Hopper upgrade
- Thread starter ket000
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 6
- Views 2K
Post this to the Hopper Upgrades thread stickied above. A Dish support person will PM you if you have PM's enabled, they'll get specifics and then shoot you a deal. You'll want a HWS at your main TV, then a Joey at each of the others.
You may want to consider a 2 hopper/2joey set-up even though you only have 3 TV's. It all depends on how may people will actually be tapping into your whole home system. If you have kids or room mates or whatever using those joeys for thier TV's, they will be using up available tuners on that one hopper. Now that all the components can "see" eachother, a second hopper really expands you flexibility. I think a 2 hop/2 joey will be $7.00 more a month than a 1 hop/2 joey set-up.
For a 3 TV set-up, I don't think Dish will allow a 2 hopper/1 joey set-up, but you could ask. If they won't allow it, and you want a 2 & 2 set-up for the purpose of getting 2 hoppers, you could just have them set up the 2nd joey in a location for "future use".
As far as the upgrade/installation cost I think it will depend on certain factors like your current programming level, and upgrade status. As bbtkd said, the DIRT team is the way to go. You can be confident that you will get the best deal available through them. I just got upgraded from having (2) 622's and a 722 to a 2 hop/2 joey. It did not cost me anything. Good luck.
The configuration that is appropriate to you will depend on your viewing habits.
1 Hopper and 2 Joeys gets you 3 satellite tuners that need to be shared between all LIVE viewing the three TVs do PLUS any recordings. If you watch a lot of network programming (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox) then 1 tuner can be shared for all of the "big 4" channels leaving 2 for other channels. If 3 satellite tuners are too limiting, a 2 Hopper/1 Joey system may be necessary. The monthly cost is the same but up-front costs are higher. You may have to order a 2H+2J system and refuse the second Joey at install time.
A multiple Hopper system is not fully integrated and requires some planning:
A Joey can "connect" to either Hopper and play recordings and use tuners from that receiver. I believe Joeys can also see external hard drive contents.
One Hopper can play programs from the other Hopper but it can't use tuners or see the external hard drive.
Hoppers can set timers for itself but can't set timers on the other Hopper. Joeys can set timers for the Hopper it is connected to. To avoid viewing and recording conflicts, it may be necessary to schedule some timers on each Hopper.
Sling access is only to programs recorded to the internal drive of the Hopper you connect to. Programs on the external drive or the other Hopper are not visible.
Hopper supports HDMI, analog component, composite (NTSC). No S-Video or RF output. For audio: HDMI, Optical and Left/Right analog.
Joey supports HDMI and analog composite with HDMI or Left/Right analog audio. These choices may help with Hopper/Joey selection.
Another option would be to "mirror" one receiver to multiple TVs. This saves $7/mo but both TVs need to watch the same programming. Because there is no RF output from either Hopper or Joey, you would need an external modulator to feed RF to a second TV. Also, Hopper and Joey systems do not support back-feeding RF on the same coax so you'd need to run a separate RF cable. You might need that anyway to support off-air reception which also requires an optional "dongle" connected to the Hopper.
Hopper's DVR fee is $10/mo ($3 more than you are currently paying). Each additional Hopper/Joey costs $7/mo. So monthly equipment fees for a 2H+1J or 1H+2J system is $24/mo. Up-front equipment costs are changing and vary depending on your specific situation so contact DIRT for current costs. Installation can be up to $95 if you don't have the protection plan (up to $15 if you do). Dish will sometimes wave the installation fee. Again, DIRT can check your account and let you know that.
I have 4 TV's and record a lot, so am going with two HWS and two Joey's, and am adding OTA adapters to the HWS's, so will have a total of eight tuners.
I am by no means an expert on this, but my joeys do not work exactly the way you described. The terminology used could be confusing. Linked and connected are different. The joeys in my system (2 hop/2 joe) can be "linked" to the hopper of my choice. I can choose to link both joeys to the same hopper and leave the other hopper with no linked joey or link one joey to each hopper. The tech used a dual node and hooked each joey directly to the client outputs of the node. From what I see, there are different ways to hook up a 2 h/2j sysyem. I'm thinking different hook ups may change the way the whole system behaves.
Here's a brief description of how mine works. Much the same as you stated above.
By linking a joey to a hopper all recordings made from that joey will use the tuner/s of the linked" hopper.
By linking a joey to a hopper, the joey will be able to view the EHD of that hopper if it has one connected. It will not be able to see the EHD of an un-linked hopper.
By linking a joey to a hopper, that joey has access to and can control the PTAT settings associated with that hopper only.
"Linking" also controls many other functions as relates to the chosen hopper, but listed above is the most commonly used functions for me.
Both joeys can "connect" to either hopper as in accessing the content of the "my recordings" screen.
Both joeys can "connect" to either hopper as in accessing the content of the finished PTAT recordings.
Last edited:
Similar threads
