.

Once the outside work was done the Hopper took about an hour to set up mainly because it kept getting stuck at checking the switch after the firmware / software was downloaded which got fixed after three reboots.

Joey's got installed one at time as instructed by Dish all linked to the hopper with out issue. The install company did say hold off connecting the Ethernet cables to the Joey because it will just cause issues at this point.

The Hopper is connected to via Ethernet.

At 12pm the install was done the tech left. Then came the storm and the new install survived a massive lightening strike with everything still linked once the equipment came back up. (*I was actually glad it occurred for a real test).*

In concluding everything went smooth and everything works! At some point I will hook up the Ethernet cabling to the Joey's.


----------



## rpotts

UPDATE: Install now complete - 10 hours: 12:30-10:30PM. 1 Hopper, 3 Joeys.

I'll have plenty more comments tomorrow...

Replaced dish on roof, and told me other dish (installed 7 years ago) was not needed.

After about 6 hours, still could not get the software downloaded on the hopper. Tech went back to depot and got a 2nd hopper. That one updated in 30 minutes.

Not sure if software download is via internet or satellite, but the lack of a progress indicator on that screen is a real killer. We have retried at least 5 times, waiting 30+ minutes each. Since there is no percentage or count of data - you have no idea if it is progressing at all.

The software update screen really needs a progress bar! Even Better - the Hopper and Joey's should be updated before the installer arrives - no good reason he has to sit at my house and do the updates - especially since it took at least 20 minutes per Joey and more for the Hopper.

P.S. installer was nice - But it was a long day for both of us....


----------



## James Long

Software only comes via satellite ... and I agree, progress bars are nice - although one should not interrupt a software download.

I'd like to see DISH pre-download the software back at the shop before coming out for the install. Install times seem to be coming down, but when there is an issue it seems to be with the download.


----------



## zer0cool

Installer showed up about 10:30, and was done by 2:30.
Installed two Hoppers and three Joeys, along with a HIC.
software loaded fine, Guide seemed to update with no hitches, and my External drive was recognized without issue.

Broadband connection seems very stable, unlike 922.
Picture seems better (although that may be in my head because others have said it seemed sharper).
Response to remote commands is quick.
Harmony One remote seems to work flawlessly so far.

Despite my asking three times (on separate occasions), they did not send a Sling adapter with the technician. A quick call has one on its way to me though. We'll see if it stays connected better than the 922's built-in.

Search function would not search Program Guide initially (only my archived stuff), but kicked in after a few hours.
I was surprised to see only 500 GB of free space on both Hoppers, and the tech was surprised as well. A little reading here revealed that was normal though.
Only real "glitch" in the install occurred when the HIC was installed.
The tech placed it on top of the Joey in our office. when I went back into the office an hour or so later, there was a warning screen up, stating the Joey temperature had reached 172 degrees! I immediately relocated the HIC :eek2:.

Otherwise, everything seems to function really well, and PTAT is pretty awesome.


----------



## dvrblogger

I had my Hopper and Joey installed last week. The installer did a great job, called ahead of time etc. The only negative was the Hopper sat tryingto download new software for over an hour I finally re-booted it when the tech was out to lunch and only then did it download the software. System works great, DISH did a nice job.


----------



## eric_7820

One Hopper and one Joey installed on March 16th.
2.5 hour install time. The tech had already install a Hopper and Joey on the previous day and installation was straight forward. The Hopper required one unexpected reboot during installation. 
No issues and working great. PTAT is a terrific feature.

Dumped DIRECTV as the receiver (HR21) performance is awful and no solutions that DIRECTV would make available without $$$ up front.

Dish HD picture quality is similar to DIRECTV. Maybe DIRECTV gets the edge on this one, the jury is still out for me?
Experienced some picture breakup on HMC, it only happens occasionally?

Happy to be with Dish as the receiver technology is superior to DIRECTV.


----------



## steff3

eric_7820 said:


> One Hopper and one Joey installed on March 16th.
> 2.5 hour install time. The tech had already install a Hopper and Joey on the previous day and installation was straight forward. The Hopper required one unexpected reboot during installation.
> No issues and working great. PTAT is a terrific feature.
> 
> Dumped DIRECTV as the receiver (HR21) performance is awful and no solutions that DIRECTV would make available without $$$ up front.
> 
> Dish HD picture quality is similar to DIRECTV. Maybe DIRECTV gets the edge on this one, the jury is still out for me?
> Experienced some picture breakup on HMC, it only happens occasionally?
> 
> Happy to be with Dish as the receiver technology is superior to DIRECTV.


I too just came form Dish and to this point am very happy with Dish. Was with D* for 9 years and hated to leave but they would not budge on the full cost of the new HR34 (excellant box I might add). My 60 year old eyes can't see any difference in puicture quality on our 55" TV at all so far. I do like the PTAT feature as for our house and needs it works fine and we do not need any sports premiums or else would have stayed w/D*. Dish can not touch their sport options but we are in local for our teams and have no need. The Hopper is also very fast compared to what I came from (2 HR-20's and 1 HR22). So far their customer service has been excellant both on line with DIRT and on chat. I still have a learning curve to get thru but so far am happy. :jumpingja


----------



## rpotts

I had a 722 in single mode, and a 622 running two TVs.
I'm adding a 4th, and want 4 HD TVs - so I instantly thought hopper.

I called to order 1 hopper and 2 joeys, and hoped to keep my 722. (That was my goof - I was on vacation and didn't take the time to read this forum.)

Salesperson said I had to do complete conversion, so I went with 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys. They explained all the limitations about only 3 tuners, and the 4th TV would have to shadow another TV. I expressed concerns, but since I couldn't keep the 722 - I gave in. Only to read the forum and see 2 Hopper / 2 joey was an option. I chatted with dish to change the order - just 4 hours before install, and they could change it. Installer showed up with 1 Hopper, 3 joey - although his computer said 2/2. He got in truck to get missing equipment. called 15 minutes later, a required switch was not in stock. Reschedule or go with 1 hopper - so I took the 1 hopper since my new TV installation is scheduled for this week.

My install took 10 hours (12:30 - 10:30 PM) - very painful. installer left my external hard drive and sling box disconnected. I was too tired to notice or test at 10:30PM.

Initial impressions:
1) On Guide 'skip FWD' now only goes ahead 3 hours instead of 24. We were so use this function - please change it back! We often go prime time from one day to next for setting timers.
2) Tried to use Weather channel APP 3 times - first hung system and required reboot. next two failed, but at least recovered.
3) moving 50+ timers from 722 to the hopper stinks. There has to be an easier way. I printed timers on web, and re-entered on hopper.
4) no plans to use Prime time. We don't often have more than one prime time timer on the major networks. And we worry about losing them after 8 days.
5) new interface is pretty, but my wife swears it is more clicks... time will tell.
6) New buttons on remote - 4 programmable - haven't tried, but like the idea. 
7) Remote controls work! My 622 and 722 were not set up to extend the remote to the other room, so they always worked poorly. The remote just was not reliable talking to the base. I can't beleive I lived like that for years... This installer said the antenna should have been remoted into the 2nd TV room - I agree.
8) Installer put up a new HD dish and took down my eliptical dish. I also have a round dish - he said that was no longer needed. When I asked If I could take it down - he wasn't sure...so I left it up.
9) My 722 had OTA antenna - so basically i had 3 tuners in the family room. I don't know if the family is going to survive 3 tuners on 4 TVs... time will tell.


----------



## zer0cool

Initial impressions:
1) On Guide 'skip FWD' now only goes ahead 3 hours instead of 24. We were so use this function - please change it back! We often go prime time from one day to next for setting timers.

The Skip FWd jumps 3 Hours, but the FFWD will jump 24.

7) Remote controls work! My 622 and 722 were not set up to extend the remote to the other room, so they always worked poorly. The remote just was not reliable talking to the base. I can't beleive I lived like that for years... This installer said the antenna should have been remoted into the 2nd TV room - I agree.

I had the Antenna remoted to a second location on a 622 and it still was nowhere near as reliable as the Joeys.


----------



## James Long

rpotts said:


> 1) On Guide 'skip FWD' now only goes ahead 3 hours instead of 24. We were so use this function - please change it back! We often go prime time from one day to next for setting timers.


DISH is using the 922 interface that has the same weirdness ... 24 skip is on a different button. You might get used to it.


> 2) Tried to use Weather channel APP 3 times - first hung system and required reboot. next two failed, but at least recovered.


It worked better under S203 ... perhaps S205 will be better.


> 4) no plans to use Prime time. We don't often have more than one prime time timer on the major networks. And we worry about losing them after 8 days.


One can turn it off. I find it useful as I do have the occasional overlap and have seen shows I'd never have bothered setting a timer for in the "pick one" world of limited timers. Set the timers for your favorite shows regardless of if they are in PTA ... that way they will be saved with a link outside of the PTA folder and will continue to exist after 8 days.


> 6) New buttons on remote - 4 programmable - haven't tried, but like the idea.


They have purposes programmed into them. There are menus that are easier to navigate when one can press the green button to jump to a particular option.


> 9) My 722 had OTA antenna - so basically i had 3 tuners in the family room. I don't know if the family is going to survive 3 tuners on 4 TVs... time will tell.


It depends on what they want to watch. Two OTAs during prime time can be handled by the PTA tuner. OTA tuning will come. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.


----------



## tpbrady

One thing we have noticed in Alaska and Hawaii is that Hoppers cannot be installed with the 129 satellite LNBF attached to the DPP switch. If it is attached, the Hopper will not progress past the software download step in the System Wizard. We only receive services on spot beams on the 129 satellite so the switch check software in the System Wizard cannot ID the 129 satellite. Based on what we see, installers having problems with software download should verify adequate signal on all satellites by manually interrupting the Hopper System Wizard during the 015 screen and verifying the switch check results. A missing satellite with an LNBF attached can result in software download loop.


----------



## rpotts

zer0cool said:


> Initial impressions:
> 1) On Guide 'skip FWD' now only goes ahead 3 hours instead of 24. We were so use this function - please change it back! We often go prime time from one day to next for setting timers.
> 
> The Skip FWd jumps 3 Hours, but the FFWD will jump 24.
> 
> 7) Remote controls work! My 622 and 722 were not set up to extend the remote to the other room, so they always worked poorly. The remote just was not reliable talking to the base. I can't beleive I lived like that for years... This installer said the antenna should have been remoted into the 2nd TV room - I agree.
> 
> I had the Antenna remoted to a second location on a 622 and it still was nowhere near as reliable as the Joeys.


THANKS! FFWD works great - It would have taken me a long time to figure that out. All is good now!


----------



## wuv_dish

I contacted Dish the morning of the 15th and they couldnt get anyone out until the 29th. Soo sad it is taking so long. Tomorrow is the day. It sounds like many of you had better luck getting the upgrade done quickly. I guess one advantage is that they should know how to do the install by now.


----------



## ebaltz

Installer arrived at about 11am (called 15 minutes prior to arrival). Spent the first about 2 hours moving my dish for better reception and rewiring to my house. Next began the Hopper setup, it has been "installing" the software updates for about 45 minutes thus far, so we are 3:15 in and in a holding pattern. So we'll see how long the rest takes and I'll post an update.

Update: Gone at 3:00pm so 4 hours total time.

Update: One tip, I had to transfer a new recording to my USB external drive for it to kind of activate and show all my previous recordings I transferred off of my 722. Now works fine.


----------



## rpotts

Anyone know how?

I moved all my 722 files to an external hard drive, and I can see them on the hard drive which is now connected to the hopper.

I wanted to restore them on the hopper, but I can't figure it out. 

Any ideas?

On the 722 I always found it easier to work with TV shows on the local box as compared to the external drive, so I'm assuming the same is true on the hopper.


----------



## P Smith

rpotts said:


> Anyone know how?
> 
> I moved all my 722 files to an external hard drive, and I can see them on the hard drive which is now connected to the hopper.
> 
> I wanted to restore them on the hopper, but I can't figure it out.
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> On the 722 I always found it easier to work with TV shows on the local box as compared to the external drive, so I'm assuming the same is true on the hopper.


You could keep and play these from EHD. Why clogging new h2k's drive ?


----------



## n0qcu

rpotts said:


> Anyone know how?
> 
> I moved all my 722 files to an external hard drive, and I can see them on the hard drive which is now connected to the hopper.
> 
> I wanted to restore them on the hopper, but I can't figure it out.
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> On the 722 I always found it easier to work with TV shows on the local box as compared to the external drive, so I'm assuming the same is true on the hopper.


Press menu then move the cursor down to "Recordings Transfer"


----------



## GeeWhiz1

Tomorrow will be one week since I had my Hopper and 2 Joeys installed. Overall, everything is working as advertised. But I have encountered an issue with my EHD.

I have EHD's that were connected to my VIP 622s. We hooked the main one up to the Hopper last Friday. Everything showed up and played so we thought we were good to go. On Monday, we went to play something from the EHD and it didn't show up as an open on the DVR menu. After checking on the Joeys and Hopper and seeing the same thing, I pulled the power plug from the EHD and then plugged it back in. The Hopper detected it and it showed up on both Joeys and we were up and running again.

I checked it on Tuesday and Wednesday and it had disappeared from the menu again. Each time I unplugged the EHD power, waited and plugged it back in. Each time the Hopper detected it and everything worked. So for some reason, the Hopper loses track of it overnight, probably during the nightly update.

Is anyone else having an issue like this? Did anyone find a solution?

Oops, to be clear, the EHD was what disappeared from the menus, not the recordings.


----------



## zer0cool

rpotts said:


> Anyone know how?
> 
> I moved all my 722 files to an external hard drive, and I can see them on the hard drive which is now connected to the hopper.
> 
> I wanted to restore them on the hopper, but I can't figure it out.
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> On the 722 I always found it easier to work with TV shows on the local box as compared to the external drive, so I'm assuming the same is true on the hopper.


I've found that when I initially try to play something on my EHD (Copied from 922, now attached to Hopper), I get an error message (something about not being able to read it or similar). If I immediately try to play the same recording again, it works. almost like the drive isn't fully spun up the first time or something.


----------



## P Smith

GeeWhiz1 said:


> Tomorrow will be one week since I had my Hopper and 2 Joeys installed. Overall, everything is working as advertised. But I have encountered an issue with my EHD.
> 
> I have EHD's that were connected to my VIP 622s. We hooked the main one up to the Hopper last Friday. Everything showed up and played so we thought we were good to go. On Monday, we went to play something from the EHD and it didn't show up as an open on the DVR menu. After checking on the Joeys and Hopper and seeing the same thing, I pulled the power plug from the EHD and then plugged it back in. The Hopper detected it and it showed up on both Joeys and we were up and running again.
> 
> I checked it on Tuesday and Wednesday and it had disappeared from the menu again. Each time I unplugged the EHD power, waited and plugged it back in. Each time the Hopper detected it and everything worked. So for some reason, the Hopper loses track of it overnight, probably during the nightly update.
> 
> Is anyone else having an issue like this? Did anyone find a solution?
> 
> Oops, to be clear, the EHD was what disappeared from the menus, not the recordings.


Did you try to disable spin-off of the drive by manufacturer's program?
Some of them doing that after certain time of non-activity.


----------



## wtrjock

"zer0cool" said:


> I've found that when I initially try to play something on my EHD (Copied from 922, now attached to Hopper), I get an error message (something about not being able to read it or similar). If I immediately try to play the same recording again, it works. almost like the drive isn't fully spun up the first time or something.


I have seen the same behavior. It is listed in the s203 or s204 bugs.


----------



## GeeWhiz1

P Smith said:


> Did you try to disable spin-off of the drive by manufacturer's program?
> Some of them doing that after certain time of non-activity.


I'll have to see if I can find the instructions for disabling the spin-off. This is a Western Digital drive that we have used since they were first allowed on the VIP 622, so I don't have the instructions that came with it. It was never a problem with the 622.

Of course, I could always buy a new and bigger drive and see if that solves the problem.

Thanks for the suggestion.


----------



## P Smith

Also, it could by a controller inside of the enclosure, it could monitor HDD activity and turn off the drive. Check with a manufacturer of the box too,


----------



## Blowgun

It's "spin-down" and some manufactures require that the drive get connected to a PC so that their software can set the internal disable bit inside the drive. While others, the spin-down can be disabled by jumping pins. If the drive is one of those cheap 'My Book' cases, the drive will have to be connected to the PC, the case, even if you could open it, some of those hard drives intentionally use a proprietary interface.


----------



## dunkonu23

Interesting call from Dish yesterday regarding my install and subsequent service call. The Dish rep wants to come to my house to "inspect" the installation. This inspection is tentatively set for Saturday. Has anyone else had Dish call to set up an inspection?

Scott


----------



## Hawgster

I have been contacted also from a inspector and also found out its just a way for D* to look for anything and everything so they can take money back from the subcontractor. Makes you think they care about you but its just a way for them to save some money..I dont plan on letting him near my house. just saying


----------



## Blowgun

I take it by "D*" you actually mean DISH.


----------



## Josh125

Quick question ahead of my install, how many wires will be coming off the dish itself? Is it just one like with D*?


----------



## wuv_dish

Install yesterday. One hopper two joeys. Install went fine, with no issues. 3 hours which is half what I expected. We did have to run new faster coax to the hopper but current cables were fine for the Joeys. 

New system is FAST!!! Menus are nice. It seems like they have thought of everything. Cant beleive how many connection choices you have on the back of the Joey, its even got fiber for audio. Setting up the universal remotes was amazing. No more looking up codes or scanning thru codes on the remote. Just go to the remote menu and select the tv and blu ray you have. Remote locator is AWESOME. We will use that many times im sure. I have the guide to default to MY HD channels. Kids like to change the guide around all the time so now when I hit guide it always defaults back to HD channels. Wish they would just get rid of the SD channels all together. Its just a matter of time I guess.

I have seen some on here suggest setting up timers for shows even if they are on PTA so that it saves it to the drive instead of disapearing after 8 days. Dont bother wasting a tuner because you can actually save the show to the user portion of the drive from the PTA menu.

Over all I love the new system. Fixes many complaints I had. I was about to switch to Comcast to get the whole house system until I saw this was coming out, so I waited and glad I did. It will be interesting to see how the other companies play catch up now. I have seen all the other whole house systems out there but this is BY FAR the best at the best price.


----------



## P Smith

Josh125 said:


> Quick question ahead of my install, how many wires will be coming off the dish itself? Is it just one like with D*?


See Install diagrams here http://www.dishuser.org/hopper.php


----------



## mdavej

Josh125 said:


> Quick question ahead of my install, how many wires will be coming off the dish itself? Is it just one like with D*?


It depends. If you intend to get one hopper and zero to 4 joeys, then it can be done with just the one. But all 2 hopper systems require at least 3 wires (or more depending on where the node is installed). THIS diagram shows most of the possibilities. From what I've seen so far, the node is typically installed at the dish, and the taps/splitters at your main distribution point.

EDIT: Looks like PSmith and I posted at the same time.


----------



## Marlin Guy

*Promptness:* They had a cancellation and called me 3 hours early. I was able to meet them, so it worked out great.

*Time to install:* 2.5 hours - New dish, two existing cables, two two existing moved to new locations.

*Notes:* The Hopper has to be fully installed and updated, then each Joey is added one by one. This took the bulk of the time. 20-30 minutes for Hopper and 10-15 minutes per Joey. 
I had hardwired Ethernet, otherwise it would have been a wireless dongle. 
Tech said a lot of people don't know their wifi passwords. As an IT Contractor, I can vouch for that.

The tech did an excellent job of explaining how the features work. He was courteous and pleasant in every way.

I'll take a more in-depth look at the system this weekend, but I like it so far.


----------



## Marlin Guy

Josh125 said:


> Quick question ahead of my install, how many wires will be coming off the dish itself? Is it just one like with D*?


Hopper + 3 Joeys was Two wires from my dish. My D* had four...


----------



## dunkonu23

The inspector guy came by today. He checked everything, took pictures of the installation, said he knew about the hard drive issue, I showed him my RC Helicopters, and he left. Took about 15 minutes, total. 

Scott


----------



## inkahauts

"Marlin Guy" said:


> Hopper + 3 Joeys was Two wires from my dish. My D* had four...


You had an older dish. Today, most are just be wire for DirecTV.


----------



## inkahauts

"dunkonu23" said:


> The inspector guy came by today. He checked everything, took pictures of the installation, said he knew about the hard drive issue, I showed him my RC Helicopters, and he left. Took about 15 minutes, total.
> 
> Scott


I think it's good that dish and DirecTV both appear to go out and check installations. Its the easiest way to make sure the installers aren't short cutting and screwing customers, because most customers won't know if something is wrong with the way a system is installed, unless or until something breaks.


----------



## tcatdbs

Does a Dish install (free dish mover) include running the 2 cables from the dish to the inside wiring panel? Or should I run them? I have a good spot facing SW on my chimney, nut not sure how they'd go through the wall. Do they typically run the cables directly through the chimney wall, or down the rood and through a lower exterior wall? All my cables are prewired to correct locations once at the panel.

Are their installers covered by insurance if they happen to break any roof tiles? (those rounded orange clay tiles, not meant for anyone heavier than 250#), I believe they'll need to walk on the roof.


----------



## P Smith

Check if they insured by calling the installer; as to cabling - it depends, talk to him in advance when he will call you before arrival or just upfront when he will come.


----------



## FranklyFred

Had the hopper and Joey installed yesterday. Switched from Directv. Installer was a bit late, Took down Directv dish put new one up, Was here for about 3 hours what took the most time was the downloads to the Hopper took a long time and he called somebody once to get the download going about halfway through. He said this was the third one he had done. Was checking out the apps and the hopper kinda locked up. So he turned it off and back on to get back to live tv. Asked him some questions about PIP and a couple other things, he didn`t know the answers. He said Dish really did not give them a lot of training on all the features and he needed to put one in his own home so he could figure it out. Slingbox installed didn`t work till a powercycle this morning. Everything works great , Joey works perfect. Maybe it`s me but the audio seems much better than Directv. The pic seems slightly softer not very much but sharper than Directv. Nice system


----------



## rgranberry

For those with recent installs. What software version is getting downloaded during the install? Hoping it's S206.


----------



## wtrjock

My mother-in-law was installed yesterday with version s204.


----------



## rgranberry

wtrjock - guess i'll wait till 206 gets rolled out. Have you talked to tech support to see if they'll push the 206 version to you? Good luck.


----------



## wtrjock

I asked dish support today to send me s206, but they wouldn't do it. I asked them to end me a new hopper, but they wouldn't do it. All they said was that engineering knows about the problem and I have to wait for engineering to release a new version.


----------



## P Smith

rgranberry said:


> For those with recent installs. What software version is getting downloaded during the install? Hoping it's S206.


I see you spreading the "S206" on each thread ... Do you have real info about it or just speculating by numbers ? Where is S2.05 ?


----------



## gboybama

I got all fixed up on Friday.

Installer got there around 12:45 and everything took about six hours.

I had two hoppers and three joeys put in.

Everything would have been super smooth, except the tech put a satellite 61.5 cable into one input on the node. So, one hopper downloaded perfectly and the other one only sat at the download screen for hours saying to please wait.

So, just FYI, the box currently doesn't throw a message if the bird it needs for the download aren't present. It will just sit there looking like it's working but doing nothing.

Eventually the installer, who actually was awesome, got the idea to switch some feeds into the node and everything came up great. Now the second (61.5) dish on my house isn't hooked to anything.

Love the picture, the speed, the connectivity... This system is aces as far as I'm concerned.

Replaced a 722, 211, 211 and 322 running 2 SD televisions. Extremely happy.


----------



## P Smith

gboybama said:


> I got all fixed up on Friday.
> 
> Installer got there around 12:45 and everything took about six hours.
> 
> I had two hoppers and three joeys put in.
> 
> Everything would have been super smooth, *except the tech put a satellite 61.5 cable into one input on the node*. So, one hopper downloaded perfectly and the other one only sat at the download screen for hours saying to please wait.
> 
> So, just FYI, the box currently doesn't throw a message if the bird it needs for the download aren't present. It will just sit there looking like it's working but doing nothing.
> 
> Eventually the installer, who actually was awesome, got the idea to switch some feeds into the node and everything came up great. Now the second (61.5) dish on my house isn't hooked to anything.
> 
> Love the picture, the speed, the connectivity... This system is aces as far as I'm concerned.
> 
> Replaced a 722, 211, 211 and 322 running 2 SD televisions. Extremely happy.


I don't get it. 
Lets clarify: you got Duo Node for two H2k, both outputs from the node connected to to each H2k. The Duo Node has three inputs from DPP switch or DPP LNBF.
For EA H2k FW spooling from 61.5W tp 29.
Should works OK for both DVRs with one shared 61.5W sat...
Perhaps he didn't fulfill the DPP requirement for any Duo Node input ?


