Gemini Air - New DirecTV Stream Device

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jcrandall said:
So the Gemini Air is now the normal equipment offered for ”by internet” signups. Appears they feel it is ready for prime time.

did anyone get one of the initial Air’s? If so, how is the performance now? I sure hope the software has improved as the initial user feedback had frequent slowness despite being a faster chipset than the Osprey box. With clean software it should be a better hardware option for streaming service.
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Yes, I received one a few months ago. I'm not having a good experience with it. Yesterday there were internet connection issues even with the router in the same room. That was the first time it happened. The other issue I have had since day one is the audio and video going out of sync. It's terrible to the point it's so annoying to watch. I just go back to using the Osprey device because that is stable. Even with red button resets, restoring to factory settings or unplugging the device there is no resolution to the audio video going out of sync with the Gemini Air.
 
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jcrandall said:
So the Gemini Air is now the normal equipment offered for ”by internet” signups. Appears they feel it is ready for prime time.

did anyone get one of the initial Air’s? If so, how is the performance now? I sure hope the software has improved as the initial user feedback had frequent slowness despite being a faster chipset than the Osprey box. With clean software it should be a better hardware option for streaming service.
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Apparently it’s not much better
 
scotte0702 said:
Yes, I received one a few months ago. I'm not having a good experience with it. Yesterday there were internet connection issues even with the router in the same room. That was the first time it happened. The other issue I have had since day one is the audio and video going out of sync. It's terrible to the point it's so annoying to watch. I just go back to using the Osprey device because that is stable. Even with red button resets, restoring to factory settings or unplugging the device there is no resolution to the audio video going out of sync with the Gemini Air.
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Thanks for sharing this. I was surprised to see this as their primary offering for "DirecTV by Internet" because I hadn't seen anyone post about these devices getting better with software updates. Sounds like software is still a challenge and anyone signing up for service and receiving the Air is likely not going to have an optimal experience, yet anyways.
 
I'd also mention the Gemini Air is $120 per device, no difference from the Gemini box. I would have thought they could get those down to a $60 price point being a dongle, $5/month for 12 months instead of $10/month would be more attractive to getting new customers.
 
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jcrandall said:
The Gemini firmware version of Osprey does support 4k. The streaming version supports 4K on apps but DirecTV Stream does not offer 4K streams. The HDR always on is a common complaint for this box. Others complain that it doesn't support Dolby Vision. There was a reference to that in the manual, but it has yet to make become available, and doubtful it will at this point.
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Does the new device handle HDR in the same manner?
 
I have tried Gemini Air with the DIRECTV Satellite service. It doesn't work at all.

Also the power connector is 5V 1.5A which means that some generic USB power supplies should work with it, but most TV USB ports won't. It's actually smart enough to power up halfway and put up a "please use the supplied power adapter" if you don't give it enough amps.

One more thing - unlike the previous Gemini this does not work with IR remotes. It might work with IP control, although I wasn't able to do it. Someone else might be able to confirm that.
 
Stuart Sweet said:
I have tried Gemini Air with the DIRECTV Satellite service. It doesn't work at all.

Also the power connector is 5V 1.5A which means that some generic USB power supplies should work with it, but most TV USB ports won't. It's actually smart enough to power up halfway and put up a "please use the supplied power adapter" if you don't give it enough amps.

One more thing - unlike the previous Gemini this does not work with IR remotes. It might work with IP control, although I wasn't able to do it. Someone else might be able to confirm that.
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well yeh of course it wouldnt work. The Current Osprey Box has two different firmwares they ship for Streaming vs Sat.. There is no "Air" version of that firmware out there that anyone knows about.. Its also known one cant simply change that software either. Its imaged that way from Directv
 
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Of course I didn't think it would. Although, it would have been cool if, like the DIRECTV app for streaming boxes, it let you use your satellite username and password to view streaming channels.

I don't imagine that would take a massive change to accomplish since it's already done on the Android (phone) version of the DIRECTV app.
 
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jcrandall said:
I'd also mention the Gemini Air is $120 per device, no difference from the Gemini box. I would have thought they could get those down to a $60 price point being a dongle, $5/month for 12 months instead of $10/month would be more attractive to getting new customers.
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Dtv told us they charge the avr fee for the streaming boxes if you buy the osprey boxes as well. If that's true it's better to go the byod route.
 
The cutoff aligned with when they launched the DirecTV via Internet product. They removed the option to order hardware from new stream only BYOD accounts. That said, if you can find a used one, or want to pay retailer prices for a new one (solid signal $199 is the only one I know of, which is really high since retail is $120). If you get used keep in mind there is a slight change DirecTV could disable it if someone signed up under contract, didn't pay, and didn't return the device. No reports of that but it happens all the time with cell phones. Also make sure your seller has turned off auto-sign-in so you can login with your account. I've only seen a few show up on eBay but there has been a few out there. Might be best to get an Osprey box for under $50 and check back in a year when DirecTV starts trying to move refurbs cheaper.
 

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