You wake up in the middle of the night to a vision like the one you see above you. Should you worry? Is your Genie Mini Client about to explode?
Absolutely not.
Everything is fine, and the bright flashing blue light is normal. Your Genie Mini Client is getting an update. The flashing should go away in a few minutes and you will have the latest and greatest automatically.
Updates can come any time of the day or night and while they are infrequent, they bring stability and sometimes new features to your DIRECTV equipment. Nothing to be afraid of.
What’s there to update?
Genie Mini Clients only tend to get updates once or twice a year. The client is actually a very simple piece of equipment that doesn’t do a lot, and that’s the point. It receives commands from the remote control and sends them to the Genie DVR. It also receives video over the coaxial cable and translates that into a form that can be shown on the TV. That’s it. It doesn’t actually receive any information from the satellite or do any recording. Of course, you’re meant to think it does. That’s the point… AT&T is replicating the experience of having a receiver or DVR in place without actually going to the expense of putting one there. Money savings are good, and they’re passed along to you. Not only that, but the simple client technology uses practically no power and that saves you money over the long term.
Do updates bring new features?
There are generally no new features in each client software update. It’s usually bug fixes. I personally have noticed that in recent updates, the clients have gotten faster. This is especially obvious in clients that are a long distance away from the DVR. It’s a welcome change and it’s pretty amazing that they are able to do it considering that there isn’t even that much software in one of these clients.
What if I have an older client?
It’s perfectly ok if you have an older client with the old-school DIRECTV logo. There is very little meaningful difference between the older clients and the ones with the new logo. Model C61 clients do support the latest version of the MoCA standard, but this doesn’t guarantee more speed or anything. It’s just futureproofing for a future that may not ever happen. All wired HD clients, whether model C31, C41, C51, or C61, are roughly the same speed and all have the same features. There are also two models of wireless clients — C41W and C61W — and these are equal too. The only client with any feature difference is the C61K 4K Genie Mini Client. The big difference (obviously) is that it can output 4K and no other client can.
Upgrade your DIRECTV system
Adding a Genie Mini Client is a great way to improve your DIRECTV system. It’s easy to find the one you want at Solid Signal, and if you need help just call our 100% US-based call center at 888-233-7563. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below and one of our techs will get back to you!
