New Member
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32 Messages
Equipment Upgade
Hello everyone
I currently have 1 HR44 and 2 HR24 DVR's, the two HR24's are super slow/laggy and frustrating to use at times. So I called in to use my upgrade. I was offered an upgrade to the Genie 2 system with 2 wired and 2 wireless clients as I'm adding and additional box. I requested that they give me an HR54 instead because of some of the threads I've read, so they agreed to give me HR54, one wired and 2wireless client. My question is, is that the best option? I believe the HR54 is 5 tuners so does that mean if all four boxes are on I can only record 1 show? I believe the Genie 2 has 7 tuners if I'm correct. It seems as if all the reviews and threads I've read are years old and nothing current, is The Genie 2 still buggy or has all the issues been addressed? I was told that I cannot have two DVR because they no longer have HR24 or HR34 and only one Genie server can be on the account. Please share your thoughts, will the HR54 be more reliable than the genie 2 or does it even matter at this time? Is it a bad thing to have 1 server and all clients? I really don't mind losing the 2 dvr's as my kids are older and I don't record nowhere near what I used to. If you can share another option that would be great also. thanks
shannon02
ACE - Expert
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21.3K Messages
3 years ago
You are correct the HR54 has 5 tuners and when watching live TV on all 4 TVs with the 3 minis and the HR54 there will only be one tuner left to record or PIP. Have you tried to do a search for clearmybox on the HR24s?
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23.4K Messages
3 years ago
Genie (HR44) and two regular HDDVRs (HR24) is the most capable setup. 9 total tuners, 2TB recording space, independent reliability. And Picture in Picture (PiP) if it matters.
Genie-2 (HS17) would be a downgrade. Only allows Clients, forcing you to replace your HDDVRs. That reduces you to 7 tuners. Though same total space of 2TB, that is all one box so you cannot have separate recordings lists, settings, and if it goes down there go all your TVs. Clients only can use a single tuner each, so there is no PiP.
The HR54 is the 3rd generation Genie, so is the same line as the HR44. This means you cannot "upgrade" to it. If ever you do a warranty replacement, you may get a HR44 or HR54 depending on stock.
The agent lied (or is new so doesn't understand older equipment). You may have HDDVRs with the Genie. The Genie-2 (HS17) is the ONLY box that forbids them as it is an all-in-one setup. Not customer friendly, but it makes it easier for the company to have a fits-all (as they claim) setup. Normal for AT&T (and historically with their agreement with Apple).
As there is now a new co-owner taking the reins for DirecTV, hopefully they will return to creating customer friendly setups. I would love to see an HDDVR that is SWM-only like the Genies so that it works better with them from the start. Perhaps a HR25? (not a real model, just would be the next logical one).
The HR54 has slight hardware improvements over the HR44 as must support the 4K Client (C61K). Alternatively it removes the phone jack (outdated features no longer supported, which were removed from HR44 anyway) and front panel controls. I would only do a warranty replacement if the clearmybox option as suggested doesn't work. Remember recordings on the HR44 wouldn't transfer, so be comfortably caught up first.
(edited)
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JowJow
New Member
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32 Messages
3 years ago
thanks for the reply guys,
I tried crearmybox a while ago and it did work but the slowness always seems to come back within weeks.
I also dont like the fact that the system is all client base but I think I would rather that then continue to deal with the HR24's. Besides the no DVR thing are there any other concerns or different user experience with a client base setup?
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shannon02
ACE - Expert
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21.3K Messages
3 years ago
You can lease HR24s from online retailers like weaknees.com or solidsignal.com there will be the standard up front cost of $199 each and they are refurbished and a 2yr contract.
(edited)
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23.4K Messages
3 years ago
Genie-2 (HS17) is a server tower. Doesn't go on a TV itself, so you will have one more box than TVs. It should not change the number of TV/Client fees (though for a little while there was a bug that added an extra one, but guess they finally fixed that).
For one or two TVs, it could be an ok setup. My household needs the additional tuners because of the overlapping recordings. Also making sure one user doesn't delete recordings of another is a big plus. And I've experienced where Genie was rebooting occasionally (turned out power cord was accessible enough for cat to lay on it causing it to be loose). If I had clients, the other 2 TVs would have gone out at the same time. Had a warranty replacement of an old HR23, but with dedicated boxes I didn't lose all my recordings, just what was left on the one box.
My opinion is the Genie and 2 HDDVRs is the best overall setup and more reliable than the Genie-2 (HS17). But if you don't need that additional capability, then perhaps the simple setup is better for you personally.
I stand by that the new co-owner needs to innovate a newer model of HDDVR to give flexibility again. Also refurbishing only goes so far before newer equipment is needed, even if same generation models.
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