It seems like every dollar is really important these days. It has to do more work than ever. You know this if you’re a business owner. So, without further ado, here’s a pro tip to help you get more out of your new DIRECTV installation
Introducing the H44 commercial receiver
This rather unassuming little box is DIRECTV’s H44 commercial receiver. You might notice that it has a bit of a resemblance to a DVR DIRECTV offered in the mid-00’s called the “Genie Lite.” It’s the same hardware, repurposed for commercial use. Reusing an existing design made it easier for DIRECTV to come up with its first-ever commercial-only receiver. I have a feeling it won’t be the last.
Why the H44? Why not the H25?
The H25 commercial receiver has been the “go-to” box for businesses for over a decade now. It’s stable and it works. But here’s the secret: it isn’t made anymore. It hasn’t been made since 2011. That means supplies are running low, and manufacturing more would be more expensive than coming up with a new design.
The H25 uses previous-generation chips in its belly, and that creates two very important distinctions. First, the H25 can’t use the Genie user interface, which is more modern and which more users are comfortable with. Second, and more important, there’s a limit to the number of H25 receivers that can come off a single SWM port: 13. With the H44, that limit rises to 15.
13? 15? Why?
When the H25 was designed, the state of the art at the time allowed the receiver to get one of 13 different frequencies over the same line. A few years later, with the addition of better technology, that number was bumped up a little to 15. It’s a small distinction but an important one because…
It’s all about the SWM-30.
DIRECTV’s SWM-30 multiswitch is designed to feed up to 30 receivers at a time. However, due to the limitation of the H25 itself, you can only run 26 receivers. That’s two banks of 13. Using the exact same hardware, you can feed 4 more receivers if they are all H44s.
How does that save money?
It’s simple. If you have 27 H25s, you need two SWM30s and twice the number of wires, power inserters, and splitters. If you have 27 H44s, you’re all set. Not much more to it.
Can you mix and match?
It’s not recommended to mix H25s and H44s on the same SWM output, but you can put all the H25s on one output and all the H44s on the other. The output with H25s will be limited to 13 receivers, while the output with H44s will be limited to 15 receivers.
If you did mix and match, it’s possible that the H44s could take all the slots that the H25 could see, meaning that the H25s wouldn’t work at all. It’s possible to bypass this by powering up things in a particular order, but it certainly isn’t easy. I wouldn’t want to have to do it that way.
Need more advice?
If you need more advice on outfitting your bar, restaurant, hotel, or anywhere else you want multiple receivers in a commercial environment, you only need to make one phone call. The experts at Signal Connect are here to help during East Coast business hours. We’re ready to give you the best possible advice and service. There’s a reason DIRECTV named us commercial dealer of the year… we take care of our customers!
Take a few minutes and find out what top-notch service is all about. Call us at 888-233-7563 and we’ll show you how it’s done. If it’s after hours, no problem! Just fill out the form below. We’ll get right back to you!