----------



## Marlin Guy

tcatdbs said:


> Does a Dish install (free dish mover) include running the 2 cables from the dish to the inside wiring panel? Or should I run them? I have a good spot facing SW on my chimney, nut not sure how they'd go through the wall.


Around here they will not mount to a chimney. YMMV.
The installer will run all necessary cabling.


----------



## gboybama

P Smith said:


> I don't get it.
> Lets clarify: you got Duo Node for two H2k, both outputs from the node connected to to each H2k. The Duo Node has three inputs from DPP switch or DPP LNBF.
> For EA H2k FW spooling from 61.5W tp 29.
> Should works OK for both DVRs with one shared 61.5W sat...
> Perhaps he didn't fulfill the DPP requirement for any Duo Node input ?


Lacking in technical knowledge, here's what I saw. The duo nodes require a 3 satellite line input configuration. Two of the lines he plugged in were from the right dish and one was from the wrong dish.

Apparently, that was good enough to operate one hopper, but not both.

Running a switch check, hopper #2 failed when looking for all the satellites until those outside cables were switched.

Once all 3 lines came from the right dish, we had no problem completing the setup.


----------



## chriscpmtmp

I replaced two 622s with a Hopper and one Joey. So far so good. Before I got home from work, the installer was checking out my wire room. Its like looking into the sun sometimes. My wife pulled him away from there and had him get re-oriented. Then I got home and we worked though the best setup. It was a bit tricky because of my separate Dish for 129. No worries though - under 3 hours total, with some minor wire work.

I am a little bummed about loosing a couple features. For example, no PIP or Caller ID on the Joey. Besides that, it looks like everything else is better.


----------



## steff3

chriscpmtmp said:


> ......I am a little bummed about loosing a couple features. For example, no PIP or Caller ID on the Joey. Besides that, it looks like everything else is better.


While I wholeheartedly agree about the PIP, caller ID is working for me on Joey


----------



## rpotts

n0qcu said:


> Press menu then move the cursor down to "Recordings Transfer"


Thanks! My wife and I swear we looked everywhere - but there it was. And it works too!

FYI for other commenters - the external hard drive does not save position, so if you don't watch an entire show you have to fast forward to find your location. Not too annoying, but for shows that we pause and come back to later it's enough trouble that we want to restore. Primarily because these were shows from the old 722 - not something we do on a regular basis.


----------



## chriscpmtmp

But there is no phone jack, right?



steff3 said:


> While I wholeheartedly agree about the PIP, caller ID is working for me on Joey


----------



## steff3

chriscpmtmp said:


> But there is no phone jack, right?


Nope, but yet it works for me. I'm not a techno so don't know how but am assuming it is coming from the Hopper via the network.


----------



## chriscpmtmp

You are right. Pretty neat. So far this is a great setup!



steff3 said:


> Nope, but yet it works for me. I'm not a techno so don't know how but am assuming it is coming from the Hopper via the network.


----------



## Scott Spillers

I had all sorts of fun with my 2 Hopper / 1 Joey installation today. The installer arrived at 7:55am and just finished some 6 hours and 40 minutes later. 

It stated off badly as his work order was written up as a 1 Hopper / 2 Joey installation. When he called into Dish to have the order corrected, they told him that it was not possible to order 2 Hoppers & 1 Joey. Go figure. :nono2: He handed his phone to me and I spent the next 25 minutes attempting to persuade the CSR that I was promised and had ordered 2 Hoppers and 1 Joey. The CSR finally pulled up a copy of my chat transcript and was able to confirm that I did indeed order 2 Hoppers and 1 Joey. It took them another 15 minutes to figure out how to correct this on their new system. They ended up having to change the order to 2 Hoppers and 2 Joeys, with the installer un-installing the second Joey after its activation. It was pretty frustrating to have to convince them that I had ordered a 2H/1J system. I had PM'd and emailed 2 DIRT team members as well as chatted online with a Dish CSR before placing the order. None mentioned that there was any problem with ordering 2 Hoppers and 1 Joey. The installer said that these issues come up a lot at the time of installation. There is really no excuse for this. The sales order should have exactly matched what I had ordered. I'm just glad that I placed the order via online chat, so that there was a "paper trail".

Next issue was that the installer did not have a Duo Node in his truck. He went back to his office and picked up a Duo Node. On with the install...

The installer decided it would be easiest to remove my current dishes and replace them with a single DishHD 3 LNB dish. Installation of the dishes and Duo Node went pretty smoothly.

Now onto the Hopper installations. He connected the first Hopper and it started its usual Check Switch and software download routine. He then proceeded with installation of the second Hopper while the first was downloading. The second Hopper downloaded its software and was ready for activation in about 20 minutes. The first however was still on the download screen after 45 minutes. He restarted it, reset factory defaults and tried again. Same result, it was still hung after another 25 minutes. He decided that there may be an issue with the receiver and swapped it with another Hopper that he had in his truck. Same result with the next receiver. He then decided to recheck all of the cabling and detected what appeared to him to be a bad LNB. He replaced the LNB, but the problem remained. On a whim, he disconnected the ground wire from the Duo Node. After doing so, the cabling and LNBs checked out fine. With the ground wire disconnected, the 2nd Hopper downloaded its software in about 17 minutes.

Before installing the Joey(s), the Hoppers had to be added to the account and activated. Apparently Dish is having some difficulty migrating to a new activation system and the new system was not working consistently when he called in. It took about 90 minutes before Dish had the receivers activated.

The installer isn't really to be blamed for any of these issues. Most of it (except for possibly the ground wire weirdness) was out of his control. Dish probably could have picked a better time to deploy a new activation system than during the Hopper/Joey roll-out.

After a lot of undue stress and a lot of waiting for software downloads and receiver activations, all appears to be working. Now I am off to a very late start to my work day. I'll have to wait until tonight to give the system a good going over.


----------



## James Long

steff3 said:


> Nope, but yet it works for me. I'm not a techno so don't know how but am assuming it is coming from the Hopper via the network.


Yep. I hadn't noticed that (the landline phone doesn't ring that often) but the Joeys display Caller ID.


----------



## P Smith

Scott Spillers,

Now, when you accidentally found ground issue with your home power lines (it's pretty clear for me: two h2k in different room on different phases and common connection - LNBF), I wouldn't hesitate to call for professional electrician to investigate the problem and fix it. Before something tragic not happened !

Perhaps the grounding issue is the reason for many h/j installs when FW download taking more then 20 min ! 
Time to correct installation procedure written by dish.


----------



## mrjim

I have one Hopper with two Joeys. I am updating to two Hoppers with three Joeys. With only one Hopper you are limited to three channels- prime time will use one if you are recording two other programs you can not watch anything else. That is why you need the second hopper. With let everyone know how that works Wednesday night.


----------



## TubaSaxT

I went from a 722k and 211 to 1H/1J. I ordered a modulator to feed the Hopper to the third TV (SD), but it's not here yet.

The install took about 2.5 hours. It could've been less, but the installer insisted on replacing my 1000+ with a 1000.2. I don't need to see 118 anymore, and he believed the 1000.2 to be more reliable, so I didn't object. The Hopper took 45 minutes or so to do all of it's updating. And the poor tech was on hold for 10+ minutes trying to activate the receivers. He did a great job though: he knew the system, wiring was clean, and had all of the right equipment with him.

Most everything I need works great!


----------



## LazhilUT

Tech is here...went into my attic and modified some things and he, so far, did not run any additional lines.
Software download took less than 20 minutes on the hopper...receiver memory was just set up and it now says the hopper is starting up...
I'll keep you guys posted...


----------



## LazhilUT

Spoke too soon, Hopper did a lot of things and rebooted but is now trying to download software again...


----------



## P Smith

LazhilUT said:


> Spoke too soon, Hopper did a lot of things and rebooted but is now trying to download software again...


What version it did first ? Perhaps your h2k is in short list of targets for S2.07 ?


----------



## LazhilUT

How do I check that?
Other than the Internet connectivity I started a thread about, everything was smooth. No new lines ran, only changes in the attic which looped the Hopper and Joey as it showed linked.
Took maybe 2 hours thanks to the remote not getting the programming for my RCA TV.
Picture is a lot better! Wow!


----------



## LazhilUT

The tech says he usually uses a 3 digit code for RCAs but the Joey is asking for a 4 digit code...


----------



## mdavej

Tech doesn't understands that these remotes are completely different. It is impossible to enter any codes on the remote. Just go to the remote manager app on the hopper/Joey and pick your tv model. Disable limited mode and enable IR while you're at it


----------



## LazhilUT

He did all that and the code it gives us does not work.


----------



## P Smith

LazhilUT said:


> How do I check that?
> ...


 Press Menu twice. Or SysInfo button if you have one.


----------



## LazhilUT

S204 on Hopper and S256 on Joey


----------



## jdskycaster

2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys installed today. Installation was excellent. Tech uninstalled my cluge of standalone receivers, external modulators and associated octopus of cabling. Man I could not wait to get rid of that mess! He tested all existing cabling and found a single bad connection at the Dish. 

Installed both Hoppers first and powered on each one at at time, they downloaded software S2.04 and were up and running in 20min. Installed Joey's one at a time about 10min per location total including programming of remotes, test and cleanup. 

The only hitch in the entire process was the existing bad connection at the Dish. This has been the smoothest upgrade process yet and this was his first dual Hopper install and his 5th Hopper/Joey install/upgrade to date. 

Really loving this system so far. Setup PTAT on both Hoppers and it worked great this evening as we watched a few of the recorded prime time programs. This feature was one of the main reasons for upgrading and it is excellent! 

Awesome to have HD at each of the five displays where we have Hoppers/Joey's located and plan to add a wireless HD transmitter for the remaining two displays along with relaying the 2nd Hopper back to the primary Hopper's location so that we can view all DVR'd material on our primary display. Hoping that the Hopper sharing functionality is enabled soon so this process will be 2-way and greatly simplified.

My wife will be most pleased that the DVR in the master bedroom is now gone and as the nightly update with associated high speed fan noise is gone forever. Really bothered her as she is a light sleeper and our house is dead silent at night. That fan woke me up a few times even with the doors closed on the armoire.

Best Regards,
JD


----------



## mdavej

"LazhilUT" said:


> He did all that and the code it gives us does not work.


Should be several RCA codes to try. Failing that, you can learn the commands. If you tell me the tv model, I can probably find the correct code for you.


----------



## Josh125

Installer is here now and I already have a question. The dish is being mounted on the back side of the house with the cable run going down the side to an entry point (house is sealed with foam, no ridge vents, no entry points). That is fine but he threw me off by saying the dish has to be mounted by the ground, which in my case is a cold water hose spicket. Rather than run the ground down the house with the cable, he wants to take it straight down to hit the spicket. Does that sound right?

edit: some quick searching reveals this is correct, just another wire I've got to some how conceal I guess.


----------



## tcatdbs

That sounds weird to me... Dish by a faucet? I'm hoping to have my dish installed at or near an eave (high) with wires through into the attic. I'm assuming a ground will go into the attic to a ground at the system panel. Don't want a wire running down my stucco.


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

Here is a link to information dealing with grounding and the satellite dish. Thanks.

http://www.mikeholt.com/mojonewsarc...ingSatelliteDishandLead-InCables~20020303.htm



tcatdbs said:


> That sounds weird to me... Dish by a faucet? I'm hoping to have my dish installed at or near an eave (high) with wires through into the attic. I'm assuming a ground will go into the attic to a ground at the system panel. Don't want a wire running down my stucco.


----------



## Josh125

tcatdbs said:


> That sounds weird to me... Dish by a faucet? I'm hoping to have my dish installed at or near an eave (high) with wires through into the attic. I'm assuming a ground will go into the attic to a ground at the system panel. Don't want a wire running down my stucco.


Yeah, it was the only bummer of the day so far and he is nearly done. As I mentioned, my house is 100% sealed with foam so there is no access to the attic from outside. There are no ridge vents, etc. I already have a plan to conceal the wire with masonry joint repair compound. It won't be perfect but not obvious.

He has done a great job with the install, nice and clean work and didn't mind one bit to answer my multitude of questions. Once the Hopper/Joeys load up it will be done. As for time, we are approaching hour six. I imagine another hour or so.


----------



## phrelin

In some areas it is illegal to use your water system plumbing as an electrical ground. And if the cold water pipe coming to your house from the Earth is plastic, it can't serve as a ground.


----------



## jdskycaster

No attic vents in TX? Must get near 10,000 degrees in there during the summer!


----------



## P Smith

jdskycaster said:


> No attic vents in TX? Must get near 10,000 degrees in there during the summer!


Perhaps he have installed separate A/C for attic's cooling ?


----------



## Josh125

jdskycaster said:


> No attic vents in TX? Must get near 10,000 degrees in there during the summer!


Actually, the attic stays within 10 degrees of the inside of the house or that is what it's rated at. I've never taken a thermometer up there but I can say it stays very cool.

As for the install, it is done and successful. It took just over 6 hours, but everything is squared away now. The installer was very professional and worked cleanly. The hopper and joeys are up and running with no issues. I was a bit concerned about PQ coming from Comcast where it was actually stellar. The PQ is nearly the same, perhaps ever so slightly softer but very acceptable. No complaints here  The only thing left to do is set up the timers and learn where the heck everything is at in the guide :lol:


----------



## rgranberry

Ordered Hopper Thursday, stressing that, although I have two 622s, I had a single TV and wished to order just one Hopper and no Joeys. I thought the CSR had it right (limited English).

Tech showed up Friday with Hopper and Joey. Apparently order CSR went ahead and assumed that since I was replacing two 622s, which I had to get 4 tuners, that I had multiple TVs. Called to get order changed and very nice CSR (Ellen) jumped through some hoops and had everything straighted out quickly.

Simple install; cables already in place; only had to add single node outside near the dish. Start Up Wizard did it's thing, except the part where it said it was downloading stuff, it finished very fast. After getting it running, there was no EPG. After resets and power resets didn't fix it (although he never waited more the a few seconds for the EPG to load), he replaced the Hopper, the node, the LNBF and checked all the cables. After all that we finally stared it for a few minutes; the Hopper shut itself off; downloaded S207 and the EPG and everything worked just fine. Tech said it was the first time he'd seen that. Apparently the rollout of S207 kept the EPG from loading until the new software was loaded (just a wild guess), so all that was really needed after the Start Up Wizard was to turn the Hopper off and wait.

The poor tech had to spend 3 hours, when it could have been one hour. He was very nice and courteous and got everything setup and ready to play with.

Bottom line, I'm very happy with PTAT, UHF remote, 3 tuners; everything I need.


----------



## GoatLocker

Install is done.
Quick, clean, and great Service.
Little over two hours.
That was replacing the dish.
Pulling the 322 and 625.
Putting Hopper and 3 Joey's in.
He said this was about install #20 or so for him for Hoppers / Joey's.
And it really showed.
Time lag was really just the wait for downloads.
Ended up putting the Hopper in my office.
It is right beside my cable modem.
So, internet is also all hooked up and set.

Set some timers already, and playing with things.
Real happy with the PQ.


----------



## tcatdbs

I take it there is no advantage in putting the Hopper at the "best" TV location. I plan to put the Hopper in an office also, next to my router. Did you just plug ethernet into the Hopper, or are you using a HIC? (and does it matter).



GoatLocker said:


> Install is done.
> Quick, clean, and great Service.
> Little over two hours.
> That was replacing the dish.
> Pulling the 322 and 625.
> Putting Hopper and 3 Joey's in.
> He said this was about install #20 or so for him for Hoppers / Joey's.
> And it really showed.
> Time lag was really just the wait for downloads.
> Ended up putting the Hopper in my office.
> It is right beside my cable modem.
> So, internet is also all hooked up and set.
> 
> Set some timers already, and playing with things.
> Real happy with the PQ.


----------



## P Smith

Doesn't matter if you using Ethernet jack on h2k or HIC.


----------



## GoatLocker

Just plugged in Ethernet.
If I would have put Hopper in the family room downstairs, would have needed the HIC.

As long as everything works, and it appears to so far, I'm happy.


----------



## Stewart Vernon

The advantage to putting the Hopper near the router is easier integration of the HIC... The advantage to putting the Hopper on your best HDTV is you get the use of PiP on the HDTV that connects to the Hopper. If you don't care about PiP, then it doesn't matter.


----------



## James Long

P Smith said:


> Doesn't matter if you using Ethernet jack on h2k or HIC.


Connecting Ethernet to the HIC delivers Internet and home networking (including "Home Media") to all Hoppers and Joeys on the system. Connecting Ethernet to a Hopper delivers Internet and "Home Media" only to that Hopper. If one wants "Home Media" on Joeys the simple way to go is HIC.


----------



## P Smith

Sounds as gimmick, the server [h2k] and MoCA should be capable to deliver from Internet to Js.


----------



## James Long

P Smith said:


> Sounds as gimmick, the server [h2k] and MoCA should be capable to deliver from Internet to Js.


It isn't. Hoppers and Joeys _DO NOT ROUTE_ between their Ethernet ports and the MoCA network. HICs do.

I would not mind if DISH added the capability to route to Hoppers/Joeys, but at the moment it only affects "Home Media". As long as the Hopper is connected one can view Internet downloaded content via the Hopper.


----------



## RasputinAXP

There's no reason NOT to route from MoCA to Ethernet and back for the limited network-based applications on the Joeys. A HIC should be included by default as part of the install.


----------



## rpotts

I had 1 Hopper / 3 joeys for 2 weeks - but my 4 person family could not surive with just 3 tuners.

I replaced a joey with a 2nd hopper. Order was easy to place. (I have America's Everything service.)

Initial Hopper install left old dish up with a cable connected when the DishHD was installed. Cable from old dish had to be moved to DishHD to support 2nd hopper. It was raining and my roof was steep - so Installer left and rescheduled for a dry day.

2 guys came back and quickly moved the cable and removed the old dish. Added duo switch, and the hopper was set up in about 30 minutes.

Total install about 1.5 hours. Yeah!


----------



## zane77

Don't mean to try and hijack someone elses thread but could someone tell me what a HIC is. Thanks


----------



## crabtrp

zane77 said:


> Don't mean to try and hijack someone elses thread but could someone tell me what a HIC is. Thanks


Hopper Internet Connector


----------



## P Smith

James Long said:


> Connecting Ethernet to the HIC delivers Internet and home networking (including "Home Media") to all Hoppers and Joeys on the system. *Connecting Ethernet to a Hopper delivers Internet and "Home Media" only to that Hopper*. If one wants "Home Media" on Joeys the simple way to go is HIC.


I'm re-view installation material and see you are mistaken.

Ethernet connection to H2k is a first priority for providing Internet material's access for H2k and Js. Next in their hierarchy is the HIC.


----------



## Wire Nut

I agree with P Smith, as does this PDF from dish: http://training.customcomm.net/wp-content/guides/HopperJoeySystem_Wk4.pdf


----------



## James Long

BOTH of you are ignoring the clear statement from DISH that Home Media is not available on any receiver that does not have either: 1) a direct connection to the home network or 2) a HIC properly installed.

Connecting Ethernet to a H2K is a good idea ... but it WILL NOT provide access to Home Media to other receivers on the network. Using a HIC will.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2984379#post2984379


----------



## P Smith

Perhaps this is a bug and will be fixed soon. 

Other way could be run Ethernet cables to each box - H and Js and therefor use much more robust and efficient switches and dedicated connections..


----------



## RasputinAXP

That's what I'm saying: it's gotta be a bug. In a default configuration with a minimum of hardware, why would you require the HIC in order for the Joeys to see Home Media? Bridge the networks.


----------



## Stewart Vernon

The problem here is... how high of a priority will it be for Dish to fix this particular bug?

Since there are workarounds (connect ethernet to all components OR install the HIC), I wouldn't be surprised if this particular bug lingers.


----------



## P Smith

You always siding with the company ... will it a bug or a feature or fee. They should hire you and pay to be their PR agent here.


----------



## James Long

I'm thinking more along the lines of "design choice" than bug. A bug would be greeted with a "we're working on that" statement ... or perhaps silence. Announcing "here is how the system works" and specifying "To get DLNA to a Joey - Need to direct connect the Joey OR use a HIC" does not show intent to change the behavior.

Personally I hope they do, and I stated so when the "no routing" behavior was revealed weeks ago. At minimum Hoppers should route and at best Joeys should route as well with ONE Hopper or Joey becoming the bridge for all Hoppers/Joeys on the network.


----------



## P Smith

James Long said:


> I'm thinking more along the lines of "design choice" than bug. A bug would be greeted with a "we're working on that" statement ... or perhaps silence. *Announcing "here is how the system works" and specifying *"To get DLNA to a Joey - Need to direct connect the Joey OR use a HIC" does not show intent to change the behavior.
> 
> Personally I hope they do, and I stated so when the "no routing" behavior was revealed weeks ago. At minimum Hoppers should route and at best Joeys should route as well with ONE Hopper or Joey becoming the bridge for all Hoppers/Joeys on the network.


Well, officially it doesn't looks as you telling: https://support.dish.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=39&start=10



> Re: DLNA server
> 
> Postby Ray C. » Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:23 am
> The latest software update should address the DLNA this issue (S2.07 for the Hopper). The Joey should be S2.59. Please let me know what software version you have. Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> hazzard4192 wrote:my hopper is detecting my servers but my joeys tell me i need a hic or direct ethernet connection to this device in order to even access home media section. i have a direct ethernet connection to the hopper. why do i need a hic or a connection to the joeys to get it to work. i thought as long as the hopper is connected the whole system is connected?
> 
> 
> 
> Ray C.
> Social Media Team
> Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 6:00 AM to 2:30 PM MDT
Click to expand...


----------



## Stewart Vernon

P Smith said:


> You always siding with the company ... will it a bug or a feature or fee. They should hire you and pay to be their PR agent here.


You do know that I don't work for either Dish or Echostar, right?

What about my post was "siding with" Dish? I was stating some reality... There are two workarounds to get DLNA working on your Joeys. Dish themselves released these as suggestions:

1. Connect each Joey to internet directly

OR

2. Include the HIC in the installation.

Given those 2 feasible workarounds, regardless of the intent of the feature... I would not be surprised if Dish puts this on low-priority to fix. Things like the EHD movie playback problems in another thread would seem to be more of a problem than this DLNA one... since we don't have a workaround for those EHD issues.

IF I were a Dish customer (oh wait, I am!) I would rather Dish be focused on the problems that have no workarounds.


----------



## P Smith

If I would do prioritizing, I would pickup on different criteria - how it's convenient or not for CUSTOMERS. Duh !


----------



## James Long

P Smith said:


> If I would do prioritizing, I would pickup on different criteria - how it's convenient or not for CUSTOMERS. Duh !


While DLNA may have some importance on this site I doubt that most customers know what it is.

We're special. Our members want the second Hopper and many are willing to pay nearly $200 for it just to get a separate tuner. And less are willing to set up DLNA servers for their home content.

I want to see everything work and work well. But I accept that there are more important aspects of the receiver that need to work and work well first. Before DLNA.


----------



## PDSchweitzer

My install went well replacing a 722 and 222K until the tech (actual Dish employee) went to call in to activate. Took him 90 minutes and being transferred 4 times.

Then the updates for the 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys took a very long time and the tech said they must be done one-by-one and not all at the same time.

Entire install/upgrade took over 3 hours. Should have been 30 minutes.


----------



## P Smith

PDSchweitzer said:


> My install went well replacing a 722 and 222K until the tech (actual Dish employee) went to call in to activate. Took him 90 minutes and being transferred 4 times.
> 
> Then the updates for the 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys took a very long time and the tech said they must be done one-by-one and not all at the same time.
> 
> Entire install/upgrade took over 3 hours. *Should have been 30 minutes*.


You should watch how it installing by rules here, then calculate the time.


----------



## alexpwilliams

I'm a new customer of DISH Network as of Sunday and I'm brand new on this forum, it seems like a great place to get help, especially since I came from Cable and am completely new to the satellite world. 

I just got a 1 Hopper and 2 Joey system set up, but I'm thinking that 3 tuners may not be enough for our family, so I'd like to have a 2 Hopper 1 Joey system. By reading through these forums (this thread and a couple others), I've gotten a bunch of conflicting information, so I'd like to clear up my confusion with updated info.

1) DISH is allowing customers to have 2 Hoppers, correct? Somewhere I read that DISH now had a 1 Hopper per-home policy...

2) As I understand it, Hoppers currently cannot communicate with each other. Will this be solved later by a software update, and if so, is there any indication from DISH as to when that will happen?

