Community Forums

lkillebrew · 09-02-2012, 05:23 PM

My wife and I bought a 2005 Gulfstream class C motor home with a Win guard Trav'lr control unit and dish on top of the RV. It appears to work fine... but we are not subscribers so the unit just locks on to a satellite and thats it.

We have never had dish network or directv in our home, and are new to motorhoming.

In your expereince, what is the best option for us. We currently have Suddenlink cable and suddenlink cable modem in our house. Hi Def/DVR on one TV, 3 other TV's with regular channels. I think we could go with directv or dish network at the house, and that would allow us to put Hi Def on all TV's in house, which would include a reciever we could take out of the house and put in the RV when we travel... not sure.

We want to keep suddenlink HS internet for the house. We run our wireless network through it and would like to maintain. We do not need high speed internet on the road. We can generally find wifi hotspots to check on email etc. on our I-phones. So I do not think internet is a big concern for us.

so question is...
1. do we go with direct tv, or dish network... what are your experiences?

2. any suggestions on internet on road are welcome...

thank you, this is a great forum.

Don/Lou · 09-02-2012, 05:34 PM

You might like to look at "dish for my RV" and not change anything at home
It is a pay as you go plan
FWIW
Don

gewilli · 09-02-2012, 05:40 PM

The trav'lers are dish or direct specific, so you need to find out which one you have. You won't have a choice unless you want to change it out. With the dish in the raised position, it should say dish or direct.

I use dish with a traveler and it is great.

Good luck.

DGBPokes · 09-02-2012, 08:04 PM

I purchased the Travler a few months ago, and it is great. I had more frustration with a tripod over two years than I would wish on anyone. As stated above, it is a must to know which Traveler you have. It must be either Dish or Direct. But heads up! I have Direct at home, and took two receivers from the house. The Traveler installed, and was on Satelite but would not work........turns out, the installer had not read the instructions carefully. The set up at home dish type was different, in two things.. SWM at home and disc type 1. The new traveler was multi switch and disc type 4. One receiver required a B filter the other did not. With all that said, once you figure out how to dot every i and cross every t.....it is great. Good Luck. When I was messing with the tripod, I thought my issue was aiming the disc, and had no Idea all of the other variables. I thought if it played at home, it should play in the rig... I bet I could make the tripod work now.

docj · 09-02-2012, 08:14 PM

If you want to access Distant Network Services (DNS) in your RV (instead of relying on just local channels) you will need to establish a separate account for the RV (at least on DirecTV). That means you don't gain anything by changing the house over to satellite TV. If you use your RV on a regular basis and have a DVR then IMHO DNS is the only way to go. It permits you to get the East Coast or West Coast network feeds throughout the country so the DVR remains programmed to the same channels. Your own local channels are only available to you in a radius of ~150 miles from your home city.

buck454 · 09-02-2012, 08:22 PM

We have Travler and DISH and really like the the setup. I just remove the 211receiver from bedroom at home when we are ready to head out. Dont get our local stations on the road but do not seem to miss them.

TurtleKent · 09-02-2012, 08:51 PM

TRAV'LER Automatic Multi-Satellite HDTV Antennas - Winegard

Your first challenge is to determine which of the 4 Trav'ler dishes you have... only then can you decide whether to bring it online. They can NOT be converted one-to-another. Second, determine that you do in fact have HDTVs in your motorhome. No point in paying for HD service if you cannot view it.

If it is a DirecTV dish, then it will either be HD or NOT. If it is a HD Trav'ler, it will require two coax cables from dish to each DirecTV box you hook up. Most receivers require the B-filter installed inline between the coax cable and the back of the receiver. They are free, and two are required for HD. Unless you are rich and a full-timer and desperate for local channels, I would NOT subscribe to DNS service on DirecTV. Use the batwing for local channels, or just watch satellite channels if no locals available. We use DirecTV in lieu of cable in our home, and just pull out two of our DirecTV receivers and place them in the motorhome when we are traveling... for us it is the least expensive way to enjoy satellite TV in all locations. Just don't mention to DirecTV that you are moving a receiver to an RV, and don't ask them how to receive local channels in your RV while you are on the road. Re-read the last sentence, and violate it at your own peril!! Read all the other threads on DirecTV BEFORE you call them! Enjoy the wonderful reception virtually anywhere(except under a tree)!

Scarab0088 · 09-03-2012, 12:46 AM

Assuming your antenna will work with Dish...We have a bundle at home and a Dish Network "Dish for my RV" pay as you go for the RV.
DISHForMyRV: DISH Mobile Satellite Systems & Pay-As-You-Go TV for RV, Tailgating, & the Great Outdoors
We do not mix the two, because...

The home setup is too cheap to let it go - with unlimited high speed internet on a wireless router will run many-many wired and WiFi devises (3G/4G can't compare), digital VoIP phone (cell phone often doesn't work too well at home) and a Cable TV package with TONS of included HD (that can be viewed with different channels in every room in the house (3 rooms with TiVo's often running another channel) - Dish can't compare package to package prices and even with "Hopper" you're capped at viewing/recording 4 channels.

Also, the "Dish for My RV" account is very simple to set-up for DNS (major Network TV markets) that is exclusive to the RV based receiver (banned for your home) and Dish system has a bunch of HD, even in the lowest priced channel packages.

Best of luck with the Traveler