Several moving questions

[Laguna]

- Moving down the road. At current house, I dropped in a pole and had my installer put it on the pole, and it has been flawless. However, new house is south-facing so wifey is not too thrilled about giant HD slimline on a pole facing the front. Question: can I request a specific spot on the roof for the installer to mount the new dish? Or is it really up to him/her to decide where is best? I understand it has to have a clear view and be able to "see" over the roof pitch.

- New house has RG6 throughout, but only one run per room. Question: can I request D* give me SWM with the new installation? More importantly, will they consider it? I don't want to tear my house apart running new cables. Question: Will my existing HR20-100 (2007) and HR22 (2008) work with SWM?

- New house has a concrete pad across the back of the house, but I need the dish to be on the opposite side of the house to where the cable enters the garage. Question: will the installer run the cable discreetly in the soffit or someplace like that so it doesn't have to go into the ground (where it can't get under the concrete)?

- The "movers" commercials for D* claim you can get a DVR upgrade and free movie channels for using the service. Question: Will they upgrade a DirecTivo to an HR2x? Question: Will they give me free movie channels if I already have and am paying for them?

I guess that's all for now. I've had D* since 2001 and am scared to death I'm going to have to go back to Comcast.

 

[jcrandall]

You can request and they'll usually oblige as long as it is safe. You can put it on the backside of the roof in most cases and not see it from the street.

You'll want SWM. If they don't provide it have them do the install with just one line, and buy a SWM LNB on ebay for about $30-40. SWM is not always available from DirecTV.

Usually can hide the wire easily, tuck under siding.

Tivo to HR2x will probably run $100, the free dvr is the SD one. Each case is different.

Cancel the movie channels (drop your package) before calling for the move, and save money.

Remember, 2 year commitment to use mover advantage, and only one move for free in that 2 years.

 

[jcrandall]

WELCOME to Satelliteguys BTW, hope you enjoy the stay and stick around!

 

[Laguna]

Thank you for the welcome.

So I'm good with my existing HR2x receivers?


And with SWM, do I also need a splitter on the DVR side to split the cable to the two inputs?



Thanks...

 

[JMikeH]

Your receivers are SWM ompatible. Usually, SWM is reserved for new installs only. If you want SWM, your best bet is to pick it up from Ebay ahead of time. Also, if you upgrade to a third DVR, make sure it is another HR-2x, or R-22. Make sure DirecTV knows you are doing a SWM, so they can flag your account to provide a SWM ompatible receiver.

No, you do not split the coax going into each input. Just connect to tuner 1, and the receiver splits it to both tuners internally.

 

[Laguna]

Thanks again. Another question:

If I'm mounting the dish on the opposite side of the house from where the cable comes in, am I going to have a distance problem with the cable runs from the dish to the SWM? Dang, this is complicated.

 

[jcrandall]

125' max if I recall correctly.

 

[Laguna]

install day was today, and the install ended up being aborted. Installer was very wary of installing, running line into garage, coupling onto garage cable to get to basement, and installing SWM and injector down there. Total run from dish is probably 60 feet, but it does involve coupling onto an existing cable and having the swm a long way from the dish. He was afraid of not being able to get signal strengths above 80, which would mean trouble with any kind of weather.

So i've looked at comcast (dvr reviews are scaring me to death), and u-verse (not available), and verizon fios (not available) -- and i've decided to reschedule the appointment and go ahead and let him try.

What should I do to ensure this will end well? Any suggestions?