Dish Technicians not up to date on Hopper

[SomeDishGuy]

When I was contacted by Dish (they called me) I explained that I had a 722 and an EHD and was leery about switching to the Hopper because of losing my stored material. I was assured that the Hopper would have no problem connecting with my EHD and she would make sure the installer was a level 2 or 3 tech. A very nice young man showed up and had no clue what a EHD was. He informed me that he was new with the company (2 months) and was indeed a level 1 tech. Between the two of us we managed to get everything hooked up and the Hopper had no problems connecting and working with my EHD. Several other problems have reared their ugly heads in the first two weeks, like losing stations from me Custom Guides but all in all I'm quite satisfied.

Some of our CSRs will make up ridiculous crap. CSRs at the call centers have absolutely zero ability to dictate what "level" tech will go to the job. They set up the work order, and DNS then takes it from there and applies the work order to a tech.

Since an EHD is not a Dish-branded device, Dish is limited in being able to help with it, and no...nobody can guarantee something will work (or not work). We can say it generally will work, as the EHDs generally do, but there's too much variability to say an absolute yes or absolute no. For instance, CSRs are supposed to say (if they look and find this info on our intranet) that the EHD should be between 50GB and 2TB, should have an external power source, and be connected to the receiver using USB. I've seen people on this board be able to get things outside of those "requirements" to work, but it really is a crap shoot if they will.

 

[dare2be]

You can disagree with me all you want, but it's reality....

So is: "But it is a device sold by Dish, so it should be supported by Dish."

 

[Hall]

Tell Dish that... They don't ship the dongles with Hoppers. Techs don't carry them on their trucks. You can't order a dongle and a service call to have it hooked up. That's the reality...


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[Dishman1978]

Its as simple as: if it isn't explained in the material that comes with the reciever its not going to be taught to the technician.

I feel sorry for the guys coming in these days.

Having to go from knowing absolutely nothing about satellite systems (even as simple as having to put a fitting on a cable) to being expected by a customer how to install as many as 6 different dishes, 10 (or more) different lnbf combinations, 5 (or more) types of switches and combinations to hook up, 10 different mounting options and configurations, 6-8 different grounding options or proceedures, atleast 10 (or more) types of recievers (from Hopper with sling back to legacy), a ton of cabling configurations, aestheticly pleasing configurations, approved or not approved components in a system, how to operate and be able to educate a customer to operate, be able to trouble shoot and resolve a thousand different possible issues from as easy as no video on a TV screen to as complicated as moca issues in a brand new installed system, to be a technical expert, a networking expert, a customer service specialist and sales representative all in the matter of 18 days of training..............


(And all that information is just part of all the other requirements impossed by Dish or a subsidy of Dish to thier job daily).

 

[satjay]

The Hopper and what it can do is constantly changing and improving. Hard for the guys in the field (who probably don't even have a Hopper themselves) to know about all it can do or all its features. Best thing to do when they don't know is to tell them to check out SatelliteGuys, as your not going to find better Hopper info and support ANYWHERE else.

When I had my Hopper system installed and we were discussing the Hopper in general, he asked about my knowledge, when I discussed the satelliteguys site, he was aware of the site as well and had good things to say about us here

 

[comfortably_numb]

Tell Dish that... They don't ship the dongles with Hoppers. Techs don't carry them on their trucks. You can't order a dongle and a service call to have it hooked up. That's the reality...

No one is disputing the reality of the situation. What's being argued is the fact that Dish SHOULD support them.

 

[Hall]

Just thought of another reason for Dish's lack of hands-on support for these "accessories" and that is you can train a technician on them but if they don't encounter them enough in the field, they may simply forget. Also, with the OTA dongles, does the tech have to help aim the antenna, make sure the connections and cable are good, even the right antenna ? Just playing devil's advocate here....

I was looking at Dish's "store" and they also sell powerline phone and broadband connectors. Should techs be trained on those ? What about WiFi adapters ? Trust me, part of me does agree with many that if Dish sells it, it's unusual for them not to support it, unless their level of support is "it works with our receivers". Speaking of the WiFi adapters, the techs do seems to support these at least, as they'll install them, configure them, etc.

 

[satnewb]

Just thought of another reason for Dish's lack of hands-on support for these "accessories" and that is you can train a technician on them but if they don't encounter them enough in the field, they may simply forget. Also, with the OTA dongles, does the tech have to help aim the antenna, make sure the connections and cable are good, even the right antenna ? Just playing devil's advocate here....

