Dish Network equipment upgrade message

[sambuca365]

Wow and gone today. Now we actually need to weigh keeping Dish amongst the other factors, I guess

 

[Bobby]

Wow and gone today. Now we actually need to weigh keeping Dish amongst the other factors, I guess

Considering Dish will upgrade you for free I have to wonder about your reluctance.

 

[Bobby]

Unless, of course, New Mexico is not so new...

 

[FredInColo]

I apologize if this is redundant, but this is a long thread and I want to make sure I've really got it.

I'm a part-time resident of northern Colorado where I have a Dish subscription, including Denver locals, that I turn on and off frequently. I own my own equipment and cannot practically go on contract, since the contract term would run decades with my usage pattern. On multiple recent calls to turn the service on and off, the Dish CSR has claimed that my equipment was no longer supported, or was going to lose support "sometime soon", with no real explanation as to why. I suspect these claims all originate with the MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion.

My receiver is a VIP922 which, despite its bad reputation, works fine for my needs and reportedly supports MPEG-4. I run a switch test every time I reactivate the system (it's unplugged from both power and the antenna when deactivated) and receive 110, 119 and 129 just fine. It often takes a couple tries to reauthorize the system, which I can do myself through the "Dish Outdoors" support page, but that's no big deal. All in all, I'd call myself a happy customer.

Needless to say, I could purchase newer equipment. (Other online info says that Dish will upgrade "owned equipment" maintaining that status, without a contract. The CSR I most recently spoke to says that's incorrect, and I don't frankly know why they'd do that.) Given that my current gear works fine, though, I see no reason to do that, especially with the future of DBS uncertain with the whole world transitioning to streaming.

Based on this thread, I believe the claims that I'll lose access to any of my current services are false. Do the experts here agree? TIA.

 

[Josh.M]

I apologize if this is redundant, but this is a long thread and I want to make sure I've really got it.

I'm a part-time resident of northern Colorado where I have a Dish subscription, including Denver locals, that I turn on and off frequently. I own my own equipment and cannot practically go on contract, since the contract term would run decades with my usage pattern. On multiple recent calls to turn the service on and off, the Dish CSR has claimed that my equipment was no longer supported, or was going to lose support "sometime soon", with no real explanation as to why. I suspect these claims all originate with the MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion.

My receiver is a VIP922 which, despite its bad reputation, works fine for my needs and reportedly supports MPEG-4. I run a switch test every time I reactivate the system (it's unplugged from both power and the antenna when deactivated) and receive 110, 119 and 129 just fine. It often takes a couple tries to reauthorize the system, which I can do myself through the "Dish Outdoors" support page, but that's no big deal. All in all, I'd call myself a happy customer.

Needless to say, I could purchase newer equipment. (Other online info says that Dish will upgrade "owned equipment" maintaining that status, without a contract. The CSR I most recently spoke to says that's incorrect, and I don't frankly know why they'd do that.) Given that my current gear works fine, though, I see no reason to do that, especially with the future of DBS uncertain with the whole world transitioning to streaming.

Based on this thread, I believe the claims that I'll lose access to any of my current services are false. Do the experts here agree? TIA.

First off - I will try to keep my bias about the 922 out of my post.

You my friend, are a UNICORN customer. You are one of the few that still has a 922 and the 922 is unfortunately no longer being supported. I know there are plans to upgrade 922 customers to something else (since the receiver is technically "end of life"), but I can't speak to what those plans are. Business rules would state that you need to update your receiver, but the 922 will not be affected by the MPEG2->MPEG4 migration.

 

[FredInColo]

First off - I will try to keep my bias about the 922 out of my post.

You my friend, are a UNICORN customer. You are one of the few that still has a 922 and the 922 is unfortunately no longer being supported. I know there are plans to upgrade 922 customers to something else (since the receiver is technically "end of life"), but I can't speak to what those plans are. Business rules would state that you need to update your receiver, but the 922 will not be affected by the MPEG2->MPEG4 migration.

