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New Member

Tuesday, November 17th, 2020 11:02 PM

Box transfer to a new user

I have 2 box’s i sold in a Rv the new owner wants to turn them on How do i do that , I’ve done it before but can t remember How.

ACE - Expert

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22.9K Messages

4 years ago

You can't anymore. Since DirecTV went to lease only with the launch of the original Genie, they no longer activate used boxes. Too high chance of boxes being outdated and cannot work in the future (MPEG-2/SD-only), or in some cases stolen (or customer didn't understand they didn't own them).

Since they are in an RV, most setups are the old MPEG-2/SD-only boxes and receiving dish as well. DirecTV is doing a complete shutdown of those old feeds. The new owner in addition to their own boxes and account, will need a slimline SWM dish on a tripod or sled mount to manually aim, or the Wingard Trav'ler instead.

New Member

4 years ago

I have wingard but i have a t4 in motion with Hd box no I don’t have Hd but they work great. I just did another Rv not to long ago. 

ACE - Expert

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21.1K Messages

4 years ago

But not for long, that dish is obsolete and needs to be replaced with a SWM slimline dish either on a sled/tripod mount that you aim yourself or a self aiming one from Winegard or KVH.

ACE - Expert

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22.9K Messages

4 years ago

That T4 is DirecTV MPEG-2/SD-only so needs replacing.

As long as the box is an H or HR model, it is still compatible. But unfortunately cannot be transferred, even if you paid $399/$499 full retail price to own (cost before owned options were discontinued). DirecTV no longer allows reactivating of boxes. So if you are not keeping them, they get returned to DirecTV or recycled depending on their official status.

Non-HD TVs haven't been made in over a decade.

DirecTV stopped offering SD-only service in late 2015, grandfathering old accounts.

As of April 2019 DirecTV started the complete MPEG-2/SD-only shutdown as planned.

All Genies are lease only.

Shortly after launch of original Genie (HR34) all non-Genie boxes went lease only.

Around the April 2019 shutdown of old feeds, boxes may no longer be reactivated.

The MPEG-2/SD-only shutdown was supposed to be already complete. But some internal difficulties plus Covid slowed it down. But it will finish. Technology is moving into a new generation so a lot of RV users are having to update. Some of them it is just updating to a current receiving dish setup as they were using their newer boxes from home.

New Member

4 years ago

So when do they expect for it to be shut down ?

I have  and  can get WiFi and get a service to provide the Same thing cheaper I’m pretty sure.

New Member

4 years ago

Whats the new hardware needed ? And what’s the cost ?

ACE - Expert

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22.9K Messages

4 years ago

The shutdown started as expected (April 2019). But some internal challenges, plus Covid slowing everything this year, has delayed it finishing. Otherwise it would have finished already. There is not a hard end date known.

By "get WiFi" I suspect you mean internet. Remember you can connect a computer and printer by WiFi without internet as is just a wireless type of connection, not internet itself. It is up to you if you want to go with streaming-only options instead of satellite.

As for any possible costs, that depends. What are the models of each box you have? Are you going to take back the 2 old boxes or have them recycled (the new owner of the RV cannot use them). Are you just going to use service in home, or are you installing into a new RV as well?

For RV a slimline SWM dish on a tripod/sled mount that is manually aimed, or the Winegard Trav'ler for auto acquiring is needed. There is also now a KVH model as an option as @shannon02 pointed out. RV dish makers are having to catchup as they cannot just keep unloading their old stock.

DirecTV has a complimentary MPEG swap program, but that only affects what is installed in the home. RV installs are at your own cost as through a 3rd party retailer. But depends on what you have at home on what (if anything) needs replacing.

New Member

4 years ago

My problem is they said i could transfer box’s now there saying i cant , i called 2 weeks before i sold it and they said yes i could do it, so box’s went with Rv and I don’t have accesss to get them back. i called new owner and its in storage and he can’t get back to it for sometime now, so I’m stuck paying $270.00 after they told me i could transfer responsibility of the box’s. 

ACE - Expert

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22.9K Messages

4 years ago

I take it by $270 that you got charged with 2 non-return fees (NRF) of $135 each as both boxes were HDDVRs. So even in the old days those couldn't be transferred as you didn't own them to begin with and would have needed to be returned to DirecTV. You got an agent who had no idea what they were talking about.

If it were HDDVRs in the RV, then likely your home setup is fully MPEG-4 (would need to know model numbers of every box to be sure). The boxes were just earlier models that were able to use both the newer setup in home and the older setup in the RV.

So if as suspected that your home is fully MPEG-4, then your only cost would be the NRFs for the 2 boxes. Though if you get them back you can try returning them before it is too late to get the NRFs reversed. As for the new owner of the RV, they will need to check through a RV installer, 3rd party seller, on costs to update the cabling and dish in the RV.


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