I was looking at Dish's "store" and they also sell powerline phone and broadband connectors. Should techs be trained on those ? What about WiFi adapters ? Trust me, part of me does agree with many that if Dish sells it, it's unusual for them not to support it, unless their level of support is "it works with our receivers". Speaking of the WiFi adapters, the techs do seems to support these at least, as they'll install them, configure them, etc.

The powerline and wifi adapters are something the techs use on a daily basis and in fact are stocked on the vans.

 

[Hall]

Didn't know that.... Just like the techs will install WiFi adapters, this is part of Dish's "master plan" to make sure all receivers are connected at least by phone, if not preferably by broadband. : The inconsistency continues at least when it comes to stuff that doesn't benefit Dish. OTA adapters and EHD do not.

 

[Dishman1978]

There is something in the works for certain techs to be trained to set up.an ehd. Its going to be $99 service charge to do so. And its not rolled out yet.

Techs are trained on wifi, powerline, and setting up networks. Its in the training, just not extensive. Its pretty much: here's the product, here how its supposed to work, good luck.....oh.by the way if you.don't hit a percentage of your installs to.be connected to broadband we will dock your pay, eventually write you up then fire you......

Oh you say your customers don't subscribe to broadband? Too.bad, still your fault for not hitting goal.

Welcome to Dish.

 

[david_jr]

The powerline and wifi adapters are something the techs use on a daily basis and in fact are stocked on the vans.

Funny story when the tech came to install my Hopper about a year ago I asked him if he had a HIC to install with the system, he said no. He had come 50 miles to my house for the 2H/3J install but brought no HIC. I saw a powerline adapter in his truck and asked him if he could install that as I was already set up for powerline at the time. He said Hopper doesn't work with Powerline. I asked if we could just try it or else I would have to run a long ethernet cable from my router across the house to a different floor to the Hopper. So of course it worked and he looked shocked. He had thought because it wasn't built in to the Hopper it wouldn't work with the adapter.

 

[satnewb]

Funny story when the tech came to install my Hopper about a year ago I asked him if he had a HIC to install with the system, he said no. He had come 50 miles to my house for the 2H/3J install but brought no HIC. I saw a powerline adapter in his truck and asked him if he could install that as I was already set up for powerline at the time. He said Hopper doesn't work with Powerline. I asked if we could just try it or else I would have to run a long ethernet cable from my router across the house to a different floor to the Hopper. So of course it worked and he looked shocked. He had thought because it wasn't built in to the Hopper it wouldn't work with the adapter.

Yeah they work but you need 2
We still have guys that have never used an HIC

 

[lucky86]

Did you use 1 powerline adapter or were there 2 being used? I'm sure he was trained that they don't work because having to install two parts is much more costly than one of the other 3 approved connection methods.

 

[Dishman1978]

It would have to be 2. The powerline functionality isn't built in. But if you use 1 at the router and 1 at the Hopper its like having a direct connection.

And as far as the HIC is concerned very few guys use them because majority of people already have wireless and warehouse keeps running out. I have only used 3 Hics since launch.


We didn't even have any in the beginning, it took.4-5 months to get em.

 

[satnewb]

Yeah we had them right off the bat. I use them as much as I can. If there's an existing line to the room where the router is that I can use they get an HIC. The pass thru port has come in handy many times as well. It was a more stable option when the bridging function was buggy. The built in wifi on the hws is great, but I still run into people that have no idea what their passwords are, and I'm a firm believer in having a wired connection whenever possible.

 

[Dishman1978]

Yeah we had them right off the bat. I use them as much as I can. If there's an existing line to the room where the router is that I can use they get an HIC. The pass thru port has come in handy many times as well. It was a more stable option when the bridging function was buggy. The built in wifi on the hws is great, but I still run into people that have no idea what their passwords are, and I'm a firm believer in having a wired connection whenever possible.

True Dat! I like your style.

 

[david_jr]

It would have to be 2. The powerline functionality isn't built in. But if you use 1 at the router and 1 at the Hopper its like having a direct connection. And as far as the HIC is concerned very few guys use them because majority of people already have wireless and warehouse keeps running out. I have only used 3 Hics since launch. We didn't even have any in the beginning, it took.4-5 months to get em.

I already had a Netgear Powerline setup in use and my VIP722 accessed it through its own plug. I had an adapter at my router and one in my son's bedroom for his XBOX. I didn't have one at the 722 where the Hopper was going so I figured he would install a HIC. I was shocked when he said he didn't have one because the Hopper had been out for almost a year. When I saw the Powerline adapter I asked if he could sell me one to use with the Hopper. He said they were free but wouldn't work with the Hopper. I asked him to at least try it so he did and it worked flawlessly.

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