# New DVR/Genie for 2015



## cnb2606 (Jan 9, 2007)

Hi all,

I am in process of moving into a new house in March. I am considering Dtv and need some guidance from the community?

1. Is there a new Genie, HR54 on its way?
2. If yes, will a new wireless unit be introduced?
3. I will have about 9 televions around the house. Can one Genie with wireless end points be able to power all TVs? 
4. Where is the best place to find a good deal for DTv? Costco?

Thanks in advance.


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## texasbrit (Aug 9, 2006)

No-one really knows what's coming, bu IMHO it's highly unlikely there will be a box that will support 9 TVs. That would mean 10 tuners (2 for the local TV, one each for the others),( that's a big step up from the five in the current Genie). Very little demand I think for a 10 tuner box. But of course I could be wrong, often are!!


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## WestDC (Feb 9, 2008)

Current Genie Has 5 tuners will support 3 mins and currently supports a wireless client- However 9TVS- $6.50 a month pre mini/hd or hddvr receiver Totals $58.50 before you add the DVR fee's + any programing - SO be prepared for sticker shock.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

I would not want one machine to control all 9 TVs. If it breaks for any reason they would all be down.

I would want something along these lines:
1 Genie and 3 Clients
3 HDDVRs
2 HD receivers
The above would leave you with 5 functional TVs if the Genie broke for any reason.
The mix of DVRs and HD receivers would be subject to how many people / TV sets would be going at any one time and the viewing ages / habits of the viewers.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

And, free standard installation wouldn't cover 9 TVs, it would be a Genie plus up to three clients (which use a Genie tuner for live TV). Anything over that, or going with regular receivers/DVRs instead of clients would be extra for the hardware.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

I think the most you would get out of some place like Costco would be a Genie and 3 mini's. For a larger installation you would need to work with DirecTV directly, or more likely a a local specialty audio-video shop.

To do what Jimmie57 suggests would have an up front cost around $800 ($200 each for the DVRs, $100 each for the receivers), assuming the Genie and minis were free.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I would highly suggest going with a specialist, particularly if the total tuner count would be over 16 tuners (keep in mind Genies have 5, Genie clients (c31/41) have none).

While some have disagreed, I don't think many of the average installers really can do an installation of that type, it's just not something they run into very often and it requires a different configuration.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

dpeters11 said:


> While some have disagreed, I don't think many of the average installers really can do an installation of that type, it's just not something they run into very often and it requires a different configuration.


there is really nothing so racial is connecting a swm16. With the introduction is the genie. Swm16s are more popular than you think

Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

peds48 said:


> there is really nothing so racial is connecting a swm16. With the introduction is the genie. Swm16s are more popular than you think
> 
> Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk


One SWM16 sure, but I really don't think a dual SWM16 setup is all that common. He may not need that, but with a Genie and the right number of DVRs/receivers on the other 8 TVs, if he doesn't get clients, he may.


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## mgavs (Jun 17, 2007)

To save a few bucks monthly you may want to consider this if some TVs are never used at the same time... We have a TV in front of a bathtub, in the bedroom and excersize room that are served by one DVR via a Gefen HDMI splitter. We are even upgrading the splitter to two inputs so we can use an AppleTV next to the DVR (we use HBO and Showtime a lot on AppleTV). Three remotes, one in each location, are used for wireless control. Been doing this about 10 years now so the monthly savings are far more than the initial costs.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

I'd go wired insofar as practical. I'd get one Genie and a couple of HR24s, so you'll be able to record 9 shows at once. You can get 3 Genie clients (aka minis) active at one time on a Genie, but you can have more clients, just not active at the time. You can also put in H25s as small quiet units that will play everything off the Whole Home install. Nice system. 

And there's always something in the pipeline somewhere but who knows when, where, how something will be released. The HR44's are very nice units.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

cnb2606 said:


> 1. Is there a new Genie, HR54 on its way?


Anything new that DIRECTV releases will likely be in the client-server class. What the model number is or its capabilities are will likely be prominently posted here long before it is available. From the tentative naming of the next product it sounds like it may actually be less capable from a TV count standpoint rather than more.


> 2. If yes, will a new wireless unit be introduced?


That depends on what you mean by "wireless unit". If you're looking for something with Gigabit speed or that would support nine clients from a single device, not any time soon.


> 3. I will have about 9 televions around the house. Can one Genie with wireless end points be able to power all TVs?


Not any time soon. Probably never.

The Wi-fi part could be handled with multiple WVBs but the technology to do nine or more streams from a single server is asking an awful lot.

I'd guess that what you're looking for is going to be a whole new streaming distribution metaphor and outside the scope of a residential installation.


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## plehrack (Aug 21, 2006)

jimmie57 said:


> I would not want one machine to control all 9 TVs. If it breaks for any reason they would all be down.
> 
> I would want something along these lines:
> 1 Genie and 3 Clients
> ...


All I want is:

2 Genies - 3 Clients each. That way there is a backup Genie and neither is overworked. One can dream.

:-/

Peter


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## cnb2606 (Jan 9, 2007)

Thanks all valuable feedback. One thing for sure that I will have a sticker shock. On DTV website it says that Genie can support upto 8 minis. Does that mean that I can only watch live content on 2 TVs and rest can only stream content off the Genie (DVR)?


