# Leaving DirecTv and considering 2 Hoppers



## Joe1022 (Nov 18, 2011)

I apologize for asking something that's probably been covered. I have spent a lot of time in the DirecTv forums, but just recently really started paying attention to Dish again.

I have been debating between the Genie or the Hopper and after seeing the Hopper in action and its quick response time, I think it's the way to go. I record a lot of shows though and my current 4 tuner setup (2 tuner DVR x2) with Directv tends to not always be enough. Even though I think one Hopper would probably suffice most of the time, I'm thinking I'd like to go with 2 Hoppers... Just in case and because I always want more! 

So my question is, when using 2 Hoppers (no Joey's), how we'll do they communicate? I think I've confirmed that they can share recordings, but can they share tuners? Can I manage both Hoppers from one TV? And if not, are there any rumors (from good sources) that this will be possible In the not so distant future? And any other info you think I might need.

I'll keep checking through the forums but figured if someone could tell me here that would be awesome.

Thanks, everyone!


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Hi...

From either Hopper you can see and view recordings on the other Hopper. You cannot, however, see or view recordings that are on an external hard drive unless that drive is connected directly to the Hopper that you are using.

That's pretty much the limit of communication between the Hoppers, except that they also will share internet connections as long as either one is connected to broadband (i.e. you only have to connect one of them).

I haven't seen or heard of any rumors that lead me to believe any further interconnection is coming any time soon between Hoppers.


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

Joe1022 said:


> So my question is, when using 2 Hoppers (no Joey's), how we'll do they communicate? I think I've confirmed that they can share recordings, but can they share tuners? Can I manage both Hoppers from one TV? And if not, are there any rumors (from good sources) that this will be possible In the not so distant future? And any other info you think I might need.


I have two Hoppers and have them connected to the same TV and control them both there. They are connected to different inputs on the TV though so need to have the TV remote handy and also need to have both Hopper remotes handy. I don't expect we will ever see one Hopper/remote able to control a second Hopper.

I should add that it is rare that I need the second Hopper to cover what I want to watch/record but I can envision the times during football season when it could happen. A second Hopper also gives me peace of mind that if one should fail, I won't be without TV for a few days waiting for a replacement to arrive.


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## patmurphey (Dec 21, 2006)

I use a Joey connected to another HDMI input on my primary TV to control my other Hopper. $7 a month well spent.


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## Joe1022 (Nov 18, 2011)

Thanks for all of the info and the good tips! I like those ideas about either having both Hoppers on one TV or adding a Joey to the main TV.

I wonder though, how easy/hard is managing the Hopper through the iPad app? Are you able to schedule/remove timers through the app?


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## some guy (Oct 27, 2012)

The Dish Explorer app and Dish Anywhere apps work great and are easy to use.


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## Joe1022 (Nov 18, 2011)

Are there different models of the Hopper w/Sling? If there is a new one and an old one I wanna try to get the newest I can. I know with DirecTv it was hard to get a specific model # when calling, but I could verify with the installer before he came out.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

There is only the Hopper and the Hopper w/ Sling... so no worries there.


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## Joe1022 (Nov 18, 2011)

Thanks again everyone. I made the change this weekend. I now have 2 Hoppers w/Sling. I'm really liking the setup so far. 
The first day they both went black for a few minutes at different times- one came back on it's own, the other after a reset. I'm hoping it's not an actual issue. I haven't seen it happen again.

Sorry for repeating info if anyone already saw my post in another thread.


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## komondor (Jul 23, 2011)

One other "new" feature is that the "primetime recording feature" works all the time in that you can use just ONE tuner for ABC,CBS,NBC,FOX anytime, the only caveat is that it only works if you record in HD but still great for those breaking news stories where you want to watch more than one channel or if you record soaps


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