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What Is The Best Solution For Short Term RV Satellite TV Service?

by Joe M
(Pittsburgh)

Best Short Term Satellite Service For RVers

Best Short Term Satellite Service For RVers

I have a coach with a satellite dish. In the past, I utilized a service from Dish Network that allowed me to start and stop service on a daily basis without additional fees or charges. I selected the level of service and the number of days via the phone and paid with a greendot card. The service required different receivers which I purchased.

I used the service in early 2009 several times. It was discontinued in October of last year. What is the best alternative for service for someone who utilizes their unit 6 times a year for several days at a time?

Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Joe I hate to say it but you had the best solution available when it was offered by Dish Network. As an RVer in the US you have two choices when it comes to receiving Satellite TV in your RV DirecTV or The Dish Network neither of which at this time offer real flexibility in turning service on and off as frequently as you want to do it.

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Some RVers that have satellite TV service at home have used their non-leased Satellite Receiver Box in their RVs while traveling and use it at home when they are not. Depending on whether you have satellite service at home and what provider you have this may be a viable option for you.

One of the downsides to using your non-leased home Satellite Receiver boxes in your RV is that the provider does not know that you are using it in an RV and you may end up losing access to local channels they provide for your area depending on how far you travel. Also depending on the provider, you use and what boxes you have this could end up disabling your service on the box.

I am sorry that I cannot be more specific than this, but we are entering a grey area here when we get into using your home box in an RV when it comes to the contract you have with your Satellite TV Provider.

I hope this helps.

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Do you have any suggestions or comments on this topic? You can add them to this page by clicking on the "Click Here To Post Comments" link located near the bottom of this page.

Happy RVing

RVing Al

Comments for What Is The Best Solution For Short Term RV Satellite TV Service?

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Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Dish Tailgater
by: NomonK

I bought my motorhome 2.5 years ago. It had a manual Dish on it which was so cumbersome. I went to my RV Dealer had a Dish Tailgater installed and never looked back.

I had Dish service at home already so while at the service center I called Dish through a number of loops got to the right Department had the new receiver registered and within minutes was watching the same channels I had at home for an additional $5 a month. It can be turned on and off by a phone call to Dish.

Tell the sat what state you're in and in minutes it has located the correct sat and I have TV.

The only negative is obstacles blocking the signal. With an attached sat you may find trees blocking the signal. The old portable one I had with my 5th wheel I could place it away from signal blockers such as trees.

Asking the campground for an open site can help but not always.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Dish Anywhere
by: Anonymous

If you have a Dish Network hopper at your home you can load the Dish Anywhere app onto an Android smart phone or tablet and view all of your home programming. With the correct mhl adapter (Micro USB to HDMI Adapter) you should be able to mirror your phone or tablet onto the TV in your RV.

Note from RVing Al: When choosing a Micro USB to HDMI Adapter, you need to make sure that it will work with your particular Cell Phone.

Important: This method will work great as long as your phone is using a strong and fast WiFi connection. If a good WiFi connection is not available then your phone will be using data from your phone providers data plan and unless you have a truly unlimited data plan, you may end up using all of your data and paying an arm and leg for the additional data.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		easy satillite service for your rv
by: Anonymous

buy a remote satellite dish kit for direct tv if you have their service, it comes with the dish a signal strength meter and a short coax cable, then buy extra coax or satellite compatible cable.

Then take your home receiver from your house and hook it up at your campsite. then level the stand set dish facing due south and on a 45 degree angle and rotate until you get signal. you will have the same channels as at your home.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		SAToolz
by: Anonymous

When out camping try SAToolz for your iPhone, it let's you see if any obstacles like trees are in the way before you try setting up your Dish. It's available for Dish Network, DirecTV, Exceed and HughesNet. Search the app store for SAToolz.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Direct TV made mistake which caused me $475
by: Anonymous

Had trouble receiving direct tv in my motorhome called tech to come and check their equipment. He said the outside connect was not receiving any power and I should have it repaired or rewired for new sat connection which I did for $475 at an RV service center.

Still no sat tv reception. Had a private person who knows camper tv wiring setups and sat and cable setups for campers and found out the tech was wrong. I did have power in my outside connection, the direct tv tech didn't connect to the right cable inside my camper to the receiver box. He connected right cable and I now have tv service. Now I am trying to get some reimbursement back from direct tv to no avail. Any suggestions?
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Directv go
by: Anonymous

Put the Directv GO app on your iPad or iPhone. Plug an Apple TV into your tv and you can watch your home DVR in the rv. No extra charge for the "go".
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		DISH Network Tailgater
by: Kate K

I use the Tailgater from DISH Network because it has the easiest setup, and DISH just started a new program for it where service can be turned on or off without any bothersome fees. We had to go through an easy process to register our RV with them so that we can have the service turned on and off without any problems.

It is true that the Tailgater aligns itself automatically and it really does take a couple of minutes before it brings in an HD picture.

It is a lot easier to use than the cumbersome dish I was using when I first started working for DISH, and it is the only portable HDTV satellite system that I recommend to any RVer or tailgater.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Dish Tailgater
by: Anonymous

We just switched to Dish a few weeks ago so we could have tv when camping. I bought a Tailgater (exclusive to Dish) and a 211k reciever from dishstore.net(please tell them elizabeth Crunk referred you, ask for Claude or Armondo). When we go camping, we just take the receier from the house and plus it into the tailgater and we are set. I paid $339 for the tailgater with a $125 credit for signing up for Dish(best deal anywhere). We love it, works great. since I use the reciver in the work out roon(unfortunantly) not working out, no big deal, so I am jsut leaving the receiver in the Rv. The tailgater automatic find the satellite, which is why I choose it. Very,very easy to set up, just plug it in and go thru a 2 second selection of area. Super Easy!
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		short erm satelite
by: Anonymous

we have direct tv at home (East Tenn) and take the reciever from the house and when we get to our winter home,(Florida) we just call and request a "temp" change of billing address and they turn on the local channels for this area. It turns local off at our home residence but we still have service. Then when we go home we call and ask for another "temp" change of billing address and they flip the switch and we have our local channels at home by the time we get there. for other short (2wks or less) trips I set the dish up and get service but for local channelks I use the "air waves: works well for us.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Poor Service
by: Ron

We haven't tried Direct TV yet, but I am very disappointed with Dish. We spent the summer in Canada and had not used the receiver for two weeks before camping just south of Vancouver. When I asked them to turn the service back on, they refused, since we were out of the US. As we traveled east across Canada we had to dip into Minnesota for repairs and I was able to get them to turn the service on ,but could not get any local channels. As we headed east we got a variety of error messages saying both that they knew about the problem and were working to fix it and that we were out of the subscribed area.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Sat Service Info
by: Danno

We discovered that when you have Satellite service your box MUST connect to the service at least every 2 weeks for programming issues the box needs to function. DISH suggested since we do not have the home service we could install a Dish on our house and just lug the box to it without a TV even so it would receive programming and when we travel take the box and go. we have Cable in our home and do not want any extra cost so we subscribe to NetFlix and just go on the net and have movies sent to the Post Office where ever we are and learned to shut off the TV and enjoy each other more.

P.S. DISH has a $14.99 Package but you must really PUSH for them to offer the details. we used to pay 6 months at a time.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Dish Network
by: Anonymous

We contacted our Dish Network Rep and ordered an additional receiver. We told the Rep is was for our Camper. It costs us another $5.00 a month for the receiver and remote. We do not get local channels on the road but we do get all of the basics. For us that was a very inexpensive fix.

Captain Art

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