Because you still can’t use Wi-Fi. Last year I talked about how you can’t connect a DIRECTV-ready TV using Wi-Fi. Nothing much has changed in that department unfortunately even though I did present two very good options that would have addressed the problem neatly.
So we all believe that there will probably be some live 4K programming this year. Certainly DIRECTV is ready for it, with satellite capacity all set, the hardware in place and new 4K-ready LNBs just over the horizon. The best part is that you can pick up a very reasonable size DIRECTV 4K Ready TV for about $600.
But, you still can’t hook it up using Wi-Fi. You just can’t. In fact, I recently did an installation of a new TV just to prove it to someone.
So, when you get ready to put up that new TV, plan to run DIRECTV coax then use a DECA Broadband adapter to turn it to wired Ethernet. This is usually the best solution because it will isolate the connection from the rest of your home Ethernet network meaning it will be more stable and reliable. Most DIRECTV-Ready TVs won’t let you use wired Ethernet instead of coax if you want to use the built-in DIRECTV client.
Bottom line, plan for a wired connection to your 4K TV. It’s not just a good idea for DIRECTV, it should also give you a better connection for streaming. Even though the theoretical top speeds for 802.11ac networking beat wired Ethernet, the wired connection tends to win out in the real world. It’s not like there won’t be other wires coming into the TV, realistically. This is just one more.
