Just switched to Dish, is my experience typical?

[chicagouser]

I just switched to Dish after years with cable. Never had satellite before.

I placeshift a lot, with a slingbox and before that a Vulkano, so the Hopper with Sling was a nice benefit. But I have two issues that just bother the heck out of me.

The first is the HD quality. It's just not as good as cable, and on the local channels it's downright horrible. The pixelation is awful especially when there's fast motion. The issue is present on the Hopper and the Joeys, so I don't think it's a MoCa issue (I checked my MoCa signal strength...everything is higher than -20 dBm, so I understand I'm ok there). Is Dish Network known for having a bad HD signal?

The second issue is that despite being hardwired into my router (which is an Asus RT N66U), my Hopper is constantly showing up as "offline" when I'm trying to access Dish Anywhere. Again, is this is a known software bug for the new equipment?

I'm kind of worried I bought a lemon with a $420 cancellation fee, so I'm hoping that's not the case. The installer they sent out didn't seem very knowledgeable (he didn't know what MoCa was, for instance).

Thanks in advance.

 

[sam fisher]

I can't speak to the HD issue. I switched from U-Verse back to Dish. HD quality is about the same.

As for my Hopper, I finally put it in the DMZ after opening ports didn't work. Once in the DMZ, it works perfectly. Not sure I care if the hackers get it or not...

 

[mike123abc]

You might check your signal strength to see if you are having drop outs. Others in Chicago will have to report in on the picture quality, every market is different.

 

[Neutron]

Welcome to Satelliteguys!!

I know you probably checked this already but do you have your Hopper/Joeys and TVs set to the highest possible picture format setting, i.e. 1080i or 1080p?

 

[Tampa8]

I do not get pixelization with Dish. Not sure if that's the term you mean? And since it's happened before to people, be sure it's set to 1080I or 720p...

Edit (Posted at the same time....)

 

[chicagouser]

Yep, they're all set to the 1080i/1080p setting. It's definitely an HD output (the Dish menus are all in HD), but the signal is just substantially worse than what I'm used to.

I poked around the "Point Dish" menu to get a look at the signal levels. After looking around this forum, I *think* my levels are fine, but I don't really know what I'm doing there.

 

[Tampa8]

Would not make a difference unless the picture is breaking up, signal strength does not equate to PQ. And what do you mean it's set to 1080P, does the Hopper have a 1080P setting?

 

[chicagouser]

On the Hopper/Joeys, under the Format TV and HDTV setting, the output is set to "1080i/1080p." The other options are 720p, 480p, and 480i.

And yes, the signal is not dropping out (I'm not getting temporary black screens), the quality is just poor.

 

[mike123abc]

Is it just on the locals? Or, is it on the nationals too?

 

[Tampa8]

I have no other solutions. On my 55" LCD the picture is pretty damn good. Even OTA is just barely better.

 

[chicagouser]

The locals are really bad. The others might be worse, might be the same, but it's close enough that I'm not bothered by it. But the locals are terrible.

 

[Poke]

Sounds like a hardware issue to me either with the Node or could be a splitter as far as your network connection did the installer put a HIC next to your router HIC is a Home Interenet Connector. Also go to network settings on your Hopper make sure to run the network test there as well. You might have them replace your Node I know in the past they had some bad ones floating around which could effect your signal strength.

 

[chicagouser]

The HIC is a separate piece of hardware, right? No, don't have that. But it does work like this--it's worked since the install. It just seems to go down a lot, and then I need to power cycle the Hopper (which I can't do remotely).

As for the install, the feed goes into a 2-way splitter. One way ("Client") goes to a Joey. The other ("Host" I think) is an input to another 2-way splitter. On that one, the Host goes to the Hopper, and the Client goes to the other Joey.

 

[KAB]

You are using HDMI output, right?

 

[chicagouser]

Yes, using HDMI.

 

[Poke]

The HIC is a separate piece of hardware, right? No, don't have that. But it does work like this--it's worked since the install. It just seems to go down a lot, and then I need to power cycle the Hopper (which I can't do remotely).

As for the install, the feed goes into a 2-way splitter. One way ("Client") goes to a Joey. The other ("Host" I think) is an input to another 2-way splitter. On that one, the Host goes to the Hopper, and the Client goes to the other Joey.

Ok first you just have 1 Joey and 1 Hopper Correct? Second I usually recommend that folks get a HIC install which they should have brought one with them just in case the customer wanted to go that route. But HIC to me just more reliable and getting your net connection to all your devices as well. Did you call Dish and they sent someone out or did you go through a local retailer? Sounds like to me the installer just did enough to get by I would contact Dish let them know your not happy with the install that you want to make sure all of they hardware is tested and good. At this point sounds like some of the hardware is not functioning correctly so I would have them bring some extra hardware like the NODE and Splitters as well plus make sure they bring you a HIC as well.

 

[KAB]

Contact DIRT (Dish internet response team) to explain the situation and set up a service call. Could be the Hopper, could be the install. Dirt Memebers can be found on the bottom of the Forum page, in RED. Send a PM. They will get you taken care of.

 

[chicagouser]

Thanks. I went through Dish to sign up, but they subcontracted the install out.

I have 1 Hopper, and 2 Joeys.

I'm having someone come out tomorrow to look at it, but I worry it's just going to be the same unknowledgeable person as before.

 

[The Fat Man]

Is this on live programing or paused programing? My hopper with glitch when I pause live TV, then play minutes later. It's worse on SD channels.

 

[chicagouser]

Just to close the loop on this--the technician said that the signal levels were fine, that the wiring within my condo was fine, and that the quality was just what it is for the local channels. Now the question is whether this is worth paying a $400 cancellation fee over.

It's disappointing that Dish Network is unable to get clear HD local channels. For anyone with the OTA adapter--does your antenna pull in better quality HD on local channels than your satellite?