New to Dish - Home & RV

Never had any satellite TV or internet service but am about fed up with the local hard cable provider (raised rates 10 percent twice in past year) so we decided to dump them and go to Dish service at home and in the RV.  The RV has a King Dome and I previously bought a new VIP211K receiver but never installed it yet.  The package we are getting for the home includes TV and Internet.  When I told the salesman (local satellite store) that we had the RV receiver and wanted to get on the Pay As You Go plan with dish, he suggested we register the VIP211K on our basic account and then we would only be charged an extra $7 per month no matter where the motorhome was.  As I understood it, there would not be any monthly charge for the RV other than that $7 but it would not be a stop and start service.  Did I hear that wrong or do other folks have this service?  Keep in mind that I am a complete novice at satellite TV.  The store owner has done many RV installs and seems to know everything required and said it should take less than one hour since it previously had a Direct TV receiver (previous owner).  Your comments are welcome.

Make sure the King Dome can work with Dish. We've had the pay-as-you-go from Dish, but had a Winegard Carryout for a dome. Start and stop definitely works, but if you prefer the 211 at $7/mo that should work fine, also, without having to start or stop the service.

You can start and stop the $7 add-on for the RV receiver, but if you use your RV regularly, the hassle may not be worth the small savings.

If you're switching from cable Internet to satellite Internet, good luck. Satellite Internet is notoriously bad for streaming video, gaming, VOIP phone service, and other high data rate applications. The data caps can also be pretty limiting at times. When we dropped Time Warner Cable TV and phone service at our upstate NY cottage in favor of Dish for TV and PhonePower VOIP phone service, we elected to keep TWC's Internet service due to the unlimited data, speed, short latency, and mostly weather proof reliability.

Yes, you can add your RV receiver to your home account and pay only the $7 per month for it. It will receive the exact same channels as your home does depending on the package you buy. (depending on HD tv's or receivers in each) That receiver can be taken off line for the longer periods of time that you are not using the RV.

You do want to check carefully on your Kingdumb dish that it can automatically change from Direct to Dish. Some require a special box to change the programming which is over $100 to "rent" it for the change. Your dealer may already have the box to make the change.

You also mention that you'll be getting internet from Dish. As I understand the sytem, the internet is run thru your land line telephone wires. That means that in the RV you will not have the internet service. Check carefully on this to make sure you understand what fits your situation best. We use Dish TV and Verizon internet thru our phones.

Also if you are RV'ing far from home you can change your local TV channels to wherever you are with a phone call to Dish. Change your "service location" to the address where you are.

KEn

Thanks for those replies.  Yes, the KingDome (a 2008 model) will work and that is confirmed but I am now being swayed into favoring a Tailgater which would give a lot of flexibility in avoiding trees, etc plus would be up to date electronically. ( seems like every little doo dad extra for a motorhome costs $300 - $400) Feeling kind of stupid about that as I already have a crank up dish and the King Dome on the roof.  If I get the Tailgater people are going to think I am a Russian spy with all those antennas.  Someone said to just take off the other antennas and junk them but it would be more trouble to patch all those holes plus the Tailgater and the 211K receiver could go with me if we change coaches in the future.

The internet is not through the landline.  It is a separate dish on the roof that has 20GB data and 10mbps download speed.  We checked our current data useage on the cable and it has never gone above 16gb (we live a very simple internet lifestyle )

Wish me luck and keep those cards and letters (comments) coming.

Bill N said:

The internet is not through the landline.  It is a separate dish on the roof that has 20GB data and 10mbps download speed.  We checked our current data useage on the cable and it has never gone above 16gb (we live a very simple internet lifestyle )

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I think you'll find that the internet service is for stationary installations and not usable in an RV.

Ned said:

I think you'll find that the internet service is for stationary installations and not usable in an RV.

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No, I stated that poorly.  We have no intention of having internet in the RV via Dish.  We will depend on wireless service to maintain internet contacts.

I too am new to DISH in my RV.  I understand I can change the service address to the campground where I am parked.  My question is Will this affect the service at home?  I will still have someone living in the house and using dish internet there. 

Dish INTERNET or Dish TV service?, for TV service, Yes it will, if the receiver in question is registered at the home address as service address. To avoid that you will likely need an RV account but only Dish can tell you for sure. You may need a specific service adviser at Dish who understands what you want, the average telephone answering service agent will not!!!

Wclement1248 said:

I too am new to DISH in my RV.  I understand I can change the service address to the campground where I am parked.  My question is Will this affect the service at home?  I will still have someone living in the house and using dish internet there.

