why was a non DVR receiver sent to me

The R22 will become an HD receiver when the H24 is activated.   Could be DTV no longer has any HR24s left in stock. 

@jibc 

If the R22 is your only receiver, then a HR24 would be a direct swap. Though their MPEG swap program lately has been the Genie (2nd/3rd generation HR44/HR54).

However if you already have any H or HR models, then the R22 does NOT require swapping. It is a special model that is MPEG-4 capable. Many years ago some areas went to MPEG-4 locals, so even if you had SD-only service then the R22 was your DVR option.

In either case call DirecTV back. An H24 is the wrong option regardless since it is not a DVR model.

What are the models of any other box you have? Just to be sure no other issues.

If you have an H or HR model, so already with HD service, then you just change a few things. Connect to TV by HDMI (the HD capable cord). Go into the Display Resolution settings and verify the highest resolution your TV supports is checked. In Display Preferences, where it says Guide HD Channels, change from "Hide HD Channels" to "Hide SD Duplicates". Remember HD programming does take up more space, so you will notice the hard drive will fill up quicker.

Only if you have no H or HR models at all must you replace the R22. And they usually must send a tech to install a new dish and such. Though with the R22 there is a chance you might have a MPEG-4 dish already.

Hmm, looks like we had a discussion on this from about 3 years ago.

Genie2 is garbage | AT&T Community Forums (att.com)

From the prior thread, seems like you already had the Genie. As such there should be no swap for the R22 being MPEG-4 capable. Though if the system defaulted to swapping it so you got an HR24 then that would be ideal. Though if it was still the same 3 boxes, then the R16 would be the only one that absolutely must be swapped. And that would require changing out the dish if on a separate setup. Interesting the R16 can be on SWM, but does not get the benefits and is not MPEG-4 capable.

This response is to Juniper & Shannon02 as it relates to both of their replies.  Kind of long and winded, but yesterday (July 31) was kind of a "Long and Winded Day"!

First of all my "system" is 3 independent ones.  Each with an antenna and receiver.  Each in a different location.  One is the Genie home system.  The Garage is a separate structure (actually bigger than the house) on an adjacent lot, about 100 feet away.  (Genie don't go that far....trust me on that one!!!!) The RV is just that, a 40 foot "rollin condo" that can at any given time be a 1000 miles away from the "Genie" system.

The Genie system is an HR44-500 and has been in use ever since that system came on board, more years ago than I remember.  Works fine, lasts a long time!

The Rollin’ Condo (aka RV) system was upgraded to a HP4-500C-R system because I upgraded the antenna to a Wingard Trav'lr HD capable antenna.  It works just fine.

The "oldest" system was the R22-100 which was in the RV and I was perfectly capable from receiving and recording SD & HD programming and had for the past several years in the garage itself.  That was the one AT&T said needed to be "upgraded" aka replaced.

They had to replace the antenna to a SWM system and installed a H24-700-R which turned out to NOT be one capable of recording. 

Then the problems started. The H24 was drop shipped to me 6 weeks earlier.  There was also a work order to (in bold letters) “Professional Installation – in up to 4 rooms” followed by “Free”.  There were other things but the bottom like was “Order Total $0.00”

Saturday (Jul 31, yesterday) technician shows up, installs antenna, hooks up H24-700-R, and tries to “activate it”.  Is told, “no can do” as that very receiver was assigned to a different account that mine!  No (Edited per community guidelines)!  I had it in my possession, mailed directly to ME, and it was also being used by someone else…doesn't get any better.   So, technician (Great guy!) goes to his truck and pulls out another H24-700-R and replaces the one somebody else is paying for!  Calls to “activate”, gets told I had to authorize a $99.00 payment!  No (Edited per community guidelines) #2, the AT&T rep said that.  

So I call AT&T “billing” and they say, “Not to worry, we will credit that” so I authorized payment and they credited my account a like amount.  (this took abut 8 hours)

H24 activated, all up and running, except when I tried to record something….got a message that said “This receiver is NOT capable of recording”….(paraphrased).  Wonderful, just frigging wonderful.

