DISH- Changing Service Address

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arcticfox2005

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Apr 18, 2011
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I just got off the phone with DISH and did not get the response I was looking for.

We have a home account with a Hopper3 and a couple of weeks ago I added a Wally to the account which is in the motorhome. I have read that the easiest way to change the service address when traveling is to use the MyDish app so I installed it on my iPhone.

It wasn't obvious what I needed to do so I called customer service and asked how to do it. The guy told me it could not be done because I "also have a home account". He said that was only for people who have just an "outdoor account". ????????

Is this correct?

How can I do this from the app without having to call in and talk to someone?
 
arcticfox2005 said:
I just got off the phone with DISH and did not get the response I was looking for.

We have a home account with a Hopper3 and a couple of weeks ago I added a Wally to the account which is in the motorhome. I have read that the easiest way to change the service address when traveling is to use the MyDish app so I installed it on my iPhone.

It wasn't obvious what I needed to do so I called customer service and asked how to do it. The guy told me it could not be done because I "also have a home account". He said that was only for people who have just an "outdoor account". ????????


Simply call them and have them change your SERVICE address, (NOT your BILLING address).

Is this correct?

How can I do this from the app without having to call in and talk to someone?

arcticfox2005
Never tell either DISH, (or DirecTV), that you are using their receivers in more than one location. because to do that you need 2 separate accounts.

Simply call them, (or use the app), and have them change your SERVICE address, (but NOT your BILLING address).
 
Whoever I talk to can tell I have a hybrid account. That was verified this morning by the chat session I had. Also, because it is a hybrid account (home and rv) the app cannot be used - must be call or chat.
 
There's a helpful discussion about changing Dish Network service address commencing around reply #20 here
Thanks again to NY Dutch
 
Just remember: when you change the service address, it affects all the receivers on that account. The ones left home as well as the one with you in the RV.

Telling them you have only one receiver with you is academic - the change is for the entire account, not individual receivers. So just tell them to change the service address and no mention of home vs tr45avel UNLESS you want to have separate (and thus independent) accounts.
 
I have your configuration (Hopper at home and Wally for the road).  When I change service location (which can be done in the MyDish app) I have to change it back when I get home.  I've been generally pleased with this setup - my main complaint is that my guide is frequently off by a few hours, sometimes a day behind, and I don't want to wait on the telephone for 30 minutes to get help.  It often corrects itself by day #2 on the road. 
 
The app for changing service location only works with one specific type of DISH account - the mobile ?on the road? type. If you have a home account for the receiver, you can?t use the app. You have to call or use their chat without the mobile account. Warning: the reps we encountered with the home account t didn?t know much about mobile accounts. They also routinely changed our billing address as well as our service address, so double check after you work with them.
 
A rep told me this afternoon that because my account is home plus rv then no, I cannot use the app - must be call or chat. I wonder if chat would be safer in terms of doing it correctly - at least it would be in writing.
 
I also recently learned with only an outdoor account that DISH picks my locals for me.  I live in Dunnellon Florida very north in zip code 34431, a couple streets north is 34432.  I am 37 miles from downtown Gainesville and 100 from downtown Orlando.  Dish has decided that I have to get my locals from Orlando.  If I put up an OTA antenna I get a couple Gainesville stations and zero Orlando stations.  So nightly I get weather from 2 hours away, commercials for businesses nowhere near me, and not local news to me.  In Florida that can make a big difference.  I called and asked them to switch me to Gainesville.  NOPE to bad so sad.  If i try to use the app it just tells me I am already getting my local stations.  Something tells me this has to do more with them making money then which station is local to me.  Seriously considering just dropping the locals all together.
 
Which locals you get is determined by the DMA (Designated Market Area) you're located in as set by A.C. Nielsen and mandated by the FCC. I suggest picking an address in the area you want and simply chatting with Dish customer service to change your service address only there "for your RV". I found chat works best if your account doesn't work with the app. Less chance of errors and less discussion than a phone call. Check your MyDish account afterward to make sure your billing address didn't get changed as well. It's easy to change it back if it did. The CSR has to uncheck a box to change only your service address, and sometimes they miss that step.
 