3) Is there an upgrade fee to switch out a Joey for another Hopper?

I know I had some other questions but it's late at night and I can't remember them. I'll ask when I do - thank you all in advance for your help.


----------



## domingos35

alexpwilliams said:


> I'm a new customer of DISH Network as of Sunday and I'm brand new on this forum, it seems like a great place to get help, especially since I came from Cable and am completely new to the satellite world.
> 
> I just got a 1 Hopper and 2 Joey system set up, but I'm thinking that 3 tuners may not be enough for our family, so I'd like to have a 2 Hopper 1 Joey system. By reading through these forums (this thread and a couple others), I've gotten a bunch of conflicting information, so I'd like to clear up my confusion with updated info.
> 
> 1) DISH is allowing customers to have 2 Hoppers, correct? Somewhere I read that DISH now had a 1 Hopper per-home policy...
> 
> 2) As I understand it, Hoppers currently cannot communicate with each other. Will this be solved later by a software update, and if so, is there any indication from DISH as to when that will happen?
> 
> 3) Is there an upgrade fee to switch out a Joey for another Hopper?
> 
> I know I had some other questions but it's late at night and I can't remember them. I'll ask when I do - thank you all in advance for your help.


1) I have 2 Hoppers and 1 Joey
2)Yes theres a software update coming later that will let Hoppers communicate with each other
3)yes theres an upgrade fee(as far as i know) to switch out a Joey for another Hopper (i am thinking it will be $199)


----------



## kimball111

Short review of Hopper

I have had the Hopper and two Joeys for about a month and here are my observations, primarily with the differences between the Hopper and my prior DVR, the VIP622. 

First the annoyances:
1.	Free disk space: It only occasionally shows the amount of disk space you have left so you don’t know when you are getting near full (although there is little danger in that yet with its huge storage.) I have seen this number pop up, but it appears to be random for a few seconds at a time. This is also true for the attached, external USB drive.
2.	Setup: Hopper has fewer ports on the back. I need to connect older equipment without HDMI ports. I want to connect my DVD recorder, home entertainment receiver, and Slingbox, but the Hopper only has two sets of outgoing ports. So I had to connect one to my Slingbox and then from the slingbox to the DVD recorder which thus far seems to hiccup periodically with this arrangement. (Note to the old Slinbox owners, when resetting up your Slingbox, choose the 922 remote which seems to work fine.)
3.	Feature or Bug: I record a lot of programs on my DVR and it takes awhile to watch them. It was easy to move these recordings from the VIP622 to my external USB drive and back again to the Hopper. But unlike the VIP622, the Hopper will not let me watch recordings from channels I no longer subscribe to – big unpleasant surprise for all the history recordings I made to show the kids when they reach that topic in school.
4.	External USB drive: The drive easily made the switch from VIP622 to Hopper. I just plugged it in and did not even need to call support to activate it. But most of the programs won’t play until you try them twice. The first time you get an error message. Then retry it and it works fine. This also happens for some shows recorded after I got the Hopper. It seems random, but may be related to something like shows get an error after there has been a software push since the recording.
5.	Channel Guide: The guide is nice in that it combines certain channels like the Sirius music and VOD channels. But the descriptions of the movies that display above the guide are sparse, rarely showing the actors which is one of the main ways I choose movies to watch. Although with a few more clicks you can bring up additional info, this is a major annoyance. Note that the Guide was too big to fit on two of my TVs, so don’t forgot to go into setup and adjust the size of the Guide to fit perfectly on 
6.	your TV.
7.	User Interface: The user interface looks nice, but in reality is much less useful than the VIP622. Instead of nice lists of options and recordings that can be easily scanned, now the interface is all icons that is much more difficult to scan, then maneuver the pointer to, then select. Issue one is that there is no number sequence shortcut to get to, for example, on the VIP622, pressing 6,2,1 would bring up my external drive recordings. Now I must maneuver thru a series of menus with the pointer. Second issue is those big colorful icons for each recording. In theory, they are colorful and either show an image from the show or channel is was recorded on. The name of the show recorded is in fine print at the bottom of the image. It used to be easy to scan a list of recordings with no extraneous distractions from the show name. Now your eyes have to squint to find the recording name and go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth row by row,, row by row, row by row to find your recording. Another instance of cool flash over useful substance. (Please lord don’t let Windows 8 developers fall for this same abuse.)
OK by now you probably think I regret my upgrade to the Hopper and Joey. Not so.
1.	Sharing DVR: It’s really nice to have all three TVs connected to the same DVR, even if we don’t use the pause in one room and resume in another feature very often. Now all three TVs can record, share, and watch any of the three available TV streams on the Hopper instead of two on the 622.
2.	Remotes: The “Find Remote” button on the Joeys and Hopper is very nice as the kids leave the remote anywhere. The remotes themselves can control more of my equipment and are easy to setup without having to try dozens of codes with each device. 
3.	External USB drive: This is much more responsive. Previously, you would have to wait a full minute or so for the drive to respond after making any selection; now it responds immediately.
4.	Apps: The Hopper has a dozen or so apps and a couple are potentially useful. I’m trying to the the kids to check the WEATHER app so they will know how to dress for tomorrow. The “Home Media” app will connect to certain media devices on your network and let you access your music, photos, and videos. They appear to have made a lot of progress in getting this to work over the past few weeks. I can now access my Synoology network disk and one of my Windows 7 PCs. I can play my music from the Hopper, but not from my Joey. Either can access my stored photos.
5.	Organizing recordings: Its nice to be able to organize and sort your recordings on both the Hopper and external drive. You can sort your Hopper recordings by selecting: Folders by Title, Genre, My Folders, or None. Then further by: A-Z, DVR Date, and Rating. You can’t sort your external drive by Genre nor My folders. Genre works fairly well. I think “My Folders” has great potential if only I could remember how I stumbled upon that feature.
6.	Primetime Anytime – Some of the advertising says you can record 6 shows at once. In reality, you have 3 TV streams and you can choose to devote on of these to auto record every prime time show on the four network channels for eight days. I don’t use this because I don’t want to give up one of my 3 TV streams and would rather just record the shows I do watch instead of all the mostly junk. I rarely watch any series until I have recorded a full season.
7.	“More Info”: Selecting any show from the TV Guide or recording from DVR or external drive will provide an option to get “More Info”. This pops up a screen that provides much more info about the show than ever before including % watched, length, episode #, actors, synopsis, date recorded and aired, and more. This is really useful.
So like most anything, the new Hopper/Joeys have both annoyances and great innovations. But it’s not long before you wonder how you got along without it all this time.


----------



## Wire Nut

Excellent, thorough review Kimball! Except for #6?
I just got my Hopper in the mail, got it installed real easy myself. I'm a DNS installer of 2 years, been 100% OTA for about 5 years. Thought I'd recommend an alternative to those who (like me) do not qualify for a DHA 24 contract and therefore have to purchase the Hopper if they want it. 
Dish Network's price for a Hopper is $449, you can purchase one here (Solid Signal) for $350: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=02&p=ESHPR2000&d=DISH-Network-HOPPER-Whole-Home-DVR-System-%28ESHPR2000%29&c=DISH%20Network%20Receivers&sku=
Do not attempt this if you don't know what you're doing. Call the phone number on the box to get the account set up. Going this route, you still need to pay the $200 activation fee and provide the other equipment (dish/LNBF/solo node/cable) as well as install it all properly. All said and done, I have a Hopper without a contract, I own all equipment, for a total of $550 startup cost. IOW, it can be done but if you can pass a credit check by all means do so lol.
BTW, I love the hell out of this thing


----------



## P Smith

Wire Nut said:


> Excellent, thorough review Kimball! Except for #6?
> I just got my Hopper in the mail, got it installed real easy myself. I'm a DNS installer of 2 years, been 100% OTA for about 5 years. Thought I'd recommend an alternative to those who (like me) do not qualify for a DHA 24 contract and therefore have to purchase the Hopper if they want it.
> Dish Network's price for a Hopper is $449, you can purchase one here (Solid Signal) for $350: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=02&p=ESHPR2000&d=DISH-Network-HOPPER-Whole-Home-DVR-System-%28ESHPR2000%29&c=DISH%20Network%20Receivers&sku=
> Do not attempt this if you don't know what you're doing. Call the phone number on the box to get the account set up. Going this route, *you still need to pay the $200 activation fee* and provide the other equipment (dish/LNBF/solo node/cable) as well as install it all properly. All said and done, I have a Hopper without a contract, I own all equipment, for a total of $550 startup cost. IOW, it can be done but if you can pass a credit check by all means do so lol.
> BTW, I love the hell out of this thing


What's the bloody hell the money for ?


----------



## Wire Nut

If you don't have credit or have bad credit, you do not get to lease equipment, especially things like a Hopper. It must be purchased. On the other side of the coin, if you aren't up to your eyeballs in debt, you can afford to purchase such things.


----------



## James Long

Wire Nut said:


> If you don't have credit or have bad credit, you do not get to lease equipment, especially things like a Hopper. It must be purchased. On the other side of the coin, if you aren't up to your eyeballs in debt, you can afford to purchase such things.


I understand where poor or no credit could lead to not being able to lease receivers. But a $200 activation fee? Does that include an install of the owned equipment or is it more along the lines of a non-refundable security deposit against the last month of service or a "because we can" fee?


----------



## Wire Nut

James Long said:


> Does that include an install of the owned equipment or is it more along the lines of a non-refundable security deposit against the last month of service or a "because we can" fee?


I did the install myself, leaning more toward the "because we can" scenario.


----------



## Jubjub

I had a Dish tech come out to replace an old SD system with an HD Hopper and 2 Joeys.
He spent 6.5 trying to get it to work. He ended up replacing the Hopper, both joeys ( 3 times ), wiring, the hick, the splitter and still could only get the Hopper and one Joey to work. 4 hours in, another guy came with more hoppers and joeys. Eventually, it looked like it worked, but a hour later one Joey stopped worked and couldn't connect to the Hopper.

Next day, a Dish contractor tech came out. Spent 3 hours, replaced things again, still no luck.

A couple of days later a Dish tech came out. Replaced cable end points, replaced cables and finally said that the issue looks to be with the cable coming up from the basement to the room. So I took a tv down to the basement and we connected directly to the splitter. Same issue. Joey is stuck on Discovering....

Finally got fed up and said not to worry about it and that we have it working in the important rooms. So now, we are down to one Hopper and one Joey.

Better than nothing. Neither the techs nor the people on the phone that they called had any idea.

This is fairly new tech and I'm sure they'll get the kinks out in the months to come.


----------



## gef2509

Dish folks installed (1) Hopper & (2) Joey's about a week ago. Took about four hours to get the system up and running (new outside hardware & software waiting game). The installer kept busy and seemed knowledgeable, however, he had no idea PIP was available on the Hopper.

The router/wall plug SlingLink Turbo W1 seemed to be a joke. The installer couldn't seem to get some concealed wall plugs to work with the Hopper/Joey, ended up in the middle of a wall run to a Joey which looked like s**t.

Also, I have an LCD, LED, & Sammy HL-S6187W 1080P DLP set. The LCD & LED sets look fantastiic set on "Dish's format TV 1080I setting", however the 
HL-S6187W set and the Joey do not like each other at all on 1080I. Extreme pixelation with the guide & to a lesser extent when a channel is locked in. The 720P menu setting works with much less pixlelation problems & looks good.

I's there a known problem with DLP sets and Joey's? We tried a different HDMI slot, a 2nd Joey, & different HDMI cable, no joy. The installer left and said give it a month after coming to grips that it was not my 6187W TV inputs causing 
the problem.

To end, the Joey paperwork & box show up to 1080P, however, the "format TV" menu only shows up to 1080I. Just an observation.


----------



## domingos35

my DLP and my Hoppers Picture is awesome


----------



## AZDude

Installer showed up about 12:30 to install a 1 hopper/ 3 joey system. Used all existing wiring and seemed to know what he was talking about even tho it was only his third hopper install. Most of the install time was spent waiting for software to download. Tech only had to make one call to ask if he could install the second Joey as soon as the first Joey paired. He chose to wait it out. Tech left with everything working at about 3:00PM. Overall a very good experience.

By the Way.....All of my TV's look awesome.


----------



## mdavej

Gef, you have wiring issues. What you describe is not normal and is not a problem with your tv. Need to get a tech back out there, hopefully a more knowledgable one.


----------



## James Long

gef2509 said:


> To end, the Joey paperwork & box show up to 1080P, however, the "format TV" menu only shows up to 1080I. Just an observation.


All of DISH's live channels are in 1080i or 720p ... for the content that DISH provides in 1080p (a few Video on Demand movies each month) the receiver will switch to 1080p output and test to see if your set will accept it. The same for 3D televisions. Choose 3D content and the receiver tests then falls back to 2D if 3D is not detected.


----------



## jgcecg

I am still getting used to the Hopper. In some ways I regret moving from Direct TV DVR. Too soon to tell.

I had my Hopper and 1 Joey installed on April 26 in the San Jose CA area. I took about 2 hours to check my existing DirectTV wiring, which they used unchanged, and remove the direct TV dish and install the new dish on my roof. I have no problems at all. Everything works fine.

I am still getting used to the Hopper software and the folders. The one thing I miss is the Direct TV ratings using the Rotten Tomatoes system as well as there existing star ratings. 

If I went into a store and saw the hopper interface I am not sure that I would have changed from Direct tv, since it is so different.

Also if you call direct tv cancellation line, NOT the main line, they will offer you their new 1TB 34? DVR for free as well as reduced monthly price, if you are cancelling

Does anyone have a good way to organize the Hopper folders? If you put a show in a folder can you delete it from the default folder?

I am also not sure how useful the prime time anytime feature is for me. I am assuming that prime time anytime shows are stored on the Dish Partition and not the users one?

Any suggestions about using folders?


----------



## patmurphey

I've found folders by title to make the most sense. 

DirectTV's "1TB" 34 offers 200 hours of HD user storage. Dish's Hopper 2TB drive, in addition to PTAT, offers 250 hours of user storage (with 500GB), increasing to 500 hours user storage (with 1TB) with sofware version S209. The size of the drive is irrelevant in both cases - it's the user space that matters. In addition, with Dish, you have unlimited ADDITIONAL storage easily accessed on the Hopper with external hard drives.


----------



## wgf

When I turn my TV off it shuts off the hopper. When I turn the TV on the hopper comes back on. When the hopper is off none of the joeys work either. I disconnected the HDMI cable from the hopper and now it works fine but of course I can't watch the TV.


----------



## RasputinAXP

Sounds like CEC to me


----------



## rld37

jgcecg said:


> I am still getting used to the Hopper. In some ways I regret moving from Direct TV DVR. Too soon to tell.
> 
> I had my Hopper and 1 Joey installed on April 26 in the San Jose CA area. I took about 2 hours to check my existing DirectTV wiring, which they used unchanged, and remove the direct TV dish and install the new dish on my roof. I have no problems at all. Everything works fine.
> 
> I am still getting used to the Hopper software and the folders. The one thing I miss is the Direct TV ratings using the Rotten Tomatoes system as well as there existing star ratings.
> 
> If I went into a store and saw the hopper interface I am not sure that I would have changed from Direct tv, since it is so different.
> 
> Also if you call direct tv cancellation line, NOT the main line, they will offer you their new 1TB 34? DVR for free as well as reduced monthly price, if you are cancelling
> 
> Does anyone have a good way to organize the Hopper folders? If you put a show in a folder can you delete it from the default folder?
> 
> I am also not sure how useful the prime time anytime feature is for me. I am assuming that prime time anytime shows are stored on the Dish Partition and not the users one?
> 
> Any suggestions about using folders?


What is D* cancellation line?


----------



## mdavej

rld37 said:


> What is D* cancellation line?


When you call the main line at DirecTV say "cancel" and you go to customer retention and may get a better deal, or they may tell you to take a hike.


----------



## gbeenie

The Hopper/Joey isn't limited to RF remote control, is it? I haven't had a DISH system in many years, and my in-laws are still stuck with 1998 receivers (that prevent me from getting them a Harmony remote); I'm hoping DISH has wised up on this.


----------



## gbeenie

wgf said:


> When I turn my TV off it shuts off the hopper. When I turn the TV on the hopper comes back on. When the hopper is off none of the joeys work either. I disconnected the HDMI cable from the hopper and now it works fine but of course I can't watch the TV.


You've got control-over-HDMI activated on either your TV, the Hopper, or both.

EDIT: My money's on the TV.


----------



## mdavej

gbeenie said:


> The Hopper/Joey isn't limited to RF remote control, is it? I haven't had a DISH system in many years, and my in-laws are still stuck with 1998 receivers (that prevent me from getting them a Harmony remote); I'm hoping DISH has wised up on this.


No it isn't.


----------



## gbeenie

mdavej said:


> No it isn't.


Yay! I just bought a Harmony One, and I'd have hated to have a major part of my system beyond its control.


----------



## P Smith

gbeenie said:


> Yay! I just bought a Harmony One, and I'd have hated to have a major part of my system beyond its control.


when it will support ZigBee (two ways) ...


----------



## fuzzface

Had 1 Hopper and 1 Joey installed yesterday and a 625 and 722K removed. Everything took under 2 hours and seemed to go rather seamlessly. The only surprise (to me) was that the installer told me Dish pretty much required the Hopper to be connected to the internet. He told me it would receive NO updates unless it was connected. I ended up letting him install some homeplugs to do this and am actually pretty happy with the whole thing.


----------



## tcatdbs

This seems odd, updates come through the dish (I thought). Hope it's not true since I'm having my install 2 days before I'll have internet (new house). Can't you just plug a cat5 cable from a router into the hopper?



fuzzface said:


> Had 1 Hopper and 1 Joey installed yesterday and a 625 and 722K removed. Everything took under 2 hours and seemed to go rather seamlessly. The only surprise (to me) was that the installer told me Dish pretty much required the Hopper to be connected to the internet. He told me it would receive NO updates unless it was connected. I ended up letting him install some homeplugs to do this and am actually pretty happy with the whole thing.


----------



## P Smith

updates of FW, EPG coming from sats
yes, Cat5 is OK to h2k for most of cases, sans DLNA for Joye(s)


----------



## Gerard

Jsleona said:


> Dish Network Hopper and Joey installed Friday. My experiences:
> 
> A) came home to play with it. I had the screen locked up in 5 minutes hearing sound but seeing Hopper screen saver- reset
> B) technician plugged in my USB sling from my vip722. tried to use dish app to change a channel like I could before -broken
> C) tried to use iPad to play a DVR show on my TV as before. -broken
> D) called and added blockbuster and removed HBO. Funny the free show had huge moments where the stream failed and had to buffer. But today we buy a movie for additional 6.99 and flawless play back. My interpretation monthly included part of blockbuster is that it is purposely throttled to allow more important ppv traffic to take priority.
> E) saw ads showing Pandora, love it. Got the Hopper no Pandora yet they tell me.
> F) liked the idea of playing my library of music, videos, and pictures via that home media app. Guess what, I tried all four examples. None work and I know the network is not an issue, I setup Cisco amd Juniper network gear for a living.
> G) was told on the Wednesday night it was a $99 upgrade. Guess what they charged me $300 Thursday morning. Would not honor the promises made the night before.
> 
> Install took over 3 hours and I did not even need a new dish.


Were you able to get the Home media app working?

I have had the system siince Sunday.

I have my Win7 Pro Desktop computer running Serviio (a free media server for Window, Mac and Linux. It enables streaming video, audio and images to your DLNA certified devices)

I can see the computer that has the music, pictures and videos but, have not been able to view or play the files.

It just stays in the loading process...


----------



## njk986

Gerard said:


> Were you able to get the Home media app working?
> 
> I have had the system siince Sunday.
> 
> I have my Win7 Pro Desktop computer running Serviio (a free media server for Window, Mac and Linux. It enables streaming video, audio and images to your DLNA certified devices)
> 
> I can see the computer that has the music, pictures and videos but, have not been able to view or play the files.
> 
> It just stays in the loading process...


PlayOn server works great. Just have to have whatever tv you play it on directly connected to the network, or have a HIC installed.


----------



## tcatdbs

My install went well, "only" 5 hours, 3 of which installing the dish/cables. No problems with Hopper and 2 Joeys. Have not used it much, but much nicer than my old 722. I'm not sure what everyone seems to be saying as "faster", doesn't really seem that much faster to me. My 722 was fast (unless I closed my cabinet doors, then it was REAL slow). 

PTAT is great, just need to figure out how to sort through all the content. My wife complains about not being able to read the times in the guide... the black shadow effect must make it hard for her to read (I have no problem with it). 

In default settings, all the logo names are cropped off at the left (easily corrected by reducing picture size 1 click), seems odd to have to set this.

Wish there was a way to copy favorites to Joeys. Seems odd you can copy parental control, but not favorites. I have 84 on my list my wife has 80, no fun doing that 3 times!


----------



## Marlin Guy

tcatdbs said:


> I'm not sure what everyone seems to be saying as "faster", doesn't really seem that much faster to me.


Take a DirecTV HR series for spin and you'll understand.


----------



## inkahauts

"Marlin Guy" said:


> Take a DirecTV HR series for spin and you'll understand.


Which system do you have? Dish or DIRECTV?


----------



## Marlin Guy

inkahauts said:


> Which system do you have? Dish or DIRECTV?


I recently switched to Dish from DirecTV.
HUGE difference in performance. I'd love to get my old HR20 back from DirecTV and take it to the range.


----------



## Continental Divide

Just read this entire thread, I think I'm ready to jump ship with D*!

One question: I read <in this post> that the Hopper doesn't have the "Skip to Tick" or "Bookmark" features that the D* receivers have? If true I can live without the "Skip to Tick", but I would really miss the bookmark feature as I make use that all the time.


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

If you have additional questions about the Hopper/Joey, please let me know. Did the bookmark feature just take you back to the spot you left off on a recording? If so, with our receivers, if you stop a playback on a recording you can resume playback where you left off. Please let me know. Thanks.



Continental Divide said:


> Just read this entire thread, I think I'm ready to jump ship with D*!
> 
> One question: I read <in this post> that the Hopper doesn't have the "Skip to Tick" or "Bookmark" features that the D* receivers have? If true I can live without the "Skip to Tick", but I would really miss the bookmark feature as I make use that all the time.


----------



## Marlin Guy

Continental Divide said:


> Just read this entire thread, I think I'm ready to jump ship with D*!
> 
> One question: I read <in this post> that the Hopper doesn't have the "Skip to Tick" or "Bookmark" features that the D* receivers have? If true I can live without the "Skip to Tick", but I would really miss the bookmark feature as I make use that all the time.


No Skip to Tick
No Bookmarks

The post you referenced mentions no Youtube or Pandora. We now have Pandora.

If you haven't seen it yet, you may want to take a look at the video I made for people like you and myself who have been with DirecTV for a while and weren't up to speed on the Dish DVR.
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=3020632#post3020632

I also listed Pros & Cons here
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=3013829#post3013829


----------



## mdavej

I miss bookmarks too, but they may be in the pipeline. HERE's a video of what's in development. If implemented, it will leapfrog DirecTV's bookmarks because it also includes thumbnails of each marked scene plus direct access to each via the number keys, i.e., 6 goes directly to the 6th mark. Very cool stuff.


----------



## Continental Divide

Ray [email protected] Network said:


> Did the bookmark feature just take you back to the spot you left off on a recording? If so, with our receivers, if you stop a playback on a recording you can resume playback where you left off. Please let me know. Thanks.


Ray, D*'s bookmark feature is not the resume function you refer to. It allows setting multiple points (bookmarks) in a recording that you can later return to quickly without having to FF/RR through the entire recording to find a specific spot in the recording you want to return too. Ever try to find a specific spot in a movie back in the days of VHS cassette tapes? Kind of the same thing with a DVR lacking a bookmark feature.

Watch the 



 that mdavej just posted. At the 2:20 point in that video is a clear demonstration of what D* calls "bookmarks". D*'s bookmarks are not nearly this sophisticated, no thumbnails or text attached, just tick marks placed on the timeline with the remote that one can easily return to, but it achieves the same thing. I use bookmarks a lot just in the way you see it demonstrated in the video.

Another Con I just learned of in reading Marlin Guy's Pros & Cons post is the lack of Live Buffer While Watching Recorded Programs which is another D* feature I consistently make use of. Pos & Cons indeed!

If the remote featured in the video is actually released then Dish would truly have the ultimate DVR!


----------



## mdavej

You have to plan ahead a little to keep your live buffer. What I do is turn on PIP and switch to the other tuner I don't care about when playing recordings. That way I keep the buffer on the primary PIP tuner. Once you get in that habit, it's not so bad. On DirecTV I never had to think about it. It just always worked.


