# Dish Network



## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

having Dish will be all new experience for us. Will have DVR in two rooms. There are 5 tv's in the house, (yeah, you read it right-5!) . Living room, Tay's playroom, bedrooms, computer room. 2 tv's will be linked together. Anyway, will be taking it with us when we travel. Been watching ebay for extra dish. Does anyone have any advice or comments?








Rick is the tv addict and I can't complain cuz I am the internet addict


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> having Dish will be all new experience for us. Will have DVR in two rooms. There are 5 tv's in the house, (yeah, you read it right-5!) . Living room, Tay's playroom, bedrooms, computer room. 2 tv's will be linked together. Anyway, will be taking it with us when we travel. Been watching ebay for extra dish. Does anyone have any advice or comments?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You'll love it!

Hey - our dish was upgraded this winter....so we have a spare one sitting around (haven't figured out how to use it creatively in the decor yet). It's your's if you can use it (and get it to WA)


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Welcome to the 21st Century!

I don't know what I'd do without my DVR


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

wolfwood said:


> having Dish will be all new experience for us. Will have DVR in two rooms. There are 5 tv's in the house, (yeah, you read it right-5!) . Living room, Tay's playroom, bedrooms, computer room. 2 tv's will be linked together. Anyway, will be taking it with us when we travel. Been watching ebay for extra dish. Does anyone have any advice or comments?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You'll love it!

Hey - our dish was upgraded this winter....so we have a spare one sitting around (haven't figured out how to use it creatively in the decor yet). It's your's if you can use it (and get it to WA)








[/quote]
pming you


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## Airboss (Jul 14, 2007)

Watch carefully for the forms they'll have you sign after the installation for an 18 month contract. They tried to slip that one in on me and I caught it, refused to sign, and the installer had a fit. I told him that he can now remove all of his equipment and leave - he then changed his tune.

I doubt that all of the Dish resellers are as tricky as mine was, just be on the look-out.


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## OregonCampin (Mar 9, 2007)

WHAT????? 

NO DVR YET????

HOW DO YOU FUNCTION????









Do you actually watch commercials???

We have DirectTV and LOVE IT! TIVO is my friend!

Welcome to the world of no commercials!


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

Dish network is kinda tricky on the RV use part. You need to sign an RV waiver and pay monthly for this ability. Aiming their dish 2 or 3 LNB is a pain in the caboose. DirecTV could care less about RV use, just tell them which receiver you will be taking. I don't have HD so a single LNB gets me every channel and easy pointing. I've literally setup my tripod, no leveling, pointing, just set it up and it's found the signal. It took me about 20 minutes to setup my folks Dish 500.

Something to think about. Oh ya DVR where have you been hiding all this time.


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## mmblantz (Jul 1, 2007)

I've got Direct TV. I got it because I'm a Redskins fan living in south goergia so I had to have NFL Sunday Ticket. Now I'm a total loser on Sunday afternoons(says DW). Direct does not offer locals in my area and the locals won't give me a waiver so I can just use regional feeds so I have to carry cable for locals @$15 a month. I have been seeing ads in RV mags that they have special deal for RV'rs to take it with you in your rig for the cost of an extra receiver($5 a month)but haven't checked into it yet. You might want to consider that.


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

OREGONCAMPIN said:


> WHAT?????
> 
> NO DVR YET????
> 
> ...


oh but we DO have DVR with our cable company and it is awesome!!!!!! Rick is the tv watcher and now can record his own stuff, I was always having to do it before cuz I could do it faster. We have 2 vcrs and a dvd player gathering dust...


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## Sluggo54 (Jun 15, 2005)

2500Ram said:


> Dish network is kinda tricky on the RV use part. You need to sign an RV waiver and pay monthly for this ability. Aiming their dish 2 or 3 LNB is a pain in the caboose. DirecTV could care less about RV use, just tell them which receiver you will be taking. I don't have HD so a single LNB gets me every channel and easy pointing. I've literally setup my tripod, no leveling, pointing, just set it up and it's found the signal. It took me about 20 minutes to setup my folks Dish 500.
> 
> Something to think about. Oh ya DVR where have you been hiding all this time.


X2. Direct is MUCH easier to set up than Dish. I've carted both all over the country, and at times have had fits getting Dish aligned, due to having to hit two satellites. That said, I prefer Dish's menus, guides, etc by a wide margin. Dish would also let us take the locals with us (with an RV waiver, though it took five months for it to kick in). Our experience with Direct is that they do NOT want to hear the word "RV" - want to set up a separate account, fer Pete's sake! We just take one of the boxes from the kid's house - doesn't matter which one - and an antenna/LNB and tripod. I literally got the antenna and LNB out of the dumpster at a dealer's...

