[retiredcfo]

Hello, Bought a place in Sanibel in February We are snowbirds and are trying to figure out the best way to have TV reception. We were thinking about subscribing to either Dish or DirecTV in MI and bringing the receivers with us to our winter home. I have heard people do this and even had a dish rep at the Marion Flea Market suggest this. He said we could subscribe up here, bring the receivers with us and then dish would come out and mount a dish at our winter home. Does anyone do this? When I called both companies they said I had to subscribe at both address's. I really don't want to pay for an unused service at either home while I am not there.

[chuckinca]

We do that with Direct TV and get charged for one location. They didn't charge for the dish at the second location either.

Have to bring the control box back and forth and call them when you arrive to let them know where you are so that you get the local programs and the time is correct.

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[Bill-n-Brillo]

Ditto what chuck said - we do the same thing as well with DirectTV.

Call DirecTV and speak with them about it. I believe they handle it through their Movers Connection portion of the business. We had no problems getting the second location set up with them as we'd already had their service for several years - they might have different 'rules' or mindset for a new subscriber but it would definitely be worth discussing with them. Make sure they understand that you only want to have service in one location at a time - you'll never be wanting to use your receivers in both places concurrently.

We have one account with two distinct "service addresses" or "service locations" (their people seem to use the terms interchangeably). The switching back and forth, as chuck mentioned, is getting the DirecTV people to change from one location to the other. "Standard installation" of the second dish in FL was free - extra charge if you want it pole-mounted (in the ground). If you do head down this path with them, PM me and I can give you the specifics of the simplest, cleanest, easiest way to get to the right area of their business when you call each time to get changed over from one service location to the other.

Bill

[jsw14]

Mysterie Solved!!!!!!

[billethkid]

I was told that if you do not care about the local stations you do not have to contact the provider. Just unhook and rehook. You will still get the local news from the "home" installation.

Does anyone know this to be a fact or bait?

This was what I was told 2 years ago...I am contemplating switching from Comcast.....soon.

btk

[chuckinca]

That's true. If you don't call them to change your location you will get the TV stations and times from the other location.

Our problem was that we were getting California stations that were 3 hours earlier than TV and vise versa when we went back to CA.


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[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by billethkid

I was told that if you do not care about the local stations you do not have to contact the provider. Just unhook and rehook. You will still get the local news from the "home" installation.

Does anyone know this to be a fact or bait?

This was what I was told 2 years ago...I am contemplating switching from Comcast.....soon.

btk

Originally Posted by chuckinca

That's true. If you don't call them to change your location you will get the TV stations and times from the other location.

Our problem was that we were getting California stations that were 3 hours earlier than TV and vise versa when we went back to CA.


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Unfortunately for us, ours doesn't work the same way. If we bring our receivers from OH down to TV and plug them in, yes...we do get all our subscribed channels - - - except the locals. The local channels from OH still come up in the Guide but none of them are available to view when you select them (I forget the exact message that pops up on the screen - something to the effect that it's searching for an incoming signal, I believe). Same thing happens if I hook the receivers back up in OH after our 'service location' has been set to TV - the FL locals stations show up in the Guide but they can't be viewed....but yet all our other subscribed channels can.

My understanding from the DirecTV folks is that it has to do with what satellite we get our local channels in OH from versus the satellite for the TV local channels. Perhaps yours happen to share the same satellite, chuck - dunno for sure!

So btk, you could always roll the dice and see if they do indeed show up. Or perhaps drill the DirecTV tech support group to see if they can give you a definitive answer for your specific situation.

Bill

[chuckinca]

We'll be back at our CA home in early July - I'll (try to remember to) check it out and post the results on this thread.


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[retiredcfo]

Thanks for the information everyone. It helps. After I posted this, I called my local phone company, which I can get dish with and she told me I could bring the receivers with us and then they would set up another dish there for free. When I called the companies directly, I was told you had to have different accounts, but they may not understood what I wanted to do and that was their canned answer. I was told by the builder not to mount to the roof as it would invalidate our warranty.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Sounds like you're on the right track, cfo.

You might want to double-check with them about the dish install(s)......what constitutes a "free installation" usually means "roof mount". If you want it installed elsewhere, ex. pole mounted in the ground, it's generally an up-charge. And generally you'll get to arm wrestle with the installer over that charge as they're many times independent contractors, not employees of the satellite provider.

Bill

[festusrules]

They have a "vacation hold" program for up to 6 months. Bill has described it. When I come to TV I hook up the receiver and call them to change local channels to this area....they do it in minutes...no problem. During vacation hold I pay $7/mo in Il and regular charges here.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by festusrules

They have a "vacation hold" program for up to 6 months. Bill has described it. When I come to TV I hook up the receiver and call them to change local channels to this area....they do it in minutes...no problem. During vacation hold I pay $7/mo in Il and regular charges here.

Festus, it sounds like you have 2 distinct accounts set up - you have one active while you suspend the other depending on where you are.

Our set up differs in that we only have a single account with two service locations/addresses defined within it. We don't have to pay any vacation hold charges per month. To the best of my knowledge, DirecTV doesn't have a time limit for how long either service location can be the active one.

You might want to talk with the people in DirecTV's Movers Connection group - they're the ones who handle those kinds of set-ups. 1-888-388-6683 Might save you a bit of money!

Bill