If you’re still using one of these or any DIRECTV receiver with an RCA, Philips, Hughes, Sony, or other brand name on it, you might have noticed a problem in the last week. Many people reported that their pre-2005 DIRECTV receivers lost their guides. Guide data was restored later in the day, but it should be a wake-up call to anyone who is still using one of these boxes.
DIRECTV announced last year that they are phasing out support for older receivers. There are so many of them that it’s hard to list, but there’s an easy way to tell if your receiver is supported.
Do your menus look like this:
or like this?
If so you are safe. In other words if you see the black or blue menus that look similar to these pictures then you are ok. On the other hand, if your menus look different you should be concerned. (The DIRECTV THR22 is also safe but other TiVos may be in jeopardy.)
We haven’t received official word from DIRECTV as to whether the recent outage was intentional or unintentional. They have been trying for over a year to convince people to give up their older receivers and this may have been a test of their customer service systems to see how many people are still out there with older boxes.
Whether you are a commercial or residential DIRECTV customer, the time has come. You need to let go of those older boxes because pretty soon you won’t have a choice. Why not make the change on your schedule? Visit our receiver page at SolidSignal.com or call us at 888-233-7563 to make sure you’re future-proof.