Sluggo


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## Crismon4 (Jan 25, 2005)

...have no fear Tawnya, Gordon is near







.....O.K. he's actually in Goldendale at Brooks Memorial State Park tonight, but give him a night of recovery (Friday night) and I know he can help you out this weekend!!!

Tricia


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

Sluggo54 said:


> Our experience with Direct is that they do NOT want to hear the word "RV"
> Sluggo


DirecTV or Dish? I don't use our basement box for 6 months a year and it shuts off. I take it camping and it will acquire a signal but I get some number on the screen to call for service to be reactivated. I tell them I have my basement receiver in my camper and boom 20 seconds later I'm watching deadliest catch or whatever, no fuss at all. My installer told them I was using this receiver for my RV and they didn't care.

I agree, just take the receiver and go vs. the waiver for Dish Network. But I try to play by the rules and DTV says as long as you are not using your receiver at a fixed address (house, cabin, cottage etc) they don't care. RV use is fine.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

X3...DH takes one of our DTV boxes with us on extended trips (or when there's football), hooks it to our portable dish and it takes him about 10 minutes to get everything up and running


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

so I called the guy today and asked him about signing papers after the install that have surprises in them, he said no. Asked (again) about taking reciever from house to rv when we want, he confirmed it's fine and no extra charge.
I made it very very clear if there are ANY surprises or anything hidden I will and can rip his head off! although I said it much more politely









He did say that if we don't have a phone line then it's $5 extra per month per box for the updates. What the? hmmm...

I have been considering doing away with the house phone and just using our cell phones. Anyone???


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

Crismon4 said:


> ...have no fear Tawnya, Gordon is near
> 
> 
> 
> ...











I sent you a link for a doohickie that Timber shared with me. After watching you and Gordon have the "team" effort to get the dang thing going in LaPine I thought maybe you would want to get him one for Father's Day! ( ps) DON'T let Jessie near it!


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> so I called the guy today and asked him about signing papers after the install that have surprises in them, he said no. Asked (again) about taking reciever from house to rv when we want, he confirmed it's fine and no extra charge.
> I made it very very clear if there are ANY surprises or anything hidden I will and can rip his head off! although I said it much more politely
> 
> 
> ...


You could always sic Cricket after him if there are any surprises...that'll shut him down right there!
What do you pay monthly for your landline? Probably more than $5.00.
I haven't been able to sever ties with the phone company yet...Old habits die hard I guess


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

skippershe said:


> so I called the guy today and asked him about signing papers after the install that have surprises in them, he said no. Asked (again) about taking reciever from house to rv when we want, he confirmed it's fine and no extra charge.
> I made it very very clear if there are ANY surprises or anything hidden I will and can rip his head off! although I said it much more politely
> 
> 
> ...


You could always sic Cricket after him if there are any surprises...that'll shut him down right there!
What do you pay monthly for your landline? Probably more than $5.00.
I haven't been able to sever ties with the phone company yet...Old habits die hard I guess








[/quote]
landline with all the taxes ( all 800 of them







) and the unlisted number, caller id..blah blah is $50 ish.
I have had land line number for 21 years, hard to let go, but really, it COULD live without us, it's not used THAT much. My cell service is free incoming calls and I have Nationwide long distance. If I am getting low on minutes, then others will have to call me, know what I mean? I am trying to cut SOMETHING out so we can feed the diesel pickup and go camping


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## jitch388 (Apr 19, 2008)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> ...have no fear Tawnya, Gordon is near
> 
> 
> 
> ...











I sent you a link for a doohickie that Timber shared with me. After watching you and Gordon have the "team" effort to get the dang thing going in LaPine I thought maybe you would want to get him one for Father's Day! ( ps) DON'T let Jessie near it!








[/quote]

Is this a doohickie that helps u aim the "dish" dish. If so, would you send me the same link.


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

jitch388 said:


> ...have no fear Tawnya, Gordon is near
> 
> 
> 
> ...











I sent you a link for a doohickie that Timber shared with me. After watching you and Gordon have the "team" effort to get the dang thing going in LaPine I thought maybe you would want to get him one for Father's Day! ( ps) DON'T let Jessie near it!








