DirecTV unattended use

Hi, I see there are a few here who may be able to answer a DirecTV question or two.



I am thinking about getting away from Time Warner Cable because lately they have been getting much worse with the reliability of the higher numbered HD channels. The channels I watch all of the sudden become "unavailable", and all my equipment and wiring is good. To fix this, I need to change channels or reboot the device, and that is completely unacceptable in this day and age. I looked online, and apparently this has been an ongoing problem since at least 2011. Apparently their backbone is not able to accommodate the recent flood of digital TV traffic. The consensus seems to be that it is generally worse on the higher numbered HD channels and the PPV.



I have been reading very good things about DirecTV, in comparison. People who switch over have been very happy with the reliability and the quality overall.



If I got a Genie and a "Mini", could I expect to get a reliable signal from the HDMI output of the Mini, if left unattended on the same channel ad infinitum?

(With TWC, I normally get "unavailable" messages and also their cable box disrupts service to download the TV Guide after midnight, and with a Tivo Premiere I get reboots in the middle of the night if nothing is explicitly scheduled to record)



So here are a few questions I can think of for now:



1) If left unattended, will the DirecTV Mini, connected to a Genie, disrupt the HDMI signal while the TV Guide downloads?



2) If left unattended, would the HDMI get disrupted for firmware upgrades?



3) Any power savers/screen savers, or any other automated BS which would potentially disrupt my HDMI signal?



4) How is the wired Mini connected to the Genie?



Thanks

Chris