In order to order Direct TV's Sunday ticket...

[The Mongoose]

do I really need to have the receiver connected to the phone line?

The website says yes, but the Direct TV phone jockey says no.

Any real world experience here?

[buzd]

I don't think so. You only need the phone line if you want to order it through the TV. You should be able to call them and order it without the receiver hooked up to a phone line (which is just used to transmit payment information).

[The Mongoose]

Cool thanks. I thought that was the case but wanted some verification before I plopped down the dough.

I'm new to Direct TV and haven't hooked the phone line up. Don't think that I ever will -- no convenient phone jack.

[haus]

Good topic. I was about to ask the same thing but a little broader. If you can get by without the phone line for Sunday Ticket that's a plus. Do any of ya'll have a DVR? If so can you get the channel listing through WiFi or ethernet cable, or do you have to do it through the phone? I'm about to get Direct TV when I move in a week and saw the phone line thing when I was looking into it so I'm not familiar with it.

[buzd]

Originally Posted by haus

Good topic. I was about to ask the same thing but a little broader. If you can get by without the phone line for Sunday Ticket that's a plus. Do any of ya'll have a DVR? If so can you get the channel listing through WiFi or ethernet cable, or do you have to do it through the phone?

All of the guide and software updates are delivered via the dish. The phone line is not necessary. When NOLA added the HD locals, they just appeared in my guide one day (w/o phone line).

The ethernet is only used at this point to read a Viiv media server on your network. I haven't played with that yet. Apparently, it will be available for On Demand at some point.

[haus]

Thanks for the quick response. Speaking of HD, do I need to get the off air antenna to get HD or is there a chance that will be included with the TV?

[buzd]

Originally Posted by haus

Thanks for the quick response. Speaking of HD, do I need to get the off air antenna to get HD or is there a chance that will be included with the TV?

I don't think I understand the question.

First, for HD, you need an HD TV. Some have a tuner (can support an antenna themselves), some don't (rereading - HD antennas don't come with TV's, to my knowledge. There's too many different ones available.)

I don't know if DTV in Jackson has HD locals yet (probably not). The new satellite launched tonight, so they may come online in September. You can check www.antennaweb.org to see if you can get HD locals through an antenna (and where to point it, etc). The DTV HD DVR will support the off air antenna even if your TV doesn't, but you need the TV first.

Subscribing to the HD feeds from DTV is currently about $10/month.

[haus]

I got ya. I'm moving to Fort Myers, Florida so Sunday Ticket becomes a necessity. I figure while I'm at it, I might as well jump into the HD world so I don't have to get off the sofa even when football ends. Thanks for the help.