I know plenty of folks who have been with DIRECTV since the 1990s. Back then, the real draw of the service was that you could have things exactly the way you wanted them. You did the install yourself, and you had total control over what you got.
As we rolled into the 2000s, DIRECTV expanded by offering service a lot more like what the cable companies did. They started offering free or discounted equipment, free installation, and a more consistent experience. Those changes meant that DIRECTV exploded in popularity. At the same time, the DIY crowd could still get exactly what they wanted by going to sites like Solid Signal.
Have things changed in the AT&T era?
In 2015, DIRECTV became part of the AT&T family. They’d started out as part of GM and went through several years of independence, although during that time they had several large majority stockholders so they weren’t as independent as you might think.
Since the AT&T deal went through, it’s been common to hear people say that AT&T doesn’t give you the same flexibility you once enjoyed. I don’t think that’s really true. It is true that the default free install is a Genie 2 and wireless clients. However, you can still get what you want within reason. If you have a Genie 2, you can’t use other, older receiver models. But you can if you choose an HR54 Genie instead. You can’t have multiple Genies on your account — a policy that dates back far before the AT&T deal — but you can have one Genie and as many receivers or HR24 DVRs as you want. You can use and activate any high-definition receiver or DVR made since 2006.
So no they aren’t coming to take your old receivers.
There have been some people who have said that AT&T reps want to force them into a Genie 2 upgrade. You can say no. You can call your friends at Solid Signal at 888-233-7563 and we’ll help you get exactly what you want. Our team are experts at navigating AT&T’s complex systems and we’ll help you in ways that the average AT&T Call Center rep never will. The difference is that our people take every call very seriously and when you call you’re talking to a real, qualified technician the very first time.
But what if AT&T runs out of receivers?
It’s true that the most modern receiver, the H25, was last manufactured in 2012. But it and its larger sister the H24 are still going strong. In the mid-2010s AT&T ran a lot of promotions to get people on Genie devices and they took back all the H24s and H25s they could. The H25s tend to go out to commercial customers and hotels because of their specific needs, but Solid Signal has a really great supply of H24s. No they aren’t new but they work just like new. In the rare case that one won’t work when you get it, we’ll do what it takes to get you something that does work.
Simply put, AT&T isn’t going to run out of receivers anytime soon. If they did, they could always place a new order for them and the companies that made them would spring back into action. It’s just a non-issue.
