New Equip - Wally

[bchandler02]

I'm looking at signing my parents up for Dish so they can go tell Spectrum where to stick their insane pricing.

Currently playing around with the packages, either AT120+ or AT200 looks the most likely. We may consider doing Flex + Locals, Heartland, and Outdoor too, if that comes out better, just not sure yet.

On the equipment front, they have 3 HDTVs. If we go with DVR, I understand they'll get the Hopper and 2 Joeys (I'd want to make sure they get the H3 and latest Joeys). No questions there as I have this setup. However, if we don't go with DVR, the Dish site looks like they'll get 3 wallys instead. I've never dealt with these before. My understanding is that they are a single tuner reciever with the CUI that I am used to on my H3. Are they speedy, or more like the old hoppers on CUI? Aside from lack of DVR, Sling, and secondary tuners (no PIP), what else is different about them? Are they generally well liked?

 

[pattykay]

I'm looking at signing my parents up for Dish so they can go tell Spectrum where to stick their insane pricing.

Currently playing around with the packages, either AT120+ or AT200 looks the most likely. We may consider doing Flex + Locals, Heartland, and Outdoor too, if that comes out better, just not sure yet.

On the equipment front, they have 3 HDTVs. If we go with DVR, I understand they'll get the Hopper and 2 Joeys (I'd want to make sure they get the H3 and latest Joeys). No questions there as I have this setup. However, if we don't go with DVR, the Dish site looks like they'll get 3 wallys instead. I've never dealt with these before. My understanding is that they are a single tuner reciever with the CUI that I am used to on my H3. Are they speedy, or more like the old hoppers on CUI? Aside from lack of DVR, Sling, and secondary tuners (no PIP), what else is different about them? Are they generally well liked?

I generally like the Wally very well. As you may be aware, the Wally can be turned into a DVR, if you later want DVR functionality, by adding an external hard drive and paying a one-time $40 fee. (The fee is per-account, not per receiver, so one fee would cover all three Wally.) With DVR functionality enabled, each Wally would have two satellite tuners for recording. (Still no PIP though. ) I actually find the brand-new Hopper Duo to be slightly faster than Wally, but Wally is certainly no snail, either.

 

[HipKat]

I generally like the Wally very well. As you may be aware, the Wally can be turned into a DVR, if you later want DVR functionality, by adding an external hard drive and paying a one-time $40 fee. (The fee is per-account, not per receiver, so one fee would cover all three Wally.) With DVR functionality enabled, each Wally would have two satellite tuners for recording. (Still no PIP though. ) I actually find the brand-new Hopper Duo to be slightly faster than Wally, but Wally is certainly no snail, either.

Did you get a Duo, Crod?

 

[MikeD-C05]

Did you get a Duo, Crod?

We need his review of the duo receiver . I am really curious how it works.

 

[HipKat]

We need his review of the duo receiver . I am really curious how it works.

I haven't installed one yet, but one of our techs did and had problems with a DPP LNBF, so he swapped for DPH and no problems. Something to think about if you're a DIY'er

 

[pattykay]

Did you get a Duo, Crod?

Yes, I have been playing with it this week.

We need his review of the duo receiver . I am really curious how it works.

I don't have any Joeys, so I can't test the full functionality of it, but so far it seems to work basically like a Wally, with a few nice bonuses: no need to use an external hard drive for DVR functionality (drawback: monthly DVR fee) plus built-in wifi, and most importantly: PIP. As I said above, the speed of the menus seems to be slightly faster than the Wally. The wifi signal strength meter reads lower than the strength on the Wally, but that could be because I have the Hopper Duo on a low shelf, and because I use the extender cable with the wifi adapter for the Wally to mount the adapter higher on the wall. Wifi functions just fine, though.

I haven't installed one yet, but one of our techs did and had problems with a DPP LNBF, so he swapped for DPH and no problems. Something to think about if you're a DIY'er

I self-installed mine. I have two dishes, so I tried it directly connected to an EA 1000.4, and then hooked it up to a Dish 1000+ through a DPP44 switch. I did not have any problem with either configuration.

 

[pattykay]

We need his review of the duo receiver . I am really curious how it works.

After taking some more time to play with the Hopper Duo, I found one more difference between Hopper Duo and Wally. Hopper Duo has fewer apps. Most notably, Hopper Arcade, Dish Music, and Netflix are missing from Hopper Duo. This is not entirely unexpected, since Hopper Duo is a brand-new receiver that was just released, and hopefully the remaining apps will be added soon.

 

[MikeD-C05]

After taking some more time to play with the Hopper Duo, I found one more difference between Hopper Duo and Wally. Hopper Duo has fewer apps. Most notably, Hopper Arcade, Dish Music, and Netflix are missing from Hopper Duo. This is not entirely unexpected, since Hopper Duo is a brand-new receiver that was just released, and hopefully the remaining apps will be added soon.

Do you think it compares to the 722k it replaces or is it better to you?

 

[pattykay]

Do you think it compares to the 722k it replaces or is it better to you?

