no activation fee. If you buy the equipment and then activate it, the account is in essence a pre-paid as in you pay before it gets turned on. When I set up my account, since I did not give them my SSN, I paid the 1st bill right away. Now I dont know if this is still how it works but I know DIRT (DIsh folks like Mary & Matt & Zach) can't start the account with Welcome Pack. You get set up on Family (and pay like $26 to start) but the next day they can change it to Welcome Pack (and you have a nice $10-$12 credit then)