Whole-Home DVR activation on HR21 dvr

Whole Home DVR should be automatically turned ON and activated once a Genie HD DVR receiver is on the account. In this case, you have the HR54 so you should already be subscribed to Whole-Home and the receivers should show Whole-Home DVR as authorized. To check on the HR21s and HR22s, go to Menu, Settings & Help, Settings, Whole-Home, Status, and it should show AUTHORIZED on all 4. If not, refresh the receiver online at DIRECTV.com/refresh 

Also, make sure that the HR21 and HR22 receivers have broadband or DECA connections to ensure they will work with Whole Home DVR. Afterwards, do a red button reset on all five receivers (including the HR54) and you should be up and running.

DO NOT REPLACE THE HR22s or HR21s as Genie clients are a DOWNGRADE to your setup. The agent was lying, they work perfectly fine once configured correctly.

the directv people are completely wrong. read detuch254's post. 

You need connected home adapters on all HR21/22 to remove the internet signal from the coax to connect to the Ethernet ports.

Upgrade to your 1st Genie requires a tech install. Did that happen or did they just ship the HR54? If the latter, call DirecTV back and get a tech sent out at no cost for an incorrect order.

Whole Home DVR requires at least 1 HDDVR and 1 other HD (DVR or not) box to work. The agent saying to replace all with Mini Genie Clients was dead wrong as that would be a downgrade.

HDDVRs HR20 thru HR24 and HD non-DVRs H21 thru H25 are compatible.

Special model R22 is MPEG-4 capable (an HDDVR in hiding) and is compatible as long as you have at least one H model.

Model THR22 is an HDDVR, but is TiVO based (hence the T in the model) so is not compatible as Whole Home DVR is proprietary to DirecTV.

A tech did install on first genie. I refreshed all receivers and red button restarted them. They all still show not authorized on the whole-home dvr screen, even the hr54. When i look at my bill it shows the 3 dollars for the whole-home dvr service. Do i need to add a client to genie to get them to get this working? I could use another receiver in my work shop so thats not a problem,what you think?  

No, you should never have to add a client to get Whole-Home DVR working. Adding a client won’t magically activate whole home DVR if it is currently deauthorized. If I were you, I would call DIRECTV at my greeting below and have them take a look at the status of WHDVR on the account. Could be a technical issue that only the people at DIRECTV could fix. 

you can use another receiver in the work shop as long as there is a satellite dish, however, Whole-Home DVR will not work with that box since it doesn’t have the same wiring as the other receivers

@jthaxton

You will One of these attached to each Hr21's and one to each HR22--connect then then reboot the receivers rerun sat setup then use your remote --on each menu-settings whole home (name) each location - options for each location.

(see) link below --NO need to change to mini's as you will lose all recording saved as well as additional recording space. 

Brand New / Broadband USB DECA Ethernet to Coax Adapter 2 PACK DIRECTV AT&T 762691001574 | eBay

Well i talked to them and they still insist that the whole-home dvr only works with genie

clients. I asked them why it says not authorized on hr54 if i am paying for it then. They said its because there are no clients. I ordered another client for a bedroom and install is next friday. We will see what happens then. Is the whole-home dvr something that is on whole account or is it receiver dependent? Dont understand why this is such a pain to get them to do something!! 

@jthaxton whole home is an account payment, it isn’t one specific receiver. Don’t understand why they insist clients..

I have named all my receivers and installed a deca on the hr21's and hr22's. The internet and on demand is working on all them also. 

You do NOT need a client to get whole home. The whole home feature is in the software on the HR54 genie and the HR2x series. 

Have you configured the software on the boxes to allow whole-home sharing?

Yes they all say allow for External,current program,and recordings on all dvrs. 

I get message on whole-home dvr status screen that says "not authorized" on all dvrs.

Go to the hr54 and use the remote menu search TYPE clearmybox press search then search all.  The 54 will reboot when tv pic returns. 

Check wh status on the 54 does it show any  dvrs?

IF not pick one Hr location and do a redbutton reset. When tv pix comes back check Wh status again.