I just spoke to a DISH Network customer service representative on the phone today (out of sheer curiosity,) and I was told that VIP211K receivers are still being activated. He said I could activate one on a new account. My question is are they still being leased from DISH, or do you have to buy your own box and have them activate it?
I'm mostly done with the Receiver Swap. The silver ViP 211 is in the great room hooked up to one satellite feed from our EA 1000.2 Dish, and the ViP 211k is in the master bedroom connected to the 2nd feed. They both have an EHD to provide DVR functionality.One question answered: The deactivated 211 is a silver brick without activation. The OTA channels cannot be viewed, likewise the 9582 channel isn't watchable. You can use it to aim the satellite and scan for ATSC locals, but that's all it's good for. It might play back programs off the EHD if I remembered where the 211's EHD was.
Anyway, the purpose of this exercise was to take this up to our vacation home to add to our PAYG account. I wanted to update the firmware ahead of time instead of during my vacation.