DISH Wireless Joey Review

The DISH Wireless Joey system adds brand new functionality to your existing DISH system. For starters, it lets you watch TV anywhere in a DISH-enabled home without the need to locate a coax cable feed from the satellite dish. This is a huge boon for those who may have a television located somewhere where a wire feed from the dish is simply too difficult to pull off. With the use of the 802.11ac wireless access point built into the DISH Hopper, you can connect this Joey wirelessly to the DISH Hopper Whole-Home HD DVR. The DISH Wireless Joey provides the exact same experience as the wired Joey, including the full Hopper DVR functionality with PrimeTime Anytime and AutoHop.

DISH Wireless Joey Wireless 802.11ac Connectivity

As far as we’re aware, this is the very first use of the blazing fast 802.11ac wireless technology in a home-based DVR system. With 802.11ac, the Wireless Joey system is able to support data transfer speeds up to three times faster than 802.11n and older wireless video offerings provided by other cable and satellite companies. In practical use, this means that it felt as quick and snappy as our wired DISH Joey clients—even the new DISH Super Joey. With other types of wireless systems you can quickly run into scenarios where signal degradation can cause poor video performance. 802.11ac works well over longer distances and even through small barriers.

“Wireless Joey expands installation options where coaxial or Ethernet wiring is either difficult or undesirable, eliminating unsightly wire runs. You’re no longer forced to position your TV on the same wall or near a room’s coax outlet. Whether you’re in a new house, an older home or on a backyard patio enjoying a family cookout, Wireless Joey delivers television where you want it.”

Vivek Khemka, DISH Senior Vice President of Product Management

Installation of the DISH Wireless Joey

Installation includes a Wireless Joey client and a Wireless Joey 802.11ac access point. When you connect the Wireless Joey directly to the Hopper, the access point creates a dedicated Wi-Fi network that can serve video to up to three Wireless Joey clients. This dedicated Wi-Fi network is completely separate from your home’s existing wireless network. This is how DISH makes sure the Hopper maintains high video quality and doesn’t get interference from existing home networks. In fact, it even works in homes completely without Internet access.

We installed our Wireless Joey 802.11ac access point in our equipment closet—connecting it directly to the second generation DISH Hopper we use on a daily basis. Then, we placed the wireless Joey in an adjacent room where there’s simply no cable jack present for using a traditional wired Joey client.

The results were instant—we had DISH up and running on the new room without any installation hassle of running cables. This is perfect, because the room was locate in a  part of the house where running a cable would be problematic from either the shallow crosspiece or attic space. For those of you in a concrete block home who want to have DISH services to a TV mounted on a wall that’s near an eave—this is the solution you’ve been waiting for!

Technical Specifications

• Processor: 900MHz 2000 DMIPS BCM7418
• Wireless chip: Broadcom BCM4360 (802.11ac chip operating at the 5GHz band
• Networking protocol: 3×3 MIMO with beam forming internal antennas and auto frequency selection

Existing DISH customers can add the Wireless Joey to their Hopper system for only $7 per month per device (you can add up to three). There’s also a one-time $50 fee for the wireless access point.

I love the new system—and especially the fact that it lets me enjoy DISH in rooms where I thought I’d never be able to connect a cable. At $7/month it’s a no-brainer and sure to be a huge win for DISH customers.

For more information, visit www.dish.com or call 1-800-333-DISH.