I've never heard of QS RG-59, so it's probably RG-6. Since the only "virtue" of RG-59 is it's slightly thinner, quad really negates that. OK, maybe it's a tad cheaper. And I can't imagine any respectable AV shop using 59.
The RG-6 on the hoppers and 2 of the Joeys is 20 gauge QS. The 2 upstairs bedroom Joeys are the original Belkin 18-gauge RG-59.
Is your system connected to your home network/broadband?
If yes - can you disconnect the Hopper from your home network - so no wireless, wifi or Hopper Internet Connector. Once the Hopper system has no access to the internet, reset the Hopper's and Joeys and see if you still face this problem.
Depending on what is happening on your home network, it could be effecting the communication between the hopper and joey. By disconnecting, we can eliminate that as a source of problem
Vivek
DISH Product Management
Interesting. I have a 2 Hopper 1 Joey setup and only have RG6 from the node to the Hoppers. The line to the Joey is RG59. I asked about that over a year ago during install and the tech said it wouldn't be a problem (and it hasn't been). I wonder what has changed in that time to make RG6 to everything the new standard for 2 Hopper systems.
Well, so far so good on the internet disconnect. With the internet disconnected all Joeys fired up and immediately attached to Hoppers. I left all six TVs running for 15 minutes without a hiccup. I then had to run back to work, but left all of them on and my wife is going to keep an eye on them. One question, though: The upstairs hopper had 2 Joeys attached and tuning independent stations along with the Hopper TV tuning it's own as well. There were then 3 available stations that could be tuned from that hopper. The other two Joeys are independently tuning channels as well and that hopper has it's own channel; however, when you try to change a channel on one of the Joeys it makes you change a channel on one of the other TVs. It does not show any available channels beyond the three being used.
I'm a little confused as to what's happening here. Is one of the units on a local channel? That would bring up all the local channels on one tuner then.
No, The Hopper that is only allowing 3 separate stations to be tuned is currently tuned to AMC, Discovery, and History channel. When you hit the red button it shows these three channels being tuned and no other channels available. If you hit guide and try to tune a channel that is not listed on the red button screen it will tune to the channel you want, but will also change the channel on one of the other TVs as well. I did not reboot this hopper after disabling the Wi-Fi, so maybe that is an issue?
Got it - thank you for the clarification. I realize the Joeys did not have a tuner, but I did not realize that the Hopper could tune all 4 broadcast networks using just one tuner. That makes sense since the other 3 channels that are "Available" are local networks. That still does not make sense with this hopper, though. With the 2nd hopper only having two Joeys attached and not recording anything I should be able to change the channel on a Joey without it warning me that it will interrupt another TV tuned into a different channel. Also, the local networks do not show as "available" on the second hopper. I suppose a reset would fix this.The Hopper only has three tuners. That's a limitation of the Hopper/Joey. If you need more simultaneous tuners, you need another Hopper. The Joeys don't have their own tuners, they use the Hopper's tuners. One tuner can be used for PTAT (Prime Time Any Time) during the evening hours, to get four broadcast network stations using that one tuner.
were both hoppers connected to your network separately?
Not sure what you mean there. I have one regular hopper and another hopper with Sling that uses Wi-Fi to connect to my router. I assumed that only the one with sling could be used through the internet? If not, does that mean that the other hopper communicates through the first hopper and connects with my internet devices?
It appears that disabling the Hopper with Sling WI-FI has cured the problem of the Joeys failing. Now, would one suspect that the Hopper and/or sling adapter within the hopper is bad or is it a network communication issue with my Netgear router? Before disabling the router I had a WI-FI signal that was green in the 50-55 range. Is the HIC adapter a better solution?