Since Hopper Duo requires a Joey for independent viewing at a second TV, it is not a complete replacement for a 722k. In other words, a 722k can serve two TV's for only the $15 per month DVR fee (at the most, while grandfathered subscribers pay less than that) while Hopper Duo would be a $10 DVR fee plus a $7 Joey fee, for a total of $17 per month to do what the 722k can do for $15 or less. (New subscribers who get Hopper Duo would pay the same rate as some grandfathered 722k users, with new Hopper Duo subscribers paying $5 DVR fee + $5 Joey fee, and grandfathered 722k users paying $10 DVR fee. Great-grandfathered 722k users only pay $7 per month DVR fee, though.) The one advantage of Hopper Duo would be HD at both TV's, instead of SD at TV2 with 722k.

Having said all that, none of it matters for my usage, since I had been using the 722k in Single Mode for PIP, and I am using Hopper Duo without a Joey. My 722k had been getting glitchy, squishing HD channels into the 4x3 frame, especially after exiting the Weather Channel app (channel 213). I also detailed a more recent 722k glitch in another thread, that caused me to temporarily lose all DVR functionality. Hopper Duo has not had any of these issues, and in almost all other aspects it seems to be at least as good as 722k, if not better.

I can think of three other advantages that 722k has over Hopper Duo. First, for those without an internet connection, at least the Weather Channel app and Weather Nation app still work on 722k. With a phone line connection, the Customer Support app also works. Hopper Duo, like other Hoppers and Wally, requires an internet connection for all of those and for most of the other apps. Second, the phone line connection allows for on-screen Caller ID. With Hopper Duo, there is no such option. Third, 722k has component outputs. This is especially handy for connecting to older HDTV's without HDMI inputs. I am currently using composite (yellow, white, red) to connect my Hopper Duo to my old HDTV, because Hopper Duo lacks component outputs and the TV lacks an HDMI input. I know that there is an adapter for this situation, but I do not have one.

Finally, there is one more advantage that 722k has over Hopper Duo if you use OTA and like to receive more distant local stations from multiple directions. With 722k, you can re-scan without deleting channels that are already in the list, and you can manually add channels without doing a full scan. Hopper Duo does not have either of those options. If a scan finds different OTA channels, you have two options: either save the changes (and lose any channels that the scan did not find) or exit without saving changes (and lose the new channels found by the scan). For my personal use, this does not affect me, since I did not have the MT2 module installed in the 722k (I took it out to install it in a 222k instead.) and I do not currently have the dual-tuner OTA dongle connected to the Hopper Duo. (I use the dual-tuner OTA dongle with Wally instead.)

 

[pattykay]

I can now confirm that Hopper Duo works connected directly to the WA Dish 1000.2 for my RV. This brings me to one major advantage of Hopper Duo: it is a much more compact solution for taking in the RV. No need to bring an external hard drive (compared to Wally), smaller size and lighter weight (compared to 722k. Hopper Duo is larger than Wally, but not that much larger.), and no need to use an external wifi adapter. (compared to both Wally and 722k) Also, for a second TV, a Joey would be smaller than a second Wally.

 

[mphca]

Just joined tonight. I've been with DISH for 20 years, starting with the old 3000 and 4000 receivers. Now I have a Hopper 3 and a pair of Joey 2's. Separately, I have a 211z and Tailgater. I want to migrate to a Wally. I just finished talking with DISH to verify that the new Wally's will work with less than 3 satellites (i.e. trees when camping). Is this true? Secondly, when the LNB was updated for Hopper 3, I lost my direct cable to the 211z when it is in the house and have been using the Tailgater. Can anyone verify the Wally can be use with the Tailgater and seeing less than 3 satellites? Thanks in advance ....

 

[HipKat]

Just joined tonight. I've been with DISH for 20 years, starting with the old 3000 and 4000 receivers. Now I have a Hopper 3 and a pair of Joey 2's. Separately, I have a 211z and Tailgater. I want to migrate to a Wally. I just finished talking with DISH to verify that the new Wally's will work with less than 3 satellites (i.e. trees when camping). Is this true? Secondly, when the LNB was updated for Hopper 3, I lost my direct cable to the 211z when it is in the house and have been using the Tailgater. Can anyone verify the Wally can be use with the Tailgater and seeing less than 3 satellites? Thanks in advance ....

Yes it can. As far as in the house, it takes some modifying but changing that LNBF back to a DPP and adding a 44 switch and a 42 switch will allow you to use the Hopper and the 211 in your house.

You run 3 lines from the LNBF to the 44 switch and cable them port 1 to port 1, port 2 to port 2, port 3 to port 3. Port 1 output to the 211 with the power inserter inline before the receiver or output 1 to the power inserter and port 2 output to the 211.

http://www.prosatellitesupply.com/PDF_Files/DPP44_Switch_Installation_Guide.pdf

Then use 4 "jumpers" from the Add Additional Switch outputs to the 42 switch. Here's the wiring diagram for the 42 switch to the Hopper. Just make sure you run a check switch on the Hooper and on the 211 whenever you move it from the house to the tailgater and back