So I have a “upgrade” that will not do what the “old” system did nicely, i.e. “RECORD”! 

After a TWO-hour conversation later with AT&T “support” (yeah, right, uh huh) I was told that a new receiver that will record (didn’t get a model number from them as they didn’t know) and a technician will come out and install it.

BUTT…..I have NO timeline on that!  In the meantime, I CANNOT just put my ‘ol trusty R22-100 back in because the antenna is a SWM model and will not work with the R22.  So, if I want to record something I have to pull the C41W-100 out of the rollin’ condo and put it in the garage.  Or I can leave the C41W-100 in the rollin’ condo, back it out of the garage, plug it in, put up Wingard Trav’lr and record on that receiver!  Or I suppose I can put the original non SWM antenna back up, replace the single wire SWM feed with the dual cable I removed, and presto the venerable R22 is up and running!

So whaddaya think?  Is the AT&T customer support really, Really, REALLY “top notch”? 

Enquiring Minds and all that…..

JIBC

Juniper,

Went back to that thread....funny how for 3 years everything worked.  Yeah an upgrade on the rollin' condo,  but that R22 just kept "going and going" like that Pink Rabbit.  In 20/20 hindsight I should have just ignored the AT&T email that said my "SD receiver would be unable to function after Aug 31" and waited until it did, then address what I was not getting and what was still working.

I'm going to go out to the garage and just hook it up with the SWM and single wire and see what happens!

The technician is a local guy and we became friends during the day, so I'll tell him I've got cold beer in the 'fridge and c'mon over!  If push comes to shove we can put the old LNB in the new antenna, run the two wires, and put the R22 back into service.   

He was really frustrated when the first H24 could not be activated and whoever he was talking to kept saying he was reading the wrong RID code to them.  I read them off too and got the same "you are wrong".  So much for AT&T support!

Will let you know.

I kind of miss the days when you bought the equipment installed it yourself, and the monthly program cost was a LOT lower!

Best receiver/recorder were the Tivo units!

Shutdown started on time (April 2019), but apparently there were some internal challenges processing everything in the expected time. Then the pandemic slows everything down, including keeping up on equipment stock. This resulted in many people getting more time on their outdated setups. They are still moving ahead with the shutdown, some already affected, but a full end-date is not yet known.

If they have no more HR24s in stock, then an H24 instead of a Mini Genie Client could be considered (dedicated tuner and can still watch the recordings on the Genie) to replace the R16, while having the R22 for the separate dish. But that should have been informed to you so you could decide what to do. But yes an HR24 would have been the direct swap for the R16 (with no swap of the R22). I suspect the agent placing the order checked the wrong box is most likely what happened.

Even if you still switch providers, I would consider a BBB/FCC complaint. Agents not understanding how a MPEG swap is supposed to work, and trying to force Mini Genie Clients on us for our legitimate DVRs, is a huge issue right now in my opinion.

SWM will work with the R22, including Whole Home DVR with MPEG-4. The R16 can function on SWM but only with MPEG-2 and no Whole Home DVR. The R22 needs something like a deca or B Band coverter (I forget exactly which) as it was not SWM default. I had two R22s myself, replacing one with an HR23 with HD upgrade, then adding HR44 for a 3rd TV. Upgraded the remaining R22 (got HR24) and then later the HR23 had to be warranty replaced which got an HR24 as well.

Not a fan of TiVO myself, but I respect others preferred the design.

But model numbers are mostly straight forward to make sure which one is what type.

D = SD non-DVR

R = SDDVR (with R22 being the special exception of course)

H = HD non-DVR

HR = HDDVR (last one HR24)

HR34, HR44, HR54 (and revised HR54R1) are the Genie Advanced Whole Home HDDVR.

H44 is Genie Lite. Can use a DVR upgrade kit (external HDD proprietary to DirecTV) to be like an HR44. Was intended for a simply intro into DirecTV and could upgrade later, but caused too much confusion so they went away from it.