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Yes it will affect your TV receivers still at home. If you change the service address, then all receivers on that account will look for / accept the tv service from, the new spot beam. That seems hard to say in a way that makes perfect sense. Let me say it this way. I live in western WA. When I'm in my MH in AZ I change to the locals in, let's say, Yuma. My home receivers no longer get the local (Seattle) tv stations. They give the message that the channel is not available in my area. The receivers at home also don't get the Yuma tv channels because they are out of the spot beam area.

If you have someone living at your house when you're gone, then they could get the local tv "over the air" with an HD antenna, and continue to get the non-local tv channels on the Dish system. Or you could get another account for the RV. Only you can determine which way is best for you.

You did throw a loop into your question by saying the person at the house would be using Dish "internet", not just tv service. The internet operation I cannot speak to.

Ken

Good post Ken and I will be asking questions tomorrow when they come to install the home Dish service.  I will have something called the hopper with sling which they tell me allows me to record programs on the home hopper and receive them on my smart phone while on the road.  My mind is almost mush with all they tried to explain so I may have that wrong.  But how would I be receiving satellite on the road if my home dish is disabled an not able to record.  My 211k receiver in the RV will be doing the work on the road.  I do not intend to remove it and switch it back and forth with the house.  I am told it will just cost $7 extra per month and I won't need a separate RV account so I won't have to go through the pay as you go program.

By the way, I gave the wife the choice of whether we buy the Tailgater or not and she cringed at the price but after sleeping on it said we should definitely have newer equipment and especially one we can move from under the trees in order to receive satellites.  Tuesday, the guy at the Dish shop will install my 211K and check out the Tailgater with me at no charge.  The reason it is no charge (but actually is) is because I am buying the Tailgater from him at the inflated $379 price instead of the $349 everywhere else.  But he wanted $50 per hour to install the 211k and get it hooked up to the King Dome which may have been challenging (or not).  Anyway, one way or another I will have TV to watch my St Louis Cardinals most of the time when on the road.

If your home Hopper/Sling  has an internet connection, it can upload the DVR content and you can download it elsewhere, assuming you have an adequate internet connection on your phone or tablet. I don't think it comes to your VIP211K, but not positive of that. A VIP 722 can do that, but it has its own internet connection too. In other words, the download comes via internet, not via satellite broadcast to your receiver.

The $7/month is correct for what you are doing. As you move around, you can call into Dish and ask that your service address be changed to the current locale. Once you do that, you receive the local broadcast for that area. Your receivers at home aren't exactly disabled, but they aren't in the right place to receive the broadcast you are getting somewhere else. As long as nobody is at home and expecting to watch tv there, who cares?

Excellent reply Gary.  You sound exactly like the guy at the Dish store and it all came through very clear.  No, I know that the 211k in the coach will not be receiving the signal from the sling - it will come through the internet to the smart phone (which, by the way, the wife is the only one who can operate it - and I am glad).  What was confusing me was how could the hopper at home be recording anything to send via the sling if the spot beam was on the RV in another state?

Looking at the Tailgater videos, it seems that instead of calling Dish when you move from place to place, the Tailgater will come up with a screen that lets you select your state and when you pick, it will automatically locate the satellites.  However, when the receiver is not in use for a long period, you will have to call dish to have the receiver/dish updated with any new information put out during the down period.  And to think, a little more than 24 hours ago I did not know a Joey from a hole in the wall and a Hopper was something I took a shot at as a kid.  Slings we won't even discuss. 

The RV forum is a great place to get a fast education on all things RV.  Thanks folks.

Bill, you mentioned much earlier that you might get rid of both the dome and the over-the-air antenna.  I can't comment on the dome but I would keep the "regular" antenna so you can get local (where you are, not the local at home) stations in case there's bad weather or lots of trees.  Not all campgrounds have cable hookups if there are trees and that over-the-air antenna may be the only way to get TV in some places.  In other words, you should keep as many options as available.  We use the satellite (DirecTV) most of the time, but use over-the-air or campground cable when we want or need local programming.  Weather is the biggest reason - so we can see local radar maps for tornado activity.  The Good Sam campground directory shows the county for each campground so you can figure out where you are in relation to the radar maps.

ArdraF

Looking at the Tailgater videos, it seems that instead of calling Dish when you move from place to place, the Tailgater will come up with a screen that lets you select your state and when you pick, it will automatically locate the satellites

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Telling the Tailgater what state you're in makes it quicker to locate the proper satellites, but you still need Dish to change your programming so you can receive your local stations on those satellites.