[/quote]

Is this a doohickie that helps u aim the "dish" dish. If so, would you send me the same link.
[/quote]

tell me if this works..the link didn't work for my friend...
http://sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Accessories/Meters/SF95LK-DSS-Satellite-Signal-meter-Kit.htm


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> tell me if this works..the link didn't work for my friend...
> http://sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Accessories/Meters/SF95LK-DSS-Satellite-Signal-meter-Kit.htm


Yup....works


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

wolfwood said:


> tell me if this works..the link didn't work for my friend...
> http://sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Accessories/Meters/SF95LK-DSS-Satellite-Signal-meter-Kit.htm


Yup....works
[/quote]

Timber is thinking about ordering it.....as soon as I understand more about all if this I probably will too! However, Rick and I have perfected the art of arguing when he's backing in the trailer so we could probably perfect the art of adjusting the Dish via the open window communication....NOT!


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## Crismon4 (Jan 25, 2005)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> so I called the guy today and asked him about signing papers after the install that have surprises in them, he said no. Asked (again) about taking reciever from house to rv when we want, he confirmed it's fine and no extra charge.
> I made it very very clear if there are ANY surprises or anything hidden I will and can rip his head off! although I said it much more politely
> 
> 
> ...


....so the $5/month charge is applicable if DISH is unable to access your receiver....they SAY it's for updates, but more likely it is to upload all of your viewing history/preferences....anyway, they did charge us on our first bill, but reversed the charges when I called and have never seen it again....though I saw the warning while we were in LaPine last weekend so I'll be interested to see if it's on the next bill.









FWIW!


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Coming from 100% ignorance here....

Is there a difference between a DirectTV 'dish' and a Dish ' dish'...other than the decal?


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## Crismon4 (Jan 25, 2005)

....don't ask me why, but "we" have the thingy and "we" don't use it.....don't know why......I could just as easily live w/o TV when we're RVing....and I'm fairly technical, but it's that spouse thing...ya know?


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## usmc03 (Jun 6, 2006)

We made the switch to dish a few months ago and like it. The cable company was charging us around 160 a month for the bundled phone/tv thing. Dish was much cheaper as we also switched phone providers.

Only thing I don't like is the channels are on different time schedules then we were used to but we got used to it. Also there were a few kids channels we don't get anymore but have gotten over that too.

So in theory, I could take a dish camping with us and hook it up and have tv? Will have to look into that.


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## advancedtel (May 7, 2008)

wolfwood said:


> Coming from 100% ignorance here....
> 
> Is there a difference between a DirectTV 'dish' and a Dish ' dish'...other than the decal?


The thing that looks like a microphone that is pointed towards the dish is different for the two. I know that you can't use one's dish for the others service. At least thats what I was told


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

Crismon4 said:


> so I called the guy today and asked him about signing papers after the install that have surprises in them, he said no. Asked (again) about taking reciever from house to rv when we want, he confirmed it's fine and no extra charge.
> I made it very very clear if there are ANY surprises or anything hidden I will and can rip his head off! although I said it much more politely
> 
> 
> ...


....so the $5/month charge is applicable if DISH is unable to access your receiver....they SAY it's for updates, but more likely it is to upload all of your viewing history/preferences....anyway, they did charge us on our first bill, but reversed the charges when I called and have never seen it again....though I saw the warning while we were in LaPine last weekend so I'll be interested to see if it's on the next bill.









FWIW!
[/quote]

he called back and from all the he said it sounded like a phone line is convenience for THEM. So, I cornered him on it...and yep, it is. He said I could pay bill by remote with phone line ( don't want to, don 't need to),I can order pay per view movies by remote or( I told him) I could call on my cell and order them. DUH, and could change my services anytime I want by remote or ( I told him) I could call on my cell and order them. 
Yep, I think Tricia is right! I will argue it too . I mean, they are sending me tv shows via satellite, so they need to charge me to send updates via satellite? Hello?


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## advancedtel (May 7, 2008)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> so I called the guy today and asked him about signing papers after the install that have surprises in them, he said no. Asked (again) about taking reciever from house to rv when we want, he confirmed it's fine and no extra charge.
> I made it very very clear if there are ANY surprises or anything hidden I will and can rip his head off! although I said it much more politely
> 
> 
> ...


....so the $5/month charge is applicable if DISH is unable to access your receiver....they SAY it's for updates, but more likely it is to upload all of your viewing history/preferences....anyway, they did charge us on our first bill, but reversed the charges when I called and have never seen it again....though I saw the warning while we were in LaPine last weekend so I'll be interested to see if it's on the next bill.









