New DirecTV Service

[Rossi6998]

Might want to consider trying to obtain an HR-24 receiver. This is one of the reasons I have not upgraded to the Genie. All of my house receivers are the HR series. Knock on wood, I have not had any problems in my motorhome.

FYI - From DirecTV's website:

"Planning a road trip with your motorhome? Take your favorite shows with you. With our packages for RVs, you and your family can enjoy over 185 channels featuring the best mix of movies, shows, sports and family entertainment. You might also be eligible to receive ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC from New York or Los Angeles via our Distant Network Services.

Contact one of the following distributors to order your mobile receiver and programming: KVH Industries, Winegard or KING."

Good luck.

[Rkesselus]

After a three week tirade with Direct TV I am switching to Dish after being a loyal Direct customer for over ten years. Two tech. visits and the last one specific for the MH. When he arrived he wanted to look at everything on the house and change stuff at my cost. Nothing is wrong at the house. When we finally go to the MH he looked and and told me he was not authorized to get in the motor home packed his bag and left. I have read all the bad stuff and am feed up. All was fine until AT&T got involved. My wife put her foot down and said no more trips until the TV works. Dish guy shows up today so we will see.

[PanJH]

just a shot in the dark as I'm not really a directv expert-- only a user.

You say the H24's work, but not the Genie.... also, you didn't say how old the Trav'lr is.

The H 24 receiver allows you to toggle between SWM ( current technology) and Multiswitch (older technology) . New model receivers, at least when I was shopping, only supported SWM. I had to escalate to Directv exec's to get them to send me a H24 which I needed as I move the receiver between home and the MH which have the 2 differing dish technologies.

At home the receiver is configured as SWM and when I put it in the RV, I switch it to multiswitch. I have a 2013 era trav'lr on the motorhome which I was told is multiswitch. Also in the RV, I need a B Band Converter. If I don't toggle the receiver when I bring it into the MH, I get similar symptoms as you do.

So- first, is your model Travl'r multiswitch or SWM,I see that the later versions are SWM, mine is multiswitch, and is the Genie compatible with whatever the trav'lr is -- what I see about Genie's is they are SWM only.

Fun stuff dealing with changing technology and stubborn corporations and less than properly trained support staff.

One check you can make in a few seconds... When you power up the H24 and it works, take a look at the setup menu and see how it's configured, SWM or Multiswitch.

[Alan_Hepburn]

Originally Posted by rxoneman

The Dish satellite is too low for dependable reception while moving. Directv satellites are higher.

I don't think altitude is a factor - all geosynchronous satellites are in what is called the "Clarke Belt", at an altitude of 22,236 miles above the equator, so both Dish and DirecTV satellites are at the same altitude. Where they differ is in their position in the Clarke Belt - DirecTV has satellites at 101, 110, and 119 degrees longitude; Dish has satellites at 61.5, 72.7, & 77 degrees longitude in the eastern arc and 110, 119, and 129 degrees longitude in the western arc.Trying to access the eastern arc birds while in the west, or vice versa, is problematic, but if you in the west and switch from DirecTV to Dish you should have no problems.

[rxoneman]

Originally Posted by PanJH

is your model Travl'r multiswitch or SWM,I see that the later versions are SWM, mine is multiswitch, and is the Genie compatible with whatever the trav'lr is -- what I see about Genie's is they are SWM only.

Yes, the Trav’ler is compatible with the Genie. The tech helped me figure that out when he was on site. We had the Genie configured to work with both antennas just fine at home.

[rxoneman]

An update. Directv sent me a new Genie receiver this week with instructions on how to activate either online or by phone. When the online activation failed, I called. Three different agents told me AT&T no longer performs any kind of activation over the phone — only in person with a technician. So now I have my 3rd technician coming out to visit to do something thy could’ve been accomplished online with an automated system.

This is getting comical. If there’s any company on this planet with worse customer service, I pray I never have to deal with them.

[Rossi6998]

Is there any benefit of having a Genie over one of the other model receivers? If there is no benefit, I would have DirecTV give you an older HR model receiver and use that in your motorhome. Just a thought.

[reubenray]

Originally Posted by Rossi6998

Is there any benefit of having a Genie over one of the other model receivers? If there is no benefit, I would have DirecTV give you an older HR model receiver and use that in your motorhome. Just a thought.

The main benefit I know of is the Genie has five tuners where the regular HR models only have two.