Dutch that was the truth with my old DISH and receiver.  When I upgraded my new DISH to a Tailgator and Wally as seen here.

https://www.amazon.com/KING-DTP4950-DISH-Tailgater-Bundle/dp/B07GXY8WR8/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2NUS70ZX9YCT9&keywords=tailgator+dish+network&qid=1579012044&sprefix=tailgator%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-7

They reverse track you back to your location, within a couple houses.  I am right on the border.  With the old system the app asked for my zip code and told me what my locals would be.  In that case I could just tell it the zip from a couple streets over and get the ones I want.  I upgraded to the tailgator for two reasons.  First at home I have trees (not mine) that block access to the sat 129, and I wanted to be able to pick using the eastern arc.  Currently I am using a hybrid 61.5 and the rest of the western arc 110, and 119.  Second I wanted the two outputs from this dish for my other TV in the RV.  Since I have my still functioning old receiver I can connect it to the other output and watch different channels (on the same satellite) 
The way it works now with the Wally is I turn the system on.  Wait for all the satellite and signal to acquire then open the app.  Manage my locals.  The app says found you. (when I check the service address it is within a couple houses) Then I go to location screen on Wally and enter a location code in the app.

Like a said a call to tech service said I had no choice.  I can't change the service address because the Dish, receiver, and system know better.  I could move all my old gear into the house put the old dish up on the roof and watch everything is SD, but that goes against one of the reasons I upgraded in the first place.  My other option is to go back to cable while at home.  I keep cable internet year round for security reasons and use seasonal when gone.  Good news is the new seasonal doesn't cut off internet completely just drops it down to very low bandwidth which is still enough to monitor security equipment.  Xfinity.
 
Bobtop46 said:
They (DISH) reverse track you back to your location, within a couple houses.

DISH does not know where you are physically located. That's why they need your address.
 
Dish claims that the request for an address and not just the zip code is due to new FCC Regs. I?ve been traveling daily and changing locals since the 2nd. I have been asked for the address about half the time. So now I?m ready with it when I call. I use a real address, but it?s seldom my real location.
 
The FCC does have hard requirements about the Designated Marketing Area, but the implementation of that is left to the signal provider and they tend toward rigid rules (cause employees making bad judgment calls could cost them their FCC license).

It sounds like some newer satellite receivers may have GPS receivers to allow them to pinpoint location. GPS is cheap enough now to do that, but I don't know how the receiver could communicate that back t0 Dish or Direct. Not without a phone line connected...
 
None of Dish's receivers have onboard GPS. They do not physically know where you are beyond what you tell them. I have a Hopper at our upstate NY cottage and another one in our motorhome, and neither one has ever been located at our billing address. It's even rare that we're physically located at our current service address for more that a week or two at most. When we move, if we're still in the same spot beam footprint, I often don't bother to change our service address. When we go back up north in the spring, we'll stop at our Vermont farm site and change our service address there, but when we head over to the NY cottage a few days later, the service address will stay the same since they're both in the same DMA. Using the Vermont address does have one advantage though. Because it's in a rare dual DMA county, we get both the Albany, NY and Burlington, VT stations. That's handy when one station or the other has a retransmission dispute with Dish and pulls their signal.
 
zulu said:
DISH does not know where you are physically located. That's why they need your address.

I used to believe that.  As stated when I manage my locals using the app it no longer asks for my zip or address.  I wait a few seconds and it says found you, go to location line after pushing menu 3 times and enter the code.  That's it.  No call, and I updated my locals from Texas to Florida daily, each time the same thing "found you".    This is a new Kingdome Tailgator, new Wally, both have manufacture date of spring 2019, and a Dish USB DVR.  I bought all the equipment from CW in New Braunfels Texas, and it has worked that way since day one.  My old Vip 211k the app always asked for a zip code first then the location code. 

Could the app be telling my zip based on Cell towers? and not the Dish.  That makes sense.  In the future I will update my locals via chat or phone call, vice app, and test and see if that changes things.  I will have to wait until spring to test. 

I am running: Mobile Switch, Wally
Software version: U808 dated 12/21/2019
Boot Strap: 1617
Application Software: AN410
Transceiver Firmware: 0012
Hardware ID: NJTH
Prcocessor ID: 230E6E8C
 
It's really pretty simple... The app uses your phone's GPS to locate you in determining which DMA you're in. If you want to "move" to some place you're really not, then use the chat or phone call method. They will have no idea if you're actually there or not.
 
NY_Dutch said:
It's really pretty simple... The app uses your phone's GPS to locate you in determining which DMA you're in. If you want to "move" to some place you're really not, then use the chat or phone call method. They will have no idea if you're actually there or not.

:)) :))
 
When you update your locals via the app, it figures out where you are via the phone, not the receivers. I have a Hopper 3 and Dish has no idea where it is. I update our locals via Dish chat.
 
NY_Dutch said:
It's really pretty simple... The app uses your phone's GPS to locate you in determining which DMA you're in. If you want to "move" to some place you're really not, then use the chat or phone call method. They will have no idea if you're actually there or not.

Mmmmmm . . . so if once in a while you like receiving those distant, non-local TV stations, don't use the app, eh?
 

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