# Time to upgrade from 722 to Hopper...please help with ?'s



## beagan (Jun 10, 2008)

Okay, I'm sure I'm breaking a few rules for asking questions that are likely answered throughout the many threads in this forum. My 722 has been acting up occasionally with signal loss, seems a bit slower and has an SD GUI. I think its probably time to upgrade, but I recall not liking my options the last time I investigated this when the Hopper was first announced. My viewing habits have changed and I honestly don't recall all of my previous research. I'm hoping someone can be kind enough to provide explicit answers for the following:

Current Setup: I only have one receiver in the living room, for which an HDMI splitter is feeding the master bedroom (50' HDMI run) about 35' away. I've removed the remote control antenna from the back of the DVR and did a coax run to the master bedroom to get the remote antenna much closer and works great. I also have an OTA antenna in the attic attached to the DVR for additional recording options. Plus, an extended hard drive hookup. I understand this may not work for some, but my wife and I are never watching different shows in the different rooms, so sharing the same signal has never been a problem. So, can this work seamlessly with a Hopper? These are the questions I'm still unsure of:

1. Sounds like I'm losing the ability to extend the remote control functionality to the master bedroom, as it doesn't seem the same as the 722. Before I extended the coax for the 722 control, it was very hit and miss to get the remote control to work. If this option is indeed gone, does the Hopper have better range for me to use a remote from the master bedroom (35' away from the living room)? Is there any way to extend the signal strength (like I did for the 722)?

2. Is the OTA antenna an option anymore?

3. Will the extended hard drive still work on the Hopper? Will I lose all my content while doing this?

4. Is the response time better, same, worse when switching channels or browsing the guide? My brother-in-law has DTV (not sure which DVR), though it has a much nicer HD GUI than mine, it is very slow. Also, you cannot select a guide (easily) to view "HD Channels" only like the 722 can do. Is this still available?

5. Can a Universal Remote (URC MX-350) be used for the Hopper? If only one remote comes with the Hopper, the intent would be to use that one in the master bedroom and the URC in the living room.

6. My summarized bill is $70 (America's top 200) + $7 (DVR service) + $0 (HD free w/ auto-pay) + tax. Sounds like my bill would only go up $5 since it's $12 monthly DVR fee. Am I missing something, if all else stays the same?

Also, I've been out of contract since 2010. What can I expect in equipment costs to upgrade to the Hopper? Since I'm out of contract, any chance I got a little wiggle room for negotiations on upgrading costs?

I would appreciate hearing any cons from others that loved their 722.
Thank you in advance!!


----------



## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

1. Actually - if you get a Joey along with your Hopper (for what was the TV2), You can get HD as well as having the tuner right there. The Joey can also play all your recorded shows on the Hopper.

2 - There is an OTA USB dongle for the Hopper, again just 1.

3. I believe that any external hard drives for Dish DVRs will play on any other ON THE SAME ACCOUNT. So, if you have anything on your current DVR you want to keep - get the external HD and get them moved over FIRST.

4. I can't answer that one

5. Again - I don't have an answer for that

6. Basic account costs would be the same. If you would add a Joey for your 2nd room, of course there would be an extra charge for that extra hardware.


The Hopper has 3 tuners - but only 1 output - If you want independent viewing - you have to get a Joey of some sort.


----------



## beagan (Jun 10, 2008)

Thanks for the input. No interest in the Joey, though I know it could solve some concerns with additional monthly costs (would rather avoid the $84 annual for a Joey just to resolve a remote control issue).
If I could still mirror my current 722 setup for the most part, I think I'd be happy (the Hopper alone is bumping up my annual $60).


----------



## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

beagan said:


> 4. Is the response time better, same, worse when switching channels or browsing the guide? My brother-in-law has DTV (not sure which DVR), though it has a much nicer HD GUI than mine, it is very slow. Also, you cannot select a guide (easily) to view "HD Channels" only like the 722 can do. Is this still available?
> 
> 5. Can a Universal Remote (URC MX-350) be used for the Hopper? If only one remote comes with the Hopper, the intent would be to use that one in the master bedroom and the URC in the living room.
> got a little wiggle room for negotiations on upgrading costs?
> ...


4. I see no problem here. I think my Hopper(s) are as fast or faster than the previous 722 that I had. I wouldn't want to go back to my 722 for any reason other than I am now spending more money to watch TV than I ever did before.
Since I spend a bit of time tinkering in the garage, I added a Joey there which would solve your remote problem in question 5.

5. This could be a major sticking point. I tried just now using my Hopper remote while in the bedroom, one wall between, and could not change the channels on my Hopper in the family room.
Would your URC be able to do this?


