# So what to do with my 811??



## bavaria72 (Jun 10, 2004)

Man, what a dilemma! My 811 has been a wonderful box. It gave me HD!!!! But now here we are - an MPEG2 box in an MPEG4 world. I still remember the first day I hooked it up and watched a football game in HD. It was just fantastic!! But now what to do with her???? I really don't need a 211 (don't want to pay the lease fee quite frankly) and soon she will be worth very little. With a 942 and a 622 there really is not room left for her. I really feel bad as she sits in the guest room hooked up to a non HD TV looking so sad and I remember all of the wonderful times she brought me.....


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

The 811 will still be useful for time to come. But of course it won't get you any of the new MPEG4 content.


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## bavaria72 (Jun 10, 2004)

I'm going to keep it until I eventually put an HD TV in the guest room. But even then I may not upgrade until the MPEG4 conversion is complete (several years down the road).


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## Texxen (Mar 14, 2006)

Wish I knew this before I just bought a 811. Called Dish,now I have ANOTHER receiver can't do much with. They told me it doesn't work for any HD content.
Course you guys (anybody who's been here) already knew................. 

Been a Dish subscriber for 9 years......maybe time to change.......


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

Texxen said:


> They told me it doesn't work for any HD content.


I would hope they didn't say an 811 can't do HD, seeing that's what it was designed to do. What we are talking about is MPEG 4, that the 811 can not do. The 811 is an MPEG2 box.


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## ashu (Mar 9, 2006)

As a relatively new subscriber, one could argue the onus was on me to check whether the brand-spanking new (end of 2005) 811 Dish offered me was a future-proofed player. As it turns out, it isn't!!

I'm at least a little bit disappointed that Dish made no effort to inform new customers about the upcoming obsolescence of this unit. And since I joined up with the $50 connection fee, I have no desire to be tied into a contract with Dish. 

I'm curious whether there is any chance they'll offer me a 211 swap without requiring a commitment nor a fee? If not, I'm going to contribute to worsening their now-improving churn numbers, so I don't have to invest more money just to get HD locals (only MPEG4 in my area). I'll just switch to cable or Dish.

Sorrry - just venting


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## AcuraCL (Dec 12, 2005)

bavaria72 said:


> ... But now what to do with her???? ...


You could give it to me


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## IowaStateFan (Jan 11, 2006)

Jason Nipp said:


> I would hope they didn't say an 811 can't do HD, seeing that's what it was designed to do. What we are talking about is MPEG 4, that the 811 can not do. The 811 is an MPEG2 box.


What they are saying is they will not authorize it for HD. E* will not activate HD on an older mpeg2 receiver, unless you are already an HD customer with an mpeg2 reciever. They are trying to get those receivers off the street.


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## ashu (Mar 9, 2006)

In browsing this forum, however, I must say I have no right to feel as bad as those poor souls who paid for an MPEG-2 HD DVR! (VERY recently, with no 'warning' of planned replacement ... unless they browsed forums such as this one before ordering!)
They get to deal with ...
a. Tolerate Dish's icky DVR UI (subjective opinion, of course!)
b. Near obsolescence (relative to the new HD DVRs that are MPEG-4 capable)

I should count my blessings, eh?


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

ashu said:


> As a relatively new subscriber, one could argue the onus was on me to check whether the brand-spanking new (end of 2005) 811 Dish offered me was a future-proofed player. As it turns out, it isn't!!
> 
> I'm at least a little bit disappointed that Dish made no effort to inform new customers about the upcoming obsolescence of this unit. And since I joined up with the $50 connection fee, I have no desire to be tied into a contract with Dish.
> 
> ...


Future-proof? In the world of technology there is no such thing as future proof. As for informing the customers, you have a two edge sword. What you are planning on moving too is not ready so if you warn all your new customers of this move guess what.. Some will wait, others will go to the competition and with so many pieces falling into place delays could occur.

The 811 is by no means obsolete. It receives all the HD that it received a year ago and will continue to receive it for some time to come. People with 811s are offered a pretty reasonable upgrade path in my opinion. I strongly considered it, but I plan on eventually moving my 811 to a 622.

With any paradigm shift of this magnitude, there is going to be a lot of gray areas and some users will not be happy. No reasonable migration plan would make everyone happy.

<<< Wondering OFF TOPIC alert>>>>

As for Dish's UI. I have used the 508, 721, and 921. I have played with the 942 interface a bit. One positive about the interfaces is there is a lot of commonality in terms of feel. They may look different, but there is a lot of feel consistence. This even carries into the 811. Very helpful with the technology challanged group.

