# Multi-Room Viewing Turned off!



## dkraft (Aug 31, 2007)

I was using the beta version of the Multi Room Viewing and everything was fine. Then suddenly today IT STOPPED working and a message told me to call customer service for authorization.

I called customer service to tell them to turn it back on and they told me new equipment was needed. 99.00 upgrade and 49.00 installation.

I'm not mad about the cost for the upgrade but I am really pissed about cutting the service off with out notice.

I follow DBS talk a lot but did not see this coming (turning multi room viewing off with out notice)

Maybe it was me and I missed the notice, thread or something.

First time in 13 years that I hate Directv at the moment


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## azarby (Dec 15, 2006)

dkraft said:


> I was using the beta version of the Multi Room Viewing and everything was fine. Then suddenly today IT STOPPED working and a message told me to call customer service for authorization.
> 
> I called customer service to tell them to turn it back on and they told me new equipment was needed. 99.00 upgrade and 49.00 installation.
> 
> ...


Can't see how you missed the notice. MRV went live on 5/13 with a grace period to 5/20. There are multiple threads dealing with the issue. You have a couple of choices.

Have DTV come out and make you official. (They provide the gear, suport and connectivity., $3.00/month) + install fees.

Continue with your own hardware and get DTV to turn on MRV as unsupported, You provide the support, but pay $3.00 a month. There are several threads on how to do this.

Bob


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## rob316 (Jun 29, 2008)

dkraft said:


> I was using the beta version of the Multi Room Viewing and everything was fine. Then suddenly today IT STOPPED working and a message told me to call customer service for authorization.
> 
> I called customer service to tell them to turn it back on and they told me new equipment was needed. 99.00 upgrade and 49.00 installation.
> 
> ...


It's been all over DBSTALK for the last couple days how could you have missed all the postings.:lol:


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## dwcolvin (Oct 4, 2007)

dkraft said:


> I was using the beta version of the Multi Room Viewing and everything was fine. Then suddenly today IT STOPPED working and a message told me to call customer service for authorization.
> 
> I called customer service to tell them to turn it back on and they told me new equipment was needed. 99.00 upgrade and 49.00 installation.
> 
> ...


I was wondering when the first of these posts would show up.

You might want to look at the *Connected Home* sub-forum...


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## dkraft (Aug 31, 2007)

Just mark me down as another idiot that does not pay attention 



azarby said:


> Can't see how you missed the notice. MRV went live on 5/13 with a grace period to 5/20. There are multiple threads dealing with the issue. You have a couple of choices.
> 
> Have DTV come out and make you official. (They provide the gear, suport and connectivity., $3.00/month) + install fees.
> 
> ...


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## Indiana627 (Nov 18, 2005)

Just call them back and have them activate it so that you can use your existing home network just like you have been. You'll stay have to pay the $3/mo, but they should be able to turn it back on immediately and you won't have to spend $150 in equipment.


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## stansher (Apr 29, 2006)

azarby said:


> Can't see how you missed the notice. MRV went live on 5/13 with a grace period to 5/20. There are multiple threads dealing with the issue. You have a couple of choices.
> 
> Have DTV come out and make you official. (They provide the gear, suport and connectivity., $3.00/month) + install fees.
> 
> ...


Just got off the phone with Direct. I have been using the beta on my gigabite network with no problem. I asked if I could go the unsupported route and they refused. Long story short and 150 later, I am having deca installed on Sunday. I will have my dish tweaked at the same time .


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## EricRobins (Feb 9, 2005)

I was able to get my "unsupported" system activated no problem. They even offered to do the DECA install for $49, but I declined.


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## tacua (Apr 22, 2008)

Does anyone know which transponders on D12 are:
MSNBCHD
TravelHD
WGN HD
Life HD
Hallmark HD
Many thanks,


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

tacua said:


> Does anyone know which transponders on D12 are:
> MSNBCHD
> TravelHD
> WGN HD
> ...


Look here.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=172899

Mike


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

tacua said:


> Does anyone know which transponders on D12 are:
> MSNBCHD
> TravelHD
> WGN HD
> ...


D12/TP19. Slight chance it's TP18, but I believe it's TP19.


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## hyde76 (Nov 26, 2007)

dkraft said:


> Just mark me down as another idiot that does not pay attention


not at all. Don't all you folks realize that there's been some much bigger news the past couple of days that may have distracted some people from noticing that MRV was now out of Beta? I sure did not bother with those other threads. I was concentrating on D10 / D12. You did nothing wrong.