Thanks for the prompt reply, Josh. If I understand you correctly, there's no technical reason for me to upgrade, it's just a matter of policy, and my 922 will continue to operate fine for the indefinite future (i.e., it is no longer actively supported but isn't actually being denied access to programming services). Is that right?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Thanks for the prompt reply, Josh. If I understand you correctly, there's no technical reason for me to upgrade, it's just a matter of policy, and my 922 will continue to operate fine for the indefinite future (i.e., it is no longer actively supported but isn't actually being denied access to programming services). Is that right?

No it might not as they are changing the way they broadcast things which may not be receivable by the 922.

 

[Josh.M]

I would definitely consider upgrading to a different receiver.

 

[FredInColo]

I would definitely consider upgrading to a different receiver.

I *am* considering upgrading (that's really the whole point of my post) but would prefer not to unless/until it is truly necessary. And at such time as an upgrade is really required, I'll need to understand the minimum equipment requirements going forward. Delaying as long as possible saves me both money and, since I self-install, effort.

That said, I do appreciate input that is accurate and detailed. I'm not getting that from the CSRs, who seem to be given a policy-driven script and little or no background information to support it.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

They are never told the technical reasons behind things. They are just given a script to follow through on.

 

[navychop]

One other thing to consider. That ViP922 requires software support. There may be tiny differences in it that require consideration every time some s/w is changed or updated. It just isn’t worth that cost to Dish. Cheaper to say it’s EOL and time to move on.

 

[mwdxer1]

I hope the Vip 211k continues to be used as I really like one. It has my outboard HDD, plus the built in OTA tuner.

 

[ethanlerma]

I *am* considering upgrading (that's really the whole point of my post) but would prefer not to unless/until it is truly necessary. And at such time as an upgrade is really required, I'll need to understand the minimum equipment requirements going forward. Delaying as long as possible saves me both money and, since I self-install, effort.

That said, I do appreciate input that is accurate and detailed. I'm not getting that from the CSRs, who seem to be given a policy-driven script and little or no background information to support it.

Technically speaking, your 922 supports MPEG4 just like any other VIP receiver does, so while you no longer will receive software/technical support on it, it should function until all other VIP receivers stop functioning as well. I don't see that happening in the near future.

I would just ignore the CSR claims, from what I've read when you are being told to upgrade on the phone it is a sales pitch, while getting official notices in the mail is when it becomes mandatory. Once you get said notice or start seeing news of the VIP series/MPEG4 shutdown on this site or other sources, then look into buying a Wally/Hopper3 or whatever is appropriate for you at that moment in time. You could also look into Wally's today, I've seen them as cheap as $40 sometimes and it is a very versatile receiver.

 

[FredInColo]

Technically speaking, your 922 supports MPEG4 just like any other VIP receiver does, so while you no longer will receive software/technical support on it, it should function until all other VIP receivers stop functioning as well. I don't see that happening in the near future.

I would just ignore the CSR claims, from what I've read when you are being told to upgrade on the phone it is a sales pitch, while getting official notices in the mail is when it becomes mandatory. Once you get said notice or start seeing news of the VIP series/MPEG4 shutdown on this site or other sources, then look into buying a Wally/Hopper3 or whatever is appropriate for you at that moment in time. You could also look into Wally's today, I've seen them as cheap as $40 sometimes and it is a very versatile receiver.

That's exactly what I suspected, Ethan. Thanks for the input.

 

[HipKat]

I apologize if this is redundant, but this is a long thread and I want to make sure I've really got it.

I'm a part-time resident of northern Colorado where I have a Dish subscription, including Denver locals, that I turn on and off frequently. I own my own equipment and cannot practically go on contract, since the contract term would run decades with my usage pattern. On multiple recent calls to turn the service on and off, the Dish CSR has claimed that my equipment was no longer supported, or was going to lose support "sometime soon", with no real explanation as to why. I suspect these claims all originate with the MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion.

My receiver is a VIP922 which, despite its bad reputation, works fine for my needs and reportedly supports MPEG-4. I run a switch test every time I reactivate the system (it's unplugged from both power and the antenna when deactivated) and receive 110, 119 and 129 just fine. It often takes a couple tries to reauthorize the system, which I can do myself through the "Dish Outdoors" support page, but that's no big deal. All in all, I'd call myself a happy customer.

