ACE - Sage
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46.4K Messages
UPDATE: How to add MRV if you're using your own networking (not DECA)
Thanks to Doug Brott at DBSTalk for clarifying these exact instructions to help you walk the CSR through the process of activating MRV on your account when you're using your own networking equipment.
NOTE: If you are ordering DECA/SWiM, DO NOT follow this procedure. Simply order DECA/SWiM and MRV will work out the way it's supposed to.
This procedure is for those folks who want to use their own home networking and continue to enjoy Multiroom viewing.
* Call 1-800-531-5000
* Give Your Phone # when prompted
* At the main menu voice prompt say "Whole Home DVR Service"
* At this point you should be connected to an agent
* Tell the agent that you have been participating in the 'Whole Home DVR Service beta' and you want to enable 'MRV-Capability' so that you can activate 'Whole Home DVR Service' on your account
* Ask the CSR to cancel (or do not enter) the Whole Home DVR upgrade screen
* Ask the CSR to enter 'Account Attributes' and choose 'Create New'. The only option here is 'MRV-Capability' and it should be set to 'u' (for unsupported) with mostly defaults. At this point, you have enabled the 'MRV' flag and you could (in theory) order from the web page. I saw it when viewing my account via the web.
* Once this has been set, the CSR will have to exit your account information and then reenter your account information screen so that the information refreshes.
* At this point, the CSR can now enable "Whole Home DVR Service"
If you can politely get the CSR to follow through this process I am confident that you will be set up for MRV. It took me 30 minutes working with the CSR to get to this point, but I would expect most any CSR to be able to work through this with you in less than 10 minutes. It's a pretty fast process if you know how to do it, so help the CSR out and you'll both be much happier.
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ACEs are customers too, NOT employees. Answers are based on experience. I strive to give honest answers, even if not always appreciated. If you posted personal information, please edit and remove.
For official support call DirecTV Satellite 1-800-531-5000, DirecTV Stream 1-888-429-4023, DirecTV Gemini dedicated 1-888-488-4742, or AT&T 1-800-288-2020.
*I am not a DIRECTV employee, and the views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.
centralcity
Contributor
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3 Messages
15 years ago
Here's my saga:
I've been int the beta with 100MB LAN. No problems at all. HR22-100 and HR23-700.
Attempt #1: Wed 19 May: Called, was told the only way I could get it was with new dish and SWiM's for $149.
Attempt #2: Wed 19 May; Emailed, per the instructions. response was all the Bravo Sierra about the new equipment required.
Attempt #3: Wed 19 May: Emailed again, explained again that I understood about no tech support and restated the instructions at the beginning of this thread. Response was that the request had been forwared for "special handling" and I should receive a reply within 48 hours. A couple hours later, I received a response from "Cody R., ID#U6348, DirecTV Resolution Specialist" who said "Thank you for replying. In order to activate services for Whole-Home DVR, you will need to upgrade your package to a current package of CHOICE or above as your current package is no longer available. Package availability can be viewed at directv.com/packages or you may call us at 1-800-531-5000 to upgrade your packaging at any time."
Attempt #4: Fri 21 May: Called, Explained to the CSR that I just wanted to enable the Hole-Home DVR Service.After a couple minutes, she said "Let me put you on hold." After 5-10 minutes, she came back, said she had wanted to check to make sure she did things correctly, because it was fairly new to her, but that it was enabled on both my receivers. Nothing was ever mentioned about changing plans and I still have my obsolete "Total Choice Plus" plan.
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sclodeca
Contributor
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2 Messages
15 years ago
My story:
Attempt#1: Friday May 21: Called 800 number, no luck. The CSR could not progress in spite of me giving her steps listed.
Attempt#2: Friday May 21: Called 800 number, asked for the "Network department" and was transferred. Told the CSR in Network that I was beta and wanted Whole-Home DVR service without DECA equipment upgrade. She warned me about no Directv support for my configuration and then proceeded to activate over the phone. Done in under 5 minutes.
I could overhear other CSRs in the background handling the exact same request I had so this seems to be the group you want to get through to.
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djdicetn
Professor
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1.5K Messages
15 years ago
centralcity,
Since this is your "very first post" to the DirecTV Technical Forums, I'm not going to dispute your information about getting Whole Home DVR Service activated today retaining your Total Choice Plus legacy programming package. But I will say that you most likely got a CSR who didn't get the "no more overrides to current package requirement" memo, and your experience should be viewed by other readers of your post as an "exception"....not the "rule". I do, however, find it difficult to believe this was accomplished with a 10 minute call with no resistance to your demand by the CSR or their supervisor.
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centralcity
Contributor
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3 Messages
15 years ago
djdicetn,
That might have been my "very first post" to the DTV Tech Forums, but that does not mean that I'm a dummy! I've been with DTV since 1996 and have more than just a passing acquaintance with television, satellites, computers, and networking. FYI, my first color TV was one I built myself, the first computer I worked on was an IBM 360, my first personal computer was an Apple II, and I have been employed in the space shuttle and satellite launching business.
So don't try to take exception with what I wrote in my post.
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centralcity
Contributor
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3 Messages
15 years ago
For some reason my post did not go through, so I'll try again.
djdicetn:
This might have been my "very first post" in this forum, but that doesn't mean that I don't know anything about DTV. First of all, I've had DTV since 1996. I also have more than just a passing knowledge of TV, satellites, computers, and networking. My first color TV was one I built myself, the first computer I worked on was an IBM 360, my first personal computer was an Apple II (I also had an Osborne CPM machine). I've also worked on space shuttle and satellite launch operations.
No, I had not heard about the "no overrides" memo and I was prepared to update to a current package if requires. But I didn't mention anything about my obsolete package and the CSR said nothing about it. I didn't demand anything, just requested that the Whole-Home service be activated using my existing ethernet.
