New Customer - Question about Weekend House

[hayesb2]

I do not have Directv yet and am thinking of signing up (I used to have them 5 yrs ago)... I've been doing some research and from what I can see I can have Directv installed at my main house and either transport the receivers back and forth between my 2 homes or just have extra receivers setup at my main house and then relocate them to my weekend house. (I want 2 receivers at each place) They'll never be watched at the same time, its just worth it to me to avoid the hassle of hauling them back and forth every week.

How does this work? Will Directv activate the extra receivers upon installation at my house if they are not hooked up to TV's? Or will I have to temporarily put TV's in my main house just so I can get them activated?

And lastly the current special has the best deal if you sign up for Whole Home DVR, I wonder if I sign up for this if I can just take the 2 extra receivers and they will work in my weekend house (which was originally wired for DirecTV 5 yrs ago) or will I have to get Directv to come out and rewire everything? If so, I'm guessing I will have to do a temporary "movers connection" from my main house to my weekend house just so everything is re-wired to work correctly and then remove back to my main house...are there limits in doing a move right after signing up?

 

[bbixler]

They would probably activate them....just tell the installer you haven't purchased the tv's yet. You may need rewiring at your weekend house, depending on your setup 5 years ago. Did you have HD service then? How many and what kind of receivers did you have 5 years ago at the weekend house?

 

[hayesb2]

Yes I had HD at my weekend house 3-5 yrs ago...I had a HD-DVR and a regular HD receiver... HR20 or HR21 I think?
From what I've been researching it seems like this whole house DVR seems a bit complicated with new equipment being required....DECA (which I really dont know or understand only read about it)
I definitely did not have whole house dvr in my old home...

I'd gladly just do the networking myself using ethernet cable (preferred method) however from what I read Directv doesn't allow this?

 

[bbixler]

Yes I had HD at my weekend house 3-5 yrs ago...I had a HD-DVR and a regular HD receiver... HR20 or HR21 I think?
From what I've been researching it seems like this whole house DVR seems a bit complicated with new equipment being required....DECA (which I really dont know or understand only read about it)
I definitely did not have whole house dvr in my old home...

I'd gladly just do the networking myself using ethernet cable (preferred method) however from what I read Directv doesn't allow this?

Since you had HD before, I doubt you would need to have Direct TV come out to change or rewire anything. You should be able to hook the boxes up there and run the set-up. The only thing you may have to change in the set-up is your dish type. Having whole home DVR service at one house and not at the other won't cause any problems when you are hooking your boxes up at the weekend house.

 

[hayesb2]

The thing is I wanted to get whole house DVR at both places...an HD-DVR and a HD receiver in both places...
Does anyone know if simply connecting the two receivers with an ethernet cable will be enough to network them together?

 

[charper1]

The thing is I wanted to get whole house DVR at both places...an HD-DVR and a HD receiver in both places...
Does anyone know if simply connecting the two receivers with an ethernet cable will be enough to network them together?

Yes non-deca does work (I have done this since MRV was in beta, and it works perfectly) ; but it is not supported by DirecTV. You will need to connect through a router (I assume you already have a home network?) and you need to get MRV added to your DirecTV account.

 

[mini1]

Here is what I would do/best way to do it:
Bring two extra TV's into your main house. Call up DirecTV and have them install 4 receivers at your main house. This will be your service address. Normally, a tech won't activate or install receivers on TV's that do not exist. They certainly won't install at two locations on one account. As soon as the tech leaves, you can move the two extra TV's out and move your two spare receivers over the weekend house. You will be responsible for purchasing and installing a SWM slimline, power inserter, SWM splitter and cinema kit at the weekend house (you can get these all on ebay/craigslist). I would suggest not using the unsupported CAT5 network. Use the existing coax runs.
Make sure you get all of the new customer promos and save a whole bunch of money. You would qualify for everything after being gone for 5 years. Email me (no PM's please) for more specific info.