HS17 = Genie-2 Headless Server tower. Sits by itself and feeds the Clients on your TVs. It forbids all other models so is a restrictive, hard capped system. I will leave my rant at the door on this one.

C = Mini Genie Client. Only works with a Genie model as no tuners or recording space of its own, being an extension (Client) of it. Cannot work on separate cabling so not for RVs, detached garage, or other situation where you need a separate dish.

THR22 = The one TiVO based HDDVR. Works on SWM, but not Whole Home DVR. Also has issues connecting to On Demand. Paid for TiVO service on top of DVR service. Was their last attempt at working with TiVO.

I tried to get the R22 to work with the SWM but it didn't.   Went through all the built in system checks but got a 772 (I think) Code and went no further.  I had B Band converters when it was on the multi switch but did not put them in place for the SWM.  Based on what you said I am going to try again but with the B Band.

I came up with another "plan" one I had used long ago on my previous RV. 

Since the RV is in the garage where I have the R22, and it's relatively easy to remove the HR24-500 (I had that listed as HP4-500C-R as that number was on the case)  when I'm not on the road I can just use it for the garage and put it back in the RV before I hit the road.  Will reduce my "receiver" inventory and $ too, albeit not much, but every dime counts!

I have a Genie system in the house with a pair of minis so well aware of how that works.  For whatever reason some of the tech support folks can't get it through their head that I have essentially 3 separated locations and mini genies will NOT work!

I also created a way to have a remote antenna for the RV for situations where the parked where there are a lot of trees.  Have switches that physically swap from the permanent roof antenna to one I can move around to get a signal.

Juniper,

Just got off the phone and apparently AT&T/DirecTV can only ship H-24 (non DVR) or mini Genie equipment.  There are NO HR-24 receiver/DVR units available for installations from DirecTV.  So I guess that if a customer needs a replacement for an HR they have to buy it from someone like Solid Signal.  

to work with the swm you need a power inserter otherwise you will get a 775 error.

I simply don't believe the story about there being no HR24s. With the massive reduction in subscribers they must have had a very large number of HR24s returned.The signs are they are not activating replacement HR24s even when they have come from Directv.  I haven't see any posts saying they won't activate HR24s from solid signal but I think that might be coming.

They are not taking HR24s back.

DirecTV is still the best option for me. But they better have a replacement in the works/soon to be announced for the HR24s. Though naturally I will be annoyed that they didn't announce earlier, I could accept if they have a new model preparing that would be SWM-only.

My household needs the dedicated tuners and independent functions of full receivers (HR44 and two HR24s currently). I absolutely REFUSE to accept a Mini Genie Client since that would be a DOWNGRADE. I would only consider an HD non-DVR (i.e. H25) as an emergency option because of the dedicated tuner and processing, though that still is a downgrade from an HDDVR.

This seemingly change in equipment setup from customer flexibility to restricted (dictatorship) by the company to a all-in-one downgraded system is my main concern. A 3 TV household where people watch and record different things should not be that uncommon.

I have my best setup currently, but will be watching to see where they go with equipment for the day I ever must replace a box again.

TexasBrit,

Today I hooked my R22 up to the cable that came out of the gadget plugged into a 110 outlet, which I assume is the "power inserter".  Antenna cable was attached to the other connector.  Fires up the R22, did the checks including satellites.  Got to the "acquiring guide" and stalled!   Got a message to restart so did the "red button" push, and got back to the "acquiring guide" where it "stalled".  Eventually gave a 772 code...so for grins called the auto "help" line.  It's reply, "there are storms in your area" and hung up!  Yeah, right.....I swapped antenna feed to my HR24-500 (out of my rollin' condo) and presto...everything worked.  So much for "storms in area".

So hooked the R22 up and got hold of "Julie" who had me go back and do everything I had already done and said they would send a technician out tomorrow and a "44" or "45" DVR to swap out with my R22......

Yeah, and I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell.....will see....