"What was confusing me was how could the hopper at home be recording anything to send via the sling if the spot beam was on the RV in another state?"

Because the spot beam is the "local" channels. The "premium" channels are broadcast nationwide.

Ken

ArdraF said:

Bill, you mentioned much earlier that you might get rid of both the dome and the over-the-air antenna.  I can't comment on the dome but I would keep the "regular" antenna so you can get local (where you are, not the local at home) stations in case there's bad weather or lots of trees.  Not all campgrounds have cable hookups if there are trees and that over-the-air antenna may be the only way to get TV in some places.  In other words, you should keep as many options as available.  We use the satellite (DirecTV) most of the time, but use over-the-air or campground cable when we want or need local programming.  Weather is the biggest reason - so we can see local radar maps for tornado activity.  The Good Sam campground directory shows the county for each campground so you can figure out where you are in relation to the radar maps.

ArdraF

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Once again I was not clear enough.  Our motorhome has two satellite antennas on the roof - a King Dome and a crank up dish which was the original.  Those were the two I was referring to.  The OTA antenna will definitely stay and be used for local channels.

Ned said:

Telling the Tailgater what state you're in makes it quicker to locate the proper satellites, but you still need Dish to change your programming so you can receive your local stations on those satellites.

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That is  one point I need the dealer to clear up for me Ned.  As I orignally understood it, by only paying the $ 7 monthly fee I can receive my local channels (in my home area) if I am in the home area with the RV but I will have to rely on the OTA antenna to receive area local channels on the road.  If I was paying a separate RV fee, then I could get the local channels wherever I was.  But I am not sure on any of that.  I do recall some discussion that I could receive local channels on the road throught the OTA antenna being channeled into the satellite receiver but I think I am really starting to get it muddled when I say that.  Will check tomorrow when they come to install the home dishes (one for TV and one for Internet)

bucks2 said:

"What was confusing me was how could the hopper at home be recording anything to send via the sling if the spot beam was on the RV in another state?"

Because the spot beam is the "local" channels. The "premium" channels are broadcast nationwide.

Ken

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Now that may clear up a lot of my confusion and make my answer to Ned look kind of off base.  Sorry Ned.  I assumed the spot beam was for the satellite channels and you know what they say about assuming.

Well a little update here and while we are still a bit confused on the Dish home satellite TV we are becoming accustomed to it and, after a few calls to Customer Support, most of the wrinkles have been ironed out (Read:  We are learning how to operate it).  As for Dish Internet, let me be blunt.  So far after 5 days of working with it, I have to say it is the sorriest system we have ever had.  Slow as a turtle to the point where you have trouble even watching a YouTube video and having numerous strange messages pop up - one we have never seen before.  The wife says working with her laptop using Dish Internet is like the stone age of computers - nothing wants to load and timing out when trying to reach a website is a very common occurrence both on the PC and both laptops.  I wrote a long email to Dish and will see if that results in anything but we are seriously looking at buying out of this lousy internet system and going back to what we had before.

Now for the Tailgater.  I did buy the Tailgater and had the VIP211K and TG set up in the coach yesterday but I have my reservations about that too.  The system works fine but I have lost nearly my entire switch box because the guy tore it apart in order to allow me to hook the tailgater onto the cable service jack in the service bay.  As a result, as it sits now, I cannot hook onto a campground cable system without running a cable through the window or some other way to get direct access to the TV.  I am thinking of restoring the switch box to it's original configuration and figuring another way to hook up the tailgater.  The prime reason for this is that at least two of our favorite campgrounds are literally covered with trees and a satellite would be of little use in them but each has a very nice cable tv setup.  I did remove the old VCR as that is just an antique and I have a DVD player that can be used.  The nice thing about the setup as it is now is that the OTA antenna is hooked into the Dish receiver and so I can receive local stations in whatever area I happen to be in plus my only expense for the RV is a $7 monthly fee since I also have Dish service at home.  The Tailgater does not appear to be beefy enough to just stuff into a bay so I have it still in it's original box with the foam insert on the bottom and a towel wrapped around the top.  I had to cut one inch off the top of the box in order to fit in the bay but I feel better about it being secure in that configuration.  They also recommend holding it down with bungee cords when setting out (as on a picnic table) to keep it from tipping but i will have to figure out a base for that.  One negative is that you have to go through a complete setup every time you use it following a turnoff of the receiver.  That takes about 10 or 15 minutes so the salesman gave me good advice.  Set up the tailgater as soon as you park the coach and then hookup your plumbing, leveling, electric, etc.  By then the TV should be ready to go for whenever you want it.