looking for an easy/cheaper way to add a second room to my service?

[Janet1234]

I currently have Directv in 2 rooms and was looking at adding it to a 3rd. We don't have HD TV's so we only want the standard receivers/hookups. When I called, they gave me the 'song and dance' of we'll give you the receiver for free and you pay the 19.95 s/h (which they later waived) and you pay the $80 for installation. I can't believe they want me to pay $80 for installation. If I disconnected them and went with Dish, I could get free installation.

Would I beable to hook this up myself and how difficult would it be? I used to (before kids 4 yrs ago) work on computers and networks, so I'm familiar with cableing, however I haven't seen any of the hookups for our dish. I'm not sure how it's connected at the dish side. Also, how would I know if my dish can support 3 rooms total? Is there anyway to know for sure? Or, am I just kidding myself and I should just take a deep breath and have them come out and pay the $80.

(My mother is in a similar situation, however she only has 1 TV hooked up and needs 2 more hooked up so she can watch tv after this whole Feb 2009 analog going to digital thing. We tried the converter boxes and those are a joke, so she would like to get the satellite in 2 more rooms. )

Thanks! I'm new to this site/forumn and I'm soo happy I found someone to chat about this with.
Janet

 

[charper1]

It should work to just buy your own SD unit; connect it and call in to activate it.

 

[spaceghost]

Do you have a single LNB dish? More than one dish? Do you have a DVR?
If you have a single LNB dish, you will need a 3x4 multiswitch (not a splitter). They are on ebay cheap.

You most likely have a single LNB dish with two cables coming out of the dish and then running into each room. Follow the cable from the dish to where it (should) be grounded. This is where you'd put the 3x4 multiswitch. If there isn't a cable already ran, run one from there into the room where you want it hooked up.

The only problem is getting a receiver and it likely won't be free.

 

[boba]

D12 upgrade fee is $69, 3x4 Multiswitch should be around $10 Cabling if needed $20 so about $99 to do it yourself. Get it frre and pay $80 to be professionally installed, D* is still the best buy.