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## stansher (Apr 29, 2006)

EricRobins said:


> I was able to get my "unsupported" system activated no problem. They even offered to do the DECA install for $49, but I declined.


I called back, they cancelled the install and activated it. thanks


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## TimGoodwin (Jun 29, 2004)

I just had mine turned back on without the Deca upgrade also.


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## Janice805 (Nov 27, 2005)

dkraft ...Don't let people make you beat yourself up for "not paying attention" here. While I come to this board a couple of times a week, I don't have all day to read all posts about everything.

I think it's the responsibility of DIRECT TV (God forbid I say this) to notify US of imminent changes. Not necessarily in writing (if that's too much), but gadzooks, I mean I have an e-mail address listed on their website, but they've NEVER used it to notify me of ANY changes. They could have let us know that new channels were coming 05/19/10 (none of which I personally have any interest in, except maybe TRAV and I noticed they cleverly stuck HALLMARK MOVIES in the Extra Pack (which I won't pay for PERIOD)!!! They could also have sent an e-mail regarding the MRV shutoff, rather than me getting a strange message across (only 1 of my screens) which I didn't have time to read and lost it. AAAAAARG. Geez, some people don't even own computers. Come on Direct TV. Notify your customers in ADVANCE of any changes. Is that asking too much? P.S. And group, don't jump on me. These are only MY opinions.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

I knew it was being turned off today and still, I waited until afterwards to make the switch.

Yeah, it's OK not to live, breathe and drink DBSTALK, although I won't admit that in public.


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## azarby (Dec 15, 2006)

stansher said:


> Just got off the phone with Direct. I have been using the beta on my gigabite network with no problem. I asked if I could go the unsupported route and they refused. Long story short and 150 later, I am having deca installed on Sunday. I will have my dish tweaked at the same time .


Apparently DTV wants all new unsupported requests to come in via email. There is a thread in the "connected home forum" that describes the process.

Bob


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Janice805 said:


> dkraft ...Don't let people make you beat yourself up for "not paying attention" here. While I come to this board a couple of times a week, I don't have all day to read all posts about everything.
> 
> I think it's the responsibility of DIRECT TV (God forbid I say this) to notify US of imminent changes. Not necessarily in writing (if that's too much), but gadzooks, I mean I have an e-mail address listed on their website, but they've NEVER used it to notify me of ANY changes. They could have let us know that new channels were coming 05/19/10 (none of which I personally have any interest in, except maybe TRAV and I noticed they cleverly stuck HALLMARK MOVIES in the Extra Pack (which I won't pay for PERIOD)!!! They could also have sent an e-mail regarding the MRV shutoff, rather than me getting a strange message across (only 1 of my screens) which I didn't have time to read and lost it. AAAAAARG. Geez, some people don't even own computers. Come on Direct TV. Notify your customers in ADVANCE of any changes. Is that asking too much? P.S. And group, don't jump on me. These are only MY opinions.


Considering the major uptick in the amount of TVMail, they could have used that to announce the new channels. And they weren't being clever about Hallmark Movies. They don't carry a SD counterpart, so that's where it goes.


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

I'm moving this to the Connected Home forum.


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## msmith (Apr 23, 2002)

I discovered today that placing a DECA order does NOT cause MRV to remain on. I had to call customer service to have it turned on again. It took the CSR a while to get it working and I had to run System Test before the re-hit took.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

msmith said:


> I discovered today that placing a DECA order does NOT cause MRV to remain on. I had to call customer service to have it turned on again. It took the CSR a while to get it working and I had to run System Test before the re-hit took.


There were definitely some number of people yesterday (all?) that had previously been able to get whole home DVR service turned on while maintaining the 'Choice Xtra plus HDDVR' legacy plan. These are the folks that seem to have had whole home DVR service disabled yesterday when Beta was disabled. I have no explanation for it, just passing on that your experience is the same as others.

It doesn't seem to matter if it was a DIY setup or an installer setup.


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## barryb (Aug 27, 2007)

msmith said:


> I discovered today that placing a DECA order does NOT cause MRV to remain on. I had to call customer service to have it turned on again. It took the CSR a while to get it working and I had to run System Test before the re-hit took.


