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DirecTV TiVo - one satellite cable, split?

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  • DirecTV TiVo - one satellite cable, split?

    I want to get TiVo with DirecTV and I want one before theyre all gone!

    I have one cable coming in to my living room from my dish, but its a dual Lnb dish. Can I just split that with a splitter to record two shows at once? Does a splitter come with the tivo?

  • #2
    Your dual LNB can definitely provide you with enough signal, but you'll either need to run two lines down directly from the dish or feed both of the dish's outputs into a multiswitch and then pull your leads from there. In any event, you cannot simply take a single satellite run and split it right before the TiVo. And no, TiVos don't come with splitters...too many options to cover all the bases.

    If you want to see what multiswitches look like, there are some useful examples here:

    http://www.weaknees.com/tivo-directv-parts.php
    That's all there is to it!

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    • #3
      So why would I want a 5/8 multiswitch instead of a 3/8? Does it give me something better - faster channel changing maybe?

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      • #4
        There's no performance difference between these two multiswitches. But each is compatible with a different satellite dish. Use a 3 x 8 with a dual LNB and a 5 x 8 with a triple LNB. ALL LINES from a dish need to feed into the multiswitch's inputs before you can distribute the signal.
        That's all there is to it!

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        • #5
          Seems to me the most logical solution to this problem would be to call DirecTV and tell them you want to buy and subscribe a Directivo. If they are still following their practices of a year ago, they will send someone out to install all the cabling, multiswitch, etc. at no charge. They did this for me last year when I wanted to replace 2 of my old non-tivo units with tivos. Of course, you will have to extend your contract with them for 1 or 2 years, and pay the $5.99/month charge for the second receiver, but to me it's well worth it. I don't know what they are charging for the receivers now, but it should run between 0-$100.

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          • #6
            Right - we recommend letting DirecTV do your installation for free. They generally want the contract extension either way when adding any new equipment to the account.

            The one note about the free installation is that DirecTV will put the new equipment on your account as a lease (even if you pay us for it) and they will technically own it. We've never heard them ask anyone for this equipment back, but if you insist on the equipment being 'owned' then they usually won't do the free install.
            Been here a long time . . .

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