----------



## Continental Divide

In regards to PIP, with the Hopper can the PIG (picture in graphics, the small picture seen when in the guide) be controlled (i.e. paused, etc.) while in the guide? D* used to have this feature but took it away with their HD GUI upgrade (IMO the worst upgrade they ever conceived of, the negative impacts of which are the main reasons D* is pushing me to the Hopper).


----------



## James Long

I understand that no provider has everything. I read that from a specific DirecTV employee defending the choices his company makes in carrying HD channels.

The same applies to DVR features. Yes, there is no DirecTV bookmarks feature ... this isn't a DirecTV receiver. This is a DISH receiver built on the features DISH has offered over the years and (hopefully) improved.

No receiver has everything ... The Hopper system (including Joeys) has PTA and AutoHOP. I would not trade those for "bookmarks".


----------



## James Long

Continental Divide said:


> In regards to PIP, with the Hopper can the PIG (picture in graphics, the small picture seen when in the guide) be controlled (i.e. paused, etc.) while in the guide? D* used to have this feature but took it away with their HD GUI upgrade (IMO the worst upgrade they ever conceived of, the negative impacts of which are the main reasons D* is pushing me to the Hopper).


The picture needs to be paused before entering the guide. The pause control does not work once the guide screen has been entered. (And I believe there isn't a DISH receiver that has ever done that.)


----------



## Continental Divide

James Long said:


> No receiver has everything ... The Hopper system (including Joeys) has PTA and AutoHOP. I would not trade those for "bookmarks".


Well, neither would I. I never alluded that lack of "Bookmarks" would be a deal breaker, that's why I just signed up for a 2 year commitment with DISH! Hopper with 2 Joey's supposedly gets installed this coming Monday (Installers work on Memorial Day!?).

I hope I don't regret this move, I've been with D* continuously from the very beginning, since 1994. Before D*, there was no TV at all (no OTA) where I live at 9000ft. elevation in the Colorado Rockies.


----------



## dhickman

I had mine installed last friday.

1 hopper/2 joeys.

I was a dish customer when the 922 came out and that experience ( 5 922s later) had me switch to DirectTV and eventually I became a cord cutter.

I finally bought a house and decided that the hopper tech would be interesting so I decided to give it try.

I had the Hopper installed to the main tv and the joeys on the kids tv and the home office.

Due to the house design it is very difficult to get to the secondary rooms with COAX, so I had the installer run a drop to my home office and hooked the HIC up there. 

To initialize the joeys we ran a jumper cable from the hic to the joey(s). Activate it and then connect the device via ethernet cat5 to a gig switch on a dedicated vlan. Works like a champ.

As a backup if Dish ever decides to disable this functionality, I bought two more hics and hooked the HIC in reverse with the coax to the joey and ethernet into the joey. Works as expected since MOCA is layer network technology and the HIC is a bridge device.

It is nice to see IPTV on a satellite based device.

There has been a few slowdowns that resolved on its own and I can not get sling to work with my android devices, but overall this is what the 922 promised, and having ip based clients(
MOCA) is an excellent idea.

My next step is to get another joey and see if it will work over a vpn to my home network, if it does ( and I do not see how it will not work), this will be my prefered device when I travel for watching tv.


----------



## P Smith

If you have managed switches, could you tell us some statistics, a load of your VPN with one client and more in future ?


----------



## dhickman

P Smith said:


> If you have managed switches, could you tell us some statistics, a load of your VPN with one client and more in future ?


I am collecting that data right now. so far the largest data stream was a sustained 4 megabit stream to one of the joeys.

The hopper is connected via direct ethernet and moca. Each port has its own mac address and ip address.

So far the only problem I have is that I need to manually setup my firewall to allow dish online remote access ( the receiver shows up unconnected) and I need to open up the needed firewall ports since I use OpenBSD on the perimeter.


----------



## Continental Divide

Dish installer showed up on time on Memorial Day, great guy, we had a lot in common. Easy install as all cables were already in place from D*, and coax distribution system already installed in the house when it was built (by me).

Only problem so far is the Hopper keeps losing it's connectivity to my router, not sure why. I've got 9 devices on my home network, and the Hopper is the only one experiencing this problem. Are there any threads on the forum discussing this? (and yes, I'll do a search)

edit: A search seemingly only turned up one pertinent thread. I'll continue discussion of this problem there.

edit2: Didn't have the maximum number of DHCP users set correctly in the router, seems to be fixed... time will tell.


----------



## darrengs

I am a new Dish customer as of 5/12/2012. I jumped ship from DirecTV after they bungled a customer service issue.

On Friday 5/11/2012 I received an email from DirecTV informing me that they would do me a favor and shut my service off as of midnight that night without requiring me to talk to retentions. This was in response to my email asking them about cancellation policies. This gave me less than 13 hours before I would have no television, at first I was going to call them and let them know that I did not plan to cancel at this time, but instead I decided to call Dish. I called Dish around 1:00PM and order service with 2 Hoppers, 3 Joeys and 1 sling adapter, and the install was set up for the next day, Saturday 5/12/2012 between noon and 5.

I received an automated call and text that evening about the install but never got any calls from the installer as I was told would happen. The installer did arrive around 3:45PM, and I showed him the setup. Where my old DirecTV dish was I had 4 RG6 cable that were homerun to my wiring panel in a closet in the 2nd floor master. In the closet I have multiple RG6 and cat5e run to all rooms of the house with easy patch panel access. I also had all of the RG6 connections labeled for Joeys/Hoppers and in all rooms RG6 were waiting for the Joeys and RG6/Cat5e were waiting for the Hoppers.
The installer removed my DirecTV dish and then informed me that with my 2 Hopper setup he would need to install 2 dishes or else the Joeys would work fine for a few days then would start "hopping" between each Hopper. I questioned this as I wanted my Joeys to be able to connect to each Hopper and also in the future I wanted the Hoppers to be able to see each other. He told me that the Joeys cannot switch between Hoppers and the Hoppers were never going to be able to see each other, he explained that they were doing all 2 hopper installs this way for now to prevent the "hopping problems" and when the software issues were corrected they could come back and remove a dish. I ended up believing him and he proceeded to install 2 dishes on the back of my house and 2 single node switches. The install and Hopper/Joey software update took 3.5 hours, I tipped him $20 and he left at 7:15PM.

After he left I started researching and posting on forums and I became extremely aware that the installer was mistaken. My hunch is that he most likely did not have a duonode switch in his truck. If indeed that was the case I wish he would have told me so, and simply installed 1 Hopper and the 3 Joeys at that time and then scheduled to come back with the correct switch and installed the other Hopper.

Well that night I contacted DiRT member and he confirmed that the install was incorrect and scheduled a Field Service Manager and installer for Saturday 5/19/2012 between 8:00AM and Noon to correct the issue. Again I received the automated call, email and text message on Friday evening which promised a call about an hour before the installer was to arrive, and again this did not happen. My doorbell rang at 9:22AM, I opened the door and the same installer from the previous week was standing there. He asked me what the issue was, so I told him that I should be getting a duonode switch and only have 1 dish. He again told me that I would have problems and that I shouldn’t be listening to what people say online in forums. I explained that I was told by a Dish employee that my install was wrong and that it would be corrected today with a duonode switch and would require just one dish. He told me that he needed to order the switch, and it would take two days. He said he would come first thing Wednesday the23rd at 8:00AM or earlier.

On Wednesday 5/23/2012 he did not show, I called the number on the sticker that he placed on my remote and I was told that he was on his way to the office. Given that his office is 45 minutes away and it was now 8:30AM, I was pretty certain that he would not be there until after 9:00AM and perhaps 10:00AM, so I left to go to work. 30 minutes later the installer called me and apologized about not calling but said he was called into a meeting, and we could reschedule later. I tried to call him back to reschedule but he did not answer and did not call me back. The original DiRT member was away so that night I again contacted a different DiRT member. We ended up talking on the phone and he scheduled a Field Service Manager and installer to arrive again at my house on Saturday 5/26/2012 between 8:00AM and Noon.

Friday evening, I again received the call, email and text about my appointment. Then on Saturday morning at 7:30AM I received a call from the dispatcher that a FSM was not available but that she could ensure that a different installer came out. I responded that that would be fine, but I asked her to verify that the installer did indeed have a duonode switch on the truck. She called me back and told me that he did indeed have the correct equipment with him. About 8:30AM I received a call from the installer telling me he was about 25 minutes away. When he arrived I showed him the dishes and the wiring closet, and asked him if he could silicone any holes in the side of the house caused by the second dish. He actually removed both dishes and replaced one with a different dish, he removed the 2 singlenode switches, installed the duonode switch, and verified all Hoppers/Joeys were working before he left. Total time was about 1.5 hours.

Although there was some frustration with my install and then with getting the issue corrected, I must say that the level of knowledge and communication by the DiRT members was exemplary. I do like the Hoppers/Joeys and there is no way one Hopper would have been enough tuners for my family of four. I was also experiencing a problem when I turned the one Hopper on, where it would check the switch, and this resulted in all current recording stopping. However, since the new dish/duonode switch was installed I have not seen this happen again.


----------



## cloudtamer

I had a VIP622 installed and a "Home" cable fabrication that allowed the VIP622 to work with the back bedroom and a 311 to share with the office. All in all we had 2 receivers.

Once Hopper/Joey was announced and looked at all the wonderful features, I had to have it, convinced the Husband and they were out today.

All in all they were out here and did a great job. They installed a new Sat Dish outside, new switch and a new Hopper. The guy was able to get the existing "Home Cable" System updated to support the 1 Joey to be moved from room to room, in case of Company comes over.

This will be my first night with PTAT and I am looking forward to it! You don't know how many times with the VIP622 that you forget you are watching a DVRed show, and the last 3 min of a show gets you hooked into the next one, only to have it stop at a good part! Or worse yet, you don't catch that final joke, due to a scheduled channel change! Now I get to watch the next show even though I did not schedule it! :lol:

Thank you Dish, about time you brought whole home DVR to the Rural Communities!


----------



## muddypantz

Fast, nicer interface (the parts I can see)

I have internet connectivity but no On Demand or Blockbuster screens. No menus, no warnings, nadda!!!

*Gripes:*

"Dish" remote button does not work.

DCMA warning when the TV turns "SOMETIMES" (cables make no difference)

*Navigation*

If you have to be lined up with ANY icon or it won't move to that option. Ths was much worse on the previous boxes in my opinion. Seems like an easy fix and large oversight on the developer's design team.

Hidden icons / or options exist sporadically. (hard to pin point the cause)

Still don't get the duplicate 1000's channels. Why show them? Again a design flaw. *(makes the system look sloppy and unrefined)*

*DVR listings:*
* Hard to read show descriptions when they are LARGE.
* Multi pressing DRV button doesn't cycle back through options.
* Be nice to see folder ICON for shows in folders 
* hard to see folders when the DVR is really full
* graphics for recordings usually do not show up on the Joey system
* Nice to have a Listings option on the DVR screen (RED button)

*Home Media* 
* Requires an Ethernet connection to each Joey to stream.
* Menu easily corrupts if the video cannot play. 
* Creates strange blank cursor stop points on the screen.

TV is default to not let you switch inputs took me a while to figure out that "Limited Mode" was turned on which disabled the "input" button.

Lame Apps... lost Pandora... Was there the first day, but now it's gone.

Multi-Channel *Recall* is not default to Immediate On

Cannot force all joeys to use the Hopper's settings (Guide, etc) have to manually adjust each option on each Joey.

No Closed Captions on mute option

Guide very limited customization. (like the Collapse option when available)

Cannot collapse the generic channels like SPORTS ugh!!! Or the PPVs

Cannot hide PPV channels as a whole. Must Lock the channels and hope they don't creat new Ad-Hoc PPV's in the normal listings etc.

Ok this is all I can write for now, but overall I do really like the system. It could be more user friendly. Like most applications or programs I find that they lack finesse. Nerds don't make good designers FYI!!!!


----------



## 18 is # 1

Install about 2.5 hours. I modulate DVR outputs on an OTA signal to multiple TVs throughout the house. I didn't want to give up that ability but my MBedroom has only one coax and cat5 outlet. I read on this forum that the Hopper signal could go by cat5 but my installer wasn't familiar with how to do that. We were able to send the Hopper signal to the router by cat5 and at the Joey we used an HIC (Hopper Internet Connector) backwards and it worked! At the Joey location, the cat5 went to the HIC and the HIC connected to the Joey by coax.


----------



## P Smith

Awkward setup. No need to use HIC if you have Ethernet at J location.


----------



## Peterc0613

I have been designing and building home theaters for over 25 years. Since the early 1990’s I have used Dish Network in my own home theater and have recommended Dish to all my clients over Direct TV, Comcast, and Time Warner. I was an early adopter for Dish’s first DVR’s including the original JVC DVHS video recorder with built in Dish Tuner before they had DVR’s with hard drives. 

What I liked about Dish was the constant upgrading in technology, willingness to replace faulty equipment in a timely manner, and their customer service. Every year I went to the CEDIA (Consumer Electronics Design Industry Association) conference, Dish’s offerings reasonably matched the products from Tivo and often exceeded the products from Direct TV. Other than sports programming (where Direct TV excels) Dish has always had more robust HD programming for movies, concerts, arts and entertainment which appeal more to my theater clients

I have been called in by clients that opted for Direct TV or Cable and had many miserable experiences dealing with their customer service to debug home theater installations. On the other hand, I could get a page from a client with Dish and always get unlimited and skilled technical support over the phone. One wealthy client of mine had multiple vacation properties around the US that he usually arrived at between 11pm-2am after flying/driving only to find the inactive Dish receiver had frozen from not downloading software updates. It didn’t matter wether it was 1am or 3am, I’d conference them in with Dish Tech support and have their system up and running within minutes.

The release of the VIP 922 was a real step forward for versatility, design and interface. However I found that on many of my installs the 922’s would get buggy after a year and needed replacing. As Dish stopped offering 922 packages for upgrades until they could work out the bugs, I found the replacement 922’s shipped out were mostly factory refurbished 922’s from previous malfunctions which usually stopped working even sooner. In my own installation, I have been through eight (8) VIP 922’s over the last 18 months.

I had high hopes that the new Hopper/Joey system would offer the performance of a movie server (sort of a budget priced Kalidascope) without the problems of the 922. I started specking them for new clients as soon as they came out. My first install was a 2-hopper / 6-Joey system in Beverly Hills as part of a $50k home theater. Four weeks of problems with three install crews, two DIRT coordinators, and a regional supervisor finally got the system up and running. 

However the Hoppers constantly loose their link with with the Joeys. As the client wanted additional work, I have been on the job site over the last two months installing distributed audio/video, another mini theater in the guest house multiple outdoor TV’s and a projection theater by the pool. I have probably had to re-link the system 20-30 times over that period. I also found that the contrast ratio Joeys required recalibrating the TV’s for a reduced range and the Joey feature set seems to be much limited from the hoppers (no apps, Pandora etc).

I have postponed my next two clients until Dish works out the bugs, installing their theaters but having them keep their previous content provider. Dish what happened to you guys? Between the buggy 922’s and the defective Hopper/Joey configuration you are in danger of loosing a long time customer and avid supporter of your product.


----------



## P Smith

... and now professional installers coming with complains ... isn't too much for just released top-notch devices ?


----------



## inkahauts

"Peterc0613" said:


> I have been designing and building home theaters for over 25 years. Since the early 1990's I have used Dish Network in my own home theater and have recommended Dish to all my clients over Direct TV, Comcast, and Time Warner. I was an early adopter for Dish's first DVR's including the original JVC DVHS video recorder with built in Dish Tuner before they had DVR's with hard drives.
> 
> What I liked about Dish was the constant upgrading in technology, willingness to replace faulty equipment in a timely manner, and their customer service. Every year I went to the CEDIA (Consumer Electronics Design Industry Association) conference, Dish's offerings reasonably matched the products from Tivo and often exceeded the products from Direct TV. Other than sports programming (where Direct TV excels) Dish has always had more robust HD programming for movies, concerts, arts and entertainment which appeal more to my theater clients
> 
> I have been called in by clients that opted for Direct TV or Cable and had many miserable experiences dealing with their customer service to debug home theater installations. On the other hand, I could get a page from a client with Dish and always get unlimited and skilled technical support over the phone. One wealthy client of mine had multiple vacation properties around the US that he usually arrived at between 11pm-2am after flying/driving only to find the inactive Dish receiver had frozen from not downloading software updates. It didn't matter wether it was 1am or 3am, I'd conference them in with Dish Tech support and have their system up and running within minutes.
> 
> The release of the VIP 922 was a real step forward for versatility, design and interface. However I found that on many of my installs the 922's would get buggy after a year and needed replacing. As Dish stopped offering 922 packages for upgrades until they could work out the bugs, I found the replacement 922's shipped out were mostly factory refurbished 922's from previous malfunctions which usually stopped working even sooner. In my own installation, I have been through eight (8) VIP 922's over the last 18 months.
> 
> I had high hopes that the new Hopper/Joey system would offer the performance of a movie server (sort of a budget priced Kalidascope) without the problems of the 922. I started specking them for new clients as soon as they came out. My first install was a 2-hopper / 6-Joey system in Beverly Hills as part of a $50k home theater. Four weeks of problems with three install crews, two DIRT coordinators, and a regional supervisor finally got the system up and running.
> 
> However the Hoppers constantly loose their link with with the Joeys. As the client wanted additional work, I have been on the job site over the last two months installing distributed audio/video, another mini theater in the guest house multiple outdoor TV's and a projection theater by the pool. I have probably had to re-link the system 20-30 times over that period. I also found that the contrast ratio Joeys required recalibrating the TV's for a reduced range and the Joey feature set seems to be much limited from the hoppers (no apps, Pandora etc).
> 
> I have postponed my next two clients until Dish works out the bugs, installing their theaters but having them keep their previous content provider. Dish what happened to you guys? Between the buggy 922's and the defective Hopper/Joey configuration you are in danger of loosing a long time customer and avid supporter of your product.


I wonder if they aren't suffering a little bit from the same thing I think DIRECTV has. Marketing pushing products out the door before they where really ready to be launched. The HR34 should not have been released when it was IMHO, and you make it sound like the hopper shouldn't have been released quite yet either.

The key in all that is, I'd expect both companies to get this units in fine condition by the time the fall season starts. So only the very first early adopters are really suffering, if they are having issues at all.


----------



## jilla

I am a new member here. We had our 722K and two 622's for a loong time! Hearing about the Hopper, we called and converted. They gave us 1 Hopper + 2 Joey's. Installation was ok. Everything done in under 3 hours but I didn't like it all. We could record 6 programs at a time if wanted & Hence with the new system going down to 3 (CSR bluffed us with 6 at a time, which we found out at the time of installation that only 3; the other 3 is for primetime). Hence that was very disappointing. Called Dish. They would not do 2 Hopper's without us shelling out $200. I wasn't prepared for that. Argued with Loyalty for an hour. Could not get them to do a 2nd Hopper without $200. PQ was slightly better but not much. Hence we asked DIsh to revert back to our old system. Got it reverted in a week and is now at least without 2 year contract 

Would have kept if they gave us the second Hopper. But remember Joey's cost $7 a month & Hopper $17 (??) a month. My 622's only $10 a month. 
Unless they come out with a 1080P DVR, I am keeping my old. 

Does anyone know how to boast signal for international channels? The technicican was mentioning about something I can get at Radioshack but can anyone here point me out? Thanks for the help!

Happy to be a new member!


----------



## bigdog9586

jilla said:


> I am a new member here. We had our 722K and two 622's for a loong time! Hearing about the Hopper, we called and converted. They gave us 1 Hopper + 2 Joey's. Installation was ok. Everything done in under 3 hours but I didn't like it all. We could record 6 programs at a time if wanted & Hence with the new system going down to 3 (CSR bluffed us with 6 at a time, which we found out at the time of installation that only 3; the other 3 is for primetime). Hence that was very disappointing. Called Dish. They would not do 2 Hopper's without us shelling out $200. I wasn't prepared for that. Argued with Loyalty for an hour. Could not get them to do a 2nd Hopper without $200. PQ was slightly better but not much. Hence we asked DIsh to revert back to our old system. Got it reverted in a week and is now at least without 2 year contract
> 
> Would have kept if they gave us the second Hopper. But remember Joey's cost $7 a month & Hopper $17 (??) a month. My 622's only $10 a month.
> Unless they come out with a 1080P DVR, I am keeping my old.
> 
> Does anyone know how to boast signal for international channels? The technicican was mentioning about something I can get at Radioshack but can anyone here point me out? Thanks for the help!
> 
> Happy to be a new member!


First off the recording of 6 shows is 4 major networks, abc, CBS, NBC, and fox plus 2 others during PRIMETIME only other 21 hours, 20 on weekends you can only record 3. Second hoppers and joeys are $7 a month. Third I just got a second hopper to replace Joey for $100 by contacting the Dish guy here. Or should I say he contacted me.


----------



## PhantomOG

My Hopper and Joey were installed yesterday. Appointment window was from 12:00-5:00PM. Of course they don't get to my house until after 4:30PM. :sure:

Anyways, I was a bit concerned when I opened my door and saw no less than 3 Dish install vans parked in front of my house! Were they going to launch a satellite from my roof? :lol:

All kidding aside I can't complain too much. It took 3 guys about 2 hours to get everything up and running. At first they wanted to use some kind of wireless adapters to connect to my wifi but I demanded they install the HIC. Hopefully that was the right thing to do.

Briefly used the systems last night and it seems the responsiveness of the guide is a little slower than the 922. I also don't particularly care for the guide color scheme but don't see a way to change it.

Luckily my EHD worked right away so no issues there.

They installed the Solo Node device outside, screwed under the roof overhang. Is this device suitable to be outside all the time?


----------



## xfoneguy

As a new Dish customer (just about 2 weeks now) I am mostly happy that I "jumped ship". The many Hopper features that I love definitely outweigh the few that I miss.

I do have one problem that I'm hoping someone can help me with:

After realizing that I misunderstood the way that the tuners worked and that there was NO way I could live with only 3, I was able to talk to customer service and get a 2nd Hopper installed with "new customer terms" (very nice!). 

Problem solved - almost.....

The room where I wanted and needed the 2nd Hopper installed does not have internet access. Unless I'm doing something else wrong, it appears that I can't get on-demand, Blockbuster, etc.

Trying to pull new CAT 5/6 wire to this part of the house would not be a pleasant task - are there wireless solutions out there, and if so, what would be the best way to go?

Thank you so much. I'm very new to all of this and will find my way around eventually (I hope).


----------



## patmurphey

Everything should have access to the Internet if you have one Hopper connected, provided that there wasn't an isolator installed or bridging disabled.


----------



## xfoneguy

something is missing (including my understanding of how this is all put together) .....

Hopper#1 - everything appears to be working fine. I have the COAX connection and wired ethernet. Network Setup page shows all the proper info, addresses, etc.

Joey - COAX connection only. Network Setup page shows "MOCA". DHCP, Server and Internet connections all show "failed". Addresses (IP, DNS, etc) are all bad.

Tried multiple restarts and connection/network resets without any success.

Hopper #2: Everything (including wiring and everything else) is a "DITTO" with the Joey.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

thanks again


----------



## n0qcu

On your Hopper that's connected to the internet.
Press Yellow, Blue, broadband, Red then select MOCA then press Blue, Blue. A "bridging" button will appear. Select bridging and make sure it is enabled then your other Hopper & Joey should connect.


----------



## xfoneguy

"n0qcu" said:


> On your Hopper that's connected to the internet.
> Press Yellow, Blue, broadband, Red then select MOCA then press Blue, Blue. A "bridging" button will appear. Select bridging and make sure it is enabled then your other Hopper & Joey should connect.


Awesome! Bridging was definitely disabled,,,, I now have internet access ("on-demand", etc) from all 3 boxes with only 1 ethernet connection. Finally!

Thank you SO much!


----------



## dakeeney

I had my install done 7/10. It took about 45 minutes for the Hopper to download all the info. I couldn't be happier. The Hopper and Joey work like a charm.


----------



## tcatdbs

After 2 months of 1H and 2J, I am happy with everything except:

The way shows/movies show up on the DVR list. I have a 60" TV and it's not easy to read titles (can't image it on a 32" set). There should be a user option to view this in the current icon/table format or in a high contrast list. If there is such a setting, please let me know. My 722 was much easier to read and find things.


----------



## P Smith

tcatdbs said:


> After 2 months of 1H and 2J, I am happy with everything except:
> 
> The way shows/movies show up on the DVR list. I have a 60" TV and it's not easy to read titles (can't image it on a 32" set). There should be a user option to view this in the current icon/table format or in a high contrast list. If there is such a setting, please let me know. My 722 was much easier to read and find things.


