Should you unplug the wireless video bridge if you’re not going to use it for a while?

DIRECTV’s C41W Wireless Genie Mini answers so many questions for you. For example, what if you want a receiver you can move from room to room? What if you don’t really need TV in the guest room all the time and just want it when guests are there? What if you want to have a tailgate party with TV but you want to do it in the backyard? It’s so easy to move the client box from room to room and it seems like in most houses, no matter where you go there’s a nice strong signal even if you don’t get good wi-fi service.

The magic of course is the Wireless Video Bridge which creates a special, secure private Wi-Fi network just for the Genie Mini Clients. There’s not as much traffic on the network so the transmissions are nice and smooth. It’s a very slick system and one that competitors have copied as well. The only question about it though is… what if you don’t want to use the wireless client for a while? Should you disconnect it, deauthorize it, and unplug it?

The first thing is that if you do turn off the client then DIRECTV is going to send a recovery kit for it and it won’t be there when you want it. So right there, that’s the big flaw in the plan. So you’re stuck paying the mirroring fee every month even if you don’t use it. You can save a little money, though, if you unplug the client and wireless video bridge. The only problem there is that your Genie will give you annoying popup messages every day about a missing video bridge. There’s a way to disable those messages but then that means you have to start from scratch re-adding everything when you want it again.

As much as I hate wasted power, and as much as no one likes monthly charges for things they aren’t using, to be quite honest it’s hard to recommend unplugging or disconnecting any part of your DIRECTV system just because you’re not using it. It’s just better to take your lumps, after all it’s not that much money.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.