Ping: Directv DVR users (preferrably those with no phone line)

[panerd]

I have cable tv with a DVR and have grown quite addicted to it, but the problem is I am also addicted to NFL Sunday ticket. My problem is that I don't have a land line anymore (I use my cell phone instead) and Directv's customer service says it is impossible to use the Directv DVR without a land line. I recall a while back somebody saying this is not true, but I am looking for more recent confirmation before I buy a DVR/Tivo box that is not going to work.

The lady I spoke to was obviously reading off a card and couldn't explain why the DVR would not function. Doesn't everything come from a sattelite and the DVR just functions on it's own? What does the phone line add? If someone could confirm the DVR will work, or even confirm it won't, I would greatly appreciate it. I just don't have a lot of faith in somebody who reads the same 3 lines over and over as an answer to every one of my questions.

[thealmighty]

We just- FINALLY- joined the real world and got DirecTV with Tivo.

As I understand it, the Tivo will not work without a land line because it has to download the weekly (every 2 weeks or so, according to who I talked to) TV listings for you to be able to program something to record. Without these listings, the thing will not know channels, dates, times, etc... of what you want to record.

On the other hand, they could be full of crap and just want some "1984" Orwellian control on your life.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by thealmighty

We just- FINALLY- joined the real world and got DirecTV with Tivo.

As I understand it, the Tivo will not work without a land line because it has to download the weekly (every 2 weeks or so, according to who I talked to) TV listings for you to be able to program something to record. Without these listings, the thing will not know channels, dates, times, etc... of what you want to record.

On the other hand, they could be full of crap and just want some "1984" Orwellian control on your life.

Thanks for the reply. I wonder if this is completely true. They used to tell me that I had to have a land line to get NFL Sunday ticket as they would be checking to make sure I didn't move my box to another location, but my bedroom TV worked fine for 2 years without a phone. I guess I just don't understand why they wouldn't send the information over the satelite, like they do with everything else. I guess it is a $80 a month plus the $200 sunday ticket cost that they will be missing out on if the land line requirement is a farce.

[Barkeep49]

I did a little googling and here's what I found from this site but it was back in February of 04

LET ME HELP CLEAR UP THE PHONE LINE ISSUE. i AM AN INSTALLER FIRST OF ALL,D* is requireing us as installers to run phone lines by contract that is it period. Now does this mean the cust is required to have it hooked to a phone line? NO. The cust. can request no phone line and all they have to do is sign the waiver paper that, well atleast the one we use here in PA. and this is only to cover our asses period.We here no longer get paid to run phone lines this is also in the contract the company i am with has,phone lines for free period.The waiver basically states that the cust. has been informed of the {laugh} importance of the phone line and does not want the box hooked to a phone line. Now i hope whoever reads this now understands what the hoopla is about the phone line. THE BOX DOES NOT HAVE TO BE HOOKED TO THE PHONE LINE IF THE CUST. REQUESTS THAT IT NOT BE HOOKED TO A PHONELINE PERIOD.........

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by thealmighty

We just- FINALLY- joined the real world and got DirecTV with Tivo.

As I understand it, the Tivo will not work without a land line because it has to download the weekly (every 2 weeks or so, according to who I talked to) TV listings for you to be able to program something to record. Without these listings, the thing will not know channels, dates, times, etc... of what you want to record.

On the other hand, they could be full of crap and just want some "1984" Orwellian control on your life.

They are full of crap. There's a channel that it can get service data from once a night (at like 2 am) so it'll work fine. I do the same.

[Barkeep49]

Having done some more looking it seems as though the initial setup does require a phone line. An experience on that Fozzie?

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

They are full of crap. There's a channel that it can get service data from once a night (at like 2 am) so it'll work fine. I do the same.

but after two weeks you get a message on the directivo saying the phoneline needs to be active to make a call.

and you will keep getting this message everytime until you do.