What reason would I have to lie about the time it took to get the job done?
I am offended by your post and your insinuation that I lied.
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bostonfan
Tutor
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8 Messages
15 years ago
I am on the DTV Protection Plan and I was just able to get the MRV re-started on my 2nd HD receiver by calling Technical Support. I was routed to the Protection Plan CSR. I told her I wanted access to the whole home DVR and that I participated during the Beta Test period (networkin with CAT6). She told me it was $3 per month and did I agree to that charge. I said yes, she typed a few things and said I would be active again in a few minutes. It took just under 4.
I have been and will always be a fan of Directv Customer service. They have never let me down. And let's face it $3 for this feature is worth it.
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slickrickdfw
Contributor
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2 Messages
15 years ago
I had a very simple process for getting the WHDS added this afternoon. I made an email request around 1PM CST modeled as suggested by TechKnowGuide dcd earlier in this thread. I have a recent programming package not a legacy one. I informed them I was a Beta tester which was true and I would be using my wired Ethernet network and not needing a DECA upgrade. I stated in the email I agreed to the $3 per month charge. I submitted the email making note of the Reference ID. Three hours later I turned on my two DirecTV HR23-700s. I checked the Multi-Room status. Both were online and sharing playlists. I'm happy!
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djdicetn
Professor
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1.5K Messages
15 years ago
centralcity,
I tried to log into the forums and reply to you but continually had some kind of "error" trying to respond to or create new posts(hope the Forums Administrator hasn't cut me off:0)
I sincerely apologize, as I really wasn't implying that you "lied" but just that I found it hard to believe(minor difference in these two statements). I too go back to the IBM 360 days(circa 1970, my first job was a computer operator on a Honeywell H-200...Tape Operating System, 64K and "filled a room"). It had been reported on the forums by "reliable sources" that D* would no longer activate on expired packages AND my own son had to upgrade a package on Wednesday that he he subscribed to in July 2009. Again, I apologize, but when a "brand new" user posts "conflicting information" it sometimes(believe it or not) is a Dish Network CSR trying to "stir up strife"(this is, after all, a "public forum" that ANYBODY can sign up for.....DirecTV customer or NOT). Hope you understand my doubt and forgive me....WELCOME to the Forums(the "show that never ends":0)
djdicetn
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testerx
Professor
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4.2K Messages
15 years ago
No DJ you weren't cut off... everyone was! From maybe midnight last night until just now. There was a planned '10 minute' maintenance event this morning, but I don't know if the two things were related.
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dvereecken
Contributor
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1 Message
15 years ago
I called today, and they turned it right back on 'unsupported'.
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rkjacobs
Contributor
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2 Messages
15 years ago
Thursday of this week my great adventure began. The quest to activate Multi Room Viewing or Whole-Home sharing on my Direct TV system. My first call shortly after noon on May 20 I was offered the upgrade to MRV for $149.00; I politely refused and proceeded to contact my son and advise him of the cessation of the Beta test. He called Direct TV and after some discussion was offered the upgrade to MRV for $49.00. I then called again and was offered the $149.00 price. After some lengthy discussion and advising the CSR that I all ready had my receivers networked, she advised that it would be active in 72 hours.
Logged on to my account and saw no indication that MRV would be activated, so I called again and after some discussion was told again it would be active in 72 hours. I then began reading the forum comments and came across the advice to contact Direct Tv via email. I did this and shortly received a response that I needed to upgrade to a choice package. I checked my account and realized that I all ready had a choice package with dvr and hd service included in the package and according to the Direct TV web site this was the current package.
I then called Direct TV again and spoke to a very nice CSR who looked at my package and said it qualified and he tried to activate the MRV service. No luck, he failed. He then escalated my call to the next level and after a short discussion was escalated again.
Now it gets interesting. This CSR advised that I would have to get the equipment and installation package totaling $157.06. I asked what was included in this and she told me that it would include a new HR-24 recorder that was the basis for the service and that without this HR-24 I could not activate MRV. I had a lengthy discussion wherein I asked her to try one of the methods suggested in the forums, she refused and continue to insist that the only way I could get MRV was by spending the $157.06 and getting the HR-24. I asked her if this included the DECA equipment, but she had no idea what I was talking about. I then asked for a supervisor and she insisted that a supervisor would tell me the same thing. After waiting for a supervisor for a period of time and having been on the phone now for almost an hour, I told her to forget and hung up.
While waiting for the supervisor I continued to read the information on the forums and came across the post by tkrussell, post #136, about having to upgrade his package to a more current package and I figured it was worth a try. Now I understand what the email message I got from Direct TV was about.
I called Direct TV again and talked to Marcos and told him that I wanted to add MRV to my package, but I probably needed to upgrade to a current package to do this. He seemed to understand what I was talking about and we updated my package and he successfully added MRV to my package for a net increase of $4.00 and no $157.06 upgrade charge. What is interesting is that until Marcos upgraded my package, The Direct TV web site continued to show my old package. As soon as Marcos changed my package, the web site updated itself to show the new packages. After 18 hours and multiple calls to Direct TV, I had MRV activated.
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rkjacobs
Contributor
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2 Messages
15 years ago
Further update to the previous post. Direct TV installer was to come out to my sons house Saturday morning to upgrade his system. Prior to this my son called Direct TV to make sure that he had a current package. He had the Choice Plus package, just as I had before I had it changed. He was told by the CSR that his Choice Plus package was current and MRV could be added although the web site told him to cll for the upgrade.
When the Direct TV install arrived he did not have the proper equipment, a SWM 16 to get the job done and would have to come back on Monday. After he left, my son followed the instructions that I had given him and and got his MRV activated. Still going to upgrade to the DECA system for the $49.00. That is a bargain.
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