I found out the same as well. I noticed this by going to my account at directv.com, and just clicked the little button (that was greyed out before I had the DECA install), and fixed the problem myself.

So for those who got a DECA install: you will still need to activate the "whole home service" as it appears this is a different step than the hardware install.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

msmith said:


> I discovered today that placing a DECA order does NOT cause MRV to remain on. I had to call customer service to have it turned on again. It took the CSR a while to get it working and I had to run System Test before the re-hit took.





Doug Brott said:


> There were definitely some number of people yesterday (all?) that had previously been able to get whole home DVR service turned on while maintaining the 'Choice Xtra plus HDDVR' legacy plan. These are the folks that seem to have had whole home DVR service disabled yesterday when Beta was disabled. I have no explanation for it, just passing on that your experience is the same as others.
> 
> It doesn't seem to matter if it was a DIY setup or an installer setup.





barryb said:


> I found out the same as well. I noticed this by going to my account at directv.com, and just clicked the little button (that was greyed out before I had the DECA install), and fixed the problem myself.
> 
> So for those who got a DECA install: you will still need to activate the "whole home service" as it appears this is a different step than the hardware install.


I read that post that the msmith believed that just placing the order for a DECA upgrade would keep MRV activated on their account. Obviously, that's not the case. Unless you have them turn on MRV in the unsupported mode, MRV will not be accessible from the time the Beta ends until the actual DECA install as that is when they will activate the MRV service.

- Merg


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## dkraft (Aug 31, 2007)

I was able to get MRV turned back on by going the email route recommended in the section "Enabling MRV using your home networking".

Sent the email last night about 6.00, recievd an email this morning from Directv and MRV was turned back on when I checked.

Yesterday was like Pearl Harbor, today was almost like Christmas!


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## dwcolvin (Oct 4, 2007)

dkraft said:


> I was able to get MRV turned back on by going the email route recommended in the section "Enabling MRV using your home networking".
> 
> Sent the email last night about 6.00, recievd an email this morning from Directv and MRV was turned back on when I checked.
> 
> Yesterday was like Pearl Harbor, today was almost like Christmas!


I guess you don't hate DirecTV anymore 

There really was no excuse for ending the MRV Beta without notice (at least TVmail), even though most of us here regularly knew it was coming. :soapbox:


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## Crimson (Dec 9, 2006)

azarby said:


> Apparently DTV wants all new unsupported requests to come in via email. There is a thread in the "connected home forum" that describes the process.
> 
> Bob


Who gives a rat's rear end what DTV wants? I went the email route, they did not respond.. I had to go the Twitter route. If they are charging for this service they should be able to handle the requests that come in for it ANY way the customer contacts them.

DTV completely dropped the ball on communications for this. I got lucky as a DBSTalk member, but anyone who started the beta without knowing about this forum would simply get SHUT OFF without ANY notice what so ever. They would then call in and have what appears to be a 50% chance of anyone knowing what they are talking about. Many are getting swindled into purchasing DECA equipment they don't want or need.

The way this is being handled and the misinformation being given our by CSR's is pathetic. They should have left the beta active if their CSR team is unable to read simple instructions on how to accomplish this by now. I shouldn't have to open a Twitter account to get DTV to respond to me.



I think some the leaders of this forum need to take a step back and stop covering for DTV. The line between DBSTalk and DTV is being blurred every day. Unfortunately I think its because of the 'special' relationship that DBSTalk has with DTV for the CE program. I think they are afraid to upset DTV for that reason. This forum should be looking out for its members not making excuses for DTV. I find this forum very informative but sometimes I feel like a lot of what is being posted is simply a veiled sales pitch.


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## DogLover (Mar 19, 2007)

dwcolvin said:


> I guess you don't hate DirecTV anymore
> 
> There really was no excuse for ending the MRV Beta without notice (at least TVmail), even though most of us here regularly knew it was coming. :soapbox:


But they didn't announce the Beta through TVmail. They announced it through forums. So, why is it supprising that they announced the end though forums?


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## Crimson (Dec 9, 2006)

DogLover said:


> But they didn't announce the Beta through TVmail. They announced it through forums. So, why is it supprising that they announced the end though forums?


People could easily enable the beta without knowledge of the forums. Who cares where they announced it from? People went into setup, found the option, turned it on.. suddenly today its off with no idea why. They call up and will likely get told they need to spend $150 to get it turned back on which is simply not true. Besides, last time I checked this forum was not an official DTV support forum.. unless something changed?

