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Wednesday, March 17th, 2021

Genie 2 upgrade keeping a standalone receiver

I am interested in upgrading to Genie 2 on 2 receivers, but want to keep 1 stand alone receiver for when I am away from home. Was not an issue when I upgraded to Genie1? I spent 30 minutes on the phone last weekend to be told I'm not eligible. I understand how the Genie works, but doesn't make sense that a standalone alone receiver wouldn't work when connected directly to my SWM at home or to another dish when I am away from home. As I understand the rules, I don't need a separate subscription for a (very)temporary residence away from home. Thanks for anyone's assistance.

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ACE - Expert

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21.3K Messages

5 years ago

The HS17 Genie2 account will not allow anything other then clients.

ACE - Expert

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14.1K Messages

5 years ago

The genie 2 (HS17) will only work with clients. So no standalone receivers, even to take with you for tailgating.

Why do you want a genie2 anyway?

ACE - Expert

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23.4K Messages

5 years ago

The Genie-2 (HS17) will not allow any standalone recievers/HDDVRs. It only allows Clients. It was not designed to work with other boxes, so they built the system to forbid them on the account. This makes it a very restrictive system, though fine for people who want a small simple setup.

A regular Genie and 2 HDDVRs is already more capability than the Genie-2 anyway. Plus you can take a dedicated box with you for your RV, tailgating, vacation cabin etc. that you use temporarily.

New Member

5 years ago

Thank you for giving a way better explanation than the Directv rep did. I was only interested in the Genie 2 to get 4k, but will look into upgrading my Genie 1 instead.

ACE - Expert

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21.3K Messages

5 years ago

Then you need the HR54 to get the 4K channels and C61K minis connected to the 4K TVs to watch the 4K channels but you will only be able to watch 4K on one TV at a time.

ACE - Expert

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23.4K Messages

5 years ago

The Genie is the highest level of equipment so nothing is truly an upgrade to it, the Genie-2 not withstanding. However you do not need the Genie-2 to get 4K, as the regular Genie setup has an option.

4K Requirements:

 

HR54 Genie on non 4K tv (Can connect to a 4K tv, but will not provide the 4K feed to it).

C61K Mini Genie Client (wired only at this time) on 4K tv.

Remember Client has no tuner of its own, uses 1 from the Genie.

4K tv must support HDCP 2.2, HDMI 2.0, and 60 FPS

DirecTV Installation, 4K tv must be there

Package Select or above as of 12/15/2016 (used to be only Ultimate or Premier). So only the Family package will not get 4K service at all.

 

At this time there are only a couple channels in 4K (plus a few PPVs).

Even if you have multiple C61K or RVU clients, only one tv can be using a 4K channel at a time.

If you have the 1st or 2nd gen Genie (HR34 or HR44) then upgrading an existing Client to 4K would result in them swapping your main Genie to the HR54 to be compatible. As true 4K content is limited, I would consider upgrading an existing Client to an HDDVR to get more bang for your buck.


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