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

cnb2606 said:


> Thanks all valuable feedback. One thing for sure that I will have a sticker shock. On DTV website it says that Genie can support upto 8 minis. Does that mean that I can only watch live content on 2 TVs and rest can only stream content off the Genie (DVR)?


You can watch on 4 TVs at once from the Genie.
The TV that is hooked up to the Genie and each of the clients can all watch at one time.
However, if that is happening, that only leaves you one tuner to record from if all the people are watching live TV.
If some are watching recorded programs then you can record more programs at once than just the one I just mentioned.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

cnb2606 said:


> One thing for sure that I will have a sticker shock.


As DIRECTV operates under a leased equipment model, your cost of whatever you get will likely be the lease entry fee for whatever over four TVs you go.

At this point in time, you would be looking at a Genie, three minis, two HD DVRs, one HD receiver and a partridge in a pear tree.

You would be on the hook for the two DVRs and the HD receiver totalling about $497. Note that you would not own equipment and would be required to return it when you close the account.

If this would not be a residential situation, everything changes.


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

cnb2606 said:


> On DTV website it says that Genie can support upto 8 minis.


It can support up to 8 minis in total. However, it can only support 3 active minis at any given time.


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## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

cnb2606, a couple of questions I have:

How many people are regularly in the home? If more than 4 do they all spend time watching TV alone, or do people tend to watch together? The main thing we are trying to figure out here is how many TVs you will need to have playing different content at any one time?

Second question would be how amny things do you typically record?

These two things can have a big impact on what you might need. My parents get along just fine with one Genie, 3 mini clients, and 2 RVU TVs to run 7 on TVs total. This setup only allows them to watch in 4 different rooms at one time, but that is not an issue since that pretty much never happens since it is just the two of them in the house. When my sister or my family are visiting we still dont' have an issue because we tend to be spending time together and watching the same thing if we are watching TV at all.

Now if it's something like you, a spouse, and a bunch of kids living their full time then a single Genie is probably not going to be enough, you are probably going to want some other HD-DVRs etc.


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## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

There is a new Genie coming out this year to support 4K. Nobody knows the specs of the box yet. Or those that do aren't talking .


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

SledgeHammer said:


> There is a new Genie coming out this year to support 4K.


Where did you hear that?


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## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

harsh said:


> Where did you hear that?


On here .


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## twizt3dkitty (Aug 29, 2009)

New receivers aside... directv can only schedule 6 irds to be installed on one job. It's a seibel limitation due to estimated job duration. The only way around this is going to be a tech only option. After the irds are active.. and the account shows active on our end the cx would have to call customer service to add another 3 tvs paying full price of all of them. Once the upgrade is scheduled then the tech has the ability (but does not need to do this if he doesn't want to or doesn't have the time.. so be prepared to tip generously) to up schedule your job while he is on site then complete everything in one visit. This will be an all day event for you and the tech unless everything is pre-wired and the dish is good to go. So chances are based on scheduling this is not even an option. Sorry to break bad news.


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## tlarseth (Mar 14, 2014)

twizt3dkitty said:


> New receivers aside... directv can only schedule 6 irds to be installed on one job. It's a seibel limitation due to estimated job duration. The only way around this is going to be a tech only option. After the irds are active.. and the account shows active on our end the cx would have to call customer service to add another 3 tvs paying full price of all of them. Once the upgrade is scheduled then the tech has the ability (but does not need to do this if he doesn't want to or doesn't have the time.. so be prepared to tip generously) to up schedule your job while he is on site then complete everything in one visit. This will be an all day event for you and the tech unless everything is pre-wired and the dish is good to go. So chances are based on scheduling this is not even an option. Sorry to break bad news.


I am an installer and I get 8 box installs all the time and I do see 2 swm16 setups quite often as well. We have a lot of MDUs that only allow one dish per building. The call center has to have a special team add the lines before the install since technically over 6-8 boxes I can't remember the exact number is supposed to be commercial billing.


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## WestDC (Feb 9, 2008)

cnb2606 said:


> Thanks all valuable feedback. One thing for sure that I will have a sticker shock. On DTV website it says that Genie can support upto 8 minis. Does that mean that I can only watch live content on 2 TVs and rest can only stream content off the Genie (DVR)?


I would suggest you use the mini's in locations (3) that would not be used that often - Everywhere else where a lot of tv use - install a H25 or a HR24 to avoid recording conflicts with the genie as they won't take a "live" tuner from the Genie when watching live tv in the other rooms.. This depends on how many folks are in your home at any one time.- The monthly Charge $6.50 is the same for a mini,HD or HDDVR receiver no matter how many you have.


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## patmurphey (Dec 21, 2006)

An alternative solution depending on your programming preferences:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/9-room-hopper-joey-install-3-hoppers-6-joeys.312991/


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## tlarseth (Mar 14, 2014)

WestDC said:


> I would suggest you use the mini's in locations (3) that would not be used that often - Everywhere else where a lot of tv use - install a H25 or a HR24 to avoid recording conflicts with the genie as they won't take a "live" tuner from the Genie when watching live tv in the other rooms.. This depends on how many folks are in your home at any one time.- The monthly Charge $6.50 is the same for a mini,HD or HDDVR receiver no matter how many you have.


Yes the genie can support up to 8 clients but only 3 at one time, most people get a genie and 3 clients, then the rest HD so they can watch TV in all rooms at once. An HD with a genie can record and watch recordings via the genie, but pause and rewind is only on recordings an HD/DVR fixes that issue.


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