So we are moving to a new apartment and they are using Dish Network. No biggie as we have had them before. We haven't had a land line line in years but at our last apartment we had Dish and a Cable modem through the complex. This new apartment has AT&T Dish and DSL for internet. We went into an AT&T phone store and talked to the sales guy. I asked specifically "is a land line required for the Dish or DSL with you guys?" Of course he said No. We decided what we wanted and he placed a call to complete the order. Then the phone rep starts telling him that we have to get a land line for 17.95 plus local, state, and federal fees and taxes. (B*LL****.) I asked why and he said he didn't know. I asked to the phone rep. She said that the Dish Network requires a land line. I said that I have had Dish for 3+ years and never had a land line. The land line is only needed for pay per view and tech support through the Dish. She says the DSL needs it. I was like what about this "Naked DSL" that I have heard about? Then the phone rep says "Look do you want it or not?!" At that point I hang up and we leave the store. Bottom line: Do you have to get a land line to have Dish + High Speed internet through AT&T?
I got DISH a couple months ago and I don't have a land line- all of their newest tuners have network cards in them. I plugged in a network line from my router and I haven't had a charge since. The tech who installed the Dish told me that I would get a charge and wasn't sure about the NIC, but I decided to give it a go and it works out. It -does- have to have some kind of connection. I've even had a tech remotely access the tuner to look at it over the internet. Bottom line- the sales people and cable monkeys might not know the full story. EDIT- after further thought, you just got a bogus sales rep. Play the CSR game and get a good one. If they say that you will pay an extra $5 a month to have DISH without the land line, say that's ok. It's what I did. And speaking as a Network tech myself who has seen DSL without an actual landline phone (just the phone line), it will work. That guy was just blowing smoke up your ass.
I not only don't have a landline phone, I don't have a working landline at all. The network interface through Dish is interesting...
Mulder, Jeremiah nailed it. Run a CAT 5 cable from the back of your DISH receiver to your broadband router. Youll probably have to mess around with the setup on the receiver to make it all functional.
I have DSL with no landline. I don't have DISH though. I had DISH before though, and the installer dude mentioned that the phone line was used to update the receiver. Back in the day (like 3 years ago) this resulted in a 3 dollar fee or something if you did not plug in the reciever for updates.