Dish Network Wireless Joey

Pros Full Joey functionality over Wi-Fi, including Channel Guide and DVR programming. Sharp, clear picture. Simple setup process.

Cons Limited by Wi-Fi range. Still need Super Joey to expand number of tuners. Bottom Line The Wireless Joey lets you hook up any HDTV in the house to your Dish service without running cables.

By Will Greenwald The Hopper with Sling lets Dish Network customers expand their service to multiple rooms with Joey set-top boxes, giving each full access to live television and DVR recordings. Its only limitation is the number of tuners, and that can be expanded with the excellent Super Joey. Both the Joey and Super Joey need wired connections to the Hopper, though, so you need to run a cable between rooms and, very likely, have an installer come over to set everything up. That's no longer a problem with the Wireless Joey ($50, plus the same $7 monthly fee as the standard Joey). It provides full functionality over an 802.11ac Wi-Fi connection to the Hopper, and it's simple enough to set up that you can do it yourself. It's an ideal way to put Dish service in additional rooms without fuss and cables.

Design
The Wireless Joey consists of two parts: the Wireless Joey box and the access point. The latter plugs directly into the Hopper and sets up its own Wi-Fi network solely for the Wireless Joey. This is a handy and helpful feature, because it ensures nothing else will take up the network's bandwidth. It might still suffer from interference if there are many other Wi-Fi networks around—an issue we noted in our particularly Wi-Fi-congested lab, which unfortunately limited the range of the Wireless Joey during testing. But the network itself will stay clean and clear.

The Wireless Joey is a 5.6-by-2-by-7.6-inch (HWD), 14.9-ounce black box with matte black, vented sides and a glossy, curved band that runs around the length of the device from front to back. The front holds Power, Up/Down/Select, Locate Remote, and System Info buttons, along with a power light. The back panel holds the power port, HDMI and composite video connections, an optical audio output, a USB port, and an Ethernet port.

The access point shares the same shape, but it's smaller at 5.4 by 1.9 by 6.3 inches and 12.6 ounces. It's even simpler, with just a WPS button and Power, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi status lights on the front. The back holds power and Ethernet ports, a pinhole reset button, and a Client/Access Point toggle. The access point can support up to three Wireless Joeys, but we tested the system with a single Wireless Joey.

The included remote is identical to the one included with the Hopper, Joey, and Super Joey. It's a long wand tightly packed with buttons and a large navigation pad, playback controls for the DVR, a number pad, and several other controls to navigate the menus and change settings.

Connecting the Joey
Setting up the Wireless Joey is a very simple process you can do almost entirely on your own. You just need to call Dish to register the devices' CAID and Smart Card numbers to work with your service. After that, you plug the access point into the Hopper and the Wireless Joey into the HDTV you want to connect, press the Select button on the front of the Wireless Joey to put it into WPS pairing mode, and then press the WPS button on the access point within two minutes to make them automatically connect.

Once that's done, all you have to do is follow the on-screen prompts to pair the remote and program the Wireless Joey to send remote codes to your HDTV. I got it up and running within ten minutes without any assistance from Dish besides registering the numbers.

Once it's set up, the Wireless Joey functions exactly like a wired Joey. It displays the full Dish program guide, shows HD channels in high definition, and offers access to the Hopper's DVR functions. You can view any live programming, set recordings, and watch recorded shows on the Wireless Joey just as if it was a regular Joey. Since the remote is identical to the Hopper and regular/Super Joey remotes, you'll quickly forget this is a different device from your other Dish set-top boxes.

Performance and Conclusion
Thanks to the dedicated Wi-Fi network, the Wireless Joey displays a consistent high-definition picture when tuned to an HD channel. I tuned to Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on Travel Channel HD and Idle Hands on ActionMax, and both were screen-filling and smooth (or, in the case of the latter, as smooth as a terrible late-90s stoner horror comedy that clearly wasn't mastered for high definition can be). I also watched the latest episode of Adventure Time recorded from Cartoon Network HD over the Wireless Joey, and the picture was sharp and clear. A few minor artifacts appeared on the screen during the recorded show, but, to my eye, they were only noticeable from less than two feet away.

The Dish Network Wireless Joey is the easiest, simplest way to add additional rooms to your whole-home satellite setup. A Super Joey is still necessary to expand the number of tuners on the Hopper, and a regular wired Joey remains the best option if you want to connect a room that's far away from the Hopper. If you want an easy, simple way to hook up another HDTV to your Dish system without getting an installer to come over, the Wireless Joey is the way to go.

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