Changing Region in Receiver Menu

[Steel Peru]

I have been living in Lima, Peru for 3 years. I've had DirecTV the entire time. It is the Latin American version which is decent but as a US expat I'd love to have network channels. I have been researching this off and on for the entire 3 years almost as a side hobby. What I have been able to learn:

1. I'd need about a 30m dish to reach the US satellites, forget that.
2. Puerto Rico uses the same satellite as the rest of Latin America but they get US based programming.
3. All it takes is for your region to be changed to P.R. in the Peru based DirecTV receiver settings. I have proof of this since the local sports bar in Lima shows P.R. The waitress let me use the remote while no one was paying attention This setup has NBC/CBS/ABC/FOX/etc out of P.R.
4. I called P.R. and they told me they have several US citizens living ni Peru authorized for this setup, but they are embassy employees.

I provide that info just so instead of simply asking a question as a newbie here, I also provide some information other expats in L.A. might not already know.

Now, my question is, is my region only changeable by a DirecTV employee? I've toyed with the idea of calling them, telling them I'm an employee and seeing if they ask for some sort of proof. I quickly abandoned the idea with the possibility of getting in some trouble in my new home country. So I figured I'd just ask here and see what kind of responses I get. Should I give up this quest for US based TV here?

 

[JosephB]

it's not that simple. The US satellites are broadcasting to North America. Being below the equator you are not going to pick up that signal, even if you had a 30 foot dish. What may be happening is that DirecTV is broadcasting some channels from PR into the Latin America system, but you would have to get that authorized through the DirecTV LA system, it's not as simple as telling the receiver which region you're located in. It doesn't know and doesn't care, it only shows you what channels the satellite tells the receiver you are authorized to receive.

 

[Steel Peru]

Thanks I figured that much. I guess I need to make friends with a DirecTV employee or get a job at the embassy. This personal crusade to get US TV in Peru is turning into an obsession. I have other ways of seeing shows and the NFL but I really just missing the felling of flopping on the couch and surfing US channels. It is one of the sacrifices of being an expat for sure, but I'm not giving up just yet

 

[JosephB]

There might be some US TV in FTA down there. Check over in the FTA forum and also check out lyngsat.com