Trying to switch from Dish to Directv

[jennej]

Hello all.


I currently have 2 Dish 510s, one in the living room and one in the master bedroom. Both cable outlets are on interior walls. My 1-story house is on a slab, but does have good attic access. I have one of those central panels in the laundry room where all the cable wires come into the house. There are currently 2 lines coming from the satellite dish into the attic which are then routed into the central panel. Of course when the house was built, only one line was run from the panel to each cable outlet. I'm located near Charlotte, NC.


I want to upgrade to 2 Directv dual-tuner DVRs, so I placed an order a few days ago. I wasn't off to a good start when Directv said that according to their records, I wasn't a new customer. Turns out that because I used to have Directv DSL in 2003, my name and address were already in their system. Got that whole mess straightened out and then scheduled the installation for today.


So the installer came today and said it would be $100 extra (payable directly to him) to run the 3rd and 4th lines through the attic to the panel and then to the outlets. He said he'd have to install a wallfish for each room so we could use the second tuners. Then he looked at the panel and said he didn't even know if he'd be able to run the cable down to it from the attic because there isn't much space in it due to the way the other cables were run in the past.


So he tried for about 30 minutes to run cable from the attic and couldn't ever get it into the panel. He called his supervisor who said the only other option would be to drill through an exterior wall in the bedroom and run the cable around the outside of the house to the satellite. He would still have to install a wallfish for the living room because it's in the dead center of the house and nowhere near an exterior wall. I said no to that. He then called the company's lead tech but neither of them could come up with any other options. So I told him I'd stick with the setup I have now and he cancelled the order.


So my question is, am I stuck with my current Dish setup? My husband and I really want dual-tuner DVRs (even if they're R15s -- they gotta be better than Dish 510s!). We would appreciate any advice from you gurus!


Thanks,
Jenny

 

[Hogarth]

Well, you'll have the same problem if you switch to the Dish 522 or any of Dish's dual tuner DVRs.. running more lines is a necessity.

How handy are you?

I would save $200ish dollars, get thee a cable puller, run a new line from each wall outlet to the attic, put a 6x8 multiswitch in the attic, and run two more lines to the dish. 4 from dish to multiswitch. 2 from multiswitch to each outlet.

I assume you bought your system either direct from DirecTV, or at Best Buy or CC.
I'd instead call either a great retailer like ValueElectronics, who tries to screen their own installers, or contact a local satellite reseller who does installations and have them come out and do a pre-sale evaluation of your setup.

DirecTV pays installer contractors (or sub-sub-sub contractors) a fixed fee based on what has been ordered. Thus, they tend to do only the minimum work possible to maximize their revenue. A reseller may get more revenue long term and be more flexible and accomodating in making sure you have a great experience to make the sale.

I might also consider complaining to D*, but it sounds like you already did.

H

 

[dragon002]

Well, you'll have the same problem if you switch to the Dish 522 or any of Dish's dual tuner DVRs.. running more lines is a necessity.
How handy are you?
I would save $200ish dollars, get thee a cable puller, run a new line from each wall outlet to the attic, put a 6x8 multiswitch in the attic, and run two more lines to the dish. 4 from dish to multiswitch. 2 from multiswitch to each outlet.
I assume you bought your system either direct from DirecTV, or at Best Buy or CC.
I'd instead call either a great retailer like ValueElectronics, who tries to screen their own installers, or contact a local satellite reseller who does installations and have them come out and do a pre-sale evaluation of your setup.
DirecTV pays installer contractors (or sub-sub-sub contractors) a fixed fee based on what has been ordered. Thus, they tend to do only the minimum work possible to maximize their revenue. A reseller may get more revenue long term and be more flexible and accomodating in making sure you have a great experience to make the sale.
I might also consider complaining to D*, but it sounds like you already did.
H

hogarth,

are you ASSUMING that he should have wall fished or attic crawled FOR FREE?

she was obviously getting a FREE install. free install= no attic crawls, no crawl space crawls, no poles or coax burial, no chimney straps.

free install means the minimum,,, bolted to side of home and in thru the basement and up thru carpet, OR in thru side wall. for all else $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

not trying to be an ass ,but an attic crawl and wall fish for free???

not gonna happen. and the extras would be payable to him. or me in CASH.

 

[dishrich]

Well, you'll have the same problem if you switch to the Dish 522 or any of Dish's dual tuner DVRs.. running more lines is a necessity.

Not that I am encouraging them not to switch, but you really should do better research on E* equipment if you are giving out this kind of advice...

All the newer E* dual tuner receivers & DVR's do NOT necessarily need a 2nd coax run for the 2nd tuner. If the installer switches them to a DPP switch or feedhorn, they do NOT need those 2nd coax runs & both tuners will work just fine.
This is about the ONLY thing I like about E* DVR's.

Since these people are near Charlotte, NC (& are in the Charlotte DMA), they are a D500 market & only need their feedhorn on the dish changed to a DPP twin, which will run 2 dual-tuner receivers with NO rewiring needed. And, if they require a 2nd dish for any added locals, the DPP twin even has an input for a wing dish, which plugs right into the feedhorn & again, does not require added wiring to the receivers.

Jenny - unfortunately, if you want dual tuners w/D*, there are no other ways around getting both tuners to work w/out running a 2nd coax from the dish. (not a cheap way, anyway - there IS a way to do it, but it would cost more than I'm sure you would want to spend on this) BTW, if you still want to switch & you can get a D-Tivo, those units WILL work with only 1 tuner input - but of course, you would only have one tuner.

 

[jennej]

I think I'm just going to stay with Dish for now. I may call and see what kind of upgrades they're offering current customers.


Oh, and I never meant to imply that wallfishing or going up into the attic should be free. I know it's not easy work. But I really didn't think my install would be this complicated. I just keep thinking that Directv's DVRs wouldn't be so popular if many installs were this complicated.


At any rate, I think getting any new cables into the central panel is going to be a huge problem and more expensive than I want. Thanks for the advice, everyone.


Jenny

 

[Hogarth]

When I got installed, I got attic crawled for free.

Wall fish was extra but attic crawl was included -- mainly as all the wiring already went through there.

rich: sorry about the E* misunderstanding.

But yes, Jenny -- regardless of any of these permutations, way more drama than you desire. Most installs are this complicated. But the dual tuner feature is worth it to most of us.

 

[jcdgoad]

When I did installs for E* we did not charge extra for going into an attic or crawling through a crawl space. I worked for a local retailer and our customers would not pay extra for that. If an installer tried to charge me for that I would cancel the install and call another retailer. There are plenty of D* and E* retailers that will not charge extra for going into an attic or crawling through crawl space.