[NumberThree1950]

Originally Posted by Rossi6998

Is there any benefit of having a Genie over one of the other model receivers? If there is no benefit, I would have DirecTV give you an older HR model receiver and use that in your motorhome. Just a thought.

There are several advantages. If you have a SWM antenna at home and your traveler is a SWM it is a simple matter to move the genie from one to the other. In addition if you remove your BOMB you can connect your existing coax feed to the rear or outside tv to the SWM splitter and instal a mini genie client from home to it. This will enable you to watch on both TVs at the same time on different channels or recorded programs. This will work even if your coax feed to the rear/outside is older RG59 vs today’s standard RG6.
Regarding local channels the advice to boot the traveler before turning on the genie is absolutely correct. Also when you shut down at you prior location it is a good idea to tune to a non local channel before shutting down so it will start from there when powering up. I have found that I often have to RBR after getting service address change. However I only ask for that change when I know I’m going to be there for several days. If I really need to watch or DVR a local channel during a short stay I use my OTA antenna or the park cable with a cheap tuner/hard drive setup that connects to my tv via hdmi or coax.
And yes I have had problems getting the att tech support to understand the service address concept. Now I always call directly the Att move DEPT or ask to be transferred to it. They usually but not always understand what I am trying to do. By the way understanding is challenging given all of their tech support including the move DEPT is outsourced to the Philippines. That be one of the primary sources of degradation when att took over. Using this strategy I was successful on four of five attempts on our last trip including restoration at home. It’s interesting to see the discussion about whether having internet connected affects the service address issue in an adverse way. I’m going to experiment with that on my next trip.
It’s interesting we haven’t heard from docj on this post. I listen closely when he chimes in on DTV posts

[rxoneman]

After having way too much time invested and zero results, which includes having my 4th AT&T technician in my bus most of the day yesterday, I’ve decided to throw in the towel and cancel the account. The technician yesterday determined my hardware is functioning 100% normal and works great with receivers that are already activated, they just can’t figure out how to activate a receiver on my new account. I’ve been told the problem is with AT&T and the new “edge” account system. Thanks for the advice and tips.

[Flynh3]

New install on my coach. Direct told me the receivers belonged to someone else...not shut down and account was not properly closed etc. they were a pain. Finally the installer called Winegard. He was able to correct the issue on his end and get it working. Winegard now understands Directs problem...that’s would be my next move. This happened last Thursday....

[rxoneman]

Originally Posted by Flynh3

New install on my coach. Direct told me the receivers belonged to someone else...not shut down and account was not properly closed etc. they were a pain. Finally the installer called Winegard. He was able to correct the issue on his end and get it working. Winegard now understands Directs problem...that’s would be my next move. This happened last Thursday....

So you successfully opened a brand new account and put the previous owner’s receivers on your account? You deserve a medal. That’s what I’ve been trying to do for two months.

[jbrv]

Originally Posted by Tha_Rooster

They might not know where your at but its My repeated experience you cannot get your local channels when you get to far from home. For me it’s around 350 miles from home base.

Example of how tricky the spot beam for local channels be.

I am in savannah ga. I wanted tampa stations as my local channels, hockey fan and I was not interested in carolina or nashville games on nbc so i needed to be on the local channels in tampa to catch the games.

Tampa spot beam wont work this far north.
But............ I got a cool tech support guy (third time in a row in the last 3 months i have got great support from direct) I expained what i was trying to do and why and even confessed i was in an rv. I asked him to try and put me on the orlando spot beam (close enough to tamps for the games to be on the local NBC) and like majik it works. 90 miles or so fom tamp to orlando, one reaches, the next does not.

Where it gets more interesting. If i try to stream using the direct tv app on my smart phone.............The damn phone knows where i am located. if where i am located has local over the air channels i should be able to pick up the app does not let me stream them. Frustrating for a sports fan some times.

The tech support at direct has been great the past three months, I was moving a lot and had called them a few times to change local channels. In the past they were a pain, they are much much better! Yes i know i can change locals online and have used it but i like calling in if i have decent cell signal. Never know who is gonna pick up and if they are in a good mood. I am getting a free sports package now just because the guy was also a sports/hockey fan and felt my pain and hooked me up no strings attatched. Yes the last three reps i got were US based or they were really really good at faking accents, jersey accents aint easy to fake and neither are some south carolina accents if you have lived your life in india or wherever a lot of call centers are.

[wfalch]

I have a SWM3 module, no power no work