Satellite TV

I’m wondering what to choose Dish or Direct TV? Tired of Cable rates. I live in Rochester and want to know besides promotion package price, what additional charges to these guys hit you with? Is it true they don’t work in storms? Just looking for general feedback.

Joe,
I was all get to go Direct TV (satelite) myself here. Got all signed up then discovered that it was very similiar to cable in price BUT to get something fixed you gotta hire someone.Mediacom does maintain at least.
I pay $156.00 for the cable package with computer and phone in all. Not cheap, but what can ya do.
My next door neighbor has Direct TV and he hates it. He has cables laying all over the ground and is not happy with the service, sez that they keep tacking on charges.
Just my take on em.

Roger

We have had Direct for several years. Fairly happy with it. Our installer did a good job, but I was at home while he did it. Cost with HBO is about $80.00 / month, but we have receivers in two bedrooms, family room, and garage.It will go out occasionally in a hard rain or if a lot of snow gets stuck to the satillite. I can reach our satillite with an old 7′ fishing rod. All it takes is to knock a little snow off and you are good to go. If you go with Direct, get a current subscribers account number and you can save them $10.00 a month if you have it before signing up.

why does your neighbor have cables laying all over on the ground ? did he install it himself ? incorrectly ???

I had Direct TV installed 4 years ago and only had to pay the install fee, $50.00. Since football had already started they threw in the football package for free, telling me to make sure to cancel after the season if I no longer wanted it. Canceling was almost impossible. Day after super bowl was to soon, in the spring was too late, please try just before the season starts. Just before any games were played was too late. Finally got it switched off only to have it start the following season. I did manage to get it canceled after way too many phone calls.
Try not to install the dish where you cannot reach it at, least with a broom. Heavy, wet snow will has blocked the signal several times. Heavy lightning in the area knocks my signal out.

It looked like a high school kid installed it from Direct TV. The neighbor on the other side of us has theirs on the ground too, very poor workmanship job.

I have Dish. My price for their best package with outdoor channel, world fishing network, and no movie channels is $105. NO phone or internet. Bad storms knock out the signal sometimes. Both Dish & Direct are owned by the same company. Once you sign up you will only get the new customer pricing 1 time. Cable and satelite both have poor customer service is my opinion but they got you over the barrel and they know it. I think they laugh all the way to the bank. Just my 2 cent rant.

It seems like it a matter of personal choice, if you add the phone and innernet broadband it is comparable to the cable as I see it.
The cable service seems to be pretty reliable,with very few interuptions.
Notice I said FEW interuptions.

Stick with cable. It’s worth the extra $25 per month. DirecTV is complete garbage. Tried to order OnDemand last week. Their system said it wasn’t available, so I had to call Customer Service (or so they call it) to make the order. It’s a $5 charge if they order for you. So I had to argue that their system doesn’t work, so why should I have to pay extra because they suck? Finally got the lady to waive the fee.

Now I’m stuck for 2 years or I’ll have to pay a bunch of dough to break the contract even though I got nothing that they promised for service, reception in rain, etc.

I have DirecTV at home and at the cabin and out west when hunting-use 3 receivers 1 card-pay for 1 – may not be able to do any more do to card/receiver???
I like the programs on Direct better than Dish and cable.
My 2 cents

FWIW – we’ve had DISH for 16 plus yrs. If you “work” it right it’s a pretty good gig… Is it perfect? Nope but which one of them is? Pretty much a monopoly similar to your choices for power company… Bend over… But when new great deals come up like free DVR’s, upgraded receivers, etc and they are big bucks to you the lowly every month payer but free to new subscribers you need to find a way to drop and be a new customer… not that i would ever do that… Last crazy occurrence for me was when they upgraded our receiver from mono to hifi they basically stole MY old DISH. Went thru heck and back and guess what, they still have it. I had an ice shack labelled for that paid for dish. Read the fine print of the contract. You owned the equipment in the old days. Guess there’s some inside payment for those… Like I said it won’t be perfect but name a few that are..

Good luck! Make sure you are home when they go to install your dish or you might end up with it in a very crappy place.

This could be the most insane post I’ve ever seen reguarding Satellite TV.

Back to reality… Right now is the best time to be a New Satellite TV subscriber. The introductory offers, offered currently by both Dishnetwork and Direct TV are out of this world.
Plus the equipment and technolgy advancements by both companys is off the charts with there HD DVR’s and networking capabilties.

I have Direc TV and love it, I’m into sports and Direct has a bit of an advantage in that department. Also New Direct Tv customers get FREE NFL ticket right now with a bunch of movie channels thrown in too, all locked into a low price fro 2 years.

Here is a good site to get a feel for which Satelite provider may suit your needs. And some very creative ways to keep your billing down along with any and everything Sat TV related

Satelliteguys

Did I mention I can watch my Direct TV programming on my Laptop, Cellphone, I-Pad from anywhere in the United States?
What a bummer..

I ditched Comcast 3-4 years ago (well, I went back to them for internet) and went to DirecTV and have been quite happy with them. My installer was a d-bag. He tracked snow all over my house and put the dish at the peak of my roof smack-dab in the middle of the house (in reality, with the tree cover, it was probably the best option), but I haven’t had to touch the dish since. I lose service briefly (< 15 minutes) in some real heavy storms, but that’s about it. A little over a year ago, Comcast tempted me back with a sweet offer. I made the switch (but didn’t cancel my DirecTV) and after a few days, called Comcast to cancel because I liked the DirecTV that much better.

I signed up with Directv not quite 2 years ago on a $85 triple bundle through Centrylink. My first months bill was $235 My lowest bill after hours on the phone has been around $140. It’s a 2 year contract, but somehow the price keeps jumping up. In the 20 months I have been on it, I easily have over 12 hours on the phone fighting with them. Customer service ABSOLUTLEY SUCKS! They don’t return calls and it is very difficult to get to talk to a real person. Can’t wait for February to go back to cable.

You need a new phone… I can have a real rep in 3 minutes when I call.

3 minutes 20 seconds for me and less then 6 minutes total to get my $20 a month credit re-instated for another 6 months!

I do agree they treat New customers better than us long lasting peeps. But there are ways to make it better if you research a little.

Have had Dish for 10 yrs. and have had no real problems with them other than if I do call them, getting someone who speaks understandable English.

I have Dish. My bill is $38 a month (fixed) for one receiver that works two seperate tv’s with DVR/HD for both. I think I have the America’s TOP 120. After two years (like cable) you can call and ask for a lower price. I honestly like Dish Network as a whole. My biggest concern is ease of use. I want a remote that it easy. I want to scroll channels easily; in other words when I page “up” I feel channels should not be going down in numerical order. Also, only shows me the channels I subscribe to with out any special tweaking. Simple things like that just make it easy. Premium access channels come an go over time and I can live with that.

I have had charter for decades and after 10 minutes with directv, we were never going back. You say you can’t get through to them? I find that hard to believe if you are calling directv directly.. and if you wait, trust me , they always make it up to you in one way or another. free showtime, or HBO, or sports channels. or something. trust me, all you have to do is ASK. but ask nicely..

Direct for 6 years. Not changing unless get really really good deal. Next to over the air…Direct has most band width = better signal…..then cable…then Dish.