FWIW!
[/quote]

he called back and from all the he said it sounded like a phone line is convenience for THEM. So, I cornered him on it...and yep, it is. He said I could pay bill by remote with phone line ( don't want to, don 't need to),I can order pay per view movies by remote or( I told him) I could call on my cell and order them. DUH, and could change my services anytime I want by remote or ( I told him) I could call on my cell and order them. 
Yep, I think Tricia is right! I will argue it too . I mean, they are sending me tv shows via satellite, so they need to charge me to send updates via satellite? Hello?
[/quote]

I think the phone line is used as a modem line for the receiver. You get updates to the receiver's computer through the phone line. I know i had mine disconnected for a while and it shut my service down until I connected to a phone line so it could download the latest updates. I have DirecTv


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## mmblantz (Jul 1, 2007)

Another thing I forgot to mention. AT&T will bundle their services with DTV. You can get AT&T unlimited long distance with all the whistles & bell, AT&T High Speed Internet 6.0 & DTV for about $100. They do it by discounting, crediting bla bla bla. anyway, it works out prety good after all is said and done.
---Mike


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

wolfwood said:


> Coming from 100% ignorance here....
> 
> Is there a difference between a DirectTV 'dish' and a Dish ' dish'...other than the decal?


Yes. It's like Verizon, Qwest or any Bell Co. They all provide the same service but have different, in this case Satellites, to provide the SAT TV signal to the dish, different dishes/LNB's (the funny things in front of the dish) and they all have different pointing azimuth elevation and skew. left/right, up/down, and twist.

I've only played with DirecTV, use it at the house and TT, and my parents Dish Network. As far as pointing for a Sat, I much prefer DTV but I use a $5 wally world camping compass and point it at 165* and then play with the up/down, 5 minutes tops and I've been 10,000' to 200' elevation.


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Thanks, guys!

Doxie, this one's for you....


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

Phone line...

On Dish Network you do *NOT* get software updates for the receiver through the phone line. They come through the satellite.

I do know that the dual-tuner DVRs require a phone line connection OR an ethernet connection. I use the ethernet connection and it works great.

Ed


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

LarryTheOutback said:


> Phone line...
> 
> On Dish Network you do *NOT* get software updates for the receiver through the phone line. They come through the satellite.
> 
> ...


I don't get it ( nothing new!). Anyway, so you don't have a phone line with yours? I don't have ethernet connection as I have cable modem for my internet ( and keeping it).


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

but it's that spouse thing...ya know?








[/quote]

oh yeah, I know. At home if the wife is happy, all is well. When rving, if the husband is happy, all is well. He likes tv, he has tv=he's happy.


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> I don't get it ( nothing new!). Anyway, so you don't have a phone line with yours? I don't have ethernet connection as I have cable modem for my internet ( and keeping it).


Sorry I was being a bit terse as it was getting late.

There was a previous comment that the phone line was required so that the receiver can periodically receive updates to its internal software. I was pointing out that this is not true; these updates come via the satellite. The phone line is used for some other reason and I've never heard a good reason for it. A long time ago they used the phone connection to verify that two or more receivers in a house were in fact in the same house; this prevented neighbors from sharaing service. They backed away from this some years ago.

I do not use the phone line with my dual-tuner HD DVR because I use an ethernet (Internet) connection instead. The receiver is located in a room without a phone outlet but with my DSL modem (similar to your cable modem) so I use that. Not all Dish Network receivers are capable of connecting via a computer network.

Ed


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I heard the phone line was used to request pay per view, it would dial out as the dish was not a two way device, but since I do not have a dish I never had a reason to investigate. This may have changed with newer systems.


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## OregonCampin (Mar 9, 2007)

Ours uses the phone line to update the weekly programs - If you look forward you can only go so far (30 days I think) and it no longer has the program information available - if ours gets disconnected from the phone line (we use a Jack Rabbit) then eventually it will give us a message that it needs to update the program information. I believe it is also used for Pay per view.


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## OregonCampin (Mar 9, 2007)

Ooopps... the double post gremlin is out in full force today.


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## OregonCampin (Mar 9, 2007)

Sheeesh... he got me twice in one topic.....


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## advancedtel (May 7, 2008)

LarryTheOutback said:


> I don't get it ( nothing new!). Anyway, so you don't have a phone line with yours? I don't have ethernet connection as I have cable modem for my internet ( and keeping it).


Sorry I was being a bit terse as it was getting late.

There was a previous comment that the phone line was required so that the receiver can periodically receive updates to its internal software. I was pointing out that this is not true; these updates come via the satellite. The phone line is used for some other reason and I've never heard a good reason for it. A long time ago they used the phone connection to verify that two or more receivers in a house were in fact in the same house; this prevented neighbors from sharaing service. They backed away from this some years ago.

I do not use the phone line with my dual-tuner HD DVR because I use an ethernet (Internet) connection instead. The receiver is located in a room without a phone outlet but with my DSL modem (similar to your cable modem) so I use that. Not all Dish Network receivers are capable of connecting via a computer network.