The funny thing about UIs.. How good a UI are is very subjective and everyone has an opinion about them. Mac guys usually hate Windows UIs and Linux dudes love the command line and emacs. UI Consistency is very important.. Dish in my opinion does a good job but there is always room for improvment. Without going into a lot of detail, I think Dish's UI does a good job at the task it is trying to perform. Manage the task of recording and playing OTA and Dish based content.

No Dish's DVRs does not not work like other DVR UIs and therefore when making the switch there is a learning curve just like anything else. However, my 75 year old grandma who is not techo savvy picked up the 721 pretty quickly and I don't hear a word about inability to do what she needs to do after a short training session. That to me speaks volumes on the UI.

People tend to get use to how things work for them and transitions to another interface are always difficult. I personally don't find Dish's DVR UI icky, but ofcourse you have the right to your opinion.


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## ashu (Mar 9, 2006)

Agreed, Ron ... and I've edited my post to reflect that I WAS merely expressing an opinion.

And it does seem like Dish is a lot less unreasonable than others with the whole upgrade-path rigmarole. I should be happy.

I'd be happier, still, if the Dish employee salesperson who took my order (direct with Dish) a mere 4-ish months ago had not (falsely, it would appear!) insisted my 811 would be able to receive local HD channels, when they were made available. I can understand not telling me about the 211 & the impending MPEG-4 shift, but outright lying (or emrely being ignorant and too afraid to admit it) is bad form!

Que sera, sera ...


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## Texxen (Mar 14, 2006)

As usual it seems who you talk to in CS at E* 
The first guy said yes I can activate a used/purchased 811 receiver.
The second guy said I will not receive ANY HD content with a 811
The third lady I talked to was very friendly and knowledgeable.
She told me she had a 811 and told me I would receive 4-5 HD channels and my
OTA local HD channels(w/antenna)(recommended antennaweb.org)

Any E* customer can upgrade to 211\dish1000 for $49 inst. but
for $20 more a month she said the other channels are not really worth it.
I guess thats a matter of opinion but I think I'll wait till I can install it myself and
they add some more channels.
(just got done ripping off the 5 cable and 3 telephone lines off the side of the house)
Dont need 3 more coax lines running down the side of my house!!

$100 TV bill is not resonable at this time($59+$14(HBO)+$5(Locals)+Tax+etc...)

Then a year or two or so?? from now maybe my dish 500 could be used for HD
(if the MPEG4 uses 110-119 mainly,eventually?)

So I guess I have a receiver I can get some HD content,can use for two rooms,all for $125
Hopefully...don't have it yet.....


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## jerryez (Nov 15, 2002)

My old 811 doe snot get the Voom channels, any of them , I intend to call DIsh and see what the problem is. I have a 211 and it gets all the HD channels, Shouldn't the 811 get the old Voom channels. It used to/


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Yes it should jerry. Sounds like they might have messed something up when the added the 211 to your account.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

jerryez said:


> My old 811 doe snot get the Voom channels, any of them , I intend to call Dish and see what the problem is. I have a 211 and it gets all the HD channels, Shouldn't the 811 get the old Voom channels. It used to/


Still does Jerry, if you subscribe to the separate Voom package, and are not getting them, then you need to determine if your 61.5 or 129 dish antenna (Required for these channels), is working properly and perhaps maybe your units subscription just needs to be refreshed. Are they red in the guide or missing completely?

I'd check the signal levels of TPs 3-7 on 61.5 to see if signal is present, or signal on 129 if that's what you use.


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## jerryez (Nov 15, 2002)

They are missing completely from the 811 guide, but the 211 gets them from 61.5, so I know the antenna is OK. Also, the 811 get the tnthd hdnet and espnhd and hbo hd. , just not the Voom.


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## Texxen (Mar 14, 2006)

Voom has been moved to part of the new "DishHD" package only received by new receivers.....
ESPNHD,HBOHD,TNTHD,DiscHD is part of TOP 120/180 package and can be seen if you 
have a HD receiver.

Thats what I was trying to explain when E* Cust Service told me I would receive a few (4-5) HD channels with a 811 receiver.......

Correct me if I'm wrong but if anybody has a 811 and getting more than 5 HD channels I 'd like to know.
(I guess maybe if you already had HDPak you may be getting more....)

It might take more than 4 calls to E* to get the right answer but thats 6 less than
calling Time -Warner and getting a right answer!

(T-W Road Runner...how else you going to get 600kb/s download!!!)


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## BigBill34 (Mar 29, 2006)

Ok, I need some assistance here and so far customer service hasn't served my needs! 

I just had Dish installed in February with the 811 receiver. I have the Everything Pak with HBO, Showtime, the works! Last weekend I added an off-air antenna (Winegard Square Shooter) for my local HD channels, which I must say works extremely well.