I followed the instructions on this forum and received NO RESPONSE from DTV via email.


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## DogLover (Mar 19, 2007)

Crimson said:


> Who gives a rat's rear end what DTV wants? I went the email route, they did not respond.. I had to go the Twitter route. If they are charging for this service they should be able to handle the requests that come in for it ANY way the customer contacts them.
> 
> DTV completely dropped the ball on communications for this. I got lucky as a DBSTalk member, but anyone who started the beta without knowing about this forum would simply get SHUT OFF without ANY notice what so ever. They would then call in and have what appears to be a 50% chance of anyone knowing what they are talking about. Many are getting swindled into purchasing DECA equipment they don't want or need.
> 
> ...


However, without that special relationship, DirecTV may not have allowed the unsupported option in the first place. From what others in the know have said, there was a strong voice within DirecTV to only allow MRV over a supported DECA network.

I for one am glad they have allowed that option, even though I opted to go supported. I see that as something they did for their customers, that can only cause them more hassle then direct monetary benefit. (And some of the goodwill benefit they might have had by not requiring the upgrade has been lost by how unprepared they were to set this up.)

A beta, by convention, is a limited time thing. It seems logical that if I sign up for a beta I should keep up with when that beta will go away. I'm sure I wouldn't want them to have begun charging the $3 to all who were signed up for the beta without them having to specifically sign up for it. Would you want that?

I'm not trying to make excuses for DirecTV's unpreparadness. They began rollout before the equipment was in full supply, and then only allowed 1 week for all the beta testers to switch over. This was poor planning. If they were going to allow the unsupported option, they should have had a process in place beforehand to set it up.

However, I do not see the unsupported option as something to which we are "entitltled". It is something that DirecTV is doing to keep good customers like us.


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## dkraft (Aug 31, 2007)

They'll get it turned back on for you. I felt the same way at 6.00 last night, wanted to "bust a cap". After it was turned back on this morning, Directv is my friend again 

But I agreed, if you didn't know about DBStalk, you'd be out of luck getting MVR turned back on. At least here we have people who can help us communicate with Directv.



Crimson said:


> People could easily enable the beta without knowledge of the forums. Who cares where they announced it from? People went into setup, found the option, turned it on.. suddenly today its off with no idea why. They call up and will likely get told they need to spend $150 to get it turned back on which is simply not true. Besides, last time I checked this forum was not an official DTV support forum.. unless something changed?
> 
> I followed the instructions on this forum and received NO RESPONSE from DTV via email.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

Crimson said:


> I think some the leaders of this forum need to take a step back and stop covering for DTV. The line between DBSTalk and DTV is being blurred every day. Unfortunately I think its because of the 'special' relationship that DBSTalk has with DTV for the CE program. I think they are afraid to upset DTV for that reason. This forum should be looking out for its members not making excuses for DTV. I find this forum very informative but sometimes I feel like a lot of what is being posted is simply a veiled sales pitch.


I think that is a bit of an unfair characterization of the people who have busted their butts from day one, not just on MRV beta, and this messed up transition, but in all the iterations that we have gone through since before Santa for the HR20-700, over 3 years ago.

These people are trying to work through problems, dispassionately. They leave the passion for the affected parties. Were it not for the "special" relationship they have with D*, and that many of us have labored to maintain, we wouldn't have jack, other than an underdeveloped NR to work with.

This is all a point of view problem, or what is sometimes referred to as "the illusion of central position", i.e., the universe rotates around me. The picture is bigger, the relationships more complex, and the processes more cumbersome than the single point of view of a consumer or even a group of consumers might have.

This was a massive change, poorly handled for the existing BETA people (me included). I have not seen any of the more established members say what a wonderful job of implementing the change was done for the betazoids. Problems have been noted, responded to, work-arounds arranged, and solutions presented....all at the extended efforts of those found fault with.

If one wants to be upset with someone, D* is a legitimate and richly deserving target for this limited transition. The people from dbstalk who have devoted extended hours, every day since the transition started, do not deserve to be negatively characterized, or for that matter, criticized in any way, whatsoever.


