I'm thinking of going POTS-less at home but I may get DirecTV again eventually. Do they STILL need the DVR to connect to a telephone line or are they going to enter the 21st century and let people connect over an Internet connection? I do have Vonage, but from reading some forums (and my personal experience trying to fax) its very hit or miss getting DTV or Tivo to phone home over it.

 

Phone, still...

 

Yup, still phone which is why yet another reason why I have cable and use their DVR (I have Vonage also)...

 

Damn that's stupid. The whole rest of the world has long since dumped their banks of modems in favor of IP connections. From their web site, it looks like they want to make sure all receivers on an account are at the same location. But that could be accomplished by checking their IP address.

 

You can run your DVR without connection to a phone line, you just won't be able to order PPV using your remote.

 

I thought it still needed to phone home at least every 2 weeks.

 

Only to be able to order PPV. It works fine wihtou it. Just have to deal with teh occasional bitching message from the unit.