522 with no land line

[Sapient]

Hi all,

I am completely new to both DVRs and TV that does not require an antenna. I believe I want Dish with their 522 DVR, but I know that they want a land line connection, which I do not have. If I pay the extra $5 to compensate for not having a phone line, will my DVR be fully functional? Will I have to put up with annoying error messages?

Also, are there any hidden fees I am missing? The sales representatives I have talked to don't seem to actually know anything. These are the charges I can tell apply to a two room system using a 522 with no land line.

Top 60 with locals-$30
DVR fee-$5
No land line fee-$5

Is that it? Is there a better way to go, or DVRs that are good but do not require a phone connection?

 

[Hall]

Top 60 with locals-$30
DVR fee-$5
No land line fee-$5

That's it.... I originally started out with AT60 and my bill would have been ~$35/month (+ tax in Ohio). There's no hidden fees that I know of (yet).

You will likely get annoying nag screens about the phone line not being connected. Hell, I get 'em and I DO have it connected !! If Dish is anything like DirecTV in regards to the phone line, it's only used to dial out and report any PPVs you're ordered. You can always order PPVs online or over the phone, but they charge you a "service fee" to do it that way. Just another way to "encourage" people to connect phone lines.

It's becoming sooo popular for people to drop their land lines and use cellular only that Dish and DirecTV need to come up with something someday.

 

[boba]

Unless the 522 has gotten better than the one in my showroom I would recommend the 510 and a 311 as a second receiver both have proven software that works. I would also recommend that you go with the Free Dish promotion instead of the DHA promotion with Free Dish you own the equipment with DHA you are leasing it from DISH they will always own your equipment.

 

[Sapient]

Thanks for the comments. Reading through these threads makes me believe that the software upgrade on the 522 does make it worth it. I like the idea of being able to control both revievers from one TV.

Or maybe it is better to go with the 510 and 311.

Should I care who owns the equipment? I can't really use it if I leave Dish, can I?

 

[mjrusso45]

Should I care who owns the equipment? I can't really use it if I leave Dish, can I?

Nope, then it would just replay the stuff you have stored on the drive. I guess what people like on the free equip is you can sell the equip when you are done on Ebay. Lease, you just return it.

 

[Sapient]

Update: I got my 522, and I still don't have a land line. It works fine, and I never get an error message. It seems that if Dish is told that no land line is available, they tell the 522 to stop looking for it. I did have one problem. The 522 can not go through its initial diagnostics without a phone line hooked up until Dish activates the account (and telling their computers that the DVR will not be connected to a line). The installer sat there for a long time trying to get the DVR to work. I eventually had to call Dish and it took some time to find someone who knew what to do.

So far I absolutely love the 522 (especially since I have always just used rabbit ears and a VCR). I do have a couple questions though.

1) When I first downloaded the program guide, I only got about 8 hours worth of my local channels. Since then they have just come up as "no info available". What's the deal?

2) What is a good signal strength? I am getting about 85. My installer said that 85 was fine, but also said he would come back when the wind was not so strong and realign the dish if I wanted. I get the feeling I can do better than 85.

 

[Eastern OR]

Re: program guide-do a hard boot. Push and hold power button on 522 for a full 60 seconds. Then let go. 522 will make noise and reload program guide and any new software updates. This will take time. Program guide is usually complete then if you have a reasonable signal.

Re: signal strength. We have a signal strength of 80 and above on 119 at all times and find this adequate. On 110 we have a variable strength. On normal good days we have a signal strength of 55 and above and this is OK. When it rains or the wind blows hard signal strength drops below 55 and we then have trouble with signal strength on 110 side dropping below 55 and then have trouble with lost sat. and pixilezation. We have an installer coming next week to work on this and other problems.

cheers.

 

[Sapient]

Will I lose any of my preferences if I do a hard boot? Will my personalized channel guides go away? I hate making those things.

 

[Eastern OR]

Just tried it with my 522 to make sure I give you the right answer.

Personalized settings like timers and personalized channel guides are retained.

In my case after letting go of the power button the receiver has to lock into the 110 sat. which takes 1-2 minutes because of a marginal signal. Then the program guide downloads which takes 1-2 minutes and then you are 'good to go'.

best of luck
cheers

 

[Sapient]

Thanks much. I'll give it a try.

And how did I ever live without a DVR?

 

[Eastern OR]

I know. There the perfect thing for my wife who can't program the
VCR and SAT receiver to receive a program and record it at the same time. One button performance.

cheers.

 

[Sapient]

I did the hard boot. I got a 2-6 hourse for my local channels. I wonder why this is. Other guides (such as those online) have schedules for those stations.

 

[Eastern OR]

Remembering back to when we first activated our 522 our local stations(Yakima WA)it took a full 24 hours to develop a complete schedule in the program guide for locals while other channels already had a complete schedule in the program guide. I don't know why.
Wait 24 hours and see what develops.

Second thought is that I think(someone correct me if I'm wrong or misleading) that the program guide for locals comes over the 110 sat side. When signal strength is weak on the 110 sat for a period of time one of the first places we notice it, is by losing sections of the program guide. They gradually come back either with a hard boot or by themselves as weather and signal strength improve.
cheers

 

[Sapient]

Thanks Eastern. When I did a hard boot the first two times, it only reported locking in 119. On the third try it went for 110 instead, and after that I got that "Downloading Program Guide" message. All the channels came though this time. I appreciate the help.