PVR question

[myredracer]

We have Telus sat. (Bell) at home. We have a spare PVR we put in the TT.

What I've found is that if we don't keep the power on when parked at home and have the PVR connected to a dish, after a few weeks +/-, the PVR doesn't work. Then we have to phone our sat. service provider and get them to reset the PVR. After being on hold for 1/2 at least to get through, it's up to another hour to get it going again. Last summer it took over 2 hours because they had to completely download new software. Apparently they periodically communicate with your PVR and if they can't. they think the PVR is disconnected and not working. Very annoying.

Is this typical of any sat. service provider's PVR? I need to get a dish and set it up next to the TT at home. But we've been pondering switching to another service provider.

Telus is getting out of the sat. business and didn't not renew their contract with Bell last year. You can no longer get sat. from Telus but can keep it if you move. We're in the country at home and can't get their new Optik service and their internet service here is slooow.

[Seattle_Steve]

While digital piracy is certainly a problem, the answer isn't really that nefarious. It's simply a billing issue.

You're paying month-to-month for the service. The only way they can do that is if they have a way to turn it off if you don't pay your bill. They do that by storing an "authorized until" date in your unit. Every month when you pay your bill they send a new date to your unit, about 30 days in the future. They also periodically send all the dates to all units during the month on a rotational basis, usually at night, but that might be a week before you get it.

If your unit is not plugged in and connected to a dish, it doesn't receive the new "authorized until" date, so it thinks you haven't paid your bill. When you ask them to reauthorize, they simply resend that new date through the satellite to your unit.

I don't know about Bell, but dish and DirecTV allow you to log into their website, or use an app to reauthorize all receivers. I haven't done it for years, but DirecTV used to only take a minute to get the new date.

The bottom line is the unit has to be plugged in and connected to a dish to get the new authorization date. That's why it doesn't work after a few weeks.

[Big_Katuna]

The rolling security code expires with all of them.

You mentioned switching providers. I have found DISH to be RV friendly.

Their app lets you reauthorize your receivers from your smartphone. If you have an RV account, you can even change service areas. As often as you want.

I use a Winegard carryout auto seek dish. Gets HD, works great.

When you connect it and turn it on a nice menu comes up asking a few questions then it goes and finds your sats.

[Bobbo]

Keep the receiver powered up and the antenna on the satellite. Before we cut the cord, I did that for my Directv receiver in the RV. If I didn't, I had to call Directv every month to re-authorize the receiver. (When I ran a power pedestal for the RV, I ran a coax from the house Directv antenna.)

[Fizz]

We have Shaw satellite at the cottage.
Everything is done online.
Start, stop, seasonal break, all can be done on the web site.
Phone service is fast, they take your number and call back when it's your turn.

[wa8yxm]

THis is typical of all sat providers. Here is why... Pirates

You see there is a constant battle between pirates who want to watch TV for FREE like it should be and the Sat Companies who want to charge you way way more than it's worth to deliver your shows.

TO prevent the pirates from having any joy Bell (Dish. Direct and Shaw) all change some codes every few days.. Well if your receiver is more than a few code updates behind it is unable to process the current code so the company has to send a code specific to your receiver's serial number to get it to re-sync.

The solution.> Feed it power