Gemini -- Multiple Disappointments

I recently switched from the genie receiver to the Gemini receiver and my wife totally despises the new remote control. She has to turn the bedside lamp on constantly to find the right keys on the remote control. I trie to program the old RC73 genie remote control to be used with the Gemini receiver and I was able to program it to control all the Gemini functions but it will not turn my tv on/off or control the volume. If any of the users has been able to accomplish this I would really appreciate you post your solution so that we can go back to the old RC73 control remote and dump the one that came with the Gemini 

@Sadafam 

I suspect you mean you switched from a Mini Genie Client to the Gemini Client. Both of those require the Genie receiver to work. Clients have no tuners or recording space of their own.

Unless you switched from DirecTV (satellite) to DIRECTV STREAM (streaming-only) and have that version of the Gemini where it is just a streaming box (similar to Roku, Firestick, etc.).

I received the new Gemini satellite receiver where I can watch satellite tv as well as streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, Peacock, etc. and It comes with its own remote control. I replaced the Genie Mini receivers that was controlled by the RC73 remote control which my wife prefers over the new Gemini remote but even though I was able to program the RC73 (genie remote) to control the DirecTV functions as well as the streaming apps, I cannot power my tv on or off or control the volume

Have you tried reprogramming the remote to the TV?

I’ve tried several things including setting my remote control to RF but I am only able to control the functions on my Gemini receiver but not the TV. I have a second TV with a Gemini control by a Denon AV receiver and I tried programming the “speakers” function on the menu remotes programming to no avail.

I’m considering getting a Gemini. I have a Genie but I hate it. It doesn’t record when I set it to record a series. It’s so frustrating. Is the Gemini reliable?

The Gemini is a client with no tuners or hard drive it uses the Genies.

Besides the fact that you can access streaming apps with the same remote (not the smoothest transition from satellite tv to streaming) control and can reproduce 4K I don’t notice a great improvement over the Genie and as I have been mentioning in my previous posts, the remote control is not the most functional or ergonomic. The main reason why I switched from the genie to the Gemini was because I have an older tv the I had a firestick to access streaming platforms and I had to switch to different inputs on my tv and then use the firestick remote control and now I access those directly from the Gemini 

@Auntden8 

You cannot switch from a Genie/Genie Lite/Genie-2 (receiver) to the Gemini (client). This is because the Gemini is a Client, no tuners or recording space, meaning it cannot work by itself.

You can switch from a Mini Genie to the Gemini as that is client to client. Your Genie must be either the 3rd generation Genie (HR54) or the Genie-2 (HS17) for a 4K install.

Personally I prefer HDDVRs over any client for the 2 tuners and additional recording space. But those are harder to come by as they were trying to go to a client-only setup upon release of the Genie-2.

Having used the Gemini for a few months, I still don't like the remote for the reasons noted above.  In addition, I don't like the layout of the buttons, because similar feeling buttons are close to the buttons I use, and I often miss the intended button, and for my normal viewing, I have to access buttons that are very far apart, requiring me to regrip the remote often.

I note that the left & right arrow buttons do serve as the 30 second skip & quick rewind buttons.  But the quick rewind feature isn't the "back" function -- that's why there is the new "Last" button on the new remote.

There is the voice command on the new remote, and you can use it to "Skip ahead 3 minutes" if you want.  I do do that on occasion, but I also use FF or skip buttons also.

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Overall, I like the Gemini. My biggest complaint is that it no longer has PIP Picture in Picture. Before I added the Gemini I could select the Info button and way over on the right was the PIP option. I used to be able to watch 2 football games at the same time. Will this feature come back?

Gemini is a mini client so never had PIP as no minis clients are made to use 2 tuners from the Genie.  PIP is only available on the TV connected to the Genie. The HS17 Genie2 doesn't have PIP either.

I've got my own issues with the Gemini.  First, my Genie was plugged into my Yamaha receiver, no issues.  But the so-called "Gemini support" swear up and down it needs to be plugged directly into my TV.

That leads me to #2.  The way it can't seem to handle switching to other inputs.  For example, I was watching something on my Fire TV Cube yesterday.  When I switched back to DirecTV (I had it on HB0, the picture was freezing and unfreezing, the audio was skipping.  

This is with a second Gemini after I begged them to replace the first one.  And third, if it's not freezing up, it will randomly reboot itself.  With my first one (I've only had this one a day) there were times I'd switch back after playing one of my gaming consoles.

The channel would be playing then all of a sudden, the thing would reboot.  It's my opinion DirecTV rushed this thing out without enough testing or getting the bugs out of it.

I'm still using the Gemini, but it's rocky.  A few times, I turn on the TV and the Gemini doesn't respond to the remote at all.  I have to hit the reset button on the Gemini unit itself.  Fortunately, it boots fairly quickly, but that's annoying.

Another issue is that the Gemini "closes its eyes" for 3-5 seconds (by which I mean that the screen goes black but the audio continues).  Also annoying.  I haven't been rigorous about looking into this issue, but I can say that none of my other TVs (including the one connected to the same Genie) have this problem.  Anyone else experiencing this?

I do like that DirecTV will switch to the Internet if I lose the satellite signal.