The Wife's non-digital Brother.

[unclemick]

The non-digital brother is 78, retired millwright, never met a wrench he couldn't turn, caretaker of 'THE Farm' and CANNOT KEEP DISH TV running. He has fun with his cell phone periodically.

2 1/2 drive from here. Last week drove up - spent 1/2 hour with DISH on the phone rebooting and recovering signal.

We have some 'recruits' to pop in when the cell doesn't get answered for periods.

Any suggestions?

heh heh heh - Wife is on her laptop researching big button 'simple' remotes. Not the end of the world but grrrr.

 

[audreyh1]

LOL! Thought you were talking about her sewing machine!

 

[TrvlBug]

The non-digital brother is 78, retired millwright, never met a wrench he couldn't turn, caretaker of 'THE Farm' and CANNOT KEEP DISH TV running. He has fun with his cell phone periodically.

2 1/2 drive from here. Last week drove up - spent 1/2 hour with DISH on the phone rebooting and recovering signal.

We have some 'recruits' to pop in when the cell doesn't get answered for periods.

Any suggestions?

heh heh heh - Wife is on her laptop researching big button 'simple' remotes. Not the end of the world but grrrr.

Switch to DirecTV...it has a reset button . We're had it for 4 years now, switching from cable (Comcast). I used to have to take off work and call Comcast to recover the signal. The first time I called DirecTV, the rep kindly told me where the reset button was located and in the 4 years, I've only had to use it 3 times, vs. countless more times with cable.

 

[W2R]

He has fun with his cell phone periodically. [...] We have some 'recruits' to pop in when the cell doesn't get answered for periods.

Any suggestions?

None regarding the TV issues. Why not pay for a landline for him? I think most older people can answer calls on their landline with no problems. Then you wouldn't have to depend on the recruits.

 

[Car-Guy]

Try Direct TV, their equipment seems to be pretty good/reliable. It's their customer support that is awful if you have to call in. (And I'm being VERY kind.)

Jitterbug for a cell phone. Almost idiot proof from what I've seen.

 

[powerplay]

LOL! Thought you were talking about her sewing machine!

+5

 

[Helen]

Try Direct TV, their equipment seems to be pretty good/reliable. It's their customer support that is awful if you have to call in. (And I'm being VERY kind.)

Jitterbug for a cell phone. Almost idiot proof from what I've seen.

We used DirectTV for years. Everything worked well technically. However, one of our cats knocked a receiver box off the TV and it broke. DirectTV was great to deal with and the guy showed up on time. Everything went well until my spouse started bouncing checks. She had been allowing DirectTV to pull the monthly payment from her checking account (a lesson learned).

DirectTV charged us for 3 receiver boxes instead of 1. They admitted to the error right away but would not refund us the money, they wanted to hold onto the money and use it for future monthly charges. We told them we weren't giving them a free loan and demanded our money back. Three months later we finally cancelled the service. It took another 3 months before we received the refund.

 

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

iPad with Skype or FaceTime, you can solve problems remotely

 

[sengsational]

Put up an OTA antenna...they probably watch ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX most of the time anyway.

 

[Nodak]

I've had Dish for the last 10 years and have never had any problems with it; The HD receivers do have a reset button. I switched to the Dish Hopper receiver a couple of years ago and really like it.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

Dang, had to click on the thread just to be sure it wasn't about me!

 

[unclemick]

After 4 days he fixed the latest crash.

heh heh heh - he won't admit it but I suspect he got help from the 5th grader at the farm down the road.