I'm building a new house and am working on the wiring plan now. The plan is to have Directv installed when its done and I'm going to have one HD-DVR receiver downstairs and one regular HD-DVR receiver in the bedroom. I know the older receivers required a phone line for PPV and maybe other things, but do they still? I know the new HD-DRV's have an ethernet jack for the on demand titles, does that take the place of a phone line? What about the regular HD receivers? If I can avoid it, I'd prefer not to have to run extra phone lines to the back of the TV areas just for that.

I'm building a new house and am working on the wiring plan now. The plan is to have Directv installed when its done and I'm going to have one HD-DVR receiver downstairs and one regular HD-DVR receiver in the bedroom. I know the older receivers required a phone line for PPV and maybe other things, but do they still? I know the new HD-DRV's have an ethernet jack for the on demand titles, does that take the place of a phone line? What about the regular HD receivers? If I can avoid it, I'd prefer not to have to run extra phone lines to the back of the TV areas just for that.
Yes, you still need a phone line. That ethernet connection is for video on demand.

No they do not and have never have. The older Tivo receivers would give you a nag screen every so often if you didn't have one. Their literature says you need a land line for sports subscriptions but you don't. Lots of people don't even have phones anymore they just have cells. I have 5 HD DVRs and 0 phone lines.

I don't have a telephone line connected to mine and I don't have any problems with normal use. The only issue I had was attempting to purchase a PPV movie, I had to connect the phone line for that.

No they do not and have never have. The older Tivo receivers would give you a nag screen every so often if you didn't have one. Their literature says you need a land line for sports subscriptions but you don't. Lots of people don't even have phones anymore they just have cells. I have 5 HD DVRs and 0 phone lines.

Thanks, and you have no problems ordering PPV? That's the only thing that really concerned me.

The phone line will eventually be needed if you want to order PPV via the remote, the receivers dial in to report usage. The exception is the HD DVR's, I'm pretty sure they can now report usage via the internet if you network them.

Their literature says you need a land line for sports subscriptions but you don't. This varies. In some markets on weeks where NFL games are not sold out, receivers have been known to be ordered to phone home so the location of the receiver can be verified. This also has been thought to happen in specific zip codes when DirecTV has reason to believe someone in that area may have placed a personal receiver in a sports bar, circumventing the higher Sunday Ticket fee for business subscribers. If the caller ID comes back different than what's on file or if the receiver fails to call, it's supposedly shut off and/or a nag screen pops up.

Agan, it doesn't happen often, but it can happen. I have had my own box phone home on weeks when there were NFL games that weren't sold out. Used to scare the crap out of me to see the phone line go off-hook at 3 in the morning when I know my wife and I are the only ones in the house and we're not on the phone. Since I don't order PPV ever ..and since it only happens on non-sellout weeks, I'm concluding that's what's happening.

Note that, unless something's changed, receivers also have to phone home when the access card is changed unless done so by a DirecTV installer. Again, I base that on personal experience.

Doc

I'm building a new house and am working on the wiring plan now. The plan is to have Directv installed when its done and I'm going to have one HD-DVR receiver downstairs and one regular HD-DVR receiver in the bedroom. I know the older receivers required a phone line for PPV and maybe other things, but do they still? I know the new HD-DRV's have an ethernet jack for the on demand titles, does that take the place of a phone line? What about the regular HD receivers? If I can avoid it, I'd prefer not to have to run extra phone lines to the back of the TV areas just for that.
You should be running a minimum of 2 RG6 and 2 CAT5e cables to each location anyway.

I have two HD DVRs and one standard receiver and none of them are hooked up to a phone line since I don't have a land line phone. They work fine. If you want to watch PPV you have to call DirecTV on the phone or order on your computer over the Internet (which is what I do). I actually prefer to order PPV over the internet because then I get it on all of my receivers. If you order it with the remote you will only get the program on that receiver.

If you do not want to order PPV movies with your remote, you do not need a phone line.
One caveat: if you happen to get a 322G receiver that serves two non HD TVs, they charge $5 a month extra if it is not connected to a phone line.
I have two VIP211s, a 311, and a 322G. I just dropped my last land line and now
use only the cell phones. No problems so far.

Beerstalker: Is the internet price the same as ordering with the remote? I know the phone order price is higher.

The internet price is the same as the remote price. They only charge more if you call in to order.

The internet price is the same as the remote price. They only charge more if you call in to order.

What he said.

I order pay per view fights online all the time so I can get them on all my TVs, that way everyone doesn't have to crowd around one TV during the fight.

I think they charge more for phone orders because they have to pay the person answering the phone, so they try to recoup a little of that cost. For orders from the remote or online they don't have to pay anyone to do that.

Is this info still correct? My wife and I want to switch to DirecTV but we only use cell phones and have no land lines. Will we not be able to subscribe? Will the installer give us a hard time if we don't have a land line?

Is this info still correct? My wife and I want to switch to DirecTV but we only use cell phones and have no land lines. Will we not be able to subscribe? Will the installer give us a hard time if we don't have a land line?

I don't have a land line either. No problem.