Which service (Dish or DirecTV) is best and cheapest for multi-room?

[JINXR]

In my last house, I had a Dish Network VIP 722 connected to three TVs. One HD in the living room running off Tuner 1 and a SD in my master bedroom, and a SD in the spare bedroom that could watch from either Tuner 1 or Tuner 2. The receiver was in my living room entertainment stand, so I ran a coax from the coax output on the 722 up to a splitter in the attic. In the attic, I cut the original coaxes that ran to my master bedroom and spare and hooked them up to the splitter, and used the VIP output feed from the living room to provide a signal for both of the SD TVs. This worked great, because the 722 had a multi-feed for the SD TVs where on channel 75 I could watch whatever was on Tuner 2 and on channel 78 I could watch what was on Tuner 1, no matter which bedroom I was in. And in both rooms I had a UHF remote in order to control the channels.

I'd like a similar setup, but I'm in a duplex now and I can't run any additional coax cables. Do they have setups now that can use the existing coax network? I haven't kept up with it all in years.

I prefer Dish quite a bit. And I don't want to pay any extra fees for extra receivers if I can help it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[rocket69]

it depends on how your wires are run in the duplex. Are you getting cable internet or phone?

If you have one line direct to each location then your good to go just ask your tech to mirror tv2 and make sure you get HD dual box dvr or non.

 

[JINXR]

it depends on how your wires are run in the duplex. Are you getting cable internet or phone?

If you have one line direct to each location then your good to go just ask your tech to mirror tv2 and make sure you get HD dual box dvr or non.

I haven't checked, but it's a new construction and I believe all the coaxes are ran to a box outside and each have their own line. I'm getting cable internet installed tomorrow, so I'll check to see.

So if they mirror TV2 as you say, will I need a receiver at each location? Or will I just be able to use channel 75 or 78 like I did in my last house?

 

[whitewolf8214]

I have both imo Direct is cheaper than Dish for Multi-Room

 

[lparsons21]

I have both imo Direct is cheaper than Dish for Multi-Room

Not necessarily. Depends on how many rooms and what you need in each.

 

[mdavej]

In the OP's case, if he gets a 722 again, Dish is cheaper. For more than 2 rooms, it's a wash. For way more than 2 rooms, DirecTV is the only option (Dish maxes out around 3 hoppers and 12 joeys I think).

For the OP's situation, to save money, I'd get 1 Hopper and 1 Joey right next to it, directly fed by an isolated short piece of coax. Then connect an RF modulator to the Joey to distribute TV2 and TV3 in SD throughout the rest of the house or use a wireless HD transmitter for HD. That way the existing coax is isolated from the Hopper/Joey Moca system.

 

[Tampa8]

For more than 2 rooms, it's a wash.

I'm definitely not going to turn this into yet another debate, I just have to say I do not agree three rooms is a wash if the total bill is what you mean.

 

[lparsons21]

I think it would really be determined by what you need in each room. If all that is needed is TV for late night, like a bedroom, then a Hopper/Joey setup would be cheaper in almost any case. But if you have a need for lots of tuners all over the place to watch lots of live tv, then that is a different story.

Since it is so easy to figure out on both D*'s and E*'s site, you can quickly get the cost info you need.

For instance a 2 Hopper+3 Joeys could easily do 5 rooms for most people and the cost to do that in hardware isn't much different with either service.

 

[mdavej]

I'm definitely not going to turn this into yet another debate, I just have to say I do not agree three rooms is a wash if the total bill is what you mean.

You're right. 3 rooms is still cheaper with Dish, assuming one is SD. It's really hard to compare apples to apples when you start with a Duo DVR with SD TV2 since there is no equivalent with DirecTV.

 

[NotMe546]

You're right. 3 rooms is still cheaper with Dish, assuming one is SD. It's really hard to compare apples to apples when you start with a Duo DVR with SD TV2 since there is no equivalent with DirecTV.

For me Dish was cheaper. VIP622 and 2 sd tvs and that how some people forget Dish was the first at multi-room viewing.

 

[Tampa8]

In the end the good thing - either Dish or Direct should be better than Cable.....

 

[JINXR]

Ok, maybe these diagrams will help.

The first is my current setup. I can't really change this setup or modify it to function as the 2nd diagram. The main reason I can't do this is because the location of the living room coax plug. It's on an outside wall and we have high ceilings inside, so high that part of it slants along with the roof, similar to a ceiling you might find in a 2nd floor room. There just isn't any access to make another drop there.

I understand that the 2nd diagram would work great, because it's what I had in my last house that I owned. But it's just not possible in this rental.

So is it possible to keep the current setup and share Tuner 2 with the other bedrooms (except for the office that houses the cable modem, of course).

 

[Claude Greiner]

If you really want an awesome setup, go with Directv. Get the HR34 and additional HD receivers for your secondary TV's.

Either that, or a Hopper/Joey setup with Dish, but I think the Directv HR34 will give you the most bang for your buck recording wise.

 

[JINXR]

I found out about these great little things called Diplexers. Looks like I can do what I need to do with them!

Here's my proposed schematic. Can anyone recommend some good diplexers for a good price?

 

[mdavej]

I got a pair of Holland's from Amazon a while back for 75 cents or so (plus $5 shipping). Your plan will work great with a 722, but not Hopper.

 

[JINXR]

Ok, just to complicate it even further. Is it possible to get TV through the cable modem coax? A TV in the office would be nice.

 

[JM42]

I found out about these great little things called Diplexers. Looks like I can do what I need to do with them!

Here's my proposed schematic. Can anyone recommend some good diplexers for a good price?

If Dish is installing, the tech should have them for no additional charge. If you're doing the install yourself then ebay or amazon is good. Make sure you get the blue two-amp holland diplexer. Should be well under $10 for a pair.

For a little less clutter at the receiver, dish makes a triplexer which is a diplexer with dpp separator in one unit. Shouldn't be more than a $1 or $2 or so more.

 

[JM42]

Ok, just to complicate it even further. Is it possible to get TV through the cable modem coax? A TV in the office would be nice.

Theoretically it may be possible, but probably not worth the trouble. Chances are the cable provider already has signals on the necessary frequencies. You could probably rig up something using appropriate band filters to notch out your dish home distribution frequencies, but consider it a hobby exercise and be prepared for some trial and error. You would need to know the frequencies your providers cable modem signal is on.