Satelite tv

[Stretch]

My wife and I are thinking about getting it. We have been looking at Dish network (the big one here). Do any of you have experience with them? Looking for pros/cons.

Thanks
Jason

[moparstuart]

 rain , bad weather , snow and ice  you will lose signal 

[RECHRGD]

We've got satelite through Direct TV.  The only time we have problems is if we get a heavy WET snow build up.  Ours is mounted on the ground, so it's a simple matter of wiping off the dish.   Bob

[Troy]

We also have DirecTV. If you order now they'll give you NFL Sunday Ticket for free (I think it's about $300 these days). We sometimes have an issue in heavy rain - but we don't usually get heavy snow either. It seems better now that the dish is on the ground on a sturdy pole (the old one was mounted on the side of the house with a thin bracket).

I've heard tons of horror stories about Dish network - but sometimes that's your only alternative if you live out in the sticks.

Troy

[PocketThunder]

I have Direct TV and its great except for when there is a storm with heavy rain.  then you dont get a signal when you arent outside and want to watch TV because its raining so hard. . ..   

[Old Moparz]

I've had Dish Network for about 12 years & think it's pretty decent & much better than Time Warner's Cable TV which I had prior. It's definitely less expensive unless you bundle telephone, internet & TV as a package from somewhere. The customer service from Dish Network is very good which seems to be rare these days. I had a signal issue earlier this year & they came out & just upgraded my 2 receivers for free. These were receivers I own, not lease or use with some kind of service agreement.

Really bad weather is the only time I lose a signal, but all during the storm we just had, Irene, I never lost anything.  

[Stretch]

I don't watch alot of TV. but sence I stoped the Charter cable service, I have been missing the mornning news and weather. I also need my NHRA fix and Hockey season is comming up. I miss speed, spike, and discovery aswell.

I shut the cable off 2 months ago becouse I just can't justify paying $150.00 a month for 1 step up from basic (70 channels no movie channiels) and there slowest speed internet.

I can get dish with 200 channels, +local and DVR for $34.00 a month for the first year and $52.00 a mounth for the 2nd year of the 2 year contract. Who knows where the bill will go after that.

[Old Moparz]

I don't watch alot of TV. but sence I stoped the Charter cable service, I have been missing the mornning news and weather. I also need my NHRA fix and Hockey season is comming up. I miss speed, spike, and discovery aswell.

I shut the cable off 2 months ago becouse I just can't justify paying $150.00 a month for 1 step up from basic (70 channels no movie channiels) and there slowest speed internet.

I can get dish with 200 channels, +local and DVR for $34.00 a month for the first year and $52.00 a mounth for the 2nd year of the 2 year contract. Who knows where the bill will go after that.

I forget the exact amount, but my monthly bill for Dish 500 is about $75 or $80. I get a bunch of channels (hundreds I don't watch, too) that include the regular networks, Speed, Discovery, History, etc. I also get 7 HBO channels, & about 50 Sirius music channels that I have on more than the TV. In the 12 year span I've had Dish, it went from $49 to the $75 or $80 it is now & increased what they offer. Time Warner was raising rates almost monthly & why I left.

Earlier this year I almost jumped ship to Verizon's Fios to get the telephone, internet, & TV package, but I don't feel like rewiring my house for TV & don't want Verizon rewiring it because I know it won't be the way I want it.

[ODZKing]

I had Direct TV for better than 10 years.  No issues other than mentioned thunderstorms, and even then it's out for only 10-15 minutes.  I put mine on a spot on the roof where I could get at it if I needed to brush the snow off but the newer ones are great ... doesn't stick.
The ONLY reason I went with Verizon Fios is it was bundled with a great deal with the internet.  Makes TWC Road Runner seem like dial up.  Their cable sucks, gave that up in 98.  My 

[twodko]

We used the dish network here in NorCal for a few years. Even here where we enjoy mild weather, the signal would drop out for no apparent reason. Then the system would take 10-20 minutes to reacquire the signal and reset itself. We have a clear southern exposure too. This got be a huge pain in the keester.............of course this always happened when there was something we really wanted to watch.
As much as I despise corporate America, when ATT finally got fiber optic cable out to our semi-rural area we signed up for their ATT U-verse offerings. For us this included basic TV (200 channels most of which are bunk), high speed internet and Viop phone service. All for about $156 per month. We write only one check per month instead of 3. Works for us. Comcast is a plague.

[Musicman]

My house in CT had been using Dish for a number of years without issue. All the remotes for the boxes finally crapped out however, so we gave them a call. They came out with the new controllers and "upgraded" everything in the house from the dish on down. The picture is actually considerably worse now with the new equipment however. They have been back out twice now trying to get a better picture, but their advised solutions always lead to more equipment and/or more money. I have not been home to deal with this problem myself (still in VA) but I instructed my daughter to tell them that everything was fine until they came out and upgraded, and if they can't get the picture quality back to where it was before they showed up (without additional equipment or services) then we would be going with a different carrier.

Bottom line... it's like walking into your average local electronics store to buy a TV. The store will ALWAYS have the TV's that they are pushing at the moment (read Profiting from) set up to look better than all of the others. When I first got Dish, HD service was not even available... today however, there is a big push for this service... and like any other carrier, when they want to push a new market, they downgrade the older market. So while the service itself hasn't changed, the new HD Ready equipment that the service uses to translate the image to my screen has. New subscribers will not know the difference of course, so when the guy tells them that's just the way it is with a non-HD signal, they have to take his word for it. This pushes them to upgrade to the HD service for better image quality. It works out great for the service provider...

So Yes, I could upgrade to HD service and all of my troubles would be over, but that's not really the point here is it.
I hate to say it, but I will probably be looking for a different carrier when I get back... perhaps U-Verse.... Money will be the deciding factor.

[GordonGriggs]

If you have them to install it they will most likely want to mount the dish on the roof.  I had mine installed there but when I needed a new roof they wanted to charge me to move it. So I bought a metal pole and installed it in front of the house myself. Its not very hard. It looks much better on a pole becasue you can cover the cables up. When I had it on the roof the cables were running down the side of the house. It looked really tacky.

[Brock Samson]

 Strech, you can do a search for other threads on the subject but the short story is Direct>Dish>Comcast.
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PM sent.  

[Dans 68]

...Let me recommend you for the Direct refferal and we'll both receive a $100 discount on our bill....

Damn, good thinking there, Dave. I wish I was on your side of the bell curve....   

I would also recommend Direct TV. 

Dan