So far only CC text could be changed, nothing for other menu/screens.


----------



## James Long

tcatdbs said:


> The way shows/movies show up on the DVR list. I have a 60" TV and it's not easy to read titles (can't image it on a 32" set). There should be a user option to view this in the current icon/table format or in a high contrast list. If there is such a setting, please let me know. My 722 was much easier to read and find things.


That is one of the things I'd love to see changed about the GUI ... give me a SD version! The GUI looks nice on a HD, especially a large one, but it seems DISH forgot that with the way they sell Hopper/Joey that SD sets are still part of the equation. The GUI is way too small for a SD resolution set.


----------



## djlong

Well, I took the plunge and have a 2H/3J install scheduled for Saturday.

We'll see what happens.

I wanted to get this setup done before my daughter visits next week (TV will now be available in the guest room where it never was before) and before the Olympics started.


----------



## bt66

I just had H/j/j installed today. Coming over from DirecTv. Seems like the qulaity of HD is not as good as I had on DirecTv. ANyone notice that? It's especially bad with the Networks. Lots of Pixelization. Not so bad on HBO etc.

Also the Hopper & Joyes are runnning super Hot. Joeys are HOT even when off. What the hell is going on there.. wonder if they will melt in a few days.


----------



## djlong

My install went virtually glitch-free. Only a couple of minor things that were quickly resolved.

Now that I'm actually playing with the software and getting a feel for things, I probably have too much hardware.

Apparently I misunderstood how a Joey sees two Hoppers. I thought it would look like one "virtual device" but it doesn't. You have to pick which Hopper's recording you're looking at. Since that's almost identical to how one of my Hoppers "sees" the other, I think my 2H/3J setup may go down to 2H/1J.


----------



## ATARI

bt66 said:


> I just had H/j/j installed today. Coming over from DirecTv. Seems like the qulaity of HD is not as good as I had on DirecTv. ANyone notice that? It's especially bad with the Networks. Lots of Pixelization. Not so bad on HBO etc.
> 
> Also the Hopper & Joyes are runnning super Hot. Joeys are HOT even when off. What the hell is going on there.. wonder if they will melt in a few days.


I had my H/j/j installed on July 4th. I also commented that my local CBS/NBC/ABC were not as sharp and a little 'pixelly' compared to what I had with DTV. But I'm not sure if that's because the local affiliates are sending a more compressed stream to Dish (seems unlikely), or that Dish is compressing locals more due to less satellite bandwidth (seems more likely).

I also noticed my Joey's running hot. Try mounting them vertically instead of horizontal. Seems to have helped in my case. At least they haven't melted yet


----------



## Jhon69

James Long said:


> That is one of the things I'd love to see changed about the GUI ... give me a SD version! The GUI looks nice on a HD, especially a large one, but it seems DISH forgot that with the way they sell Hopper/Joey that SD sets are still part of the equation. The GUI is way too small for a SD resolution set.


So you don't have the aspect change option(16x9/4x3#1/4x3#2) when you go into the HDTV Menu Tile,like I do on my 922?.


----------



## P Smith

Jhon69 said:


> So you don't have the aspect change option(16x9/4x3#1/4x3#2) when you go into the HDTV Menu Tile,like I do on my 922?.


It's the same.


----------



## 3HaloODST

James Long said:


> That is one of the things I'd love to see changed about the GUI ... give me a SD version! The GUI looks nice on a HD, especially a large one, but it seems DISH forgot that with the way they sell Hopper/Joey that SD sets are still part of the equation. The GUI is way too small for a SD resolution set.


Agreed.


----------



## James Long

Jhon69 said:


> So you don't have the aspect change option(16x9/4x3#1/4x3#2) when you go into the HDTV Menu Tile,like I do on my 922?.


One can pick the shape of their set ... but it does not change the size of the fonts and graphical layout. It is all small print (especially on a SD set).

Overall I like the GUI - but as I age I wouldn't mind a large print edition.


----------



## bt66

Less tha 24hrs after install, one of my Joey's freezes. Just like you would pause a movie. Then a blank screen. Sucks right? DO a reset on Joey & same result. 

Call Tech support, they tell that everytime a Joey gets froozen like that, I need to reset the Hopper....bummer. Not a good solution at all. But's that's how it works. They schedule a Tech to come out & check it out. Dude tells me that it's the Hopper that's an issue. Replaces the Hopper(new one in less than 24hrs). All good right ???

Noooo!!!. Tech is gone I am watching tv with the Joey & I am trying to scan channels & Voila! it freezes. Can't change channels or do anything with the remote. Can't even power it off. Reset again. Sick & tired. Replacing Joey with Hopper(to get this Hopper is another story).

I suggest everyone who orders Hopper/Joey to hang on to to their monthly Service plan for $7. For how HOT these units run even when they are off...I don't think they will last too long. If your Hopper sits in a wodden cabinet, this could be a fire hazard as well. Make sure it's well ventilated.

SO FAR NOT HAPPY WITH THIS SYSTEM. When I asked about the POOR HD PICTURE, tech did not have an answer. It is what it is. Wish I could go back to DirecTV.


----------



## RasputinAXP

bt66 said:


> I suggest everyone who orders Hopper/Joey to hang on to to their monthly Service plan for $7. For how HOT these units run even when they are off...I don't think they will last too long. If your Hopper sits in a wodden cabinet, this could be a fire hazard as well. Make sure it's well ventilated.
> 
> SO FAR NOT HAPPY WITH THIS SYSTEM. When I asked about the POOR HD PICTURE, tech did not have an answer. It is what it is. Wish I could go back to DirecTV.


...it's not going to get that hot. Things will not burst into flame.


----------



## RoboDad

Just thought I'd add my experience. Had a 2 Hopper / 2 Joey / 2 sling adapter installation done yesterday.

One of my neighbors (and a good friend) is a Dish retailer/installer, so I told him last week that I was ready to upgrade from my dual 722 setup to a Hopper/Joey setup. He ordered the hardware, and it arrived Friday, but his schedule for the day was already full so he couldn't take care of my install until Monday.

I did my homework, and had all of the locations prepped and staged for the new devices before he arrived at 9 am yesterday. When he arrived, we set up the duo node first, which was easy since all of the cable runs already came together in the garage. Next we set up the two Hoppers (family room and master bedroom). Once the software downloads were completed, he called the activation number to get them authorized. Of course, since there was a difference in price, the woman on the phone required my authorization, but she kind of laughed when she realized that, because of what I was replacing, the difference was one dollar per month.

After the authorization/activation was done, we verified that both Hoppers were working well, and moved on to the upstairs Joeys. We plugged them in, downloaded the software, connected them to the Hoppers, and we were done.

There were no glitches, hiccups, or problems of any kind. My friend laughed out loud as he looked at his watch when he was leaving. The entire install took less than 90 minutes, and he commented that it was the fastest, easiest Hopper install he has ever done.

I haven't had any problems with the equipment so far, but I did also take one precautionary step. I went to my local Target and picked up a couple of cheap USB fans, and put one next to each Hopper. Without the fans running, the Hoppers were uncomfortably hot to the touch on the underside of the units, but with them running they are barely above room temperature. I'm not going to open them to check the actual temps, but I am confident that they are going to be fine with these fans attached.

I'm still learning my way around the new system, but so far I am VERY impressed. Sure, there are still some kinks to work out (like seeing an EHD on one Hopper from another Hopper), but overall this is the most advanced DVR I've ever seen.

Probably the biggest complaint I have so far is that the Sling adapter support still needs work. Before the install, I couldn't resist playing with the adapters on my old 722s, and was very impressed. I could see and watch my EHD recordings without having to do anything special, and the performance and quality was amazing. On my Hoppers, I *can't* see my EHD recordings at all, and watching my internal recordings has kind of spotty quality. I hope these issues are addressed in a future update.


----------



## RasputinAXP

If you've only been running it for a day or so, wait about 48 hours for full effect. The 922 and the Hopper have a 48 hour 'settling' period.


----------



## ChE74

Hi All
I'm new to DISH and to this thread. My Hopper and one Joey were installed Jul 16. Thus far no glitches. After 17 years with DTV and 5 yrs with to clunky old HR 20s. My present setup is a breath of fresh air. When our house was built a few years ago I made sure that each potential TV location was wired with 2 RG6 cables (i needed 2 for the HR 20s) and cat 5 for phone. This made the install very simple. 
Some here have reported that their boxes run hot. Well IMO hot is relative. If I can touch and leave my hand on it, it's warm not hot. I consider my system as warm, and not much if any warmer than the HR20s. PQ on HD is at least as good as the DTV and SD is definitely better. I have not noticed any pixilation reported by others. All my sat. readings (West Valley of Phoenix area) are better than the avg's reported by some kind person in spreadsheet. A bonus for us is some of our regularly watched channels are now in HD. The installer was very courteous and made no mess and left us with a tidy setup. A minor glitch was in what was included in my package (Ameica's top 250). A quick short phone call to CS cleared it up to my total satisfaction. Again the CSR was very courteous and helpful (unlike some of them at DTV). Any way I'm not here to bash DTV but, here to say that so far I'm happy we switched.


----------



## domingos35

:welcome_s to dish


----------



## RoboDad

ChE74, before you dismiss the heat issue, put your hand on the *underside *of your Hopper, especially on the right side. Both of my Hoppers were so hot there that I couldn't keep my hand on them for more than a few seconds before it became very uncomfortable. With a cheap (and reasonably quiet) USB fan sitting next to that side of the Hopper, it is near room temperature.

Also, many of the people here reporting the heat issue didn't do so subjectively. They opened their Hoppers and got the actual temperature reading, which was sometime as high as 150 degrees.


----------



## ChE74

Thanks for the welcome domingo35

And Thank you RoboDad for your comments and suggestion. It's looks like a great solution. I don't take the temp. issue lightly. I neglected to indicate how my Hopper was situated. It's in a standard width equipment cabinet fully open front and back. From day 1 I have it elevated with two strips of wood located on the outside of it's small feet. This gives it 1½+" of clearance on the bottom and it has about 3" of top clearance. Ambient at its location is 80° F. I can move my hand all around and feel the underside and as you indicated the highest temp. of the case is at the right underside. I did the same elevation thing with my old warm running HR20s.

A few ?s
Can you give me and others the make etc. of the fan your using.
Is there an system info page that reports the internal temp.? My HRs reported that on an info page.
Have any of HIRT members commented on the temp. issue, here or on another thread? If so what have they said? Although my Hopper may be a little cooler that others I'm sure it would be better of running cooler.
Perhaps someone familiar with current electronic components can comment on their sensitivety to temp. Reading reviews of all types of electronic devices i.e. AV receivers, some blu-ray players, notably an OTA DVR, many are reported as running very warm to hot. Are the components more robust or is this just a corner cutting measure?

Thanks again to all.


----------



## domingos35

ChE74 said:


> Thanks for the welcome domingo35
> 
> And Thank you RoboDad for your comments and suggestion. It's looks like a great solution. I don't take the temp. issue lightly. I neglected to indicate how my Hopper was situated. It's in a standard width equipment cabinet fully open front and back. From day 1 I have it elevated with two strips of wood located on the outside of it's small feet. This gives it 1½+" of clearance on the bottom and it has about 3" of top clearance. Ambient at its location is 80° F. I can move my hand all around and feel the underside and as you indicated the highest temp. of the case is at the right underside. I did the same elevation thing with my old warm running HR20s.
> 
> A few ?s
> Can you give me and others the make etc. of the fan your using.
> Is there an system info page that reports the internal temp.? My HRs reported that on an info page.
> Have any of HIRT members commented on the temp. issue, here or on another thread? If so what have they said? Although my Hopper may be a little cooler that others I'm sure it would be better of running cooler.
> Perhaps someone familiar with current electronic components can comment on their sensitivety to temp. Reading reviews of all types of electronic devices i.e. AV receivers, some blu-ray players, notably an OTA DVR, many are reported as running very warm to hot. Are the components more robust or is this just a corner cutting measure?
> 
> Thanks again to all.


i used this fan on my 722 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thermaltake...ooling_Pads&hash=item20c7a96104#ht_500wt_1127


----------



## skyviewmark1

Personally, I am looking forward to the new house Dish is going to buy me when the Fire Marshall confirms that the house fire was caused by the Hopper.


----------



## domingos35

skyviewmark1 said:


> Personally, I am looking forward to the new house Dish is going to buy me when the Fire Marshall confirms that the house fire was caused by the Hopper.


u wish :nono2:


----------



## RoboDad

ChE74 said:


> Thanks for the welcome domingo35
> 
> And Thank you RoboDad for your comments and suggestion. It's looks like a great solution. I don't take the temp. issue lightly. I neglected to indicate how my Hopper was situated. It's in a standard width equipment cabinet fully open front and back. From day 1 I have it elevated with two strips of wood located on the outside of it's small feet. This gives it 1½+" of clearance on the bottom and it has about 3" of top clearance. Ambient at its location is 80° F. I can move my hand all around and feel the underside and as you indicated the highest temp. of the case is at the right underside. I did the same elevation thing with my old warm running HR20s.
> 
> A few ?s
> Can you give me and others the make etc. of the fan your using.
> Is there an system info page that reports the internal temp.? My HRs reported that on an info page.
> Have any of HIRT members commented on the temp. issue, here or on another thread? If so what have they said? Although my Hopper may be a little cooler that others I'm sure it would be better of running cooler.
> Perhaps someone familiar with current electronic components can comment on their sensitivety to temp. Reading reviews of all types of electronic devices i.e. AV receivers, some blu-ray players, notably an OTA DVR, many are reported as running very warm to hot. Are the components more robust or is this just a corner cutting measure?
> 
> Thanks again to all.


I can't answer some of your questions, but I can comment on the robustness topic. Most components can handle heat up to roughly 75-80C (165-175F), but not for sustained periods of time (longer than 12 hours, for example). In the case of a Blu-ray player, AV receiver, or similar component, the device is not typically on and generating heat the majority of the time. Similarly, a PC CPU can handle very high heat, but in most cases it won't be sustaining that heat for long periods of intense work, so it is generally fine with it.

The Hopper, however, is generating unusually high heat on a constant basis - it is never "off". If it is only getting up to 60C (140F), that probably won't damage the majority of the internal components, but it will likely cause the hard drive to fail much sooner than it otherwise would have. I had that happen with one of my old Dish 722 DVRs about two years ago, because I never paid attention to the heat it was generating. I don't want to make that mistake again with my Hoppers.



domingos35 said:


> i used this fan on my 722
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thermaltake...ooling_Pads&hash=item20c7a96104#ht_500wt_1127


Yes, that's a great fan for the Hopper. You can get it at Amazon for a better price:

http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-M...343599589&sr=8-2&keywords=thermaltake+usb+fan

Right now I am using a pair of cheap fans from Target, but I plan to replace them with the Thermaltake version very soon.


----------



## bt66

I don't think we should be buying extra fans etc to cool this thing. DISH should have done a better job designing this an internal fan or better electronics to make it run cooler. I don't like fan noises when watching my movies. It really kills the experience when you have very good HT system. HD quality is definitely not as good as DirecTv. I hope they correct it soon as well.


----------



## Lee Bailey

domingos35 said:


> i used this fan on my 722
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thermaltake...ooling_Pads&hash=item20c7a96104#ht_500wt_1127


That's the same one that I use too. Just moved it over to the Hopper.


----------



## Lee Bailey

bt66 said:


> I don't think we should be buying extra fans etc to cool this thing. DISH should have done a better job designing this an internal fan or better electronics to make it run cooler. I don't like fan noises when watching my movies. It really kills the experience when you have very good HT system. HD quality is definitely not as good as DirecTv. I hope they correct it soon as well.


The Thermaltake fan has a variable speed you set to level you want. If you crank it up, you will definitely hear it though!


----------



## domingos35

i just started using the fan on my hopper and it made a huge diference 
before the top right side was hot to the touch ,now its just warm


----------



## ChE74

Hi domingo35 and Robodad.

I just ordered the Thermaltake fan. Where did you gentlemen find the most effective place to put it for best cooling of the Wopper?


----------



## P Smith

CPU area and sat tuner's spot.


----------



## domingos35

ChE74 said:


> Hi domingo35 and Robodad.
> 
> I just ordered the Thermaltake fan. Where did you gentlemen find the most effective place to put it for best cooling of the Wopper?


right side of the hopper


----------



## ChE74

Thanks again to all.


----------



## Arya Stark

I'm so happy that a bookmarking feature may finally be in the pipeline! It may sound stupid, but that was a major reason holding me back from switching to Dish (the other being the AMC problem).


----------



## jlluck

Shout out Dish tech, LaDarius in Memphis TN. Came out and it took 5 hours to set up my Hopper. Not his fault; had to install new dish and run new a line THEN had to replace Hopper. Great guy, great customer service from him. He apologized several times for taking so long but it was my equip that made the job harder. He was very knowledgeable for only been doing Dish for 6 months.

Replaced a dying 722 with a Hopper and 1 Joey for now. Seems the Hopper is very picky about the sat signal it gets and thus the need for new dish at a new spot on the roof and new line run in (old line had 2 splices from past installer). Just now getting into the Hopper but seems nice and smooth and very responsive. Wish there was a way to customize the Guide look tho. Bright white with thin font text is kinda a pain to read.


----------



## P Smith

Yes, the cable from a node to H must be good quality, works up to 3 GHz.


----------



## randob

Long-time Dish customer here. Started out with a 3800, I think it was, then got 4700, 501, 722, 622, now Hopper & 2 Joeys. Every DVR model I've had has had its hard disk die. But on to my complaint--since replacing the 722, I miss the organization of having My Folders and Folders by Title at once. Did I miss something, or is that feature not available on Hopper?


----------



## P Smith

Press DVR button, Green button, you'll get selection; when you press record you could select old folder or create new ...


----------



## randob

Thanks, but I mean on the selection, you can only choose one option. With 722 you could set it up so the DVR list shows both My Folders and Folders by Title. Now you get either My Folders with no titles, and if you go into a folder, every episode is listed separately, or you can select Folders by Title and have no idea which My Folder a show is in. My wife & I got used to watching a show and then moving it to one of the kids' folders so we'd know we'd watched it already. Then we'd unprotect it so the kids could delete it. (Don't get me started on that feature which seems to have disappeared as well.)


----------



## P Smith

I'm not DVR addict to that level as you  ... using the features sparingly...


----------



## 3HaloODST

I must be a DVR addict as well... *looks at signature* I noticed this on day 1, not a huge deal but it would be nice if we had the option for both like on the 722 (also manual timers, protect recordings w/password, dvr deletion history, etc. that 722 has that 922/Hopper don't have.)


----------



## squidly

My installation a couple days ago went really well. The installer was knowledgeable 
and he did a great job hiding the wiring along the side of the house. I guess he was there 
3 hours or so.


----------



## neeco51

The DISH man is coming tomorrow to install 1 Hopper and 2 Joeys. It will replace my 622 and 722K. Looking forward to it, hope all goes well with the installation.


----------



## jr2

Awesome... Had my Hopper and 2 Joeys installed today.. Took just over an hour and a half. This is one sweet unit. I also see some hints to up and coming additions. I don't know what took them so long but its about time!!!


----------



## PkDog

What hints did you see -- I'm interested.


----------



## jr2

PkDog said:


> What hints did you see -- I'm interested.


Well.. there's bluetooth option in there. That can lead to a bunch of things... A lot of accessibility options the Home Media application. Having internet connectivity should lead to more things down the road as well. Let's hope its things like "Guide Updates" to begin with...


----------



## arvetus

I am loving the Hopper so far... I'm going on my second week with it and love it, even if it is a little quirky now and then.

I can hardly wait for the OTA module.

My locals aren't offered in HD on DISH like they were on D*, but D* didn't offer me what I consider "true" locals either. At least Dish has my IN-TOWN station.

Anywhoo, since DISH only requires one cable drop to the Hopper as opposed to the two I originally had with D*, I have an extra cable drop in my Living Room and am running OTA direct to my HDTV. It will be great to get OTA to the rest of the house shared thru the Hopper...

Once DISH starts carrying my locals in HD, it will be moot unless there's some sort of weather related emergency that blocks the sat signal, which is rare. Typically my sat only goes out for 5-10 mins at a time during heavy thunderstorms, and it has to be HEAVY.

I'm hoping the OTA will be a 4th tuner able to be shared by all clients....


----------



## ATARI

arvetus said:


> I am loving the Hopper so far... I'm going on my second week with it and love it, even if it is a little quirky now and then.
> 
> I can hardly wait for the OTA module.
> 
> My locals aren't offered in HD on DISH like they were on D*, but D* didn't offer me what I consider "true" locals either. At least Dish has my IN-TOWN station.
> 
> Anywhoo, since DISH only requires one cable drop to the Hopper as opposed to the two I originally had with D*, I have an extra cable drop in my Living Room and am running OTA direct to my HDTV. It will be great to get OTA to the rest of the house shared thru the Hopper...
> 
> Once DISH starts carrying my locals in HD, it will be moot unless there's some sort of weather related emergency that blocks the sat signal, which is rare. Typically my sat only goes out for 5-10 mins at a time during heavy thunderstorms, and it has to be HEAVY.
> 
> I'm hoping the OTA will be a 4th tuner able to be shared by all clients....


Has the OTA adapter for Hopper been confirmed? Or is this just speculation?


----------



## arvetus

It was supposed to be released by summer's end, but there must have been some setbacks...probably with driver integration into the Hopper OS.


----------



## Grandude

arvetus said:


> It was supposed to be released by summer's end, but there must have been some setbacks...probably with driver integration into the Hopper OS.


I'm starting to think it is 'vaporware'.

Just wondering, but if a tailgater with a 211 or 211K has a Hopper/Joey system, maybe they could get OTA setup in the home by adding the appropriate switch and RG6 cabling.

I have all the necessary hardware but don't have a H/J system yet as I have been waiting for OTA to the Hopper so can't even try it. (would this be against Dish 'rules' if someone did this)?

PS. I have basic cable as part of an internet package so can watch local channels that way but want OTA integrated with a H/J system as I seldom watch 'live'.


----------



## jagowar

I got my 1H/2J system installed yesterday.... overall really like the system but had one big issue last night.

Turned on ptat and wanted to see how well it would work. I don't know if this may have just been a day 1 issue but it messed up pretty spectacularly. The 7pm recordings worked flawlessly. But the 8pm and 9pm recordings failed. It recorded about 3 mins of each show and just stopped. But it did record each channel separately (not all the same channel like I read happens when you have a signal issue.... my signal when tuning manually never breaks up or anything like that. The odd thing is the exact same thing happened again at the 9pm hour. I also think it missed some recordings as well but I need to look at the schedule to see what was supposed to be on yesterday.

Also one other more general question related to the joey's. Is it not possible to pass along settings to the joey's from the hopper? Specifically my fav lists, guide sorting ascending (would be nice if I could set that on one and have it apply to the others in my house). I also noticed it did not have the icons on the joey's guide for ptat (didn't check my timer recordings).


----------



## P Smith

Wait for a couple days, perhaps it will settle with icons and PoTATos (tm)


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

Newly installed Hoppers/Joeys have a lot of updates. It usually takes 24-48 hours for everything to update. The receivers must be turned off for this to occur. Please let me know if you have further questions. Thanks.



jagowar said:


> I got my 1H/2J system installed yesterday.... overall really like the system but had one big issue last night.
> 
> Turned on ptat and wanted to see how well it would work. I don't know if this may have just been a day 1 issue but it messed up pretty spectacularly. The 7pm recordings worked flawlessly. But the 8pm and 9pm recordings failed. It recorded about 3 mins of each show and just stopped. But it did record each channel separately (not all the same channel like I read happens when you have a signal issue.... my signal when tuning manually never breaks up or anything like that. The odd thing is the exact same thing happened again at the 9pm hour. I also think it missed some recordings as well but I need to look at the schedule to see what was supposed to be on yesterday.
> 
> Also one other more general question related to the joey's. Is it not possible to pass along settings to the joey's from the hopper? Specifically my fav lists, guide sorting ascending (would be nice if I could set that on one and have it apply to the others in my house). I also noticed it did not have the icons on the joey's guide for ptat (didn't check my timer recordings).


----------



## jagowar

I was planning on giving it a few days regardless but its still a bit disconcerting that on the first night it pretty much completely failed to work right. I need to be able to trust it to work reliably if it's going to replace my current dvr.

I currently have OTA media center so I didn't miss my shows but glad I didn't downgrade it yet.


----------



## arvetus

jagowar, give it a few days to update your system and stabilize... I had problems the first couple nights myself, but it has been pretty flawless since... I'm not regretting dumping D* for now...


