Buying a new hd dvr receiver, RV?

Dont want to use in the RV. We have an off-grid solar system home. Just isnt on wheels with a motor. Directv, cell phone, hotspot for internet

DirecTV service is designed and federally regulated for a single residence per account. Some people do self-install, or go through a 3rd party, to have a vacation home, cabin, etc. hooked up for DirecTV so they can take a box with them back and forth.

If you have a Genie (HR34, HR44, HR54), then you need a regular receiver (HR24 or H25), as Clients (i.e C31) cannot work without being connected to the main Genie. If you have the Genie-2 (HS17) then you cannot do this as it forbids everything but Clients on the account.

You will not be "buying" it as DirecTV got rid of purchase to own years ago and with the new account system will not reactivate old boxes that were owned. So getting from DirecTV or an authorized retailer, will come with a 24 month service agreement.

Vacation hold should not charge you double. Services are suspended so cannot charge, though there is now a $7 monthly vacation hold (still cheaper than paying for active service). As the account is not active, the suspended months do not count towards the agreement so pushes back your service agreement date back by the same amount of time.

To check that the suspend is working correctly here are the details: https://support.directv.com/account-management/2430 (doesn't show the new $7 monthly vacation hold as that is on their fees table next to the agreement documents, but it has everything else.

we sent back the mini genie and bridge because our internet or the way it was installed never worked right. The receiver worked and recorded fine for two years, but now it freezes, says the hard drive is broke, etc. I reset with the red button and the recorded shows come up but the quality of the recordings may not always be good and the recorded shows freeze - usually start up again.

so, the reason I started to question is two fold . the tech said i should buy my own unit, so i didnt have a geni receiver. He said the turning the system off every night is hard on the hard drive. Thats what you do when traveling with a RV, same senio. Thats when I found all the questionable info about buying then not being able to get service or getting old not new.

As to the hold policy...last time I checked 6 months was the maximum time. we are 9 and 3 or 8 and 4. The seven dollars isnt a problem, its being charged for two receivers.

Suspend is for max of 6 months within a 12 month period. And that covers the entire account, not individual boxes. So only $7 for the entire account for each month that is suspended. DirecTV requires you to be active for at least half the year, it is not designed for short term use.

Unfortunately doing a seasonal/vacation disconnect for individual boxes is no longer an option in their new system. It was from the old days when SD-only and owned was more common. Now if equipment goes off individually, it is returned or recycled. If home and RV are to be use at same time, then a separate account is supposed to be done. RV away from home meant taxes are out of compliance as it is based on where you are physically using the service, and some states tax satellite on top of normal taxes.

We have traveled and used the RV system all over the USA . We still have an RV but use it to travel north and south...easier with a dog and cat. We turn our receiver ”off” every night and it has to reboot each evening because we are off grid and dont want to waste energy., much like traveling with our RV we are solar.

We bring our genie receiver with us so we dont have to pay two receivers. I have tried the ”vacation” thing before but we are 3/4 months North, balance of year in Texas. So we get double billed a few months and it screws with the contract time.

The directv tech that came to fix our local stations last summer said turning the receiver off every night was hard on the receiver - that we never should have been upgraded to that model. AND we dont have internet strong enough to connect to the tv so we cant use some of the features. He also said Directv was going to discontinue allowing customers transferring their receivers between residences. (note: calling to change location and local stations does not work-thats why the tech visit).