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DIRECTV Technical Support: Five Easy Fixes Part 2

DIRECTV residential customers want to unwind after a long day and enjoy their favorite TV programs. The last thing they need is a connection issue to keep them from their favorite shows. Though it’s rare, sometimes problems happen and subscribers need a quick fix. In a previous installment, we showed you how to fix five common DIRECTV problems. We’re back with four more DIRECTV fixes in this installment. From not being able to use your iPad to control your receiver to blocky picture and more, these tips will quickly return you to the DIRECTV programming you know and love. If you have DIRECTV residential service, here are four more common connection issues and how to fix them: Problem 1: iPad App Does Not Control the Receiver...
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Your phone is more powerful than the PC you had in 2018. So why can’t you use it as a PC?

There’s an app called Geekbench which works on practically every PC, Mac, and phone. It provides a good apples-to-apples comparison of the basic processor power of pretty much, well, anything. Here’s what they report: This is the Geekbench score of the processor in the latest iPhone 15 Pro, according to CPU-monkey.com: Here’s the score of a laptop with an eighth generation Core i5 chip, courtesy of Geekbench.com. This chip was considered an average workhorse for office and productivity tasks in 2018. With a score of 5868, the iPhone handily beats the laptop with a score of 2963. As I said, there’s a lot more to the speed of a computer than just processor speed but it’s one measurement. I bring all this up because if you are...
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: They thought about grounding in 1749

Technology is a big part of our modern lives. We don’t give a thought to all these modern conveniences. Whether it’s our phones, our TVs, or our cars, we spend all day surrounded in the latest tech. But all that really happened in the last several decades. Even 100 years ago, none of the things we consider essential were part of an average person’s life. When you start looking back almost 300 years, life becomes practically unrecognizable. Sometimes, though, you can look back in time and realize that some of our modern problems have ancient solutions. I spend a fair amount of time talking about grounding. Proper grounding will mean the difference between being safe in a storm and being homeless. The problem was even more acute in the...
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STREAMING SATURDAY: Help me choose what to cancel

Well friends, it’s happened. Increases in streaming costs have pushed me over the edge. It seems like every service has raised rates by 15% or more, and it’s gotten to the point where I need to prune back. So, I’d like to take a look at some of the more popular ones that I’ve subscribed to in the past or am subscribing to now. Are they worth it? I’d love to hear your comments on the subject. Note that I’m giving prices for the top-level, ad-free versions of these services. Why? Because I can tell the difference between HD and 4K, even with streaming’s somewhat weak interpretation of 4K. And because commercials stink. Finally, I’m rounding up to the nearest dollar. I don’t know why this trend of ending every price in 99¢ is still with...
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What is “local-into-local” or “LiL?”

Not one of those terms you hear much anymore, “local-into-local” is a term that was used a lot in the 2000s when local channels on satellite were a fairly new thing. It wasn’t until 2000 that satellite services were even actually allowed to carry local channels, and so the race was on in the early part of the decade to add as many of them as possible. As part of this rush, engineers needed a term for those channels that only served a local market. In other words, like your local ABC station. Legally, your satellite company could only deliver it to you and the area around you… they couldn’t deliver it to another market. This was in contrast to so-called “distant network” channels which could go into any market where they hadn’t added...
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What DIRECTV DVRs have built-in power inserters?

You have to hand it to DIRECTV, they really have made installation simple. It’s even more amazing when you consider how complex they had gotten Even though DIRECTV was launched in 1994 as a self-install product, by the 2000s it was practically impossible for an average person to do their own installation. Any room with a DVR required two lines, and you had to plan carefully. Every line had to run back to a central point, and if you had more than two DVRs you needed a multiswitch. Not only did this make it difficult for DIYers, it made it hard for installers too. The typical install was taking 4-6 hours which meant costly overtime and missed appointments. I will say that DIRECTV never got as bad as the average cable company, but they...
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FUN FRIDAY: The history of piracy

I’m not talking about Captain Hook here. There’s a great longform article over at Gizmodo about one of the first people to sell films to regular folks. It’s about five years old, but it’s still great to take in. I do recommend the read, but if you’re in a rush, here’s the gist. There was this guy named Woody Wise. Yes that’s his real name. He worked in a movie theater back in the days when people literally threw away movie prints they were done with. He started buying them from the people who were just going to throw them away anyway. In the process, two things happened: He started on the road to a long career selling films, both legally and “semi-legally” to collectors. He got busted by the FBI for copyright infringement. It’s a...
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Does an older antenna work for digital TV? What about 4K TV (ATSC 3.0?)

This question comes to us in our customer service department about once a week. It takes one of two forms. For example, there are some people who ask, The other form is a little more forward thinking. It’s usually something like, The good news is that we’re able to answer “yes” to both of those questions when they come in. But then, there are those people who don’t believe us. They don’t think it’s possible. So, here’s the long form explanation of why it doesn’t matter if you put up an antenna in 1973, 2003, or 2023 — it will still work today and tomorrow. A little bit about antennas An antenna is a very simple thing, really. It’s nothing more than a metal stick of a particular length. The length of the stick determines what...
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Thanksgiving is…

Dear friends, Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends to gather together. In the last several years, we’ve learned just how important that is and how much we miss it when we can’t be near anyone. This is the fourth Thanksgiving since March of 2020. As much as we’d like to think that the last few years didn’t happen, they did and their legacy will be with us for years to com. Thanksgiving can be very different now, for the better It may no longer be the start of the holiday season… that honor seems to fall around Halloween these days. Not only that, it may not be the last moment before we start cramming into malls. But, it’s still Thanksgiving. It’s still a good chance to stop and think about what we’re all thankful for. What...
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THROWBACK THURSDAY: When I told you who invented the internet

Before you start commenting, I know he didn’t invent the internet. Looking for content for this week’s Throwback Thursday, I unearthed this editorial from 2012. You have to understand what was going on at the time. The Olympics had just started. It was the opening ceremonies, celebrating the recent achivements Brits had made in pop culture. Brian May of Queen was there, as was Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney and many other easily identifiable faces. Alongside all the other famous Brits in the opening ceremonies was an unassuming man behind a truly ancient computer. That man was Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who most certainly did not invent the internet. However, he did invent the organizational and display protocols we refer to as “The...
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How does a cellular signal booster work?

Cellular signal boosters should be part of every home and office. After all, about 90% of people spend at least part of the day in an area with bad cell reception, and the cell phone is the #1 way most of us communicate. I think one of the reasons people don’t buy cell boosters as much as they should is that they don’t understand how they work. I know a lot of people think that a cell booster couldn’t possibly work as well as we say, or that it’s some sort of special technology. Image Courtesy Wilson Electronics 1. Reception A big part of a cell booster is the receiving antenna. In the past, there have been some cell boosters with indoor antennas. I’ve tested several of them and let me simply say, don’t buy one. You are much better...
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Get DIRECTV for RV with Signal Connect

A DIRECTV account was nearly denied to one motorhome owner in Tennessee. Signal Connect made things right by delivering a complete DIRECTV for RV setup! Getting DIRECTV for RVs, campers, and motorhomes is easy… when you work with the right people. As an DIRECTV dealer, Signal Connect specializes in providing satellite TV solutions to RV owners and other mobile applications. Take this recent example involving one of our Signal Connect sales representatives. When other satellite TV providers wouldn’t provide a DIRECTV RV package, we easily delivered the total DIRECTV solution for this client’s recreational vehicle. This is a great example of Signal Connect’s DIRECTV expertise and concierge-level customer support service. DIRECTV...
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