Does a DIRECTV receiver need to be connected to the internet?

Here’s something I bet you’ve noticed something if you’ve ever watched satellite TV during an internet outage. You will get a lot of messages asking you to connect to the internet. It’s crystal clear… they REALLY want you to connect your DIRECTV receiver or DVR to the internet. Like REALLY. It’s a standard part of the installation now. But what if you don’t want to, or you can’t? What happens?

Here’s the real fact

You don’t need an internet connection for DIRECTV service. You lose out on a lot of stuff, but you don’t need it. You can’t order pay-per-view movies through the receiver. Some searches may be incomplete or slower. You can’t use interactive services like scoreguide and weather. Obviously Pandora is right out of the question. On-demand doesn’t work and searches don’t work as quickly.

But if you can live with that, then you don’t need an internet connection. If it’s a wire, just disconnect it, or follow one of these options if you’re wireless:

Older (non-Genie) devices:

  • Press MENU.
  • Arrow to Settings & Help.
  • Arrow to Settings and press SELECT.
  • Arrow to Internet Setup and press SELECT.
  • Arrow to Reset Network Connection and press SELECT.
  • Then, just don’t set up a new network connection no matter how many times it nags.

Newer/Genie devices:

  • Press MENU.
  • Arrow to Internet Setup and press SELECT.
  • Arrow to Repeat Internet Setup and press SELECT.
  • Arrow to Switch to Wired Connection and press SELECT.
  • Then, don’t connect an Ethernet cable to your Genie server.

You’ll see a nasty little “Not Connected” item when you go into the menus, but don’t let it scare you. You can still watch stuff, record (if you have a DVR) and things will mostly work fine.

Why are they so insistent that you connect over the internet?

Honestly, it’s mostly so they can get marketing data from you. You can go to DIRECTV.com and change your privacy settings, but if you don’t do that, they’re making note of every single click of the remote, everything you watch, and everything you do. They take this information and “anonymize” it, meaning they take out anything that could identify you personally but keep details like your age group and gender, and use all that data to try to figure out what you’re likely to buy. They then serve you commercials for things you’d like, and they charge advertisers more because they are providing a “warmer,” more receptive audience.

See, without an internet connection they can’t do any of that stuff. All the other online stuff, all those extras, that’s just icing on the cake. That’s the way they get you motivated to connect, so they can get that valuable data. Tricky, right?

But they can’t stop you from disconnecting the internet if you don’t want the extras that internet connection provides. You can still use your satellite TV the same way you always have.

Find out other secrets about your DIRECTV equipment

Ever wanted to talk to a real DIRECTV expert? Now you can. Call the experts at Solid Signal. They’re trained technicians and they know secrets that even DIRECTV’s own call centers don’t know. And if they don’t know, they generally can find out. It’s worth the time to ask your questions. You might even find out that you’re eligible for an upgrade you didn’t even know about. Call us during East Coast business hours at 888-233-7563. You’ll be glad you did. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below. An expert will get back to you, usually within one business day.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.