Needless to say, I could purchase newer equipment. (Other online info says that Dish will upgrade "owned equipment" maintaining that status, without a contract. The CSR I most recently spoke to says that's incorrect, and I don't frankly know why they'd do that.) Given that my current gear works fine, though, I see no reason to do that, especially with the future of DBS uncertain with the whole world transitioning to streaming.

Based on this thread, I believe the claims that I'll lose access to any of my current services are false. Do the experts here agree? TIA.

You have no reason to upgrade if your 922 is working fine. While Dish doesn't install them, I'm not sure if they service them, since I haven't even seen one in a few years, but if it's not broken, don't fix it.

As for your contract for decades comment, a contract is 2 years, after that, you're just paying monthly. An equipment upgrade almost always means a new 2 yr agreement. YMMV if you call Loyalty, directly. Of course, then you lose the capability of activating/deactivating it.

 

[HipKat]

First off - I will try to keep my bias about the 922 out of my post.

I'm curious about that bias. I LOVED the 922's. They were awesome looking, those blue lights were really cool. And looking at installing Hoppers today, the 922 was a breeze!

 

[FredInColo]

As for your contract for decades comment, a contract is 2 years, after that, you're just paying monthly. An equipment upgrade almost always means a new 2 yr agreement. YMMV if you call Loyalty, directly. Of course, then you lose the capability of activating/deactivating it.

As I indicated, this system is in a part-time home and we pause and restart our programming services frequently. If we were unable to do that, Dish would not be economically viable and we'd switch to something else -- possibly streaming exclusively -- even though we'd lose some desirable services. A contract only runs while the programming services are enabled, so the two year time period is extended by the cumulative pause time -- to decades, in our case, unless our usage pattern changes.

The ability to pause and restart our programming services at will, prorated to the day with only a $5/month account maintenance fee during each pause, is one of my favorite features of Dish service. By way of contrast, if we went with cable at that location we'd be limited to one period per year of "vacation" and would have to pay the full rate otherwise. That would be completely unworkable for us, but Dish (off contract) and wireless internet satisfy our needs perfectly.

When we bought the place 20 years ago, it came with an old Dish 500 system. If that hadn't been the case, I doubt I'd ever have even considered DBS. When we wanted to upgrade to HD 10 years ago, I did my research, found that I needed to own my own equipment to stay off contract, and bought all the necessary gear online. The self-install was no big deal and I've been a happy customer all along, with the exception of a few aggravating policy-driven conversations with CSRs reading from the script.

 

[Josephinelcajon]

I hope the Vip 211k continues to be used as I really like one. It has my outboard HDD, plus the built in OTA tuner.

Over the weekend I tried to turn on my RV VIP211 and it refused to accept the "hit" authorization. It did update the software. I was told "it was too old" and they "no longer support it" I was then shocked to hear Dish no longer support replacement of any receiver failure past its one-year warranty. I have to admit it's been well over a decade since I had a owned receiver failure. Back in the day they would exchange it. With the protection plan of course. I was not even offered to buy one. I will be trying again to loyalty Monday. It makes little to no sense for me to lease one when its only used very rarely.

 

[TheKrell]

Over the weekend I tried to turn on my RV VIP211 and it refused to accept the "hit" authorization. It did update the software. I was told "it was too old" and they "no longer support it" I was then shocked to hear Dish no longer support replacement of any receiver failure past its one-year warranty. I have to admit it's been well over a decade since I had a owned receiver failure. Back in the day they would exchange it. With the protection plan of course. I was not even offered to buy one. I will be trying again to loyalty Monday. It makes little to no sense for me to lease one when its only used very rarely.

I have difficulty believing any of those claims by Dish. How long has it been off the dish?

 

[Josephinelcajon]

I have difficulty believing any of those claims by Dish. How long has it been off the dish?

11 months it was last December. It was on my account inactive and not powered on sense then.