When people get DIRECTV, they keep it for a while. I know you’ve read that subscriber numbers are down for DIRECTV, and I won’t deny it. But DIRECTV still has the largest customer base in the pay-TV universe and there are lots of customers who have had the service for years, if not decades.
When you have service for that long, you might find yourself moving the furniture. This might mean that you expose a grey box that looks like this:
It may be grey or black, or look slightly different. But no matter what it’s going to have a pair of coax connectors at the bottom, and at least one of them will have a coaxial cable connected to it. If that box is suddenly in the middle of a room, you’ll be tempted to move it. But can you? Should you?
Yes but…
…it’s possible that it’s going to take a little bit of rewiring. The power inserter will work on any cable in your DIRECTV system but it will only work on one port on your splitter.
Take a look at this typical 8-way splitter:
The port at the top left has a red center to it, which indicates that in addition to passing your satellite signal through it, it will also pass power. The other 7 ports will actually block power from being passed. The line from the power inserter must go into this upper left port (generally called port 1) on the splitter, but that doesn’t mean that you need to leave it where it is.
The challenge is finding out which cable goes where without destroying your whole system. You can slowly disconnect one cable at a time to try to trace the line from place to place or you can use a cable tester like this one. Once you know where each cable goes in your house, it’s easy to swap them around so you can put the power inserter where you want it to be.
Choose the right time
You’ll want to do all this stuff while no one is watching TV and while no recordings are taking place. You can check ongoing recordings by going to any Genie client box and pressing LIST, then arrowing up to RECORDING MANAGER, pressing OK, and checking the upcoming recordings list.
When you unplug that power inserter, even for a moment, it will stop live TV service to your entire home. If your DVR is connected to the internet, the system will try to find the program you’re watching and switch automatically to streaming. But, either way, you have to plan for some disruption. It’s best to be smart about this sort of thing instead of risking some hurt feelings at home.
Have other questions?
Get all the tech support you need for free! Call the experts at Solid Signal during East Coast business hours! We’re here for you at 888-233-7563. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below. We’ll get right back to you!