----------



## jagowar

Last night was much better.... actually recorded all shows during ptat so that issue looks like it may be resolved.

Did have one little quirk I wanted to see if was a normal thing with ptat. When attempting to watch a show on ptat while ptat is still running it looks like it just directs you to a point during the 3hr block its recording (on the scrub bar you see the whole 3hr block). The issue I hit was when attempting to watch the office about an hour after it actually aired the jump in point was about half way through the show (didn't actually realize it and watched the second half because it came in after a commercial break and had to go back later to get the whole show). After ptat finished it did correct the time stamps and the office was fine. Just curious if when watching shows while ptat is still running does this happen often and I need to make sure its in the correct spot?


----------



## RasputinAXP

The timestamps during PTAT recording are wonky. I haven't had that happen before but it wouldn't surprise me if it burped and jumped halfway into a show.


----------



## James Long

jagowar said:


> The issue I hit was when attempting to watch the office about an hour after it actually aired the jump in point was about half way through the show (didn't actually realize it and watched the second half because it came in after a commercial break and had to go back later to get the whole show).


Did you select "Start Over" when selecting the show from the My Recordings/PTAT folder? (Press select to see the menu instead of Play to start the show in progress.) I have not seen a show start in the middle unless I selected "Live TV" from that menu or pressed Play.

I have noticed that AutoHOP is available about an hour after the show airs (instead of next day) on the shows I watch. That is an improvement.


----------



## Gone2Maui

Had my 1H 1J install yesterday. I've been a DirecTV subscriber since 1997 but got a great price on a bundle from my Telco so I made the switch.

The install was pretty painless but rather long due to the downloads. The tech used the exterior wiring that DirecTV had installed but only used 2 of the cables vs the 4 total that were installed. He tried several combinations trying to determine which 2 of the 4 cables he had wired outside. I pointed out to him that he hadn't connected any cables from the node to the receiver itself. Once he did this everything started working but had a couple of freezes requiring a reboot.

I like the interface and it is a lot faster than the DTV DVR I had. I do miss the ability to specify a channel and time for recording. I like to record an hour of HLN in the morning, not the entire 6 hours of the morning problem. I see that is "planned" for a future release.

One question. When I am watching live TV I can see the 3 tuners in action. However, sometimes I only have two active and one available. How do I get the available tuner to switch to a new program so I have 3 tuners active? 

Thanks.


----------



## James Long

Gone2Maui said:


> One question. When I am watching live TV I can see the 3 tuners in action. However, sometimes I only have two active and one available. How do I get the available tuner to switch to a new program so I have 3 tuners active?


The third tuner will become active when needed. The Hopper generally consumes two tuners when it is on and nothing is recording (one you are watching and one for the PIP swap). Turn on a Joey or record something and the third tuner will be used.

After that it gets interesting. A second Joey turned on needs a tuner ... so you'll get a tuner selection screen where you can join one of the tuners in use and share that tuner with a Hopper or Joey (or recording). As tuners are needed for recordings live viewers will be bumped off (with warning) to take over those tuners. Recordings can be skipped by the user who sees that warning ... which can be annoying if a recording is lost because someone else in the family skipped it to watch their program. (The same frustration may occur when a live program is interrupted by a recording).

While the system is designed for multiple Joeys per Hopper I prefer multiple Hoppers.


----------



## NightTimeHD

Just had my Hopper and Joey installed today. (upgrade from 722k and 211)

Things that were run across during the install:

1. Out of the box the Hopper was trying to look at West Arc satellites and the installer had to power cycle it once or twice to resolve.

2. Installer left me a Sling BB Powerline adapter AND luckily a USB Wi-Fi dongle for the internet. I later found the Hopper does not support HomePlug so the Powerline adapter is useless for my install.

3. I installed the USB Wi-FI dongle and was getting an IP address via DHCP but was still getting FAILED message for Server Connection and Internet Connection. Pressing the red RESET button resolved the issue.

4. I had to set up bridging on the Hopper so that the Joey could use the internet from the Hopper.

Thus far, no real issues with operation. I am still tweaking everything a learning about the new receiver.

Later I am going to have to figure out how I am going to get my URC MX-700 remote programmed for the Hopper. The Hopper is has RF enabled but the onscreen help states that the included remote will still use UHF. Not sure how I am going to learn from the new remote if it is UHF only.


----------



## James Long

NightTimeHD said:


> Later I am going to have to figure out how I am going to get my URC MX-700 remote programmed for the Hopper. The Hopper is has RF enabled but the onscreen help states that the included remote will still use UHF. Not sure how I am going to learn from the new remote if it is UHF only.


The Hopper can listen to an IR remote ... unfortunately IR cannot be set for different codes so Hoppers and Joeys that can see the same remote can be a problem (IR can be turned off in settings).


----------



## NightTimeHD

James Long said:


> The Hopper can listen to an IR remote ... unfortunately IR cannot be set for different codes so Hoppers and Joeys that can see the same remote can be a problem (IR can be turned off in settings).


I figured I would go ahead and just try it before fooling with it and was very surprised to see that everything works just fine with the 722k codes that I learned from the original remote many moons ago.

I did not have to change anything. I have full functionality from the MX-700 with the Hopper. Tossing the Dish remote in a cabinet for safe keeping.


----------



## chaney

FYI to anyone out there with 2 722s and switching to 1H & 3J, you will be losing a tv to be only a mirror at all times or wathing dvr/on demand, many of my customers who i go to install this system as an upgrade have no idea and are pretty pissed when they find out, many cancel or fork out the extra cash for another hopper. Also There will never be an OTA adapter for the Hopper/Joey because it will conflict with PTAT when enabled.


----------



## RasputinAXP

chaney said:


> FYI to anyone out there with 2 722s and switching to 1H & 3J, you will be losing a tv to be only a mirror at all times or wathing dvr/on demand, many of my customers who i go to install this system as an upgrade have no idea and are pretty pissed when they find out, many cancel or fork out the extra cash for another hopper. Also There will never be an OTA adapter for the Hopper/Joey because it will conflict with PTAT when enabled.


Uh, so not true it burns.


----------



## patmurphey

My take posted in another thread:

"The 23 year old "expert" is a DirecTV customer and says he is a Dish installer. We have all experienced some of that knowledge base. I think I'll pass on chaney's assertions."


----------



## inkahauts

"patmurphey" said:


> My take posted in another thread:
> 
> "The 23 year old "expert" is a DirecTV customer and says he is a Dish installer. We have all experienced some of that knowledge base. I think I'll pass on chaney's assertions."


I may be a DirecTV subscriber, but even I know that post is a bunch of whoey. How could going from one box to four and lose as much as he says. That's not even logical, not to mention I know enough of how it works to say I know that's not how it works.


----------



## djlong

WynsWrld98 said:


> So anyone who has had it installed have you seen any problems such as intermittent problems with slowness, freezing, anything like that that often occurs on the bleeding edge?
> 
> Anything you like less on Hopper vs. your previous 722/922 DVR?


1) No *real* problems now. Previously, trying to move *protected* recorded shows from the internal drive to the EHD caused problems. Also, a bug that caused some programs to make "empty" recordings appears to have been fixed some time ago - every recording I've made for weeks has been accessible.

2) One peculiar problem with FF when it's cranked up to 60x and 300x in that the HD appears to go WAY faster than the screen does. Not a dealbreaker.

3) There's not a single feature from my 600-series ViP boxes that I miss.

4) I *do* wish ONE feature from my old Dishplayer 7100 was there - one-button recording. It's a minor thing but, in the guide, it's usually two-to-many 'clicks' before a timer gets set. Very minor - I'm *really* reaching for that  I'll take the ability of my Hopper/Joey setup to handle the daylight savings/Standard time switch ANY day (in 10 years, the Dishplayer never got it right and twice a year I had to re-create all my timers)


----------



## fudpucker

OK, just finished this thread. My head kinda hurts. 

I currently have AT250 (fwiw) and a 722 and 2 612s. 3 HDTVs. Right now we often have to shuffle what is being recorded on which DVR because we often have more than two things to record at once. And often my wife will say, e.g., let's watch NCIS! and I'll say, oh, we'll have to move to the other room to watch that, it was recorded on the other DVR. Or move things to an EHD and move that. So a Hopper/Joey system sounds wonderful.

The only real questions I have: 1 Hopper, 2 Joeys? Or 2 Hoppers, 1 Joey? My understanding is that the Hoppers can see each other now? And the Joey could see either Joey? It seems like 2 Hoppers would give us more flexibility in the extra tuners, but #1 priority is that we can watch anything recorded in any of the 3 rooms. How much more would a 2 Hopper/1 Joey system cost me, both up front and monthly? And what are the upsides and downsides to 2 hoppers and 1 Joey?

Thanks!


----------



## P Smith

I recall I did read all answers above, in the thread ... a few times of each ...


----------



## fudpucker

P Smith said:


> I recall I did read all answers above, in the thread ... a few times of each ...


If you answered questions as often as you post not answering you'd be a lot more useful. You did the same thing in the other thread, where I asked how much a current user would be charged to get a Hopper and your reply was "The answer is in another thread." Fortunately someone more helpful followed by giving the actual answer in a short reply.


----------



## RasputinAXP

Up front probably another $99, same cost per month otherwise, both the H and the J are $7 a month.


----------



## P Smith

fudpucker said:


> If you answered questions as often as you post not answering you'd be a lot more useful. You did the same thing in the other thread, where I asked how much a current user would be charged to get a Hopper and your reply was "The answer is in another thread." Fortunately someone more helpful followed by giving the actual answer in a short reply.


Then I don't get this: "_OK, just finished this thread._" and your questions totally contradicting with wealth of the thread. As I see it, you just make it up:"_My head kinda hurts_".


----------



## fudpucker

P Smith said:


> Then I don't get this: "_OK, just finished this thread._" and your questions totally contradicting with wealth of the thread. As I see it, you just make it up:"_My head kinda hurts_".


After reading the entire thread, I was confused and asked for some clarification.The person above you answered the question in one sentence. You took the time to post twice to - what, appear smart? - and posted absolutely nothing of any worth.


----------



## P Smith

I did read the thread and got all answers without asking.


----------



## fudpucker

P Smith said:


> I did read the thread and got all answers without asking.


When someone asks a question, either answer it or ignore it. You contribute nothing by telling someone they should already know the answer. If you knew the answer, all you had to do was what the poster right after you did: answer it in one sentence.


----------



## P Smith

We should finish the ... conversation; perhaps a result will help other newbies:
you stated you did read and got only headache, I said I read also and found answers.


----------



## joetekcor

Finally was able to upgrade my 622 and 625 to the hopper. Finally sharing TV with the kids so I got 6 TV's connected with 2 Hoppers and 4 Joey's. The installer showed up within a reasonable time and spent about 3 hours setting everything up. He left last night with all of the TV's showing independent channels. 
After he left I realized that the internet connection wasn't being shared. I've got one of the hoppers connected to a wired ethernet connection. Thanks to the forum I figured out how to turn bridging on. I've still got a Joey(linked to the bridged hopper) that won't connect to the internet but I need to do some more reading in the forums to figure that out. I've also got one Joey that won't see one of the hoppers. Hoping to work that out because I really want that one linked differently. 
Overall I'm very pleased so far. Text is pretty hard to read on the SD TV's. (Might help me persuade the mrs. to let me upgrade them)
Really looking forward to the bluetooth feature being enabled. I'm hoping that will be compatible with my bluetooth headphones.
Now I just need time to go home and mess around with it.


----------



## bobukcat

Since the OTA module is finally available I decided to update my two 622 system to two Hoppers. I had to elicit help from Ray C of the DIRT Team here as neither an on-line chat nor calling Dish put my in contact with a CSR that could order the OTA modules. 

As for the install experience, I'll sum it up by saying it was one of the best customer service experiences I've had in quite a while. The tech was very knowledgeable and clearly didn't mind doing some extra work to ensure a solid install. Ray C had to put Joeys on my order for some reason but I just told the tech I didn't want them and he was fine with that - actually he was very happy because he said they've been having problems with new Joey activations the past week or so. He told me they've had to setup temporary Western Arc installs because the Joey's haven't been pulling software down off Eastern Arc. So they setup the dish for WA, let the software download and then switch it to EA, he was happy to not have to deal with the Joeys. He had to run an additional line of Coax in off the dish and while he was at it he replaced the LNB (he said he's been seeing them fail after changing the load on them), re-aimed the dish which improved my signal readings from the high 30s to the mid 60s, and grounded the dish which had never been done before. The only thing he wasn't familiar with on the Hopper setup was the OTA modules (which won't be here until tomorrow) and the External Hard Drive setup. I showed him (thanks to this forum) where the EHD shows up on the DVR menu and he was appreciative to learn that. 

So far I'm pretty impressed with the system. I did have a lot of pixelation and drop outs during the football game last night but the signal strengths are all solid in the mid 60s so I don't know what was causing that. PTAT is very cool and I tried out Auto-Hop this morning which is nice as well. I did notice that some programs in the PTAT folder don't offer to do Auto-Hop when I started them though so I need to figure that one out. The only other problem I've seen so far is that the two Hoppers don't seem to re-establish the MOCA bridge after a reboot (either manual or scheduled) and I've had to reset that network to get them to bridge again. I understand this system seems to take a few days to settle in so I'm going to give it some time.

I did get S230 software on both units so my OTA modules should work when I get them tomorrow. 

Initial impressions are that the speed is outstanding, the remotes (we use one in a remote bedroom that always struggled with the 622, even with a powered UHF antenna connected to it)) seem to have much better range, watching things of the EHD starts much faster than before and the GUI is pretty intuitive and easy to use. My wife is loving that she can now watch stuff off the other Hopper from the bedroom so that is a feather in my cap as well. I'd also add that changing the setup on both Harmony remotes to use the new receivers was a snap, although it would be nice if the One had the same colored buttons on it that the 900 does.

Next steps are to put multiple EHDs on one of the Hoppers and get my OTA working tomorrow.


----------



## GeneT

Tech came over on Sept 15 to upgrade from 722's to 1H/2J. Whole install took about 3 1/2 hours. He installed the Hopper, then the MBR Joey, and last the MBath Joey. He had a problem with the MBath Joey, but finally got it linked. After he left, we found that the MBath Joey would not power back on, with no Joey screen on the TV. Each time I had to use the Reset button on the Joey. After 3 days I called and the online tech said to shut off bridging. That did not work. Called again and they sent a replacement Joey. I installed it and same problem, once off, the Joeyt would not power back on. They sent out a tech, who re-cabled from a new node. Later, same problem. I switched the new Joey with the one in the MBR. Worked for a day, then, same problem. Two days later they sent another tech, who chenged splitter and made some cable changes. Same problem, but now, instead of only about an hour, the MBath Joey would work for a period of 4 hours to two days, then stop, and require reboot. Tech removed the splitter and changed cables. Same problem, sometimes Joey would work for 2 days, then, would either not come on, or, spontaneously reboot itself. Now, after 2 months of experimenting, they are sending a new Hopper, as a last resort before dropping a new cable all the way from the attic. The problem is only with the MBath Joey.


----------



## P Smith

overheating ?


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

I'm glad the installation went well. The Auto Hop feature will only work on nationally broadcast PTAT shows. The red kangaroo will automatically appear after 1 am the following day if it is a nationally broadcast show.

You can have multiple EHDs formatted to your Hopper but we only support 1 EHD connected at a time.

With the OTA module, once you scan the channels and save them to the Hopper, the listing will appear in Yellow in the Guide like our other receivers.

I you continue to experience pixelation, please let me know. Thanks.



bobukcat said:


> Since the OTA module is finally available I decided to update my two 622 system to two Hoppers. I had to elicit help from Ray C of the DIRT Team here as neither an on-line chat nor calling Dish put my in contact with a CSR that could order the OTA modules.
> 
> As for the install experience, I'll sum it up by saying it was one of the best customer service experiences I've had in quite a while. The tech was very knowledgeable and clearly didn't mind doing some extra work to ensure a solid install. Ray C had to put Joeys on my order for some reason but I just told the tech I didn't want them and he was fine with that - actually he was very happy because he said they've been having problems with new Joey activations the past week or so. He told me they've had to setup temporary Western Arc installs because the Joey's haven't been pulling software down off Eastern Arc. So they setup the dish for WA, let the software download and then switch it to EA, he was happy to not have to deal with the Joeys. He had to run an additional line of Coax in off the dish and while he was at it he replaced the LNB (he said he's been seeing them fail after changing the load on them), re-aimed the dish which improved my signal readings from the high 30s to the mid 60s, and grounded the dish which had never been done before. The only thing he wasn't familiar with on the Hopper setup was the OTA modules (which won't be here until tomorrow) and the External Hard Drive setup. I showed him (thanks to this forum) where the EHD shows up on the DVR menu and he was appreciative to learn that.
> 
> So far I'm pretty impressed with the system. I did have a lot of pixelation and drop outs during the football game last night but the signal strengths are all solid in the mid 60s so I don't know what was causing that. PTAT is very cool and I tried out Auto-Hop this morning which is nice as well. I did notice that some programs in the PTAT folder don't offer to do Auto-Hop when I started them though so I need to figure that one out. The only other problem I've seen so far is that the two Hoppers don't seem to re-establish the MOCA bridge after a reboot (either manual or scheduled) and I've had to reset that network to get them to bridge again. I understand this system seems to take a few days to settle in so I'm going to give it some time.
> 
> I did get S230 software on both units so my OTA modules should work when I get them tomorrow.
> 
> Initial impressions are that the speed is outstanding, the remotes (we use one in a remote bedroom that always struggled with the 622, even with a powered UHF antenna connected to it)) seem to have much better range, watching things of the EHD starts much faster than before and the GUI is pretty intuitive and easy to use. My wife is loving that she can now watch stuff off the other Hopper from the bedroom so that is a feather in my cap as well. I'd also add that changing the setup on both Harmony remotes to use the new receivers was a snap, although it would be nice if the One had the same colored buttons on it that the 900 does.
> 
> Next steps are to put multiple EHDs on one of the Hoppers and get my OTA working tomorrow.


----------



## GeneT

P Smith said:


> overheating ?


It doesn't appear to be overheating. I have Joey set in stand on end and there is 6"+ around it and nothing above. That was my original concern, those things DO get hot ! But I switched Joeys and it didn't make a difference. I found two other instances of this problem in this thread, one was never resolved, and the other was resolved by replacing the Hopper (twice).


----------



## bobukcat

Ray [email protected] Network said:


> I'm glad the installation went well. The Auto Hop feature will only work on nationally broadcast PTAT shows. The red kangaroo will automatically appear after 1 am the following day if it is a nationally broadcast show.
> 
> You can have multiple EHDs formatted to your Hopper but we only support 1 EHD connected at a time.
> 
> With the OTA module, once you scan the channels and save them to the Hopper, the listing will appear in Yellow in the Guide like our other receivers.
> 
> I you continue to experience pixelation, please let me know. Thanks.


Thanks Ray, I'll do some more reading in some of the PTAT specific forums but I'm still confused about the "Nationally Broadcast" show requirement. For instance "60 Minutes" is what I would call a nationally broadcast show but it does not have the autohop feature enabled for it.


----------



## barken

Ray [email protected] Network said:


> You can have multiple EHDs formatted to your Hopper but we only support 1 EHD connected at a time.


I have a USB hub and the hopper recognizes the three EHDs I have attached to it. Previously I used a manual USB switch so I would only select one EHD at a time, however, current software recognizes more than one EHD on the hopper. Am I wrong?


----------



## P Smith

you are not, many members reported same


----------



## James Long

There are several things that work but are not supported.


----------



## hdcl

I just had my new 2 Hopper - 3 Joey installation today and it went well overall. All the software updates installed fine and every Joey can now see both Hoppers and vice versa. 

The only 3 hitches are:

1) The technician swore there is no way to share an Internet connection between Hoppers. I have one Hopper hooked up via Ethernet. He insisted on connecting the second Hopper via wireless USB dongle. Even after this, each Joey cannot see the Internet. I saw another thread about turning on bridging which I will try tomorrow (Yellow Hot Key, Select Network, Select Broadband, Select MoCA from drop down, Blue Hot Key twice.)

2) I can't get either Hopper to see the hard wired phone line it is connected to (I posted a separate thread about this - I need the Caller ID to work)

3) The Home Media DLNA can't seem to play vanilla WMV files that almost any player on a PC can play. It plays exotic MP4 and HD encoded video just fine, but not WMV. 

Other than that, PTAT seemed to work great even on Day 1 (the installation finshed around 4:00 PM my time) which I have read was a bit flaky for others right after installation.

The programming archived on my previous EHD from my 722 was readily playable. I am transfering some files off of EHD to one of the Hoppers overnight and will see if that works OK.

There is a bit of learning how to do things differently around timers and DVR access (which is frustrating my wife) but I have been pretty happy with the system so far.


----------



## david_jr

Regarding hitch # 1 we have 1 hopper connected to ethernet and bridging enabled and it seems to be working properly. Enabling bridging was not that easy even with the instructions available here. Maybe I just was doing it wrong but it took me a few tries to get it to enable.

Caller ID is working on the hopper that has a phone line connected, but not the other Hopper that doesn't. I gues that does not get shared.


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

You need to activate the feature on the Joey for Caller ID to work. Thanks.



david_jr said:


> Regarding hitch # 1 we have 1 hopper connected to ethernet and bridging enabled and it seems to be working properly. Enabling bridging was not that easy even with the instructions available here. Maybe I just was doing it wrong but it took me a few tries to get it to enable.
> 
> Caller ID is working on the hopper that has a phone line connected, but not the other Hopper that doesn't. I gues that does not get shared.


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

I'm glad to hear you are enjoying your Hopper/Joey receivers.

Enable Caller ID on each receiver for it to work.
Enable bridging to share the Internet connection with the other receivers.
The Hoppper supports JPEG and MP3 file formats for Home Media.

If you have any questions about the features or the use of your receivers, please let me know. Thanks.



hdcl said:


> I just had my new 2 Hopper - 3 Joey installation today and it went well overall. All the software updates installed fine and every Joey can now see both Hoppers and vice versa.
> 
> The only 3 hitches are:
> 
> 1) The technician swore there is no way to share an Internet connection between Hoppers. I have one Hopper hooked up via Ethernet. He insisted on connecting the second Hopper via wireless USB dongle. Even after this, each Joey cannot see the Internet. I saw another thread about turning on bridging which I will try tomorrow (Yellow Hot Key, Select Network, Select Broadband, Select MoCA from drop down, Blue Hot Key twice.)
> 
> 2) I can't get either Hopper to see the hard wired phone line it is connected to (I posted a separate thread about this - I need the Caller ID to work)
> 
> 3) The Home Media DLNA can't seem to play vanilla WMV files that almost any player on a PC can play. It plays exotic MP4 and HD encoded video just fine, but not WMV.
> 
> Other than that, PTAT seemed to work great even on Day 1 (the installation finshed around 4:00 PM my time) which I have read was a bit flaky for others right after installation.
> 
> The programming archived on my previous EHD from my 722 was readily playable. I am transfering some files off of EHD to one of the Hoppers overnight and will see if that works OK.
> 
> There is a bit of learning how to do things differently around timers and DVR access (which is frustrating my wife) but I have been pretty happy with the system so far.


----------



## hdcl

Ray [email protected] Network said:


> I'm glad to hear you are enjoying your Hopper/Joey receivers.
> 
> Enable Caller ID on each receiver for it to work.
> Enable bridging to share the Internet connection with the other receivers.
> The Hoppper supports JPEG and MP3 file formats for Home Media.
> 
> If you have any questions about the features or the use of your receivers, please let me know. Thanks.


I setup bridging on the ethernet connected Hopper, disconnected the WiFi dongle from the other Hopper and everything seems to be working fine now. All Hoppers and Joeys are Internet connected. The only feedback would be to train the installation techs on how to do this and not hide the bridging function with the hidden key presses (blue button twice).

On the media front - Audio and JPG images are displaying fine. I am having trouble playing standard WMV video files.


----------



## unr1

Just called in today to upgrade my 722 to a hopper + joey
I added the 7 dollar/mo protection fee so I could avoid the ~95 dollar install fee. It seemed like a no-brainer to do so.

Question: When they install the joey, will they run the coax to another room or just tell me that's not included in the install? In other words, will they crawl in my basement and/or attic and run the cable?

Also, what's the best place to get the sling adapter. I noticed on amazon it's about 50 bucks.

Oh, one more question, is NBC nightly news included in prime time TV? I think it's just before prime time but just wanted to make sure.

