Expanding an existing system

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What DVR model do they have?

How long would the cable runs be?

Hi litzdog911

I haven't seen the DVR yet.

The cable run could be 300 - 500ft depending where I need to tap into the system. 

Tapping in at an existing TV location would be the simplest. 

Thanks 

Kevin 

It's important to know the DVR model because that will determine how many client boxes are supported. Also, 300-500 ft cable runs will likely cause you issues. It might make more sense to put a separate satellite dish on the new building. But that won't be possible if the current DVR is an HS17 Server. 

Being able to access the DVR from all locations is important to the client. 

I'll have my guy get a picture of the DVR tomorrow. 

Thanks

It looks like the DVR is a C61-500 (the label on the unit isn't perfectly clear) manufactured 3/13/2017

C61 is a Mini Genie Client, not the DVR.

Genie will be either an HR (HDDVR) model or Genie-2 an HS17 (Headless Server) model.

If a Genie it is possible for them to have other H or HR models (only one Genie to the account). But the Genie-2 only allows Clients. Just in case you need to be aware of any other boxes besides Clients.

That makes sense to me. I will personally go out to the site and find the DVR.

I'll post back when I have the info

Well mystery solved. We finally got a hold of the home owner who revealed the location of another TV and the DVR (this is a fairly large home)

The DVR is a HR44-500

My questions are the following

• Is this equipment still available? Or will they need to upgrade all of the equipment?
• Can I run a single coax from the house and have a splitter in the new building
• Is there a length limitation for the coax run to the new building (splitter?)
• If I put a second dish on the new building, will they be able to access recorded content from the main house DVR?

Thank you again for your knowledge

Kevin

The HR44 is probably no longer available, the HR54 maybe still be available but they both can only stream to 3 minis at a time and only 7 minis can be connected as DTV limits the total number of devices on the account to 8.  The HS17 can stream to all 7 minis at the same time.

DTV limits the RG6 coax to 150' with only 8 splits and they only make 2,4 or 8 way splitters.  There is RG11 coax that may be used for longer run but is not provide by DTV and should be solid copper core not the cheaper copper clad steel.

A second dish will have no contact with the main house.

The HR44 is the 2nd generation Genie. It is current era equipment, so no absolute need to "upgrade".

The concern is the regular Genie being a 5 tuner dedicated HDDVR, it keeps 2. This means no matter how many Clients are paired with it (max 7, as account max is 8 devices), only 3 at most can be in use at the same time. That means 4 TVs total (Genie plus 3 Clients) at most being watched. And those tuners are the same to use for recording.

Previously I would have suggested replacing Clients with regular HDDVRs (i.e. HR24) to avoid tuner conflicts, and increasing overall recording space (still watchable from other boxes), and better reliability (if Genie goes down then all Clients go down as they are just extensions of it). But after AT&T acquired them they were pushed heavily to Client only setups. The Genie-2 (HS17) has 7 tuners, sits by itself (not on a TV), so allows up to 7 Clients to be in use at the same time (plus a 2TB hard drive compared to the 1TB of the regular Genie line), but forbids dedicated boxes so those tuners and recording space are a hard cap. A all-in-one setup that is simple and restrictive for the company but not very flexible for the customer. It has been difficult for customers to get dedicated boxes activated, even though they are legitimately acquired through Authorized Retailers (Solid Signal, etc.).

Recordings are only sharable through the physical coax. A HDDVR or HD non-DVR on a separate dish would not be able to access the recordings being on a separate physical network. On that note, Clients cannot function without being on the same coax network as the Genie as they have no tuners of their own to function independently.

Your runs are too long for standard DirecTV install. That is where RG11 (solid copper core) is to be looked at for that extreme distance.

Verify with the homeowner how many actual total TVs and boxes there are now and to be added. If they are ok with sharing the tuners and recording space, and don't care about the current recordings on their Genie (they are lost when box is replaced), then the Genie-2 (HS17) might be considered if it is within 7 TVs (any more is impossible).

However if they need more tuners, recording space, or just decide that a 2nd dish would be better than a special extended coax run, then you might try the route of dedicated HDDVRs or HD non-DVRs.

No matter which way you go, and new boxes will put a 24 month service agreement on the account. That is regardless if you get a free upgrade from DirecTV itself or they pay for the one-time lease cost of each box (such as those from an Authorized Retailer).

If your customer has reasonably fast internet, they might be better off switching to DirecTV Stream. Recordings are stored in the cloud and can be accessed by any streaming client device, including non-DirecTV devices like Roku, FireStick, Apple TV, etc. 

If the DirecTV account owner upgrades the Genie (HR44) to the Genie-2 (HS17), or cancels and goes to DIRECTV STREAM for streaming-only, the existing recordings are lost as they are encrypted to their exact box. (same result with a warranty replacement).

If they were fortunate to get a regular HDDVR in the mix, then recordings on that HR44 are kept. Both DVRs would share with the rest of the setup. Unless the one box was on a separate satellite and coax of course.

Really sounds like they would have done better with a classic setup of dedicated boxes (including the Genie) before AT&T pushed for smaller all-in-one setups.

@hytek

Making a run that long -You will need to use an RG-11 - connecting RG6 Adapters to each end of RG-11 to connect to the receiver. 

Suggest you Contact SOILDSIGNAL.com they can help you.