equipment upgrade

AFAIK DTV no longer has any H44 in stock it didn't go over well, there is no HR45.

The new HS17 Genie2 is a DVR with mini clients on the TVs and forbids the H24s, an HR54 if can get one can use the H24s.

The bill should remain near what you are paying now or reduce by $7 for any TVs removed.

Rain fade while can't be eliminated can be reduced with a properly aligned dish. 

If you want 4K channels you'll need to upgrade to an HR54 or HS17 with 4K compatible Genie Client boxes for each TV. 

As I understand the info above it looks lie I have two options to upgrade. This is assuming that the LNB gets changed out to support this upgrade. As per the tech guy I had here.

If I go the HR54 route I would change one of my H24s with the HR54 and the other one would get a second HR54 or  wired client. This would allow one of the TVs to have 4K.  And could also allow me to replace my HDMI splitter for upstairs with a wireless client and the expected charge from DTV.

The HS17 setup is would require wired clients to both the TVs and a wireless client to the upstairs one if I didn't want to use the HDMI splitter. 

As far as 4K from what I've read the HR54 support one 4K TV per box. And the HS17 supports 2. But there are no 4K wireless clients that I can find so not sure how that could be accomplished. 

I've spent a bit of time looking at articles online trying to understand this and have found Solid Signal Blog extremely helpful. 

Much thanks to those that have replied. 

DTV only allows 1 Genie per account.  The Gemini C71KW is both a wired or wireless 4K client with the added ability to stream from some streaming services without having to switch the TV input.  You can have the tech run coax to all or none of the clients.

The HR54 can only stream to 1 4K client at a time, the HS17 can stream to 2 at the same time regardless of how many 4K clients you have, 7 max.

DTV may have to mount a new dish.

Any upgrade would be to Genie or Genie-2. You would end up with DVR ($10) and Whole Home DVR ($3) for your monthly services.

The Genie Lite (H44) was discontinued. It was an idea that didn't pan out well, particularly because 3rd party retailers kept misleading customers on how it worked.

I'm guessing HR45 was just a typo, most likely meaning 3rd generation Genie (HR54).

You cannot have multiple HR54s, or any other Genie. Only one is allowed on the account as works as a "server" for clients. If you got the Genie then you could keep an H24 for the dedicated tuner and autotune (only on that TV) or replace it with a Mini Genie Client to have full access to the DVR capability. The Genie-2 (HS17) is a Client-only system and doesn't go on a TV itself, so both H24s would be replaced by Mini Genies in that case.

HR54 has 5 tuners, Picture in Picture (on itself only) 1TB space, supports up to 3 Clients at the same time (so up to 4 TVs total in use). No matter how many 4K Clients you have, only 1 TV can use a 4K channel at a time. The HR54 cannot deliver 4K itself because 4K requirements updated just before it launched. However, there is a new option to co-locate a 4K Client with it (so counting as the same authorized TV) to address that concern.

HS17 has 7 tuners, 2TB space, and sits by itself (brain for the system). Can use up to 7 Clients (since it doesn't need to reserve any for itself as not on a TV), but no PiP as Clients only use 1 tuner each. Supports up to two 4K Clients using a 4K channel at the same time. Unlike all other models, this one forbids dedicate HDDVR/receiver boxes (like your H24). It is an all-in-one setup that DirecTV was forced to by their temporary owner AT&T.

Bit more info on my setup. I have coax running to both H24s from the dish. The upstairs TV uses an HDMI cable I put through the wall. The HDMI splitter supplies the video and the RF DirecTV remotes work quite well. So I'm not inclined to run coax upstairs, but the wireless clients may be a reasonable option. 

If I understand all the info I've read there are two options for me if I want to upgrade my system.

1. I can use one Genie (HR54) for the rec room centrally located TV, one wired 4K client (C61K?) for the porch and one wireless client (C61W) for upstairs. Or just leave the HDMI splitter. 

As for supporting 4K, co-locating a 4k client with the HR54 should allow 4K for rec room and porch. Upstairs not sure if there is a 4k wireless client. Only being able to watch 4k on one TV isn't a problem. 

  2. I can use one Genie-2 (HS17) located in the basement which is centrally located and has easy access to internet connections. Then 3 wireless clients for the TVs. 

Couple of things I haven't figured out for this option is how would HS17 support 4k with only wireless clients? If it supports wired then how would they connect?