----------



## beagan (Jun 10, 2008)

Looking at some pics of the back of the Hopper online, it actually appears that the remote control antenna is the same as the 722.....I was told by someone else it was not. Can anyone confirm if this is the same, thus my coax extender method would still be effective? Thx. 


Sent from my iPhone using DBSTalk


----------



## RBA (Apr 14, 2013)

beagan said:


> Looking at some pics of the back of the Hopper online, it actually appears that the remote control antenna is the same as the 722.....I was told by someone else it was not. Can anyone confirm if this is the same, thus my coax extender method would still be effective? Thx.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using DBSTalk


The Hopper uses a M10 connector not an "F" connector. Try a google search not much information on M10 connectors suspected it is European connector.


----------



## beagan (Jun 10, 2008)

Pulled the trigger for a Hopper, with install this coming Saturday...just gonna have to hope the remote's range will work from that distance. Otherwise, try the 8' extender and cross my fingers for better results. Not much of a TV watcher in the bedroom (more streaming) so it's not necessarily a deal breaker.

My question now is, how can I get around having the installer nail into the outside wall of my house. The last installer did this without my consent when I had just recently re-stucco'd my whole house, without a single nail in it anywhere...that's a complete eye soar to me and would rather minimize access points for termites to an area that no droppings can be seen. When I realized he was pounding a hammer I went out and made him stop, back out the 8 nails he did already and fill them in with clear caulking. But it took a lot to convince him to do this...he was borderline on even finishing the job because he stated he HAD to do the install this way. 10+ years those coax cables leaned against the wall before (cleanly bound by zip ties) and went underneath the house (I'm in SoCal, so weather is not a problem for moving them around much). It was never an issue and now it seemed a MUST? He finally relented. I just know it's going to be even a bigger fight to not have this new guy try and do the same thing. Any tips on avoiding this? Am I the only one here that even cares about the cosmetics of clips/nails running down my wall? Thanks.


----------



## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

Update to my previous post: My Hopper is on a high shelf so I couldn't see the remote antenna. Today I dragged out a ladder and checked and found that when I installed the OTA dongle I left the remote antenna laying flat to the back, and notably away from the direction tom my bedroom. 
Stood it up properly and now the remote does work from the bedroom.

Beagan, so you have any results to post? Always like to here some good results or solutions.

I suspect that Echostar used a different connector for the remote antenna to avoid users plugging the coax feed from the dish in the wrong place.


----------



## bnewt (Oct 2, 2003)

beagan said:


> Pulled the trigger for a Hopper, with install this coming Saturday...just gonna have to hope the remote's range will work from that distance. Otherwise, try the 8' extender and cross my fingers for better results. Not much of a TV watcher in the bedroom (more streaming) so it's not necessarily a deal breaker.
> 
> My question now is, how can I get around having the installer nail into the outside wall of my house. The last installer did this without my consent when I had just recently re-stucco'd my whole house, without a single nail in it anywhere...that's a complete eye soar to me and would rather minimize access points for termites to an area that no droppings can be seen. When I realized he was pounding a hammer I went out and made him stop, back out the 8 nails he did already and fill them in with clear caulking. But it took a lot to convince him to do this...he was borderline on even finishing the job because he stated he HAD to do the install this way. 10+ years those coax cables leaned against the wall before (cleanly bound by zip ties) and went underneath the house (I'm in SoCal, so weather is not a problem for moving them around much). It was never an issue and now it seemed a MUST? He finally relented. I just know it's going to be even a bigger fight to not have this new guy try and do the same thing. Any tips on avoiding this? Am I the only one here that even cares about the cosmetics of clips/nails running down my wall? Thanks.


No you aren't..........in fact that is why I haven't upgraded to the hopper system. I just don't like strangers coming into my home with dirty shoes & scarring up the walls. I'm probably going to upgrade, but I want to do as much of the delicate work as possible....connecting the hopper & joey, etc


----------



## beagan (Jun 10, 2008)

UPDATE: Install was this morning and all went really well. He didn't have to replace the actual dish, but rather just install a diode (?) up near it...the rest of the cable runs were good. Only really had to wait on the guide/software update. Back to my original concern though, it doesn't look like it will work. The remote control is just too far out of range. It does work at the corner of the master bedroom, but not once you're laying on the bed (doh!...just 10-12' feet off). Not sure what to do about that, but since it's rare that we watch anything in the bedroom, maybe it's not that big a deal after all.



bnewt said:


> No you aren't..........in fact that is why I haven't upgraded to the hopper system. I just don't like strangers coming into my home with dirty shoes & scarring up the walls. I'm probably going to upgrade, but I want to do as much of the delicate work as possible....connecting the hopper & joey, etc


The installer was extremely nice, didn't give me a hassle at all on the cables staying the way they were. I even mentioned that it was really hard to convince the last guy to do it this way and he simply said, "Hey, it's your castle...you get to decide how you want it." Nice!! As for bnewt's concern, I had prepared the entry way and section in front of my HDTV with drop clothes and such. It really wasn't even necessary because he put on shoe covers while in the house (removing them as well when he would go outside to keep them clean). Top notch!! No complaints!!

