Dish Network

[rpasetto]

Not very happy with Dish, Wally receiver. Two weeks ago arrived at a location where trees were blocking my satellite signal. I figured that wouldn't be a problem because I could watch pre-recorded content. When I tried to do, so I received a message on screen that the pre recorded content was unavailable. Being connected to the internet, I figured I could use the Netflix app on the Wally. It wasn't that the streaming was pixelated or jerky, there was the same message, different words, this time it was Netflix which "wasn't available", even though I had a good internet connection. The bedroom TV has Netflix built in and it received it fine, no pixelation, no jerkiness, buffering or other symptoms... and no error message blocking the app like the Wally did.

So I called Dish at the time and was told they had to "activate the feature" (as if it had never been before). But I had activated the Wally DVR feature about a year ago, and I told them that. The rep. acted like she didn't understand that it was a problem, not being able to watch prerecorded content when Sat signal is not coming in.... and having to reactivate an already activated system.

Today I turned everything on, no trees blocking signal now. Prerecorded content was available along with Netflix and other apps. When I called again today about the last week+ with no DISH Net, I want to learn how to avoid the past problems in the future.
I got the same story, no explanation of the real reason why their product will not allow either pre-recorded content (or apps) when not connected to satellite. One would think that the purpose of having a DVR feature and other apps like Netflix, in part, would be to be able to make use of their product when it cannot receive satellite signal. But no, all I got was conflating the requirement to "activate" with doing a "(re)activate" of features and pretending that buffering and pixxelation was the same thing as blocking an app.

I do not recall having the blocked pre-recordings with the old VIP211z. Does anyone know, did Dish change their method and policy but aren't admitting that? .... or should I dump the Wally and get an old VIP211. ... or, maybe just can the whole mess and just upgrade the front TV to a smart TV? (which is in the plan but had been low priority). One thing for sure, DISH net is 'lacking candor' about their product.

[amosnandy]

Originally Posted by rpasetto

Not very happy with Dish, Wally receiver. Two weeks ago arrived at a location where trees were blocking my satellite signal. I figured that wouldn't be a problem because I could watch pre-recorded content. When I tried to do, so I received a message on screen that the pre recorded content was unavailable. Being connected to the internet, I figured I could use the Netflix app on the Wally. It wasn't that the streaming was pixelated or jerky, there was the same message, different words, this time it was Netflix which "wasn't available", even though I had a good internet connection. The bedroom TV has Netflix built in and it received it fine, no pixelation, no jerkiness, buffering or other symptoms... and no error message blocking the app like the Wally did.

So I called Dish at the time and was told they had to "activate the feature" (as if it had never been before). But I had activated the Wally DVR feature about a year ago, and I told them that. The rep. acted like she didn't understand that it was a problem, not being able to watch prerecorded content when Sat signal is not coming in.... and having to reactivate an already activated system.

Today I turned everything on, no trees blocking signal now. Prerecorded content was available along with Netflix and other apps. When I called again today about the last week+ with no DISH Net, I want to learn how to avoid the past problems in the future.
I got the same story, no explanation of the real reason why their product will not allow either pre-recorded content (or apps) when not connected to satellite. One would think that the purpose of having a DVR feature and other apps like Netflix, in part, would be to be able to make use of their product when it cannot receive satellite signal. But no, all I got was conflating the requirement to "activate" with doing a "(re)activate" of features and pretending that buffering and pixxelation was the same thing as blocking an app.

I do not recall having the blocked pre-recordings with the old VIP211z. Does anyone know, did Dish change their method and policy but aren't admitting that? .... or should I dump the Wally and get an old VIP211. ... or, maybe just can the whole mess and just upgrade the front TV to a smart TV? (which is in the plan but had been low priority). One thing for sure, DISH net is 'lacking candor' about their product.

I don't know if that is the case, but I did see another post similar to yours where the user could not get prerecorded or internet content if the dish could not receive a signal.

As for the "tech support" realize that these are just people answering the phone, looking up your account, typing in what you are telling them and then reading off a screen that says if this then that but when you do that you must do this and the this is what controls that and you have to do this for that to do that and then if this happens go to this and do that and then........

I could go on but the truth is the tech support people have no more idea how to run the thing than you do. They just have more computer screens and algorithms that send them in a direction the computer they are looking at thinks they should go.

[rpasetto]

Originally Posted by amosnandy

I don't know if that is the case, but I did see another post similar to yours where the user could not get prerecorded or internet content if the dish could not receive a signal.

As for the "tech support" realize that these are just people answering the phone, looking up your account, typing in what you are telling them and then reading off a screen that says if this then that but when you do that you must do this and the this is what controls that and you have to do this for that to do that and then if this happens go to this and do that and then........

I could go on but the truth is the tech support people have no more idea how to run the thing than you do. They just have more computer screens and algorithms that send them in a direction the computer they are looking at thinks they should go.

Your first paragraph verified what I suspected; that w/o satellite connection DishNet shuts services down, even though the internet connection is there and they can well determine if one's receiver is in fact 'active' in subscription. The tech support people have their scripts to tell them what to tell us. I was hoping they'd provide some was of keeping access to the services w/o satellite but with Internet. The techs told me the lie about the network "speed not being sufficient", (but somehow it was fine for computer and smartTV), and began 'talking over me with their answers when I was trying to make inquiries.

The supervisor was somewhat more arrogant, implying I had no right to expect pre-recorded content if the receiver was not connected to a satellite, because "i might not have an activated" subscription, even though the Wally was connected to the internet. I tried to explain wit the analogy of going to a store, paying for a product and then returning days later to pick it up and being refused because they didn't have a way to (check their computer, or didn't know how to do it.)

I'm not complaining about techs (or supervisors) not being experts. However, "talking over" a customer trying to find out answers or "talking down" to a customer implying that using paid-for services is somehow cheating, is just out of line.

[miniedmo]

I have run into this problem myself with netflix and DVR not working when you can't get a signal. We are on our 4th wally, I think they are just cheap junk. Every time we put the sat. up we have to restart the wally 4 times before it will come in.
My wife has the Dish app. on her phone and sometimes has to go in and reset the system on the app. to get it to work.

[amosnandy]

Originally Posted by miniedmo

I have run into this problem myself with netflix and DVR not working when you can't get a signal. We are on our 4th wally, I think they are just cheap junk. Every time we put the sat. up we have to restart the wally 4 times before it will come in.
My wife has the Dish app. on her phone and sometimes has to go in and reset the system on the app. to get it to work.

Lets all hope Elon keeps putting up them satellites so it won't be long before we can get Starlink in an RV

The back story I am getting is it is not going to be completely "mobile". I mean just turn it on and it finds the signal and works, but it sounds like there will be an app, and when you move from place to place you tell your Starlink where you are and then it goes out and gets a signal. A little more complicated than auto search on a sat antenna but not much.

[DFord]

I have the Vip 211k with an external hard drive for DVR storage and it too will not show anything without receiving a satellite signal. I can't even receive local OTA programming when I'm under a tree. I have one "portable" satellite dish on the roof but carry a second one in my storage for the times here in Missouri where I'm assigned a site under a tree. The farther west I go, the less I need the one in storage.

[Craig36]

If you have a smart TV, you can stream Netfix, Amazon, etc with a hot spot. We have a Firestik on the TV and a Verizon Hotspot that we also use for secure internet.