We just purchased a new home and I am thinking of switching from a cable service to a satellite service at the new house. Anyone have any experience with this, and if so, are you pleased with the service, etc..?
Satellite versus cable TV
- Thread starter Dtrigg
- Start date
I had satellite and cable simulataneously for a while because I could only use the satellite during the winter. You need a clear and unobstructed "view" to the southwest fairly low on the horizon and I could not clear my trees when there were leaves on them in the summer so it was useless then.
I switched to digital cable when it came out which, despite its title "digital", is still inferior to satellite but at least I get it all year. Plus, the satellite would not work on stormy and heavy overcast days so overall it was more frustrating and not worth the effort just to get somewhat better sound and picture for most regular tv.
I switched to digital cable when it came out which, despite its title "digital", is still inferior to satellite but at least I get it all year. Plus, the satellite would not work on stormy and heavy overcast days so overall it was more frustrating and not worth the effort just to get somewhat better sound and picture for most regular tv.
Love direct TV- I have been on the Dish for about a year now- some pros and cons
Pros
1. Cheaper than Cable- the bill runs about $20 less per month than similar cable service did.
2. Came with Tivo DVR- I am now free from television schedules! DVR records up to two shows at the same time, and programming is WAY easier than using the VCR. Now I don't miss the things I want to see.
3. Sunday Ticket- Cost extra, but now I can watch my beloved Steelers on Sundays. A must have for fans who are away from their home towns, but still cheer their teams.
4. I prefer the menu functions for the channel guide
cons
1. wind or heavy rainfall kills the uplink- this means when we have heavy inclement weather I can't watch TWC for storm warnings- for this reason I won't upgrade to Dish highspeed internet. I still use cable for that...
2. HDTV upgrade is going to cost $$$ (requires new dish and new reciever).
3. additional cost for additional rooms.
4. Direct TV wants me to maintain a landline phone so that the reciever can make it's "daily call". I use Vonage for my landline, and can't connect the TIVO reciever to the line. My reciever is now 200+ days since it's last call, service isn't affected, but I have to deal with a crappy blue screen request to connect to phone once a day when I opt the TIVO menu.
Little things, big things- ultimately I am happier w/ the Dish
Philip
Pros
1. Cheaper than Cable- the bill runs about $20 less per month than similar cable service did.
2. Came with Tivo DVR- I am now free from television schedules! DVR records up to two shows at the same time, and programming is WAY easier than using the VCR. Now I don't miss the things I want to see.
3. Sunday Ticket- Cost extra, but now I can watch my beloved Steelers on Sundays. A must have for fans who are away from their home towns, but still cheer their teams.
4. I prefer the menu functions for the channel guide
cons
1. wind or heavy rainfall kills the uplink- this means when we have heavy inclement weather I can't watch TWC for storm warnings- for this reason I won't upgrade to Dish highspeed internet. I still use cable for that...
2. HDTV upgrade is going to cost $$$ (requires new dish and new reciever).
3. additional cost for additional rooms.
4. Direct TV wants me to maintain a landline phone so that the reciever can make it's "daily call". I use Vonage for my landline, and can't connect the TIVO reciever to the line. My reciever is now 200+ days since it's last call, service isn't affected, but I have to deal with a crappy blue screen request to connect to phone once a day when I opt the TIVO menu.
Little things, big things- ultimately I am happier w/ the Dish
Philip
Like others have said if you have an unobstructed view of the south/south-west, then you should have no problems with dish reception. The only times we ever loose receptions is during very heavy lightning storms (times when you don’t want to even have your electronics plugged in and running anyway), so it has never been a problem. The funniest thing is that during all the hurricanes we have had over the past couple of years we have always lost power but never lost satellite reception. We fired up the generator and were still able to watch television, where as all my neighbors with cable were out of luck. A lot of people that live up North tend to dislike satellite due to the fact that the satellites are lower on their horizon. With that, you have poor reception not just due to trees and buildings, but due to the fact that the signal has to pass through a larger angle of atmosphere before it reaches your dish. The more smog, clouds, and storms you have anywhere along that southern horizon, the more often you loose signal. Down South though, we have a higher elevation angle and much better satellite reception.