As for my setup - I'm having an issue with my HDMI splitter. I started splitting the signal with the 722 a couple years ago (same signal to both HDTV's). All went fine for quite some time, and then one day the signal kept getting interrupted with HDMI handshaking issues. I blamed it on a software update that maybe decreased the strength of the HDMI output. I eventually just did the single HDMI run to the bedroom, while utilizing the component to the living room (both having live feeds). This worked fine, unless I wanted to watch HBO or any rented movie (this is a very very seldom activity), for which component won't work. Tired of that limitation I ordered the same HDMI splitter about a year later hoping it might be better, and surprisingly it's been working fine up until this new install. Now that the Hopper is in place and the installer left, I decided to do the splitter again (I know they don't like this and would rather me lease a Joey). The results were the same as when my last HDMI splitter wasn't working. I can't imagine the splitter is bad, as it was working fine last night. Could the Hopper be using a lesser strength for HDMI out? Is that even possible or am I just making that up? I don't know what it could be. Any ideas?

As for the Hopper, navigation is very much near the 722...which is good because I really liked that DVR. In fact, I didn't even have to re-program my universal remote due to the commands being mostly the same. The user interface is a vast improvement cosmetically. No complaints so far. I'll post an update once I get into it a bit more.


----------



## thomasjk (Jan 10, 2006)

Wait about 24 hrs before setting up PTAT to allow a complete guide download and other features to fully populate, E.g EHD.


----------



## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

I had a lot of problems with HDMI splitters. I think I resolved it some time back but don't recall exactly what I did.

My cabling is such a mess of mass confusion that it would probably take hours, if not days, to figure it out.
Will attempt it some day or as they say, when I get a 'round toit'. :nono2:


----------



## beagan (Jun 10, 2008)

Mistakenly thought I just resolved my problem but learned something new that doesn't make sense at all. As I stated before, the HDTV in the master bedroom is really only used for streaming content on my PS3. Having the Hopper now, I recalled there was a Dish app for the PS3. Ah, this would work perfectly!! Went thru the install process and hit a road block when it required a call into Dish to activate the on-screen code.....$7 monthly virtual Joey fee. What?! This is my device. Shouldn't be any different than the HBOGo app on the PS3. There's no fee for accessing Dish using my iPad. Why would there be a fee for a PS3 app? On top of that, there's no mention on any of the press releases about an independent monthly subscription for this to work. Instead, there's just praise on better way to watch, "go check it out", etc. I don't get it.

If they want me to pay full price for leasing a Joey, wouldn't I choose to have them install a physical Joey? Strange and disappointing....this could have easily fixed my problem. I'm curious to how many people are actually doing this. ???


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

It has been long known that the Virtual Joey costs the same per month as an actual Joey. I long ago said it didn't make sense to me... because if I was going to have to pay the same, I would want an actual Joey. I don't know why Dish doesn't give the Virtual Joey away since you need a Hopper for it to work anyway, and it would lock you more to being a Dish customer... and they save a little money by not having to come out and install a Joey for you.


----------



## beagan (Jun 10, 2008)

I did research it more after my post and did find your comments. Hmmm...too bad. I wonder if they'll ever change their mind on that. You do make good points on the pros of offering it for free. I know once I'm vested with perks from Dish, there's a strong chance I won't be leaving, while also recommending others to get in on it too. Could you imagine if they charged for the iPad app too? I've only used a few apps on the PS3 (Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBOGo)...are there any apps out there that require a monthly subscription for _specific_ use on the PS3...besides Dish?


----------



## beagan (Jun 10, 2008)

FYI, finally learned a way around this. Learning about Kodi on the Amazon fire stick made me realize that I could probably get Dish Anywhere on the fire stick too. Sure enough it works and the info is out there on how to do it. It acts the same way as my iPad, but it's on my Master Bedroom TV. I suspect the PS3 app is the same, but I'm not paying an additional fee for it. 


Sent from my iPhone using DBSTalk


----------