[SirFozzie]

you get it once a day, no big deal. I have approximately 200 in my email box. Hasn't affected me anyway

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

Having done some more looking it seems as though the initial setup does require a phone line. An experience on that Fozzie?

Just for the initial one, I believe. We had a regular phone line at the time (since switched to VoIP which isn't supported sadly)

[Peregrine]

You need it for the initial setup, but after that you can disconnect it. It does send me an annoying message every day, but that's no big deal. 412 days since I disconnected and counting...

[ausonny]

I believe you do have to let it dial in to activate program (software) upgrades, but that is the only reason. If you're not worried about them, then you don't need to dial in.

edited for clarity

[panerd]

Thanks for the replies! It sounds as though you don't have to have to connected except for an initial setup. Any suggestions on how to get around this? It sounds like you guys had phone service at the time. My parents have a land line and a really old dish connection from like 10 years ago. As long as it's aimed in the right direction this should conceivably work for the initial setup, eh?

[Raven]

Originally Posted by panerd

Thanks for the replies! It sounds as though you don't have to have to connected except for an initial setup. Any suggestions on how to get around this? It sounds like you guys had phone service at the time. My parents have a land line and a really old dish connection from like 10 years ago. As long as it's aimed in the right direction this should conceivably work for the initial setup, eh?

I know someone who just took it to a friends house that had a phone line. Plugged it in, let it do it's thing, then took it home when the initial setup was complete. You can probably do the same.

[oliegirl]

We have DirecTV with DVR and no land line...we brought the box to my parents house, plugged it in to the phone line and let it download/initial setup and have had no problems since then. We get an annoying message saying that an update has not occurred in x amount of days, but other than that, nothing.

We do not have Sunday Ticket, but I know when we were looking into it, it said you had to have a land line, but that is what they say for the service too and we know that isn't true, so I am not sure about that.

[daedalus]

If I understand correctly the other thing the phone is used for is pay-per-view. But all I've read have been what these folks have said (I've been peeking into it since we plan to go without land line in the near future).

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Just for the initial one, I believe. We had a regular phone line at the time (since switched to VoIP which isn't supported sadly)

Off the main topic but . . .

Which VoIP did you go with? And how do you like it? We're debating VoIP vs. cell, at the moment. Although being able to add the cell as another line on the family plan and VoIP generally needing DSL (while we're looking at cable) is kind of tilting the scale toward the cell.

[SirFozzie]

We have Vonage, which works well, even on our Cable Modem. The decididng factor was that with four of us in the house, we wanted to have multiple phones (be they corded or wireless) in the house, and you just don't get that with Cell phones.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by oliegirl

We do not have Sunday Ticket, but I know when we were looking into it, it said you had to have a land line, but that is what they say for the service too and we know that isn't true, so I am not sure about that.

we have the hockey package, and it worked on a receiver that wasn't plugged in. From what I've been able to determine, you need a phone line for changes to channels - so, pay per view, or a change in channel packages (like when you first order HBO or Sunday Ticket, for example). But after that info is sent to your receiver, you don't need to be connected anymore. But if something happens to your box and you need to reset it or something, you'll need that phone line again to re-upload your channel data.

as someone mentioned above, software upgrades also come in over the phone line (in some cases, people disconnect on purpose, as some changes are not necessarily beneficial to the consumer - like the purposed ability to have pop up ads while you are fastforwarding through commercials).

I also believe that the various showcase ads and stuff come in over the phone line, but I'm not 100% sure of this.

So yes, take it to a friends house to connect, but keep in mind if you make changes to your service you are probably going to have to trudge over there again...

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by daedalus

If I understand correctly the other thing the phone is used for is pay-per-view.

IF you order with your remote. But you are better off ordering PayPerView from the website, as it activates on ALL receivers in the house, not just the one you are ordering from.

Originally Posted by daedalus

Which VoIP did you go with? And how do you like it? We're debating VoIP vs. cell, at the moment. Although being able to add the cell as another line on the family plan and VoIP generally needing DSL (while we're looking at cable) is kind of tilting the scale toward the cell.

