One bill, two homes. How can it be done? Plenty of folks are lucky enough to have a second home for the summer or winter. But no one wants to have two DIRECTV bills, right? Your account is only good for your home location… one home location, period. There are exceptions for using your service in your RV, but not at a second location. If you have two locations, you’re supposed to have two accounts.
However, there are two perfectly legal ways to get around this. plus one thing you might not have thought of.
1. Change your billing address when you move
When you get ready to go to the summer home (or winter home,) just call and have your billing and service address changed. This is perfectly valid and you can do it as many times as you need (if you do it every day or even once a week it might raise a few eyebrows though.)
This can be a bit of a hassle but it will ensure that you get your local channels wherever you are. It will also put you “in the clear” with using DIRECTV’s interactive services. That’s how they tend to get you if you’re just taking your DIRECTV equipment outside the house… if they can tell from the internet address that you’re not at home it raises red flags.
2. The better way: Two accounts, suspend your service.
DIRECTV will let you suspend your service for up to six months by calling them. The minimum time to suspend your service is 30 days, so it’s perfect for having a summer home or winter home. It helps you keep the accounting separate, too: You may not want to have the progamming packages be the same, and this makes it easier to manage. If you have two accounts, you can suspend four times a year if you want to.
Suspending your account is also perfect if you’re going on a long vacation, if you don’t plan on watching TV, or even if you’re trying out antenna TV to see if it’s all you need.
The one thing you can do yourself
With DIRECTV’s app, available for streaming boxes, smart TVs, phones, and tablets, you can get almost the whole DIRECTV experience no matter where you are. You’ll be able to stream most of the live channels in your package, plus stream content that’s on your home DVR. You can even schedule recordings.
This method isn’t without its drawbacks, though. All the content comes from the internet so if you have a metered data plan you’ll use it up fast. Only 5 devices can be using the app at once on your account. Most importantly, the recordings you stream won’t let you skip commercials like they would with your regular DVR. It’s also important to know that while almost all the channels you get are available, some aren’t.
Still, it’s worth trying out. The app is free and there’s no fee to use it. It could save you a lot of time and hassle if you’re just going to use it on weekends for example.
Get the best advice on where to go next
Solid Signal’s trained technicians can help you decide which option is best for you. Call us at 888-233-7563 and you’ll get an expert in our Detroit area corporate office. They’ll explain all the options to you and let you decide what to do next. The choice is up to you! We’re here for you during East Coast business hours. If it’s after hours, just fill out the form below. We’ll get back to you, usually within one business day.