Now I hear that Kansas City has HD local channels from Dish Network. Hmm  I called Dish Network after installing my antenna as I had some guide/programming issues and the tech said that the 811 receiver is still in use and is still being deployed. Why would I get this BS from E* if they are in the processing of upgrading and deploying new receivers? Next I called customer service last night as I read here that HD locals were in my area, and "Peter" who sounded like he was from India, knew absolutely nothing about KC HD locals, and after I pressed the issue, he finally came out and said my receiver wasn't compatible. Even more  

This rep said that for $49 I could upgrade to the 622 receiver and then of course I would have to change programming and the contract, which is fine, as TW/Comcast sucks in KC. I hardly watch television, but when I want to, I want!!

What does the $49 charge cover? Is this a completely new installation, with new dish and new receiver? Once again "Peter" could not answer any of these questions.

After reading here, it appears that I do need to upgrade to the Dish 1000 dish and the whole 9 yards!

Does anyone know the exact process to take for upgrades, and is it worth it to go to the 622 with new HD programming? I like what I have now, but as I am the geeky/techy type, I like to have the newest toy...within reason, of course!

Bill


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## bobukcat (Dec 20, 2005)

BigBill34 said:


> Ok, I need some assistance here and so far customer service hasn't served my needs!
> 
> I just had Dish installed in February with the 811 receiver. I have the Everything Pak with HBO, Showtime, the works! Last weekend I added an off-air antenna (Winegard Square Shooter) for my local HD channels, which I must say works extremely well.
> 
> ...


The CSR was wrong, it would cost you $299 to upgrade to a 622 (Dual Sat + 1 OTA Tuner 2 (or 1) TV) DVR. The $49 deal would get you a 211, whish is your 811 but MPEG4 capable. Both deals include installation and any new Dish / LNBs, switches, etc you need to get all the programming. The catch is you have to sub to one of the Bronze/Gold/Platinum packages on an 18 Month commitment to get the deal.


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## kb7oeb (Jun 16, 2004)

My 811 still gets the orignal voom channels, if you're pointed at 129 make sure you get channel 9901


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

BigBill34 said:


> Ok, I need some assistance here and so far customer service hasn't served my needs!
> 
> I just had Dish installed in February with the 811 receiver. I have the Everything Pak with HBO, Showtime, the works! Last weekend I added an off-air antenna (Winegard Square Shooter) for my local HD channels, which I must say works extremely well.
> 
> ...


The HD locals off the satellite are in the new MPEG4 format. Your 811 cannot receive any MPEG-4 channels. If you are getting them fine OTA why do you want to get them via satellite? With OTA you get all the subchannels - they may not be carried on the satellite, and the OTA's are uncompresed.


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## audiomaster (Jun 24, 2004)

My owned 811 took a lightning surge this AM and died. I opened the unit and the power supply board is dead. Fuse ok, but no output. Anyone have a working 811 they are turning in that I could do a power supply board swap with? Its an easy board to pull out. I can easily walk you through the procedure. I don't really want to upgrade yet for both financial and reliability reasons. Thanks if you can help.
Now I have to go and try to find out why my phone system isn't working!! 
[email protected]


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

audiomaster said:


> My owned 811 took a lightning surge this AM and died. I opened the unit and the power supply board is dead. Fuse ok, but no output. Anyone have a working 811 they are turning in that I could do a power supply board swap with? Its an easy board to pull out. I can easily walk you through the procedure. I don't really want to upgrade yet for both financial and reliability reasons. Thanks if you can help.
> Now I have to go and try to find out why my phone system isn't working!!
> [email protected]


By opening up the receiver you just voided any warranty that migh thave been in force. Even receivers older than 1 year have been RMA's for a $14.98 shipping charge.

Did you have both the power and the satellite feed on a surge surpressor?


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## audiomaster (Jun 24, 2004)

Michael P said:


> By opening up the receiver you just voided any warranty that migh thave been in force. Even receivers older than 1 year have been RMA's for a $14.98 shipping charge.
> 
> Did you have both the power and the satellite feed on a surge surpressor?


Not under warranty. It's a used one from Ebay but worked great. Very few of the problems mentioned here except occasional a/v sync. It had a surge supp on the ac line (two if you count the whole house unit on the main panel) The dishes are at ground level and had surge prot. It may have been because the 61 degree dish is about 200ft from the other dish due to tree problems, and the line is still on top the ground because I have not gotten it trenched in yet. 
I have no output voltages from the [power supply board and thought if someone was sending one back that had a good board, maybe I could buy it and do a swap rather than having to reregister a new unit. I don't know if they would allow me to register a different unit for HD? I have had the HD pack for a while, but who knows?

The hit we took was very close and took the PS out on my KSU telephone system (on a separate UPS) and a couple of the motion detectors out on my alarm system!


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