Tailgater vs Playmaker

Getting ready to jump into the satellite world and these are the 2 options for antennas we are looking at coupled with the free Wally at Camping World. Is one better than the other?

festor said:

Getting ready to jump into the satellite world and these are the 2 options for antennas we are looking at coupled with the free Wally at Camping World. Is one better than the other?

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Just remember you can only watch from the same satellite if you have 2 tv's! The Wallys are not worth a s---! We got rid of ours and went back to the 211 boxes. They are hard to download programming info. If you can program it prior to putting it in the RV that would be better imo. We were calling Dish every other day it seemed. Probably why they're free. Hope you have better luck. We have the Pathway X2 dish! Hope to install the Traveler on the roof at some point!


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We’ve had dish for rvers now for a year. Turn it on (monthly) when you want, off when you don’t need.
Wally receiver with no issues. Has been set up in many states from PA to TX.
Pathway X2 portable dish. Dual TV connections but as mentioned can only watch programming from one satellite at a time with 2 receivers. Most of the programming we watch is on 110 & 119.
Had DirecTV. Their customer service doesn’t know what an RV is. Dish was great to work with upon installation & setup. Can easily change your viewing package(s), pay your bill, etc via an app for your phone.


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I have used the "Carryout" that is both Dish and Direct compatible. The small, portable, units seem to work great in cloudless conditions due to small collection disc. I don't have any complaints about my Wally and only connect to a single TV.

I have seen many of both being used. My advice, get an antenna that can pick up both the eastern and western satellite arcs. At the very least the eastern arc if you do not plan to go west often. We found out the hard way that our tailgator wouldn't receive all of the western arcs the further east we traveled.

One nice feature with Dishnetwork is they added a feature to their smartphone app that allows you to send an update signal to your receiver. This makes it a quicker process than having to call their customer support, explain to them that you have a tailgater or other portable antenna and need a refresh signal sent.


I have a tailgater and am considering an upgrade to the larger X2 portable dish. I expect it will add eastern arc and stronger signal strength to my system.

wallys so much better than 211, smaller, cooler, more features- no issues and even added one at home , 211 are just backups now

the 1st one I did when they first came out and on old 1st gen carry out did take a long time to set up first time , but on a pathway was no issue and when changed to new bighorn with travler - all 3 connected right up and have not had any issues with them the year ive had it

We picked up a King Tailgater last year and are very pleased. We have Dish at home so it was an easy, inexpensive addition. We coupled it with a 211 and works great. Choose the state your in, hit scan and about 5-7 minutes it’s all done and downloaded.
Tailgater also has 2 Ports and can be mounted or used as portable. I mounted it to a quick release ladder mount and it rides there while we travel. Only found a time or 2 that we couldn’t get signal, but if need be, in 5 minutes it could be unhooked and placed in an open.

I am on my second tailgater and have had one since they first came out. The only problem I have ever had is in some locations, finding a clear shot to the satellite locations through the foliage or other obstacles. We have used it all the way from Texas, to, Florida and later from Texas through Elkhart to Maine then back down the east coast to North Carolina and back to Texas with no problems.

Dish recently added a function the Mydish app (for both iPhone and android devices) that allows you to change your local stations based on your current location rather than having to call tech support. Works great.

Thanks for all of the input. We decided to spend a few extra $ and get the Pathway X2. A friend has one and the choice of the 2 arcs has improved his reception dramatically. We tried to purchase it at Camping World to get the free Wally but the lack of any type of customer service there ultimately led to a purchase elsewhere so we'll have to use the existing 211 from before.