Dish Network Solo HD Receiver (Vip211k) (remanufactured)

I bought this from Amazon ($110 on 4/4/14 - too much!) as a replacement for our old 311 receiver and mainly for the DVR functionality. We're not interested in the HD lineup. When it arrived, I called DISH tech support to get it activated (make sure you have it already connected to the satellite dish and the TV and powered on before you call DISH). I read a couple of numbers off to the tech and I soon got a channel on my TV so I said goodbye to the tech. Soon afterward I noticed that a lot of my channels were missing (loss of signal error) and none of the local channels came in (out of viewing area error). So I called back and talked with one tech who soon passed me on to another who, in the end, said to leave it overnight and see if it's better in the morning (after a presumed update would occur during the night). The next morning nothing had changed so I called back. I had been reading the user manual and I asked the tech about the "Check Switch Test" which I had performed earlier. It had returned an error that the number of satellites was not the same as before (the receiver had been tested before shipping) but that the results of the test should NOT be saved unless a DISH representative specifically instructs one to do so. I asked the DISH tech what would happen if I saved the test results. He said he had seen this before and I would lose all the channels I had right now. He said that receiver wouldn't work with my old satellite dish so I had to upgrade my satellite dish. If I would sign up for the $7/per month maintenance fee, the service call and the new satellite dish would be free and I could discontinue the maintenance fee after four months. I figured that was inexpensive enough so I agreed to it.The next day the service tech came to my house. I took him to the TV, explaining that evidently my new VIP211k receiver wouldn't work with my old satellite dish, and showed him some channels that had the signal loss error and the missing local channels. I told him I had run the Check Switch Test and it came up with an error but that I had never saved the results. He power cycled the receiver and then went to the Check Switch Test, ran it, got the same error and then saved the results AND EVERYTHING WAS SUDDENLY PERFECT - all the channels were there and no errors came up anywhere! There was no need for a new satellite dish!Needless to say I was rather miffed that three phone support techs had had no clue about this and the service tech solves it in three minutes!I called DISH and they took off the $7/month maintenance charge and waived the $25 penalty for discontinuing the maintenance plan before the minimum four months were up.So I'm not too impressed with the technical knowledge of DISH's phone support people, although they were always courteous and friendly and were either located here in the states or, if elsewhere, their English was very good. The service guy that came to my house was great.In short, if you replace your older DISH receiver (like the 311) with a VIP receiver AND KEEP YOUR OLD (300) SATELLITE DISH and end up with a lot of missing channels, including your local channels..... run the Check Switch Test (Menu Button - System Setup - Installation - Point Dish) and as long as you know the satellite dish is aimed correctly, SAVE THE RESULTS. This will update your receiver with information about which satellites it currently see and the receiver will adjust itself accordingly.Although I haven't connected my 2TB USB hard drive to the receiver yet ($40 one-time charge to DISH), I've really enjoyed the fact that the VIP211k's remote control can control our TV (like volume and input source) and our Sony Blu-Ray Player/SmartBox (NetFlix player). And, even though we only subscribe to the $20/month Welcome Package, a lot of channels are broadcast in HD and they look great. Definitely a good purchase.

//UPDATE 5/31/2014 - Since I wrote this review they have changed the title of this ad to indicate it is a refurbished unit - which wasn't the case when I bought it. As such, I've changed my rating from 4 to 5 stars since it's now an honest ad. Six months after purchasing this unit it is still working great. No issues.Original review:I bought this receiver for use with Dish Network's Pay-As-You-Go plan using it in an RV. I initially connected it to my existing Dish antennae at home just to get it set up and activated, and that was a little confusing because of the way my home system was wired. Once I figured out which wire to connect it to everything went smoothly. A few days later I received my portable dish antenna with tripod and got that put together, aimed and connected in an hour or two. Now I've got all my channels on the road except my home-area locals when I stray too far from home, but it just takes a call to Dish to get locals for the area I'm in. Everything works great.Deducted one star for the fact that I received a refurbished unit, which was not indicated in the ad. I had read other reviews indicating this would probably happen so was not surprised, but if it's refurbished the ad should say so up front.

Exactly what I needed to replace my old unit

I bought this so I could watch Dish a la carte in the summer. Great quality and works very well. Good menus, etc. The only thing I would wish for would be some better support for the product. The instructions were not good and it took many, many calls to Dish to figure it out. When I FINALLY got in touch with someone in "advanced" technical support, the issue was solved very simply, but it took hours to get to someone who knew something. I could not get any help from the vendor. When in doubt in setting it up try pressing *, #,* and see if that will get you to the place where you can zero in your antenna. Of course if you are having a technician come out, they can figure it out.

This satellite receiver developed what appeared to be a software problem after 10 months, at least according to DISH. I am not sure there was anything wrong with the existing VIP211K Receiver. DISH said they would replace the receiver, but would charge me $ 15 to ship it and I would have to return my existing receiver or they would charge me for the replacement receiver. Spent hours on the phone trying to set the replacement up to no avail, and finally talked to the satellite dish people and found how to set it up.When I received my DISH monthly invoice I found that DISH charged me $75 to replace the receiver PLUS $ 15 to ship it, and $ 12.00 in sales tax. When I contested the $75 charge, DISH said that the charge was because I had purchased the Receiver from AMAZON.com, not DISH but as a courtesy since they didn't advise me of this $ 75 charge, they would reverse it, but refused to reverse the sales tax charge. When asked if the VIP211K receiver had a warranty and was told by DISH that purchased DISH receivers HAVE NO WARRANTY, including apparently those purchased from DISH rather than leased receivers. So if you buy a VIP211K, or any other satellite receiver from AMAZON.com or anyone else for that matter, be aware that you have NO WARRANTY.

I purchased this VIP211K to replace an older model VIP211. It arrived brand new and factory fresh. The factory package was sealed and, inside, the receiver, remote, HDMI cable, etc were all sealed in separate plastic wraps. I purchased this from Tweety's (fulfilled by Amazon) as it was the cheapest offer at the time. The 211K is much smaller than the old 211 (13" vs. 16" wide) and is generally more attractive (I like the textured black finish). Installation and setup were easy - three wires - HDMI, power and antenna. The receiver then takes you through a five step process, the fifth step of which is calling Dish to activate the receiver. Everything went smoothly (of course, this isn't always the case with complex gadgetry but it's nice when the technogods smile). I don't notice much difference in performance between the old and new 211 but then I was pretty satisfied with the old one until it croaked after five years. Good product.

It worked perfectly

Receiver arrived and is missing remote that was to be included per product description.