Thanks bros


----------



## ATARI

unr1 said:


> Just called in today to upgrade my 722 to a hopper + joey
> I added the 7 dollar/mo protection fee so I could avoid the ~95 dollar install fee. It seemed like a no-brainer to do so.
> 
> Question: When they install the joey, will they run the coax to another room or just tell me that's not included in the install? In other words, will they crawl in my basement and/or attic and run the cable?
> 
> Also, what's the best place to get the sling adapter. I noticed on amazon it's about 50 bucks.
> 
> Oh, one more question, is NBC nightly news included in prime time TV? I think it's just before prime time but just wanted to make sure.
> 
> Thanks bros


The coax run for the Joey should be included.

DISH sells the Sling adapter: http://www.mydish.com/tv-everywhere-technology/sling-adapter/

National nightly news is not considered prime time.


----------



## david_jr

hdcl said:


> I setup bridging on the ethernet connected Hopper, disconnected the WiFi dongle from the other Hopper and everything seems to be working fine now. All Hoppers and Joeys are Internet connected. *The only feedback would be to train the installation techs on how to do this and not hide the bridging function with the hidden key presses (blue button twice). *On the media front - Audio and JPG images are displaying fine. I am having trouble playing standard WMV video files.


Yeah this is a real head scratcher why they would do this.


----------



## unr1

ATARI said:


> The coax run for the Joey should be included.
> 
> DISH sells the Sling adapter: http://www.mydish.com/tv-everywhere-technology/sling-adapter/
> 
> National nightly news is not considered prime time.


Thanks!


----------



## fwampler

6 days ago my new Hopper was installed. Everything went smoothly and the install took about 2 hours. The phone connection, internet connection and latest firmware and software download went smoothly. I have had no problems since the install.

My impressions of the Hopper are very positive compared with my 622. The remote control works great and I do not miss my programmable remote. The remote is controlling the dvr, tv and dvd. Button presses on this remote are buffered. This means I can press the "skip 30 sec button" 6 times (quickly) and skip forward 3 minutes virtually instantaneously. 
The dvr harddisk and computer are fast. At 300X it will fast forward through half time 1-2 seconds faster than the 622.
The Primetime feature is nice and I use it. There are a lot of Christmas specials this time of year and this feature makes it easy to watch them.
I use the application (forgot the name) for finding and recording sporting events useful. I run it every morning. It saves a lot of time reading schedules. I haven't used the remote programming yet from MyDish. It looks handy.
The Ad skip feature has worked flawless except for the show 20/20. Local ads displayed but skip took care of that (one press). 
The guide is nice and has lots of improvements. The button color interface is a big help in moving around the guide.

I could go on quite a bit more but in summary I'm giving the upgrade a thumbs up!


----------



## unr1

good summary fwampler

I can't wait to share my install and user experience in the coming weeks.


----------



## fwampler

Thank you. I did try the remote dvr schedule from the internet and it works flawlessly. I'm impressed with Dish I must say.


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

Thank you for sharing your installation experience with others. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks.



fwampler said:


> Thank you. I did try the remote dvr schedule from the internet and it works flawlessly. I'm impressed with Dish I must say.


----------



## Howard Polack

I am currently on a local cable provider. They have a PVR with 4 devices at a time. I have 3 additional TVs hooked up through standard cable. I can possibly run another 4 room PVR if I want to bring the other 3 TVs to have full access to all the channels.

I only pay $105 after my multi-product discount. I can add a few more tuners for $20-30. Below is what I am being told my cost will be to switch to DISH. I am hoping someone else knows of other discounts as it seems to be pricey to switch in that I am expected to pay $460.40 upfront to switch and then pay $94 a month for a year and $119 a month after a year. So, I would be paying $15 more a month for Dish for 8 vs 4 TVs with HDTV tuners and PVR. The monthly fee seems ok, but after I factor in $461 that is like paying another $40/mo for a year or $20/mo for two years.

So, I am being told that the monthly fees are as follows. $7/mo per Joey and Hopper (I guess one is free). $7 X 7= $49, $34.95 200 Channel, $10 PVR fee; so net $93.99/mo. 200 channel goes up to $59.99 after the first year; 118.99/mo.

Setup fees are $461 after a $50 referral discount. So, does that mean it is $99 for each Joey (3) and $199 for each Hopper (1); $498.97 - $50 referral? I am not clear on install fees. Also, some resellers/installers are offering a $75 cash back.

I think the install fees are my sticking point, since monthly I am just a little higher than cable ($15 to get 4 additional TV on PVR). Can anyone tell me how to save anything more on monthly fees and the install fees (MOST IMPORTANT)?

Also, if my cable box dies or remote, my cable company just installs a new one free of charge. How does that work with Dish? Will they replace any Joeys or Hoppers that are not working for free? I keep reading about some protection program for $6/mo., but that gives you a discount on install. Why do I need that and what discount?

I know I need to pay the $49 for the Sling, but that I am ok with it for the streaming for fun on my phone and tablets in my house and on the road. Do I need it for the remote control feature on my android phone?


----------



## RasputinAXP

Should be 1 Hopper + 2 Joeys (I believe that's the 'standard install') for free, each additional Hopper is $199 and each additional Joey $99 (can possibly be $49, which is what the configurator on the Dish site tells me). 

They'll replace receivers for free, remotes are charged for but they're cheap and plentiful on eBay. The Protection Plan makes a truck roll $15 instead of $99 when they're needed.


You don't need the Sling adapter to use the Dish app to schedule recordings, etc.


----------



## Howard Polack

I know they will give the the first Hopper and three Joeys for free for an install, at least for me. Then it is a matter of what they charge for the other Hopper and three Joeys. One person told me that they recently lowered the price to $99 for either Joey or Hopper and somewhere else I read Joeys at $49. 

I just don't want to pay the $400-500 to make the switch as that is a higher cost for me than just adding another DVR through my cable company. I guess I would be willing to pay $250 because of the improved equipment.

Any other ways of getting a discount would be appreciated both on the monthly and the installation fees. 

Maybe we should turn this into how to find discounts posting for Hopper/Joeys


----------



## RasputinAXP

There aren't really any other ways. What you pay is what you pay. You can purchase them yourself up front but that's not much of a savings.


----------



## hdcl

I only ended up paying $100 for 2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys. I had to sign up for the monthly protection plan to save $95 (it was $195 otherwise). The intial conversation started at over $350 of up front charges. The difference between your situation is that I have been a DISH customer for 11+ years so maybe that helped. 

On the other hand I have usually seen better deals for NEW customers vs. existing customers to I think if you get the right DISH CSR on the phone you can negotiate with them on the up front cost.


----------



## unr1

Had one hopper + joey installed a few days ago. Dish guy arrived earlier (because he said the first install of the day didn't answer their door).

Installation went smoothly and I couldn't be happier. I love the new hopper but I have noticed it glitch up once already. So I still gotta wait until I officially say it's as good or better than my previous 722. Because the 722 was rock solid.

He installed a wifi adapter to the hopper because he said the ethernet wasn't reliable. Kinda surprising. I have a router right next to the hopper so it seemed liked a waste. Any info on this?

Overall I'm happy


----------



## unr1

Oh, and I'm definitely gonna try the ethernet in a few days. Waiting on this denon receiver to arrive first


----------



## hdcl

Definitely use ethernet if the router is close. Also see my earlier post in this thread about turning on network bridging so that all your Hoppers/Joeys can share the internet connection.


----------



## unr1

cool, thanks hdcl I will look into that!


----------



## Howard Polack

I think this goes outside the scope of "how did the installation go", but I think it works here? I have become very interested in switching from cable because my wife hates the cables "whole home DVR". It freezes, glitches, and so on. My concern is about all of what I read about the quality of the HD being "soft" and ghosting. I keep reading that the Hopper video quality does no show the fine detail that a bluray or even cable (lessor) shows. I understand that it is 1080i for the most part, but I can see wrinkles and sweat or individual hairs on my 12 ft projection and my 55" LED. I don't want to loose quality if I can help it. There is a lot being said that it is lost in the compression. Especially on the prime time stations. 

Any thoughts on this to alleviate my concerns since I would have to sign up for 2 years?


----------



## Howard Polack

Can you break down how much you paid for what for the setup. Such as $49 a joey and $99 for one of the Hoppers. That will help me in my negotiations.


----------



## RasputinAXP

Howard Polack said:


> I think this goes outside the scope of "how did the installation go", but I think it works here? I have become very interested in switching from cable because my wife hates the cables "whole home DVR". It freezes, glitches, and so on. My concern is about all of what I read about the quality of the HD being "soft" and ghosting. I keep reading that the Hopper video quality does no show the fine detail that a bluray or even cable (lessor) shows. I understand that it is 1080i for the most part, but I can see wrinkles and sweat or individual hairs on my 12 ft projection and my 55" LED. I don't want to loose quality if I can help it. There is a lot being said that it is lost in the compression. Especially on the prime time stations.
> 
> Any thoughts on this to alleviate my concerns since I would have to sign up for 2 years?


Cable's quality is nearly invariably less than that of Dish. They have a higher compression rate due to having much less bandwidth to use than satellite.

That's about all I can say. I don't notice anything out of the ordinary on any of my HDTVs; the Hopper was noticeably better than the 922.


----------



## Howard Polack

hdcl said:


> I only ended up paying $100 for 2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys. I had to sign up for the monthly protection plan to save $95 (it was $195 otherwise). The intial conversation started at over $350 of up front charges. The difference between your situation is that I have been a DISH customer for 11+ years so maybe that helped.
> 
> On the other hand I have usually seen better deals for NEW customers vs. existing customers to I think if you get the right DISH CSR on the phone you can negotiate with them on the up front cost.





RasputinAXP said:


> Cable's quality is nearly invariably less than that of Dish. They have a higher compression rate due to having much less bandwidth to use than satellite.
> 
> That's about all I can say. I don't notice anything out of the ordinary on any of my HDTVs; the Hopper was noticeably better than the 922.


I see in your configuration that you are using Google TV and logitech Revue. Does the joey or menuing system work with Google TV. I have been considering buying a VIZIO Co-Star.

Also, I understand someone says the clarity really goes away when someone is walking or running such that you can see facial feature on the DISH. Again trying to get facts versus fiction.


----------



## RasputinAXP

The Google TV overlays the Joey. It works fine. I'm not sure what you're asking about facial features. It's HD. It doesn't get macroblocky and mushy like on my in-laws' cable tv.


----------



## fmcomputer

I could not setup PrimeTime Anytime - Called D tech support - was told I can not use it as my locals are not in HD because they are on SAT 129 which I cannot get - So if you plan to get the Hopper system check and make sure your locals are in HD -


----------



## James Long

fmcomputer said:


> I could not setup PrimeTime Anytime - Called D tech support - was told I can not use it as my locals are not in HD because they are on SAT 129 which I cannot get - So if you plan to get the Hopper system check and make sure your locals are in HD -


Youngstown Ohio local channels are in HD and are on 129. You just need to figure out a way of getting that signal (for your HD locals as well as any other channels you are missing by not having 129).

Following your suggestion and calling and asking if Youngstown locals were in HD would have ended up with a "yes" answer.


----------



## Howard Polack

hdcl said:


> I setup bridging on the ethernet connected Hopper, disconnected the WiFi dongle from the other Hopper and everything seems to be working fine now. All Hoppers and Joeys are Internet connected. The only feedback would be to train the installation techs on how to do this and not hide the bridging function with the hidden key presses (blue button twice).
> 
> On the media front - Audio and JPG images are displaying fine. I am having trouble playing standard WMV video files.





david_jr said:


> Yeah this is a real head scratcher why they would do this.


Sorry to state the obvious, but I think you are saying that if you connect via an Ethernet cable that bridging between two hoppers is not turned on until you press the blue button twice? I have disconnected the cable and ran it off my internal network, but the "Grey Menu" under the DVR where I can change between Hoppers goes a way after a while. I have seen it there and working sometimes after making the switch to Ethernet, but eventually it is not there. Also, under "Whole-Home" when I first switch to the Ethernet cable, I can change which Hopper the Ethernet Joey is linked to, but after an hour, it shows them, but won't switch. Are you pressing the blue button twice on a particular screen? Are you talking about turning on the Bridging on the Hopper? Do you think I should turn on Bridging on BOTH Hoppers?


----------



## some guy

You only need 1 Hopper connected to the Internet and only need Bridging enabled on the one with the Internet connection. If you have briding enabled on both Hoppers that are connected to the same network, that can cause issues.


----------



## Howard Polack

hdcl said:


> I setup bridging on the ethernet connected Hopper, disconnected the WiFi dongle from the other Hopper and everything seems to be working fine now. All Hoppers and Joeys are Internet connected. The only feedback would be to train the installation techs on how to do this and not hide the bridging function with the hidden key presses (blue button twice).
> 
> On the media front - Audio and JPG images are displaying fine. I am having trouble playing standard WMV video files.


Why will it cause issues? If each hopper has its on bridging capabilities, it will provide bridging for whatever hopper it is linked and not bother to bridge and route back through the MOCA to the second hopper saving a step.


----------



## some guy

"Howard Polack" said:


> Why will it cause issues? If each hopper has its on bridging capabilities, it will provide bridging for whatever hopper it is linked and not bother to bridge and route back through the MOCA to the second hopper saving a step.


If you have two hoppers and both hard wired like I do, then enable bridging on both hoppers and let it go for a while. I had all sorts of stability issues until I disabled bridging on one of my hoppers as per the advice of the dish software team.


----------



## Howard Polack

Ok, thanks for the advice.


----------



## bryant

Well, thought I'd give something new a try. I ordered a Hopper w/ Sling & 2 Joey's. Installer came over the weekend & we had LOS issues. Bummer! I'm going to trim back the tree a bit tomorrow & we're going to try this again on Wednesday.

We've been with Uverse since 2008 and in all honesty, I've been incredibly happy with them. However, we've been itching for a solution that would give us access to our DVR content from our mobile devices & also allow my wife to watch some of her shows on her iPad offline.

I've got my fingers crossed that this will work out!


----------



## bryant

To follow-up, the second installer came by last week. He said he wouldn't even attempt to install western arc at my house but that I had zero LOS issues to eastern arc if we placed the dish in a different location.

I actually like where he placed the dish better as I can get to it with a short ladder in the event I would need to (I actually had to use the snow brush on it this morning, but that _should_ be rare).

So far I've been happy with the hopper overall. PTAT's a nice feature, the sling options are fantastic and the UI is very responsive. It's a bit of adjustment using the icons instead of lists, but so far I don't really prefer one over the other. The only thing that's come up 1 time is that PTAT was doing its thing, but it was recording nothing we watch, there was another show recording that we usually watch later in the week, I was watching live TV in the living room and my wife wanted to watch live TV on another channel in the bedroom. That's a scenario I didn't accurately account for when deciding if 3 tuners would be enough compared to the "4" we had. But like I said, I think that will be a fairly rare occurrence.


----------



## JimD

I just had my 922 (OMG THAT THING WAS A PAIN) and 722 replaced with 2 hoppers on Tuesday the 9th. The installation by "Via Satellite" was very professionally performed. I had removed the receivers prior to the start, along with the DPP44 switch and power inserter and had labeled the cables. The installer put the duo node on the floor joist below the living room, and the wires were all neatly routed. Best installer I've had so far (and I have been an echostar user since way back in the day of mpeg-2 and the 3000).

Things have so far gone swimmingly - with a couple of minor glitches. I was familiar with the menus as a consequence of my love/hate relationship over the last year or so with my cantankerous 922. It used to get stuck in "duo" mode (we never set it to duo, it did this on its own) and we had to power cycle to recover. The sling feature *never* worked right, and it also put the receiver into "duo" mode whenever someone used it. :bang

My system now consists of a 1000.4 aimed at the Eastern Arc (61.5, 72, 77) feeding the duo node with one hopper in the downstairs living room, one in the upstairs master bath and a joey that will end up in the front guest bedroom. For now the joey is sitting next to the hopper in the living room - attached to a small monitor just for test purposes. 

The first issue I noted was that I was unable to restore my timers from the 922 remote to the hopper. Bummer. Fortunately I took photos with my phone of all the timer screens, so I knew what I had to restore. There is a twist, however. Many of the timers would now be "covered" by PTAT. So I did not need to set timers for those. Unfortunately the photos of the timer displays did not show channel numbers, so I had to figure out which were not covered by PTAT. I used a web search of the program names to determine this. No big deal, and it gives me an opportunity to exercise the new menus a bit. I enabled PTAT and then from my list of channels began to search for instances in the guide from which to configure timers.

The second issue I noticed was that this hopper in the living room showed "no information" in all the local channels beginning 90 minutes from now out through the entire guide. All the other channels were fine, only the locals (including PBS) showed no info. I tried reset and power cycle, and switch check - all to no avail. I called Dish. The young lady I spoke to heard only the first and last words "no" and "locals" and skipped the intervening words "information in the guide for". She began to ask me questions relevant to not having any local channels. I tried in vain to re-program her for the actual problem, but she persisted with this checklist. One of the last items she asked was that I put the receiver into standby and wait about 20 minutes and try again. This sounded to me like it might also be beneficial for guide fetch. so rather than argue with her I thanked her for her suggestion and disconnected. Then I tried it. I was happy to see it begin to download guide information. Surely this would solve it. Alas, no. Still "no info" - only on the local channels.

I checked the upstairs hopper - no such problem! It had all the guide info.

I don't know why I tried this - because surely it couldn't have any bearing on the issue - but... I exited the guide with its "no info" in locals and pressed "swap" to go to the other tuner. Then I pressed the guide button again and *voila* - all the information was there for the local channels. ?!?!?! Anyone want to take a stab at why "swap" affects the guide information? By the way, swapping again (and again) did not make it go away. It is as though something was stuck somewhere - and pressing swap unstuck it.

The third issue I noticed was that "search" did not work on either hopper. I was familiar with the methodology from having used it on my 922. But on the hoppers it was doing nothing at all. I would select "program guide" in the filters at the top, and no matter what I put in the search box nothing happened. I was very frustrated by this, but figured maybe if I left it alone it would correct itself. It did. The next morning it worked exactly as expected. This is the sort of thing that might cause an inexperienced Dish user to freak out and declare their newly installed hopper to be a POC compared to their old DTV system. I don't know why it didn't work initially (or for hours after install), and it may not be easily replicated for software engineers to fix it.

The fourth little issue I have observed is that the "Dish Explorer" app on my iPad can't connect to the hopper - unless I first run the hopper "Transfers" app! When I first tried to pair "Explorer" to the hopper, it hung after entering in the 6-digit number. The hopper "paired devices" screen shows successful pairing however. I killed the app and tried again. Now when I first launch the explorer app, it says "looking for Living Room" (the name of my downstairs hopper). It then says "connecting" for a long time, then "unable to connect - looking for other hoppers" which never seems to complete. This behavior is repeatable whenever I open the explorer app. I gave up on this and tried the transfer app. After successfully pairing, "Transfers" connects just fine to my "Living Room" hopper - and this successful connection is repeatable. Having successfully run "Transfers", I again launched the Explorer app and it immediately connected to the hopper and was fully functional!

I can repeat this entire scenario at any time by stopping both apps on my iPad - after which Explorer will not connect until Transfers has already connected.

This one seems very odd. I would expect that both apps use the exact same methodology to locate and connect to the hopper over my Wifi/LAN. One works, and the other does not (until something is established by the other app - then it too will work).

Perhaps the programmer of "Explorer" should copy the connect code from the programmer of "Transfers". 
At least I have a work-around that gets me connected 100% of the time.

Aside from these little glitches (three of which are now resolved, and the fourth of which I can work around), I am so far very happy with the performance of the system. I am able to watch recordings made on either hopper on the other hopper (or the joey). I am able to watch live TV or any live program at my office on my iPad via the "Dish Anywhere" app. I am able to control my hoppers from the iPad using the "Explorer" app while watching TV at home - but only if I first launch the "Transfers" app.

I suspect these issues might be enough to put a new user off the product - or at least cause them to curse about it, but after my past experiences with DishPlayer and the 922, the dual-hopper setup is absolutely awesome. Of course I may be setting myself up for a fall - this is only day 2. :smoking:


----------



## Ray [email protected] Network

A newly installed Hopper/Joey has additional software that must update to get the full functionality of the receivers (usually take 24-48 hours). This is the reason for the search issue. There is a known issue with the Hopper transfers and pairing to the Hopper w/Sling. A workaround is using the pairing wizard. All receivers must be idle for the guide to update. Please let me know if you continue to experience issues with your Hopper. Thanks.



JimD said:


> I just had my 922 (OMG THAT THING WAS A PAIN) and 722 replaced with 2 hoppers on Tuesday the 9th. The installation by "Via Satellite" was very professionally performed. I had removed the receivers prior to the start, along with the DPP44 switch and power inserter and had labeled the cables. The installer put the duo node on the floor joist below the living room, and the wires were all neatly routed. Best installer I've had so far (and I have been an echostar user since way back in the day of mpeg-2 and the 3000).
> 
> Things have so far gone swimmingly - with a couple of minor glitches. I was familiar with the menus as a consequence of my love/hate relationship over the last year or so with my cantankerous 922. It used to get stuck in "duo" mode (we never set it to duo, it did this on its own) and we had to power cycle to recover. The sling feature *never* worked right, and it also put the receiver into "duo" mode whenever someone used it. :bang
> 
> My system now consists of a 1000.4 aimed at the Eastern Arc (61.5, 72, 77) feeding the duo node with one hopper in the downstairs living room, one in the upstairs master bath and a joey that will end up in the front guest bedroom. For now the joey is sitting next to the hopper in the living room - attached to a small monitor just for test purposes.
> 
> The first issue I noted was that I was unable to restore my timers from the 922 remote to the hopper. Bummer. Fortunately I took photos with my phone of all the timer screens, so I knew what I had to restore. There is a twist, however. Many of the timers would now be "covered" by PTAT. So I did not need to set timers for those. Unfortunately the photos of the timer displays did not show channel numbers, so I had to figure out which were not covered by PTAT. I used a web search of the program names to determine this. No big deal, and it gives me an opportunity to exercise the new menus a bit. I enabled PTAT and then from my list of channels began to search for instances in the guide from which to configure timers.
> 
> The second issue I noticed was that this hopper in the living room showed "no information" in all the local channels beginning 90 minutes from now out through the entire guide. All the other channels were fine, only the locals (including PBS) showed no info. I tried reset and power cycle, and switch check - all to no avail. I called Dish. The young lady I spoke to heard only the first and last words "no" and "locals" and skipped the intervening words "information in the guide for". She began to ask me questions relevant to not having any local channels. I tried in vain to re-program her for the actual problem, but she persisted with this checklist. One of the last items she asked was that I put the receiver into standby and wait about 20 minutes and try again. This sounded to me like it might also be beneficial for guide fetch. so rather than argue with her I thanked her for her suggestion and disconnected. Then I tried it. I was happy to see it begin to download guide information. Surely this would solve it. Alas, no. Still "no info" - only on the local channels.
> 
> I checked the upstairs hopper - no such problem! It had all the guide info.
> 
> I don't know why I tried this - because surely it couldn't have any bearing on the issue - but... I exited the guide with its "no info" in locals and pressed "swap" to go to the other tuner. Then I pressed the guide button again and *voila* - all the information was there for the local channels. ?!?!?! Anyone want to take a stab at why "swap" affects the guide information? By the way, swapping again (and again) did not make it go away. It is as though something was stuck somewhere - and pressing swap unstuck it.
> 
> The third issue I noticed was that "search" did not work on either hopper. I was familiar with the methodology from having used it on my 922. But on the hoppers it was doing nothing at all. I would select "program guide" in the filters at the top, and no matter what I put in the search box nothing happened. I was very frustrated by this, but figured maybe if I left it alone it would correct itself. It did. The next morning it worked exactly as expected. This is the sort of thing that might cause an inexperienced Dish user to freak out and declare their newly installed hopper to be a POC compared to their old DTV system. I don't know why it didn't work initially (or for hours after install), and it may not be easily replicated for software engineers to fix it.
> 
> The fourth little issue I have observed is that the "Dish Explorer" app on my iPad can't connect to the hopper - unless I first run the hopper "Transfers" app! When I first tried to pair "Explorer" to the hopper, it hung after entering in the 6-digit number. The hopper "paired devices" screen shows successful pairing however. I killed the app and tried again. Now when I first launch the explorer app, it says "looking for Living Room" (the name of my downstairs hopper). It then says "connecting" for a long time, then "unable to connect - looking for other hoppers" which never seems to complete. This behavior is repeatable whenever I open the explorer app. I gave up on this and tried the transfer app. After successfully pairing, "Transfers" connects just fine to my "Living Room" hopper - and this successful connection is repeatable. Having successfully run "Transfers", I again launched the Explorer app and it immediately connected to the hopper and was fully functional!
> 
> I can repeat this entire scenario at any time by stopping both apps on my iPad - after which Explorer will not connect until Transfers has already connected.
> 
> This one seems very odd. I would expect that both apps use the exact same methodology to locate and connect to the hopper over my Wifi/LAN. One works, and the other does not (until something is established by the other app - then it too will work).
> 
> Perhaps the programmer of "Explorer" should copy the connect code from the programmer of "Transfers".
> At least I have a work-around that gets me connected 100% of the time.
> 
> Aside from these little glitches (three of which are now resolved, and the fourth of which I can work around), I am so far very happy with the performance of the system. I am able to watch recordings made on either hopper on the other hopper (or the joey). I am able to watch live TV or any live program at my office on my iPad via the "Dish Anywhere" app. I am able to control my hoppers from the iPad using the "Explorer" app while watching TV at home - but only if I first launch the "Transfers" app.
> 
> I suspect these issues might be enough to put a new user off the product - or at least cause them to curse about it, but after my past experiences with DishPlayer and the 922, the dual-hopper setup is absolutely awesome. Of course I may be setting myself up for a fall - this is only day 2. :smoking:


----------



## JimD

Ray [email protected] Network said:


> There is a known issue with the Hopper transfers and pairing to the Hopper w/Sling. A workaround is using the pairing wizard. All receivers must be idle for the guide to update.


