I'll move twice in the next six months, what would you do?

[ctoddt]

Sorry for the long story, but I appreciate your input.

I am a 10 month E* subscriber. Got the 811 for free to go with my 50" Mistubishi. I have about 3 months left on a 1 year commitment. Right now I also have cable, but I sold my house and will be moving into an apartment. We are building a house so when it is done we will move again.

Now I would like to go to one source: cable, E*, or D*. In the apartment I will have 2 TVs, in the house I will have at least 3. My dad has a couple of spare receivers, really old. Can I add them?

I am interested in the best way to bump up the receivers with minimal out of pocket expense. I'd also like to get into a PVR at some point. Thought someone might have some nuggets of wisdom.

 

[chaddux]

First, will you be able to use your DISH at your apartment? They are allowed to stop you from attaching the dish in an area "not exclusively belonging to the tenant" such as an exterior wall or roof but you can use it on a porch. The only problem that raises is whether the porch faces the right direction. If you havent selected the apartment, you might ensure you have one that faces the general direction of the satellite (normally the south to southwest).

Second, DISH has a couple of ways of getting free moves. I've seen several threads about tricks to get a free move so I'm sure someone will have more information.

Third, any "downgrades" of your programming services which reduces your bill will incur a $5 charge. If the downgrade won't be long enough to cover that charge, you might not downgrade the receivers you have.

 

[SimpleSimon]

chaddux is right - you may be without E* for a while.

Plus, I'd like to see you get 2 free moves in 3 months wthout giving up your firstborn. Maybe it's time for you to learn how to install. OTOH, you can probably talk E* into freezing your account for the time you're going to be in the apartment, and then doing the DishMover.

Of course, we can make no recommendations about your using old receivers because you have told us nothing about your current setup. Without EVERY detail, we'll just be speculating.

P.S. Wire your new house with every room having AT LEAST dual RG-6 swept to AT LEAST 2150MHz. Bring them all together someplace OTHER than the attic (too hot) - preferably a place where you can mount equipment - switches, amplifiers, even receivers. That means electricity.

 

[ctoddt]

I can put up a dish on a pole, and there is one next door, so I think I am even clear on the direction and trees, etc. One kicker is that the installation supposedly has to be done by a licensed person, otherwise I could easily do it myself. Something about getting the cable people to allow access to their box to plug in the wires. What should installation cost?

What info about my setup is needed to check the old receivers? I will get their model #'s tomorrow.

What is the 2150MHz?

Thanks

 

[SimpleSimon]

Well, I don't know what communist state you might be living in to prevent you from doing your own thing. Some state do require installers to be licenseed to do work at ther people's houses - maybe that's it?

And in your new house YOU own the wires - at least if you follow my advice to pre-wire the place. If you decide to get cable at some point - you tell the installer where to plug his wire into YOUR wires. And you tell him if he touches anything else you cut off his hands.

If you go with the DishMover program, they'll install new dish gear for free (I think).

There are many different types of E* 'outdoor' equipment. Legacy vs. DishPro is important - look for the DP logo on the LNBF(s). How many dishes do you have? Are there any external switches? What kind? What do the LNBF(s) look like? Go here: http://www.switchinfo.info/lnbs.html for pictures and info. Also use your Point Dish and Check Switch screens to gather info.

2150MHz (or higher) is the certification level of the RG-6 cable. The standard term is cable "swept to 2150MHz". E* uses signals at that frequency. D* slightly less, digital cable the same or less than that. Note that 2150MHz = 2.15GHz. I just got some RG-6/U that was marked as 2.3 GHz. That's a higher rating, so it's fine.

 

[Stryf3]

I would get a club dish card and use it to get a referal. This gives you one free move. If you are maried you can sign up in your wife's name once you get to the new house and get the receivers you want with no out of pocket expense, and no minimum obligation.

The only other way I know of to get a free move is to sign up for E*'s monthly warranty plan.

btw With Club dish referals you also get a $5 discount each month for a year for each one you do with a maximum of 12 in 12 months. Of course this works out to a $60 monthly discount if you can rack up enough of them!

<edit>Keep in mind in your new house, most of the new receivers (with the exception of your 811)are dual tuner receivers and will feed 2 rooms. So the room where the receiver is placed will need to have 2 cables comming from the dish and one going out to the remote room.

 

[ctoddt]

I would get a club dish card and use it to get a referal. This gives you one free move. If you are maried you can sign up in your wife's name once you get to the new house and get the receivers you want with no out of pocket expense, and no minimum obligation.

I'm not sure what you mean by a dish card to get a referral. Do you mean ME get a card and 'refer' my wife? I'm missing something, cause that still doesn't make sense to me.

Are you sure signing up under the wifey will work?

 

[chaddux]

I believe that is what he meant. The problem is that if you refer your wife, you would have to cancel your existing account so you wouldnt get the $60 discount. Of course, you don't need a card to get the current free installation, free equipment special.

 

[Stryf3]

no, If you get a Club DIsh card and refer someone else, you'll get a free move. It won't get you any extra receivers in the apartment, but when you move you can then cancel and not break your contract, and sign up in your wife's name.