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## joed32 (Jul 27, 2006)

I agree with you hasan. A lot of people are in a really bad mood right now because of how poorly Directv has been in telling the CSRs how this all works so they are lashing out. I got mine activated for the second time last night it was such a bad experience with all the misinformation I kept getting. I would rather a CSR say "I don't know how to do that" than say that it can't be done. Most CSRs were nice but couldn't help but a few were jerks. The guy who finally turned mine on said "I'll do it but it won't work". Of course it did work.
If we didn't have forums to rant in sometimes we would be lost. I've received tons of help here and I thank everyone for that.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

joed32 said:


> I agree with you hasan. A lot of people are in a really bad mood right now because of how poorly Directv has been in telling the CSRs how this all works so they are lashing out. I got mine activated for the second time last night it was such a bad experience with all the misinformation I kept getting. I would rather a CSR say "I don't know how to do that" than say that it can't be done. Most CSRs were nice but couldn't help but a few were jerks. The guy who finally turned mine on said "I'll do it but it won't work". Of course it did work.
> If we didn't have forums to rant in sometimes we would be lost. I've received tons of help here and I thank everyone for that.


I had similar problems, but *only because of Doug Brott's efforts*, was I able to successfully complete the process in one phone call, without losing my Legacy package, or having SWM/DECA required. (BTW, I am currently feverishly planning to go SWM/DECA on one of my two dishes, thanks to the help of both Doug and VOS with some of the subtleties and particulars of running a hybrid system (2 dishes, one SWM/DECA, one not, linked wireless N from the non-SWM/DECA system to the "main" system. This gives me the number of tuners I need on the SWM system, but leaves the other dish and attached DVR completely alone, but preserving MRV for it. No new equipment, no changes at all, which I would not have figured out without substantial hair loss (which I can't afford))

With respect to dbstalk and its dedicated members, I have much to be grateful for, and in the face of the frustration caused by this "awkard at best" transition, I don't want all the hard work put in by dbstalk taken lightly or for granted.


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## Crimson (Dec 9, 2006)

hasan said:


> I think that is a bit of an unfair characterization of the people who have busted their butts from day one, not just on MRV beta, and this messed up transition, but in all the iterations that we have gone through since before Santa for the HR20-700, over 3 years ago.
> 
> These people are trying to work through problems, dispassionately. They leave the passion for the affected parties. Were it not for the "special" relationship they have with D*, and that many of us have labored to maintain, we wouldn't have jack, other than an underdeveloped NR to work with.
> 
> ...


If DirecTV was offering this for free I might be able to buy the excuses. But this is a PAY service that put out there for EVERYONE (not just members of this forum) as a beta to test. They made zero communications with those users to tell them that this beta period was up. But I am beating a dead horse there.

As for criticizing the staff, I somewhat agree.. I think they have tried hard to cover up for DirecTV's complete breakdown on this matter. However, I think that cover up may have crossed the line from being a loyal dedicated support to complete shilling for DTV and their services. If they aren't being PAID by DirecTV to do so, I think they are getting screwed. If they ARE being paid, we should know about a possible conflict of interest.

In Doug's own post he indicates that DirecTV has requested that all requests for unsupported MRV go through eMail. Why is HE communicating that? Why isn't DirecTV communicating that? I took his advice and got ZERO response from DTV. I had to open a Twitter account to get DTV to respond. His message sounds about as close to being an officially sponsored DTV request as you can get without saying so. I think thats crossing the line. Doug should be telling users all their options if he wants to assist, not just what DirecTV wants him to say. Like I said, my concern is that DBSTalk is being controlled by DirecTV.. which is fine, as long as the people involved are honest about it.

I guess thats my major concern. There is a line that either has been crossed, or is close to being crossed (in my opinion) by DBSTalk thats taking them from a community of DBS users to a support forum controlled by the vendor.

Let me give one more example. I've believe I've seen Doug make posts that DECA is the preferred method of MRV because its been optimized/designed around MRV. Honestly, I don't believe him. It MAY work better, but I'm not convinced of that, and I am also not convinced it doesn't work better because of DTV's inability or unwillingness to optimize MRV around home ethernet solutions. I believe many of the staff have received this equipment free from DTV in order to test. How can I trust that they are not pushing it to continue to get free equipment? Ethernet is capable of running the largest websites in the world, but I am to believe it can't handle streaming video locally well? That seems like an excuse to me.

I hope you understand what I am getting at. I'm not trying to badmouth anyone in particular. DBSTalk has done a great job helping me and others through their problems - I just want to see it continue to be that and not just become a mouthpiece for DTV.


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