Dish Network Gurus: Hardware Advice

[Polypro]

After a quick look at the Dish site, for 2 Hauppauge HD-PVR's and 2 PVR-500's:

Do I want 2 Vip211's (single tuner) and 2 Vip322's (dual tuner)? I'll be blasting with a USB-UIRT.

Thanks,

P

[CollinR]

All VIP 211s if you can, the dual tuner boxes only support RF for control. There is no RF channel changing support that I know of.


(Unless something new I don't know of has come up.)

[fyodor]

Keep in mind that you cannot take advantage of the dual-tuner nature of the dish network receiver-you can only record what it's playing at the time.

[CollinR]

Originally Posted by fyodor

Keep in mind that you cannot take advantage of the dual-tuner nature of the dish network receiver-you can only record what it's playing at the time.

I'm pretty sure you can't even control the second tuner so it's basically a single tuner device due to design flaw.

[fidget]

Originally Posted by CollinR

I'm pretty sure you can't even control the second tuner so it's basically a single tuner device due to design flaw.

You can control the second tuner, just not with Sage. In my house, I have the RF output from my VIP-722 and the -322 merged so that I can use the RF remote to watch a live broadcast on the other TVs in the house. I wished that there was an RF version of the USB-UIRT .

FYI, if you hook an RF splitter up backwards it will merge the signals.

[CollinR]

Oh I know that but what good is it then? Making it RF only sucks in every way, basically you must use their remote.

It might be interesting to see if the RF remote broadcast x10 entertainment or security like the FireFly and Nvidia remotes do. If so it is possible to control but it would take hardware to transmit it to the boxes.

[Polypro]

Thanks for the replies. Wonder what the look on their face will be when I ask for 6 Vip211's ...or the upcharge. (I'll probably start with 4 and see if I have conflicts).

P

[CollinR]

4 boxes in reality is probably enough for you. I have learned from playing this HTPC game long enough that live TV sucks and so I look at the # of tuners as the number of shows on I want at the same time. I used to look more at the number of clients connected. Now I would have no problems removing the live tv menu items from my install. I cannot tolerate live TV anymore.

[jprine01]

If your going to be Dish long term you can buy the extra boxes instead of paying monthly fees for them. They are about 200$ each... and Dish is really nice about activating your own boxes.

I'm curious if they are going to charge you for the DP34/DP44 multiswitch. When i orderd my service I only got 2 VIP211's, so they only installed 2 LNBF's from my Dish 1000 (it has 3 LNBF connections). Later when I talked to them about more receivers, they said they would charge me to run the other cable from the dish.. So i ended up just doing that myself, and I bought my own DP34 which was close to 100$... the DP44 is even more (200$?).. So now I'm set for 4 receivers.. I'm curious if ordering 4 VIP211's they will give you the extra equipment for free.. (If they do you can order 4, then cancel the extra 2 the next month and walk away with all the hookups for more boxes for almost free.. What 10$ for 2 boxes for a month)

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by jprine01

If your going to be Dish long term you can buy the extra boxes instead of paying monthly fees for them. They are about 200$ each... and Dish is really nice about activating your own boxes.

You still pay an access fee when you own the box. Coincidently, that fee seems to be about the same as the lease fee. Seems like it's a waste to buy the receivers unless you are getting an R5000 put in them.

[briands]

Originally Posted by Slipshod

You still pay an access fee when you own the box. Coincidently, that fee seems to be about the same as the lease fee. Seems like it's a waste to buy the receivers unless you are getting an R5000 put in them.

This is correct... the access fee is the same $5 as the lease fee. Thought I'd have my R5000 paid off with the savings in 14 years... bummer, now I'm just stuck with it...

[big poppa pump]

You don't have to pay the access fee as long as you have the boxes connected to a phone line or in some cases (VIP 622, VIP722) to the network.

I used to have Dish before I switched over to DirecTV (dman HD channels) and I had 3 receivers on my account (2 owned and 1 leased). Never paid an access fee on any of them since the leased one was the primary receiver and the other 2 were always connected to a phone line.

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by big poppa pump

You don't have to pay the access fee as long as you have the boxes connected to a phone line or in some cases (VIP 622, VIP722) to the network.

I used to have Dish before I switched over to DirecTV (dman HD channels) and I had 3 receivers on my account (2 owned and 1 leased). Never paid an access fee on any of them since the leased one was the primary receiver and the other 2 were always connected to a phone line.

The fee you are talking about is a separate fee above and beyond the lease fee. If you have a dual-tuner DVR and you don't have it connected to the internet, phone, or dish-com, you get charged a seperate $5 fee above and beyond your lease fee.

I just added an owned Vip211 to my account last month, and I have a leased 622 as the primary, so this is fresh in my mind. It got me to hold off on activating the second vip211 until I get the new WHS sage server finished.

[derringer]

This seems like a good thread to ask this in, so here goes:

Is there a way to avoid the stupid phone-line connection not available fee that I see talked about, with a vip-211, then? Or is this only on the other, newer boxes?

It would stink if broadband-connect wasn't available on the 211, since it would be a trivial firmware upload/change to the box that I would think Dish could do *easily.*

Thanks,

[big poppa pump]

Originally Posted by derringer

This seems like a good thread to ask this in, so here goes:

Is there a way to avoid the stupid phone-line connection not available fee that I see talked about, with a vip-211, then? Or is this only on the other, newer boxes?

It would stink if broadband-connect wasn't available on the 211, since it would be a trivial firmware upload/change to the box that I would think Dish could do *easily.*

Thanks,

The only way to avoid the phone-line connection fee is to make sure that your Dish network receiver is connected to a phone line or if available to a broadband connection.

[derringer]

I can have it available to a broadband connection, but I have no land lines in my house, so phone is impossible.

My question was whether the VIP-211 allowed 'broadband' connection, or just the higher end models?

[big poppa pump]

Originally Posted by derringer

I can have it available to a broadband connection, but I have no land lines in my house, so phone is impossible.

My question was whether the VIP-211 allowed 'broadband' connection, or just the higher end models?

Go to the E* website and download the product brochure for the VIP211. You should be able to tell if it the receiver has a RJ45 port.

[briands]

See this post

You can be the guinea pig

[Slipshod]

Guys, the fee for not having a phone line attached only apply to specific 2-TV receivers like the 622 and the 722. The VIP-211 is a 1-TV receiver so it doesn't matter if it's hooked to a phone or not. You will still have to pay either a lease fee, or an access fee ($7 each currently) depending on whether you lease it or own it. The 622/722s pay the same lease fee (waived if you have dvr advantage), an additional dvr fee (waived if you have dvr advantage), and a $5 "because we don't have enough fees" fee if you don't have phone or broadband hooked up to the receiver.

Here's more info on the phone fee:
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/c...es/index.shtml

[SpiffyRex]

My question was whether the VIP-211 allowed 'broadband' connection, or just the higher end models?

Any VIP family receiver can use the broadband connection. My VIP-211 connects just fine.

You will still have to pay either a lease fee, or an access fee ($7 each currently) depending on whether you lease it or own it.

Could be wrong but last time I checked they wave the $7 access fee if you have a $10 (or more) HD package.