I have the DirectTV with the Voom HD pack, and it is soooo much better than cable (at least around here in Melbourne, FL). Cable claims to have high-def, but due to their compression schemes, its only Quasi-HD. I really don’t know exactly what the cable company does down here to squeeze all their channels onto Coax, but the HD channels on Dish are so much clearer and stable. The HD channels on Brighthouse Cable would constantly lock up, lose audio, and was very pixilated in comparison to DishHD (like they were only running the lowest resolutions of HD). I had their repair people out several times, and they always claimed that it wasn’t signal strength or anything local; it was just their “system” that was having difficulties.
Cable may be better in some locations, but down here Brighthouse still needs a lot of work to be comparable to Dish Network HD.
I have the DirectTV with the Voom HD pack, and it is soooo much better than cable (at least around here in Melbourne, FL). Cable claims to have high-def, but due to their compression schemes, its only Quasi-HD. I really don’t know exactly what the cable company does down here to squeeze all their channels onto Coax, but the HD channels on Dish are so much clearer and stable. The HD channels on Brighthouse Cable would constantly lock up, lose audio, and was very pixilated in comparison to DishHD (like they were only running the lowest resolutions of HD). I had their repair people out several times, and they always claimed that it wasn’t signal strength or anything local; it was just their “system” that was having difficulties.
Cable may be better in some locations, but down here Brighthouse still needs a lot of work to be comparable to Dish Network HD.
Thanks for the insight. It's more complicated than I thought. I just wanted to get it because I am such so cheap, and it's $20 less per month.
I switched from Comcast cable to DirecTV about 3 years ago for one simple reason, dual tuner TiVos for $5/month. Unlike many, I had positive experience with Comcast (and still use them for my internet connection) but their prices kept going up and the service stayed the same.
Overall, I'm really pleased with DirecTV. Surround sound and picture quality are terrific and of course there's the cheap dual tuner Tivos which I refuse to live without.
Overall, I'm really pleased with DirecTV. Surround sound and picture quality are terrific and of course there's the cheap dual tuner Tivos which I refuse to live without.
We have restrictions in our community, however, when a resident wanted a "bigger dish" than allowed, we found that not only could we not prohibit it, but placement couldn't be restricted either. FCC regs are stronger than the HOA/ARB guidelines, at least in NYdocjohn said:Also in some communities that have cable,covanents in the developement may prohibit hanging the dishWhich I think is ridiculous,but make sure.
That's correct - if you're hanging it from your own property the HOA can't stop you.RPM217 said:We have restrictions in our community, however, when a resident wanted a "bigger dish" than allowed, we found that not only could we not prohibit it, but placement couldn't be restricted either. FCC regs are stronger than the HOA/ARB guidelines, at least in NY
Just my humble opinion of course, but that's the way is should be. HOA's have too much power. When I'm King Of The World, there will be some ... changes.
docjohn said:Also in some communities that have cable,covanents in the developement may prohibit hanging the dish
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a rule that generally forbids local governments and homeowners associations from enforcing unreasonable restrictions regarding the installation of satellite dishes one meter or smaller. For more information visit the FCC website
You can get dual tuner DVR with Microsoft XP Mediacenter edition, then you can have as big of a hard drive is you can fit in your mechine, say 400Gigs of recording space...and Mediacenter is set up to download the guide for your local cable provider..and no goofy dish on your house! :wink:
RSO 34 said:
I had this same problem at my lake house. No cable available either. So no high speed internet and no TV unless I want to use the house in the winter.
Maybe for ice skating or something.The Neighbor owns to the top of the hill/cliff and cut a path out of the hill for his satellite dish. I figured it was too much of a hassle so I just sold the house.
