DISH's Advanced Technical Support states that a Hub is not required and provides no function in a single Hopper 3 (no Joeys) installation. DISH does however like us to include a Hub at the time of installation for future upgrade capability.
Hopper Duo
- Thread starter HipKat
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Ok, you can help me with something. Who the hell are you?
I am not a technician. I am a Dish customer doing a self-install of a Hopper Duo. I sought guidance from, and received approval from, my contact in Advanced Technical Support at Dish (who is high enough up to know what he is talking about) to install the Hopper Duo without using a hub. Take that for what it is worth, which is certainly more than the word of a brand-new member who seemingly only came here to discredit my advice and disparage actual installers who have been here for awhile.
If there is a $15 DVR fee, why would anyone want this crippled POS over a Hopper3? (Even considering a possible one time up front cost.)
Hopper Duo has a $10 per month DVR fee. (like the ViP DVRs before the last price increase, and like Dish advertises the Hopper 3 at, for new subscribers)
New subscribers get a $5 per month Hopper Duo DVR fee. If you are purchasing the Duo, there is less upfront cost, compared to Hopper 3.
How is the DUO a crippled POS? It is a new receiver except for the hard drive, and even that refurbished HD has a 1 year warranty. If you have been a DISH customer for any length of time you have had refurbished receivers, many that you thought were new were remans.
I can verify that will work just fine.
You should be able to get it directly from Dish, if you can get through to the right person.
My post was based on a previous post and with an "if" $15. If it's actually a $5 savings for a Duo over the 3, my opinion still stands. 2 tuners and a smaller drive are still a rotten deal to save $5 a month.
BTW, I'm still not a "buying" fan.
I purchased my Hopper 3 and Dish Pro Hybrid Western Arc Triple LNB from Dish Depot when I ditched my failing ViP 622. They were very helpful with DIY info etc.
They list the Hopper Duo for $149 https://store.dishdepot.com/dish-hopper-duo-single-receiver
FYI I purchased my Hopper 3 because Dish wanted more than the cost of the Hopper 3 and Hybrid LNBF to upgrade me from a ViP 622. When you only sub to the Welcome Pack with no contract, things that are usually "free/included" become extra cost items.
The show stopper was the $100 Dish wanted to install the Hopper 3 and Hybrid LNBF. I respect that Dish installers shouldn’t work for free and I wasn’t asking for that. But replacing the LNBF on a ground installed dish connected with a single coax run to one Hopper 3 is not that tough a DIY. Besides I had moved/installed the dish, coax and ViP 622 to our new house because Dish had refused to "move" it unless the new house was at a new physical address.
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You could buy a Wally and a 2TB external hard drive, so you would have the same size drive and save the entire $15. (Your savings would be reduced by the $40 upfront cost to activate DVR functionality, but that part pays itself back fairly quickly.) It would still be just two satellite tuners per Wally, though.
A 2TB drive would actually almost double the storage space of the Hopper because only ~1.2TB is available for recording. The rest is for pay-per-view.
...which is why I only specified the $40 charge when I said "that part pays itself back fairly quickly." From there, it would of course depend on how much you paid for the hard drive and the Wally. I bought a Wally from Dish for only $50 plus tax, but lately I have seen them listed on Amazon for more than that. Perhaps discussion about the Wally on this site is driving up demand, thus driving up the price.and don't forget to factor in the cost of the EHD!
If you have to go cheap for personal financial reasons, I understand, but there is nothing like the Hopper3. If nothing else, any time you see something you like in the guide you can record without worrying about conflict or interference with live watching on every TV. The Duo is a cripple by comparison and so are the VIPs.
Stop trying to lure us into that van. 
I would not call it a cripple, as long as it is functioning as intended. "Less robust" would be a nicer way of putting it.
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