Tutor
Help my direct TV receiver upgrade!!!
Hey guys,
My old directtv boxes are starting to spaz out so I called directtv and they said I was eligible for an equipment upgrade because I have the protection plan.
I have 4 TV's in my house and an RV.
-4k TV in our bedroom,
-Father in law has cancer and is living with us and had a TV in his room.
-4k TV in the living room.
-82” 4k TV in the man cave/theater room
-TV in our motorhome
I currently have:
1 - hr 24-500 dvr (In master bedroom) (dead!)
1 - hr 44-100 dvr (in my living room)
2 - c 51-500 genie minis (in man cave/bedroom)
1 - hr 24-100 non dvr (in the RV)
What would you get in my position?
I know there is not much 4k content but I would like to think it's coming and we do like to order movies in our man cave so I was thinking about one of them being a 4k mini? Other then that I have no idea of what to get.
Thank you for your help!!!
Brannon
Accepted Solution
Official Solution
Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23K Messages
6 years ago
You can have only one Genie (HR34, HR44, HR54), Genie Lite (H44), or Genie-2 (HS17) on the account. This is because it works as a server. They tried to make multiple Genies work together in the early testing days, but they couldn't clear up the issues.
HR24 is a HDDVR. In the model the H refers to High-Definition (HD) and the R for recorder. I would recheck the model number as it might be an H24. If it is an HR24, but not recording, then something is not working correctly. The 2nd part (-100, -500, etc.) is just the manufacturer code meaning which company made the box for DirecTV, which all are made to the same specs.
If one of you HR24s is "dead", then I would have DirecTV do a warranty replacement as there is nothing to upgrade it to as you already have a Genie.
For your other boxes, I would upgrade a C51. Either a 4K upgrade getting the C61K (which swaps your HR44 to HR54) so you get the couple channels on that one TV, or to a HDDVR which gets you an HR24 (last regular HDDVR made). Personally I would go with the HDDVR as you minimize any recording conflicts and one less box to be completely dependant on another.
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23K Messages
6 years ago
Based on your setup you have a couple reasonable upgrade options.
1. Do a 4K upgrade on one of your C51s. This would get a C61K, the only box that can deliver 4K content. It would complimentary swap the HR44 for the HR54 to be compatible. Supporting the 4K Client is the only benefit of the HR54 over the HR44. Remember recordings will not transfer from the HR44 (just like replacing any DVR), so suggested to be caught up first.
2. Upgrade a C51 to an HDDVR. Would gain 2 tuners of its own (so not taking one from the HR44 like each C51), 500GB recording space, and can work even if the Genie (HR44) doesn't. Since not replacing the HR44, you wouldn't lose any recordings you already have.
No difference in monthly cost with either upgrade option. So depends if the limited 4K content or the increased HDDVR capability is more important for you. Personally I would go with the HDDVR so there is no conflicts of tuners, plus the peace of mind the box is not dependent on another. But as you already have 2 Clients, the 4K upgrade wouldn't lose any capability you already have. So if you don't have any concerns with tuner conflicts or recording space then the 4K upgrade would be fine.
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.
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.
Even if you have multiple C61K or RVU clients, only one tv can be using a 4K channel at a time.
CAUTION: Do NOT accept an upgrade to the Genie-2 (HS17). This would be a big downgrade to your current setup. Though it boasts 7 tuners, it FORBIDS full receivers and instead only allows Clients. Your Genie and 2 HDDVRs provide 9 tuners between them. And with a Client only system, you couldn't have the separate box in your RV as Clients cannot work independently.
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Brannon132
Tutor
6 years ago
Juniper-
So you would...
"Upgrade" the hr24-500 dvr to a 54 since the hr24 is dead
"Keep" the hr 44-100 dvr
"Upgrade" the 2 c51 minis to a c61k and hr-44
What would you do with the hr24-100 non dvr in the RV? Would you change it to a dvr?
One more question, let's just say I had the chance to switch out all of my receivers, would my dream setup be 4 hr54's and one C61k?
Thank you so much for your help, this is great!
Thank you, Brannon
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Brannon132
Tutor
6 years ago
Accidentally double posted my replies.
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Brannon132
Tutor
6 years ago
Thanks Juniper! Got it all installed and figured out
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23K Messages
6 years ago
Glad to hear. Just curious, which option did you go with?
But as long as you kept your existing HDDVRs, then either option was a good upgrade.
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Brannon132
Tutor
6 years ago
Juniper,
I kept my h-24
Swapped out my hr-24
Got a new hr-54 and 2 c61k's
Pretty happy with the new setup. Everything's working great.
Thanks again for the help!
Brannon [edited for privacy-please do not post personal or unique information such as but not limited to full names, employee ID numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, etc.]
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23K Messages
6 years ago
Nice setup. Glad it is working for you.
Hope the RV is an HD MPEG-4 setup and not an older SD MPEG-2 one. Just mentioning as DirecTV has finally shutting down the MPEG-2 feeds this year. So if you have an older dish on it then something to be ready for within the next year to update. Sorry I didn't mention this earlier, was focused on the home setup and then it clicked you had the RV.
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