As far as account increases I would think the above ones mentioned by Juniper plus an extra $7 for the upstairs TV is reasonable. About a $20 a month. I've been a DTV customer for over 20 years and have never asked for any extras, maybe I should ask for a bit of a discount? 

Thanks to Shannon02 and Juniper. You both have put up a lot of info and I appreciate it.   

 As stated the only wireless 4K client is the C71WK.  To wire the C71WK the tech runs coax to the location then adds what is called a DECA BB to remove to Ethernet signal from the coax to feed the Ethernet port on the C71WK.  The HS71 has a built in WVB to send WiFi to the wireless clients on a separate network that only they can use.

So do all clients, wired or wireless support 4K?

Wireless clients would need a Wireless Video Bridge (WVB). It is an owned accessory for $99. That is wired on the coax just like a receiver/client box. The Genie-2 (HS17) is the only model with the WVB built-in. Either way the range is the same, up to 80 feet under ideal conditions (naturally going through walls will degrade that).

The Gemini (C71KW) is the only 4K box that can be wireless. The 4K Mini Genie (C61K) is wired-only.

Your internet is not used to provide the wireless connection to the clients. The main box is connected to your home internet for On Demand, which it passes on that connection to all your boxes..

Assuming your account is on the old billing model where HD service is $10, then you are looking at adding $10 for DVR and $3 for Whole Home DVR. Each additional TV adds $7. So if you're looking at adding one more TV total with this upgrade then $20 overall increase in your bill is to be expected.

As always, any upgrade (adding TV counts), comes with a 24 month agreement for the count from the day the new equipment is installed.

You can certainly ask about any discount options. Be aware if there are any they will be temporary. Your monthly bill will remind you as counting down whatever you may get.

So by going with option 2, HS17 Genie-2 I wouldn't need to purchase the WVB, and just 3 wireless clients. The basement location is approx 20' away from all the TVs (through walls and ceilings). Seems to be the way I'm leaning. Less equipment and hookups. 

The tech said that the HS17 would automatically connect to the streaming service if the dish was blocked because of bad weather. Again this was said a year or so ago when we talked. Not sure if that is correct. 

1. I still don't grasp how 4k is handled with the HS17.  

2. How does the HS17 handle wired clients? Or maybe it doesn't? 

There are only 2 4K clients, the C61K wired only and the C71WK, the K denotes 4K capable.

Yes, you can mix wired and wireless clients with any Genie, wired needs coax.

The built in WVB sets up a WiFi network with the clients to send the 4K to them.

If the Genie is connected to the internet then it can switch to it when the dish loses the signal but not all channels AFAIK have live streams of their programs.

I think I finally got it. I was getting confused between Genie and Gemini. Had them interchanged and I couldn't visualize how it all came together. 

At this point my upgrade would be the correct dish and LNB with HS17 and 3 Gemini C71KW wireless clients. All can access the DVR and two can get 4k shows if available. 

Look reasonable?

Thanks and very appreciated for all the advice and explanations.  

If you don't want Autotune, and have no need for a dedicated box with its own tuner (main Genie goes down then clients go with it as they cannot work by themselves), then the Genie-2 (HS17) sounds a bit like your better option. Not often I say that, I prefer the dedicated boxes for more reliability.

The feature the tech mentioned is Signal Saver. It essentially grabs the show from On Demand (via internet) if something like a storm causes too much issues for the satellite signal. This live stream is not available from all channels, so still a chance you deal with bad weather affecting the show.

The HS17 has the tuners and DVR. It receives the service from the satellite, the function your H24s have built in. It then sends that info over the coax (or wireless) to each Client. It just doesn't connect to a TV itself. That is also why client boxes are smaller than traditional receiver/HDDVRs as they don't have all those extra bits themselves.

Yes the HS17 works with both wired and wireless clients. Wired is preferred as more reliable, but depends on your setup if it works better to have a wireless in the mix. To be clear, it is still HDMI from each client to the TV of course.

So the signal comes from the dish to a special splitter and then to the HS17 and potentially to any wired clients? Just trying to visualize how the tech can use the existing coax that is run to 2 of the 3 TVs. 

Right, the HS17 like the other Genies uses the Ethernet channel on the coax created by the SWM system to stream the content to all clients wire or wireless.