Multi-TV install not working as sold

@jhask well whoever confirmed your order obviously had no clue what they were doing. The problem is that you have one main Genie DVR and an additional 6 (or 5, correct me) TVs operated by Genie clients, and the main Genie DVR can only handle three clients at once because it must preserve two of the left-over tuners for recording and itself. Think of it like this, each Genie client (i.e. C31, C41, C51, C61, C61K, C41W, C61W) takes up a tuner from the Genie. The Genie has a total of 5 tuners. Once the max limit of 3 clients is used, the Genie only has two tuners left (5-3=2 tuners). This is the least amount of tuners that the Genie receiver can operate with. 

If you don't mind, please confirm with me each model number of the receivers that you have? This way, I can help verify which receivers should be replaced with standalone HD receivers like the H25 and H24. This way, you can enjoy all 6 TVs without the limit due to the Genie dilemma. 

Standalone HD receivers, in comparison with Genie clients, do not use any of the Genie receivers, they simply have their own. They are mainly called 'standalone' because they don't require a main Genie HD DVR receiver. 

The HS17 Genie2 would have handled all the TVs.  I would have told the installer to leave if they couldn't provide what you ordered.

@shannon02 the OP probably has an HR44 or HR54 being that their installation was recent and DIRECTV wouldn't have dumped them with an outdated HR34. The tech could just get an HS17 to replace the current Genie, good point that I completely forgot. Also, although unnecessary, the extra TVs could be replaced with H24s and H25s if the OP has important recordings or something along the lines of that.

Doubt they are installing HR44s anymore  and since the HS17 is the only thing they are installing why an HR54?

If I was you I would cancel your Sat. service and switch to their streaming service you may have to buy something to stream them on but you can do up to 20 TV/Devices on your home wifi network and you get 3 devices outside of your home network for on the go watching and then you don't have to pay for Sat boxes fees.  It would be cheaper in the long run then you could add more TVs than what you have now.

Then there is the ETF/ECF fee of $480.

Shannon2 what is the ECF/CTF fee?

The current system follows:

HR54-700

C61-200

C61-200

C61-500

C61-200

C61-200

I liked the sound of the streaming move but depending on the ECF/CTF costs what would be the cost associated with that move?

I might be simpler to get the right equipment to make things work within what I already own.?

Thanks, Shannon02

detuch254

I posted a list of my equipment as requested. Thx

@jhask 

The regular Genie line (HR34, HR44, HR54) is a 5 tuner HDDVR. Because of the Picture in Picture (PiP) feature, it reserves 2 tuners to itself.

Mini Genie Clients (i.e., C61) have no tuners as they are extensions of the main box. They each take a tuner from your HR54. Though you can pair with up to 8 of them, only 3 can be in use at one time.

This means that in your setup only 4 TVs at most can be in use simultaneously (Genie and 3 Mini Genie Clients). I loathe agents and techs who order and install more than 3 Clients without very good reason (such as occasional use for a garage or workroom where not all TVs will be in use at same time).

Your setup would have benefited from the Genie-2 (HS17). Normally I advise against this model because it forbids full receivers from being on each TV, which limits overall capability and freedom. But it is a Headless Server tower that doesn't go on a TV and since only uses clients. This means that all 7 tuners are free, allowing up to 7 Clients in use at the same time.

You could try calling DirecTV and saying "cancel" at the voice prompt to speak to a retention/cancellation specialist. The simplest solution in your situation would be replacing your HR54 with the Genie-2 (HS17) and adding in one more Client to go on that TV to allow all to function at the same time. If they cannot do so for free or discounted to within an acceptable cost for you, I would absolutely file a BBB complaint as that hits the corporate level. A regular Genie with more than 3 clients is a horrendous setup outside of a very special situation. This should be very clear to the higher ups that your account was set up for failure unless they have no idea what their own equipment does.