Ed
[/quote]

I had also said that I have DirecTv and it is true for that one. I'm not sure about Dish Network. i used to have it then switched to DirecTv. i did not have a phone line hooked up with Dish Network but I have to with DirecTv. The software udates are sent over the phone line with DirecTv


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

advancedtel said:


> I had also said that I have DirecTv and it is true for that one. I'm not sure about Dish Network. i used to have it then switched to DirecTv. i did not have a phone line hooked up with Dish Network but I have to with DirecTv. The software udates are sent over the phone line with DirecTv


Only necessary with DirecTv for the DVR models, my other 2 boxes have never been plugged into a phone jack and I get all the menus, guides etc. Your basic black or silver receiver does not have to be plugged in for updates, it's used for Pay Per View only. DTV will charge you $5 extra if you call them to order a ppv.


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

2500Ram said:


> I had also said that I have DirecTv and it is true for that one. I'm not sure about Dish Network. i used to have it then switched to DirecTv. i did not have a phone line hooked up with Dish Network but I have to with DirecTv. The software udates are sent over the phone line with DirecTv


Only necessary with DirecTv for the DVR models, my other 2 boxes have never been plugged into a phone jack and I get all the menus, guides etc. Your basic black or silver receiver does not have to be plugged in for updates, it's used for Pay Per View only. DTV will charge you $5 extra if you call them to order a ppv.
[/quote]

I don't know about dish, but with directv. The phone line is used to send out billing information when you order a PPV witht the remote. If you call them and order a PPv, there's a 5 dollar charge. You can also log in to your directv account online and order PPV's that way. You can also tell directv that you don't have a phone line connected to a receiver and they will turn off the ability to order PPv's on that receiver so a phone line is never needed on it.
Also, if you order a PPv using the remote on a receiver, you only get the PPV on that one receiver. If you order it online, you get the PPV on all the receivers on your account.


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## advancedtel (May 7, 2008)

2500Ram said:


> I had also said that I have DirecTv and it is true for that one. I'm not sure about Dish Network. i used to have it then switched to DirecTv. i did not have a phone line hooked up with Dish Network but I have to with DirecTv. The software udates are sent over the phone line with DirecTv


Only necessary with DirecTv for the DVR models, my other 2 boxes have never been plugged into a phone jack and I get all the menus, guides etc. Your basic black or silver receiver does not have to be plugged in for updates, it's used for Pay Per View only. DTV will charge you $5 extra if you call them to order a ppv.
[/quote]

Yes, that is correct. Its the DVR that has to have the phone line. I have an extra box too and its not hooked to a phone line. (DirecTv)


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## Sluggo54 (Jun 15, 2005)

2500Ram said:


> Our experience with Direct is that they do NOT want to hear the word "RV"
> Sluggo


DirecTV or Dish? I don't use our basement box for 6 months a year and it shuts off. I take it camping and it will acquire a signal but I get some number on the screen to call for service to be reactivated. I tell them I have my basement receiver in my camper and boom 20 seconds later I'm watching deadliest catch or whatever, no fuss at all. My installer told them I was using this receiver for my RV and they didn't care.

I agree, just take the receiver and go vs. the waiver for Dish Network. But I try to play by the rules and DTV says as long as you are not using your receiver at a fixed address (house, cabin, cottage etc) they don't care. RV use is fine.
[/quote]

Boy, I'm glad you get along with them. The local dealer from whom all bennies flow advises strongly against trying to get an RV waiver from Direct; though it's supposed to be Kosher, they always tell him it requires a separate account if you want to get locals while traveling. We just get what we can off-air, and in some places, that works. In some, it doesn't. At bottom, it's just TV - not dialysis.
We had the waiver with Dish, and that worked fine, no problems at all.

Sluggo


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## Sluggo54 (Jun 15, 2005)

advancedtel said:


> I had also said that I have DirecTv and it is true for that one. I'm not sure about Dish Network. i used to have it then switched to DirecTv. i did not have a phone line hooked up with Dish Network but I have to with DirecTv. The software udates are sent over the phone line with DirecTv


Only necessary with DirecTv for the DVR models, my other 2 boxes have never been plugged into a phone jack and I get all the menus, guides etc. Your basic black or silver receiver does not have to be plugged in for updates, it's used for Pay Per View only. DTV will charge you $5 extra if you call them to order a ppv.
[/quote]

Yes, that is correct. Its the DVR that has to have the phone line. I have an extra box too and its not hooked to a phone line. (DirecTv)
[/quote]

I've NEVER had a phone line hooked to the box - no phone line. On the very rare occasions I want to watch a PPV, I order online and get it no extra charge.

Sluggo


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