Darner28

Eureka

No phone line required for DirecTV DVRs, although they may strongly suggest otherwise. You can't order pay per views with the remote if there's no landline, but you can order them online at directv.com. Advantage of ordering online is the movie is turned on for all your TVs, not just the one you ordered it on if you ordered with the remote.

Some DirecTV DVRs also have on-demand service that lets you download shows & movies from the internet to the DVR. IIRC, you can also now use an internet connection, in lieu of the landline, for PPV billing purposes.

NO software updates are done over the phone line.

You can also schedule DVR recordings for your main TV when not at home by logging into the DirecTV web site from any computer or web-enabled cell phone.

TonyT

I think some of the newer DVRs are equipped with a lan port now too which will take care of the need for a telephone line.

Eureka

That's the "internet connected" DVRs I was referring to.

Darner28

So I need to just make sure I tell them I want a lan port on the back of the HD receiver right? Are there specific models that are equipped with the lan port or do all of the HD receivers built in with them now?

Eureka

I think all the new DirecTV DVRs have the ethernet port on the back, but not sure if they're all enabled. The DirecTV CSRs may not know what you're talking about, if you ask about it.

Check dbstalk for more info.