We're switching over to Time Warner's IP phone offering. I get lousy cell coverage at my house, and frankly the cell phones are getting pricey as well. We just switched our cell over to Virgin Mobile so we only have to pay $15 every 3 months (we use the cell mostly for emergencies, so a few minutes at most per month), and by switching to Time Warner's IP phone we can drop the landline altogether. We're going from $120/month for cell + landline to $50/month for cell + IP phone.

I've heard good reviews of Time Warner's IP phone (from people we know using it). Which is interesting in that they'd really have to knock my socks off with an offer to get me to take their TV offering over DirecTV. I've got RoadRunner and the IP phone, but not video service.

And allegedly they can set up the IP phone to allow DirecTV's calls to work, so I'll report back if I start getting the TIVO nag messages.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

we have the hockey package, and it worked on a receiver that wasn't plugged in. From what I've been able to determine, you need a phone line for changes to channels - so, pay per view, or a change in channel packages (like when you first order HBO or Sunday Ticket, for example). But after that info is sent to your receiver, you don't need to be connected anymore. But if something happens to your box and you need to reset it or something, you'll need that phone line again to re-upload your channel data.

as someone mentioned above, software upgrades also come in over the phone line (in some cases, people disconnect on purpose, as some changes are not necessarily beneficial to the consumer - like the purposed ability to have pop up ads while you are fastforwarding through commercials).

I also believe that the various showcase ads and stuff come in over the phone line, but I'm not 100% sure of this.

So yes, take it to a friends house to connect, but keep in mind if you make changes to your service you are probably going to have to trudge over there again...

I have been a D* customer for 8 years, having Sunday Ticket for the whole time. We only had a phone line for the first two months, and after that have made several moves, gotten new sports subscriptions, ordered ppv movies, changed packages, all without having a phone line connected. The only thing you cannot do without a phone line connected is order ppv with your remote. THAT is why D* tells everyone to hook up a phone line, they want all of their customers to have the ability to give them more money without getting up off the couch.

As for software updgrades to the receivers, they definitely come through the satellite, not the phone line. I have upgraded receivers a couple times, and they have downloaded new software right away - without being connected to the phone.

[panerd]

So from the sound of things I can buy a DVR somewhere cheap (classifieds, ebay) and just run it through a land phone line to set it up (the house doesn't even have to have a dish) and I should be good to go?

Let's just say directv has been far from helpful, but I really appreciate the responses and am giddy that I may have found a way to watch Sunday ticket this fall.

[daedalus]

Awesome. Thanks for the information, Foz and Greg.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

We're switching over to Time Warner's IP phone offering. I get lousy cell coverage at my house, and frankly the cell phones are getting pricey as well. We just switched our cell over to Virgin Mobile so we only have to pay $15 every 3 months (we use the cell mostly for emergencies, so a few minutes at most per month), and by switching to Time Warner's IP phone we can drop the landline altogether. We're going from $120/month for cell + landline to $50/month for cell + IP phone.

I've heard good reviews of Time Warner's IP phone (from people we know using it). Which is interesting in that they'd really have to knock my socks off with an offer to get me to take their TV offering over DirecTV. I've got RoadRunner and the IP phone, but not video service.

And allegedly they can set up the IP phone to allow DirecTV's calls to work, so I'll report back if I start getting the TIVO nag messages.

An update: Time Warner IP phone installed today, they did nothing special for DirecTV: basically they replace your cable modem with a VOIP modem, then run a phone line from the cable modem to your phone box to connect all the house telephone wiring to it. Ran the phone tests on my DirecTIVO and it passed with flying colors. It was just a test call, not a real call, but it had no trouble negotiating the connection and transferring the test data.

[Raiders Army]

I've had DirecTV for four years and I haven't had a phone line hooked up to it. I don't have TiVo, but I assume the only reason why you would need it is so they can charge you for PPVs or porn.