1) I had no problem with the hopper transfers app. I had a problem with the explorer app. The transfers app works fine every time.

2) The problem I had with explorer app had nothing to do with pairing. It is *after* pairing, during the connection phase, that the explorer app fails to connect unless the transfers app is already connected. The pairing wizard will be useless as a remedy to this issue.

3) The receiver was not only idle - it was in standby - and it *did* download the guide, I watched it do this. It slowly worked its way up to 95%, and that last 5% seemed to take forever. When the guide download finished, there was *still* no local channel guide info. The event which caused the local guide info to appear immediately was the pressing of the swap button on the remote. This was done some minutes after the guide download had completed and the receiver had been brought out of standby.

Tonight I went through the same pairing process of the explorer app on the other hopper, after which it failed to connect. I paired the transfer app, and it connected immediately. Once the transfer app was connected, the explorer app connected without issue. This behavior is identical to the way the hopper downstairs behaved with my iPad. It is consistent with the way the hopper downstairs behaved with my wife's iPad. I am 99.9% sure the behavior will be identical with the upstairs hopper and my wife's iPad - but we've not yet paired them. I will update when we do so.

As I stated previously, I am still elated with the hoppers after 2 days. The only ongoing issue is the inability to connect the explorer app without first connecting the transfer app - but honestly I may not use the explorer app all that much. It does not seem to afford any value-add over the remote other than to allow browsing the guide or DVR while the TV displays a full-screen program.


----------



## P Smith

Jim,
I think it would more appropriate (after you'll find what FW is running) move your posts to other dedicated thread, where are bugs of particular FW version is discussing. The thread is more about installs ...


----------



## JimD

P Smith said:


> Jim,
> I think it would more appropriate (after you'll find what FW is running) move your posts to other dedicated thread, where are bugs of particular FW version is discussing. The thread is more about installs ...


I thought about also posting the "bugs" somewhere that might get some attention - not that they are serious, as they've all been overcome for one reason or another.

My reason for posting them here was that this is where people who are thinking about converting to hopper from something else come to read about the experience. I believe the speed bumps I hit could be most informative to others, and might prevent them from having the guy uninstall it right then and there (or replace it for no reason).

Also - I skipped over the part of Ray's post about firmware revision and the search function. I apologize for having missed it. I should have said that the machine downloaded firmware as part of the install. This was one reason that it took *so long* to get from the point where all the cables to the first hopper were connected until we could even begin to use it. Given that it downloaded firmware and installed it as part of that process - does it make any sense that the search did not work until *another* firmware download happened that night? Or did I miss the point - is there something other than the operational firmware that downloads on the first night of a hopper's life, and is required for the search function to work? An update history page (when did the receiver have which revision installed) would be nice...


----------



## thomasjk

It does take 24hrs for everything to download and function properly. PTAT is usually not usable until the next day for example.


----------



## JimD

I just noticed that the receiver info page shows the date/time when the current firmware was installed. This is not quite a revision history, but it does suit our purposes here.

My downstairs hopper says *7/9/2013, 6:17PM*. It took a bit more than 3 hours to install the 2 hoppers and 1 joey, and most of that was waiting for downloads of this or that on both hoppers. The install started at about 3PM, so that timestamp is about right for the completion of the install, which is when I watched the firmware download happen on this hopper.

That timestamp is a couple of hours before I began my attempts (and failures) to get the search function to work, which began that evening at around 8PM on both hoppers (downstairs first - and when it didn't work there I tried the upstairs hopper - which failed identically).

Interestingly enough, the upstairs hopper's firmware timestamp is just after midnight on the 10th. One could presume that the nightly download of firmware is the reason why search worked the next day on the upstairs hopper - but the fact that that same firmware was already installed on the downstairs hopper while its search was failing identically belies that presumption.

I want to again caution any of you seeking to upgrade to the hopper that *these are nits we are discussing*. If you upgrade to a Hopper or move to Dish and the Hopper from some other vendor - rest assured that the search function, if it does not work right away, should work the next day for whatever reason.

I don't want to cast a negative light on this product, as I've repeatedly said it is so far the best DISH receiver I've ever used - and I have been using a LOT of different dish receivers over the 20 years or so I've been a Dish customer. My reason for posting these notes are to hopefully prevent similar experiences from freaking someone out, and to provide some detail about these little glitches that might prove useful for Dish should they happen to be paying attention to this thread.

-edit- I just noticed that there is a milestone by which I can validate that timestamp for the firmware download. When i noticed that the guide information was not present for the local channels on the downstairs hopper - just moments after the installer departed - I tried several things first (to no avail) and then called DISH support on my cell phone to ask if they could send some sort of wakeup-call over the stream or something. The call was logged at 6:22PM for 11 minutes. My cell phone clock and the hopper clock are in reasonable agreement (less than 1 minute). The difference between the firmware timestamp and my call to Dish was only 5 minutes. That seems tight to me for having done all that preliminary troubleshooting - but there it is.


----------



## JimD

thomasjk said:


> It does take 24hrs for everything to download and function properly. PTAT is usually not usable until the next day for example.


I'm not sure what you meant by "usually not usable", but PTAT seemed to function right away on my downstairs hopper - I was able to turn it on, and at 8PM it started recording things while I was searching (and failing) for the non-local-net programs so as to set a series timer. Perhaps in this regard my install was unusual.


----------



## P Smith

So, Jim - what FW versions on your devices ?


----------



## JimD

Both say "S311 NDGB" though they downloaded it at different times.


----------



## JimD

JimD said:


> Both say "S311 NDGB" though they downloaded it at different times.


Or did you mean the IOS devices (iPads) in reference to the Explorer connection failure?


----------



## P Smith

that's OK

man, you just missed new S315 FW spool, it's started last night and your boxes out of box should took if you would activate them starting last night; now it's too late ...


----------



## FilmMixer

Ordered via chat on Sunday night 07/21... was on chat for over an hour due to my indecision... agent was very nice..

I originally inquired about 2 Hoppers + 1 Joey... I asked what I would not be able to do without both Hoppers having Sling.. she said adding a second HWS would increase the number of devices I could connect at once..

I decided to pass on the second HWS, so I placed an order for 2 Hoppers (one HWS) and 1 Joey. Gave all information, including email, etc.

Went smoothly.. did some more research that night and found out I would only be able to transfer form the one HWS (and that was the difference...) Install set up for today, 07/23

In the morning, on Monday, I went on chat again and asked to update to 2 HWS + 1 Joey... no issues, paid the difference. I also asked why I still hadn't gotten an email conversation... as I was on chat, I checked my profile and saw my email as noemail at dish dot com... I gave the chat CSR my email again, and asked for an order confirmation.. I was told that since they already sent it (to the default no email address) they could not resend the order confirmation... they said the order was fine, and I could confirm with the installer... but they insisted not to worry...

i got my email install appointment note later on Monday night, with the time setup of Tues 8a-12p.

Got the call at 7:30 from Dish this morning saying window was 8-9:30.... got another email at 9am pushing back to 9-10:30.

He got here at 9:50... nice, wearing shorts, a little scruffy..

As he came in he confirmed my order was for 2 HWS and 2 Joeys.. I explained that I had only ordered one Joey... he said I would have to take it or he couldn't finish the install, and I would have to call dish myself and return the unwanted Joey..

I said fine..

My house has been wired for Directv for years, and I have ethernet run to all rooms from my home office router... so it was a simple install as the RG6 was already in place in all rooms.. the receivers were plug and go, and I told him he could use the mast from the DTV dish..

He first went up to the roof and got to work.... not a big deal, but he was smoking while installing the dish, which sits on the roof right above my office, so the smell wasn't appreciated.

He then plugged in the HWS's and started them up to download the software...

He never confirmed the signal strength via the STB's.. (I'll get into that in a bit...)

Rest of it went smoothly, about 2 hours total... I was curious how he knew which of the legs in my attic was for the Joey, as they weren't labeled... It's all working, but curious because he only accessed the coax in my theater for the Joey after he plugged the Joey in...

After the Joey activated, he said he was able to take care of the "extra" Joey and he didn't have to leave it with me to take care of.

Again, very pleasant, and he was only here around 90 minutes.. just a couple of nit picks (appearance, smoking)

I had thoroughly researched the system, so I sent him off without any of the regular show me around presentation.

My only concern about the install is my signal level... I live in the foothills of LA, on a hill with no obstructions whatsoever, with clear LOS to the south horizon of Southern California.

My Directv numbers were routinely in the 90's...

I checked the dish pointing screen..

129 Tran 23: 52
129 Tran 29: 49
119 Tran 01: 92
119 Tran 10: 59
119 Tran 09: 63
119 Tran 21: 72
110 Tran 01: 61
110 Tran 10: 63
110 Tran 21: 69

Don't know if I need another tech to tweak the alignment..

Comments?

Just a couple of quick observations coming from DirecTV (and we had U-Verse for 3 months so I have a good basis for comparison of picture quality..)

Dish HD is really good... color reproduction seems spot on. The are a little more compression artifacts on some programming (clay face, etc) and it could easily be the source...

I immediately noticed on NBC some of the same kind of detail loss in backgrounds, jaggies on text, etc. that I saw with U-Verse vs. DTV.. however, it is much less apparent with Dish, and motion seems smooth, with no real worries from me about it...

Dish is definitely a hair softer from normal viewing distance. but it won't diminish my viewing enjoyment.

I got a couple of emails after the install, and then inexplicably got an email saying my email had been changed back to the "noemail at dish dot com" address.. logged into My DIsh, changed it back again to my proper address, and logged out... we will see if this is a trend.

A couple of nit picks (and I knew about most of these going in..)

1. A unified DVR list would be great... why I can't see all the recordings at once... (I do like that i can delete from either Hopper.) But having to train the family that if they want to watch PTAT downstairs they have to manually change DVR's from the list... DTV has a unified list (I had three DVR's, so it was nice to have each list be the same..)

And why isn't it persistent.... do I need to switch every time I go into the DVR menu?

2. I would like to have a preference to record "New Only" or "New and Old" in the Timer Defaults... buffers and how many to keep is great, but why do I have to change every series to "New Only?"

3. The Search is hard to use... when searching for NEWSROOM, the Icon Tiles were useless.. I couldn't figure out which one was the premiere showing on Sunday nights, which ones were on demand, etc... Same in VOD... the tiles limit you to 9 shows.. a list option would be helpful.

4. Why do we have to lose the live buffer during DVR playback? And if you pause the live buffer and watch a DVR/On Demand show, the buffer should resume (to the limit of 60 minutes) where you left off... and why only 60 minute buffer (Dish boasts about hard drive space, but all the DTV DVR's are 90 minute buffers, and there are 2 of them!!!!).

5. I think all of the above feature request are fairly straight forward... this one is a bigger one.. I know I can't pause my tv in one room on a HWS and then pick it up on the other, but I can from a Joey... still not sure why that kind of "dumb" Joey tuner/buffer share can't be extended to another Hopper...

6. We have a brand new 60" Panasonic plasma... I NEED A SCREEN SAVER.. while I don't worry too much about burn in, 60 minutes of my daughters pausing a show always makes me nervous... after 3 minutes on DTV, you get a black screen with a floating/moving DTV logo...

7, If PTAT is off, why do I have to see a logo for it every time I go into the DVR screen on my second HWS where it is disabled... I can turn it back on in the Settings menu...

I love the speed.

The navigation is fantastic, the menus are nice to look at.. the guide is growing on me..

Like all the options, display info, etc.. really slick, well designed...

I'm happy I made the switch.. I still have some tuner conflict anxiety (I had 9 tuners with Directv.... conflicts ere seldom and issue...)

I was really apprehensive about the picture quality too.... It's going to be fine for me (I have one 42", one 60" plasma and a 110" projection system...) The difference is minor enough for me...


----------



## Jim5506

Your signal strengths are well within the acceptable parameters, 60s are normal.


----------



## revolg_98

I just had 2 hoppers and 2 joeys installed today. The hoppers are working fine but the joeys, one per hopper, freeze and drop out. I can't even watch a recorded program from the joey.


----------



## Ferguson

I am astounded.

I started a chat session today maybe 12:30pm. I got what I wanted to order two Hoppers with Sling, two Joey's.

The rep said install "tomorrow" in the afternoon, and said 9/24. I noticed "tomorrow".

Before I'm off the chat, I get a call from Dish "we will be there between 1 and 5 today, I do a double take, and check the chat log, and he said 9/24 which is indeed today. It's now 1:20pm. I say "really, if you can do it that's fine".

Rep arrived about 2:30 or so, it's now 4:30pm and I have two hoppers installed, two joey's, and everything's working. Except I never really got the time to move my recordings over, which is a different topic.

So about 4 hours from ordering on line to installed and running. Now that's service!

PS. All free, guess I'm a good customer. Just they wouldn't do an OTA, I assume I can buy and add one.


----------



## gdunn

I had Dish about 3 years ago when I lived in NC. When my job took me to Mississippi it was discovered that the apartment we had wouldn't allow us to have Dish anymore (not a issue of the Dish, but the reception wasn't there). So in 3 years I had Comcast and U-Verse. Hated Comcast and loved U-Verse.

I got word about a month ago I was going to have to move again. I found my wife and I a house in a small town in Missouri, and thought I'd get lucky enough to keep U-Verse. Wrong. So we discussed basic cable, Direct TV, and Dish. It was cheaper to go with satellite than the plain Jane cable. Yea the cable package is only $58/month, but I would've had to rent a HD-DVR box, plus do a separate subscription for HD services, plus would've had to pick internet with them. Then the issue was renting that equipment. Even a month out they were saying it'd be a month before I could get service.

I went with a different internet provider and then was trying to choose between Direct TV and Dish. The pros and cons were there for both. I could get the NFL ticket for free with Direct but I could get an iPad with Dish (I have a tablet and my wife has currently taken control over it and I want it back). After reviewing the packages it came down to customer service. The customer service I had with Dish 3 years ago was the determining factor. I'd rather pay out the nose for something and have excellent customer service than to pay for something cheap and have someone on the other end of the phone be complete jerks. My parents have Direct and it's like pulling teeth to get a tech to their place when they have an issue, where with Dish they tell you they can come on this date and when they leave it's done (or that's been my experience).

We moved in our new place on Monday and on Tuesday the Dish guys arrived and hooked up our service. They even sold my wife on a surround sound system, which I'll admit is pretty nice. The install went great and they'll be back this week to tie up a couple of loose ends because they didn't have everything. The install was clean on the inside and they walked my wife on how to set up recordings, PTAT, etc. All in all, the customer service I remembered from 3 years ago is there.

We only have 1 TV so all we have is the Hopper. We didn't have any Joeys because we only have the 1 TV, any other TV would be in a bedroom and we rarely watch TV there and I don't have a man cave or hobbys room.

All in all, I'd have to give these guys like a 10, so far.


----------



## DishTV

Tomorrow is my Hopper installation. It will replace a Bad 722. I have one dish 1000 supplying separate signals to the 722 and another 722k DVR's.

My question - Can I keep my 722k in my shop/studio and just replace the 722 in my house with Hopper?

If I have to replace the 722k with a Joey, does the Joey have to communicate with the Hopper? and if so does it have to be through the internet? My two locations for the DVR's are separated by at least 175' of coax, with the Dish in between and 50 cable feet from Hopper location.


----------



## TheGrove

My understanding is that you will have to replace the 722k with a Joey. The Joey will communicate with the Hopper via a coax run between the 2.


----------



## some guy

To keep the 722 you would need a 2nd account. You would replace the 722 with a Joey and it connects to the Node with coax.


----------



## david_jr

TheGrove said:


> My understanding is that you will have to replace the 722k with a Joey. The Joey will communicate with the Hopper via a coax run between the 2.


The OP might be better served with two Hoppers instead of 1H/1J considering his current setup. That said both machines must connect through the node, a slo for 1H/1J, or a duo node for 2H setup. The line from node to Hopper must be 3 Ghz RG6. I am not sure the limitation of distance between the node and any TV location, but I would think if it works with 2 722's it will work with Hopper system.


----------



## DishTV

The Install started well with the Hopper in my house replacing the bad 722 DVR - Good news. I have to have the Joey at 175 cable feet from the Solo Node. It all looked like it was going well until we tried to link Joey and Hopper. 

MoCA four bars of green - good so far. Waited for about 4 minutes - they linked!! Then about 60 seconds later they unlinked and the MoCA went gray. The installer tried a new node and replaced a few coax ends. Nothing changed the results. The Hopper and Joey continued to link every four to five minutes then after 60 or so seconds later unlinked. 

The Installer discussed with his office and other installers today. Others were seeing the same thing. They believe it was a fault in last night's software update. I have to wait until some one decides this is a real problem. So here I have a working Hopper and a non working Joey.

If by Monday it is not fixed by another software update, I'm not sure if they can put a (hopefully working) Hopper where the Joey is located. The Installer didn't like that idea. But what else can I do if the Joey wont stay linked?

Any one else experiencing problems with the Joeys staying linked?


----------



## Grandude

I just checked my Joey connected to the Hopper with the latest software and it stayed linked for over two minutes. It is in the garage at 45 degrees so didn't want to stay and watch it any longer............brrrrrr


----------



## Ramer84015

I'm getting a Hopper w/Sling delivered on Tuesday to replace my dying Hopper and have a few questions that I hope someone can help with.

1. I've backed up to the remote but will I be able to restore without problems to the HWS?

2. Do I need to do anything special with my one Joey? Does it have to be unplugged during the initial setup?


----------



## Grandude

I would unplug the Joey during the initial software download/install. Don't recall if this is necessary but I still think it would be prudent to do so.


----------



## P Smith

1. it should have not, but each time it's different and unique - each one has own set of settings
2. yes, first the H or H2 must download own FW and FW for Js, then Js will pull own FW from the H/H2


----------



## Ramer84015

P Smith said:


> 1. it should have not, but each time it's different and unique - each one has own set of settings
> 2. yes, first the H or H2 must download own FW and FW for Js, then Js will pull own FW from the H/H2


So I may have to re-enter series I've set up to auto record?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## thomasjk

Timers and other settings are backed up weekly to the remote. Use the original Hopper remote by pairing it it the new HWS. Then use the System Wizard ( press and hold the "0") to initiate the restore.


----------



## david_jr

I upgraded both my Hoppers to HWS a few months back. Timers backed up on remote and during setup of HWS it asked if I wanted to restore. Did not unplug any of the 3 Joeys, but they were all turned off. Easy Squeezy.


----------



## ivanhu3422

HELLO, I NEED HELP PLEASE

I LIVE IN USVI , I HAVE TWO ANTENNAS WITH A DISH PRO LNBF , ONE ANTENNA LOOKING SAT 77 AND THE OTHER TO 72 , I HAD TWO VIP211K, CONNECTED VIA SW21, EVERY THING WORKED FINE, I HAD TO UNGRADE TO HOOPER-JOEY SYSTEM, SO I REPLACE THE SW21 WITH THE SOLO NODE , CONECT 72 TO INPUT 1, SAT 77 TO INPUT 2 , THE I CONECTED THE HOOPER AND JOEYS AS THE INSTRUCTIONS, THE PROBLEM IS THAT I ONLY GET THE SAT THAT I INSERT IN PORT NO. 1 ON THE SOLO NODE, THERE IS NO MIX OF THE TWO SATS, AND ALSO HAVE OTHER PROBLEM THAT IS I ONLY GET ONE TURNER , ONE TURNER, ONE SAT... ANYONE HAS ANY IDEA OF THIS PROBLEM COULD BE ??

REGARDS


IVAN


----------



## P Smith

IVAN, please turn OFF your CapsLock.

You'll need to replace DP34 to DPP33 or DPP44, only dish pro plus switches will works for Solo node


----------



## djlong

A couple of weeks ago, I upgraded my system. I went from a 2H/3J setup to 1 Hopper with Sling, 1 Super Joey and one Wireless Joey.

Firstly, the guy who came out (and was on time) was a complete professional. Answered every question I had and finished the job promptly Notes from the install in no particular order...

- I forgot to mention to the CSR, when I called, that I wanted my dish, which is mounted on the side of my garage, moved higher. When the tech got here, he already though it should be higher - we talked and he hiked it up a few feet. Excellent!

- He only saw, on the work order, that he was installing one Hopper and two Joeys - and saw that I already HAD 2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys. They neglected to mention, on the order, that I was trading in my equipment. He wondered how all this was going to work (3 Hoppers and 6 Joeys are an impossible setup) and we had a good laugh when I explained things.

- The HwS seems to be MUCH faster than my old Hopper. Scrolling through listings, FF skip - everything is more responsive.

- The HwS immediately recognized the EHD that I plugged in (containing all the stuff from the previous 2 Hoppers that I wanted to save). No troubles there.

All in all, a very good experience.


----------



## lgb0250

Had an installer out last week to install a HwS, a Hopper and two Joey's. Everything was done fast and efficiently. The only problem I had after he left was that he forgot to bridge the network connections. Got on with chat and fixed it in a couple of minutes with no problems. Only kink we ran into during installation was we wanted five rooms wired with only four receivers. He said that he only got paid for the receivers installed so he would have to charge me $49 for the additional wiring but in turn he gave me a $50 referral credit so it worked itself out.


----------



## Stewart Vernon

djlong said:


> A couple of weeks ago, I upgraded my system. I went from a 2H/3J setup to 1 Hopper with Sling, 1 Super Joey and one Wireless Joey.


Dumb question time...

Aside from Sling... how is going from 2 Hopper/3 Joey to 1 Hopper/1 Super Joey/1 Joey an upgrade?


----------



## djlong

Stewart: Not a dumb question at all.

First, I got the original 2H/3J setup shortly after the Hopper was released. Back then, Hoppers couldn't see each other's drives. So, in the family room, the Joey was there to basically pick which Hopper was being fed to the home theater. The reason I had 2 Hoppers was that 3 tuners wasn't enough. At most I could get PTAT, a Red Sox game and one other thing simultaneously. That wasn't quite enough on some night - especially Sunday nights when HBO would be in full swing with their originals, Falling Skies on TNT, a ballgame, PTAT and throw in any other specials that might be interesting.

But, to itemize the upgrades...

- Lose Hopper #2. That's an upgrade in wiring simplicity and price reduction.
- Lose Joey #3. Again, upgrade in simplicity and cost savings.
- Replace Hopper #1 with Hopper with Sling (HwS). Upgrade by being able to watch on my iPhone, tablet and PC. Also, since I don't need the Joey, I don't have to manually switch my HT to get at the "Hopper Only" functions, like archiving/restoring shows to/from the EHD.
- Replace Joey #2 with Super Joey. Upgrade by having 2 more tuners, enough for those nights when "everything is on".
- Replace Joey #1 with Wireless Joey. Upgrade in that I can move it to a different room, if I choose.

Add to that the *apprearance* (to me) that the HwS is just plain FASTER at so many things. There's not as much of a pause when I skip forward 30 seconds, the guide scroll WAY faster and there may be more as I explore this thing.

So, I have more functionality, more responsive hardware, less wiring and am saving money every month...

*That* is an upgrade


----------



## Stewart Vernon

Thanks... that makes sense. If you didn't need the sixth tuner and wanted the flexibility of the relocatable wireless Joey... then that would qualify as an upgrade, and saving money in the process is always a good thing.


----------

