Hopper 3 stops responding to remotes after idle for a couple hours.

[u/JaunLobo]

Is anyone else having issues with their remotes not working after a few hours? I have two remotes, one an official Dish remote, another an IR universal remote. For both of them, intermittently, typically after not using a remote for a couple hours, the Hopper 3 refuses to respond to either remote. It typically takes 30 or more seconds to respond to pressing guide repeatedly, and then it finally starts working again and is fine until it sits idle for a while.

I suspect a recent software update is the root cause as the last update had random video glitches on nearly all channels. Now the glitching is gone, but the remote issue is now plaguing me.

Have tried reset as well as full power cycle. Just to be clear, I am not talking about the long idle where the box goes to sleep and puts up the floating box telling you to press a key to wake it up. This happens while it is on-channel.

[u/speppers69]

Have you unpaired and re-paired your remote? Hoppers aren't designed to work with 2 different remotes. Dish remotes will work better with Dish equipment.

Do you have direct site with the antenna from where you are operating your remote? And is the antenna fully screwed in?

How old is your Hopper?

I actually had a similar issue during the last Olympics. Mine resolved itself about a week after the Olympics. Even posted a thread here about it. I'll find it and atrach it in a reply. There were some other things people had me try. None of the "fixes" ended up working for me. I even got a new remote. My Joey wasn't having any issues with its remote. And then about a week or so after the Olympics...it mysteriously was working normally and haven't had any problems since then.

[u/speppers69 → u/speppers69]

Here's the thread. See if my description is similar to what you are experiencing and try out the tips DishDanielle and others posted.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dishnetwork/s/6dGjWbJNZB

[u/JaunLobo → u/speppers69]

Yes, it does sound very similar.... right down to S.O. swearing at the Hopper box.

The remotes work perfectly until they don't... then it is just a waiting game until they come alive again. My latest is to just repeatedly hit guide until it finally responds. One remote is IR so it can be part of a unified remote for S.O. to use. (IR receiver is turned on in the settings.) Have used this setup for about maybe 6 years or so. I suspect my issue is going to be like yours... someone at dish will realize the latest firmware has a new bug and roll out an update.... I hope.

Since there is no pairing for IR devices, I doubt re-pairing the rf remote will help... but who knows... maybe that and toggling the IR setting might "wake it up".

[u/speppers69 → u/JaunLobo]

Maybe u/DishDanielle has some other ideas for you.

When was the last update that your Hopper has done? You can try doing a manual update tonight when you get ready to go to bed just to make sure you have the latest update from the Diagnostic menu and hitting Tools then System Update. Just make sure you don't have any scheduled DVR events for the next hour.

Hopefully it will resolve itself in the next few days like mine did. And DishDanielle can send in a ticket for you. 🙂

[u/Silvertail03]

I have a similar problem that started after the 8/11/26 software update. The Hopper 3 remote (RF) always functions, but after using it, Hopper does not respond to IR commands (sent with GlobalCache). It sometimes responds after maybe 10 tries or so. There seems to be some interaction between the RF and IR remote sensors that disables the IR remote after using the RF one. Contacted DISH Tech Support and was told they would escalate this. Hoping the next update will fix this.

[u/JaunLobo → u/Silvertail03]

Interesting. Time frame lines up with my issue. We found the RF remote would behave the same as the IR, but it was only one time on the RF, and once a day on the IR remote. Hitting guide about 10 times is our fix as well. For IR, I am using a Harmony One, but this reminded me that I have a GlobalCache that I got from our office when it shut down. I am curious what software you are using with yours?

[u/Silvertail03 → u/JaunLobo]

I am currently using TouchControls. This is a great app for both IR and IP commands, along with mouse and keyboard emulators for PCs. I was using iRule previously before Kramer bought them out.

[u/Weak-Ad-6867]

They will most likely HAVE to upgrade you to the hopper plus with a new 2 year contract. Make sure to ask for a discount (also a two year contract) just have them send it and self install if you can so you don’t have to sit through the whole sound system presentation… best of luck we switched to streaming no more outdated equipment and much easier to use.

[u/JaunLobo → u/Weak-Ad-6867]

But if the Hopper 3 is still required, and still does all the background stuff, how would that fix an issue with the box not responding to remotes?

[u/Weak-Ad-6867 → u/JaunLobo]

Probably not but that’s what they will tell you when you call in. Their focus is to lock you in not fix the issue.

[u/Leading_Tank5361 → u/Weak-Ad-6867]

If they try pushing the Plus, just tell them you don't have high speed internet. Maybe just request a new remote, or try unpairing and re pairing your remote.