Does DirecTV really require a phone line hooked up 24/7? (1 Viewer)

[MikeDeVincenzo]

This month, my Digital Home Plan with Dish Networks expires, and I'm switching over to DirecTV because I REQUIRE the YES Network. My question to the esteemed membership of the HTF: Do you really need to have a phoneline hooked up to each receiver? I've never had one hooked up to my DishPVR 501 for almost a year now, with no ill effects. I wondering (hoping) the same holds true for DirecTV

 

[Kevin T]

i have never hooked my phone line up to my directv receiver and i've had it for a year now. i think if you have two receivers, they need to be connected via phone line otherwise you'll get charged for two monthly subscription fees (i was told something like this when i signed up last year so i may be mistaken). the only reason i can see for needing a phone line is so you can order pay-per-view movies and such which i never do.

kevin t

 

[Dean Bu]

DirecTV will tell you they require you to hook up the phone lines if you have more than one reciever. The reason for this is that the second reciever is only $4.99, if they couldn't ask it to call home and check the phone number it was calling from, you and your neighbor, brother, etc. could share a subscription and split the cost.

If you have only one reciever, than they do not require a phone line, but you have to call an 800 number or use the website to order a pay per view, there is a surcharge for using the 800 number. If you only have one reciever but want to sign up for the sports packages like the NFL Sunday Ticket, NBA League Pass, NHL Center Ice, MLB, college hoops, etc, they will require a phone line hookup, they say this has to do with the regional blackouts, not sure if that is true.

Now, having said all of that, I know many totally legit people that never have their phone lines plugged in and DirecTV never bugs them about it. Others have their access cards shut down by a command from the sat and require you to call DirecTV and the customer service rep will require you to plug them back in and they test it with you on the phone. Also, if you leave your phone line disconnected and order pay per views via your remote, the pay per view storage area on your access card will fill up quickly and then you can't order any more until your plug back in, and your reciever calls back into DirecTV and then the PPV section of the card is flushed via a command from the sat.

 

[WilliamB]

I've never had my one unit plugged in and the installer didn't even mention a phone line. I don't do PPV or sports, just the plain 'ol Encore pack

 

[Leif Wall]

My parents have 2 recievers. When I was living with them I had one in my room. Never hooked up a phone-line to either of them. Was only charged one subscription and the extra couple bucks for having a second receiver.

 

[Luc]

Like everyone else, I was told that I need to hook it up 24/7. I have 4 receivers and none of them are hooked up. Yes if you order PPV, you do need to hook it up. One time, I have problem with receiving signals from a receiver I just purchased. Usually, I would hook up the receiver to a phone line before I call them because I figure they will need that in order to help me and do verifying. I called him up and he did some things that helped me. Then after I hung up, I realized the receiver wasn't even connected to the phone jack! It appears that the tech was doing some signal switching on the other side so I could receive the signal rather then do anything to my receiver through the phone line. That being said, I would recommend hooking it up to phone lines before you call them so that if they do verifying, they can.

I've heard that hooking it up allows them to see what you are viewing and do some sort of surveying. I don't know if this is true. Maybe someone can clarify on this.

There is this one time that I have problem assessing the guide through one of the receiver. After I hook up to a phone jack for a few hours, it was fine. Now I don't know if it has anything to do with that because once the guide was back to normal, I unhooked it again and all was well. Could of been just a temp glitch or could of been the phone line.

To be honest, if it is a requirement to hook all four of my receivers to a phone jack, I'll cancel the subscription and go with some other means of cable. It's just impossible for me to conveniently hook up all four receivers to a phone line 24/7, but if I could, I would. Here's what I would recommend, do hook it up if you're new and once everything worked perfectly, you can disconnect it if it's inconvenient to have it hooked up. If not, just leave it connected.