I am in the central Florida area and currently have brighthouse which is the only cable choice in my area. The Att&t and Verizon options are unfortunately not available in my area. So I am thinking about changing to one of the Satellites. I do have HD. That is a must. So im looking to see if anyone has experiences with these and what your thoughts were? I have heard different positives and negatives about each. TIA.
Direct vs Dish vs brighthouse (cable)?
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I have direct TV with 1 HD DVR and 2 more standard receivers. I have whatever the top of the line package is called now. There is no cable option in my area or I should say for the road I live on. The cable company will not run a line to service the few homes on my street. I have no trees and with the HD dish it takes a major storm to even interfere a little with the signal.
If your house is ringed with trees satellite is not going to make you very happy. If you have no trees in the direction the dish needs to be pointed you will have no issues.
If your house is ringed with trees satellite is not going to make you very happy. If you have no trees in the direction the dish needs to be pointed you will have no issues.
We've had Dish Network for over 10 years and am totaly satisified, excellent company to do business with. Have gone thru 2 upgrades with no expense on my part and have only needed service once in the 10 years we've had it. Used to have cable before the dish and what a joke that was. Have never regretted going with Dish Network.
We have had Dish for 13 years and are very pleased with their service and program lineup. That said, I know people who have had Direct TV for years and are just as happy with it.
Depending on what program lineup you want, where each company is in the upgrade process, one can be the "best" for you one year and the other the "best" the next year.
Like an earlier poster said, you need a clear view of the sky in the right direction, other than that just pick the one that offers what you want at the best price. They both have loads of HD channels.
Be sure you have the bottom line price before you buy. They both stack on costs that aren't obvious in their ads.
Depending on what program lineup you want, where each company is in the upgrade process, one can be the "best" for you one year and the other the "best" the next year.
Like an earlier poster said, you need a clear view of the sky in the right direction, other than that just pick the one that offers what you want at the best price. They both have loads of HD channels.
Be sure you have the bottom line price before you buy. They both stack on costs that aren't obvious in their ads.
I spent several vacations in FLA the last few years, all of them (save for one relative) had cable. Brighthouse cable is, well, utterly lackluster compared to DirecTV.
One thing cable companies try to sell you on is the "On Demand" thing. With a DVR full of your favorite shows, who really needs the On Demand thing? We have it with DirecTV but never use it since the DVR is nearly full of things we recorded in advance that we want to see (such as Mythbusters, Man vs Food, movies, etc). So to us, On Demand is totally overblown.
Do your shopping. If you decide to go with either of the satellite based services, do pit them against each other on the phone when you order, they usually will throw in some freebies or reduced-rate options for you to "help" you make your decision.
Comparatively, My boss just got AT&T Uverse and for most part he likes it better than his Dish TV that he had. He said he liked the way the channels on Dish TV are far more organized than Uverse. Same holds true for DirecTV.
www.dbstalk.com is a good place to do your homework and find out more info.
One thing cable companies try to sell you on is the "On Demand" thing. With a DVR full of your favorite shows, who really needs the On Demand thing? We have it with DirecTV but never use it since the DVR is nearly full of things we recorded in advance that we want to see (such as Mythbusters, Man vs Food, movies, etc). So to us, On Demand is totally overblown.
Do your shopping. If you decide to go with either of the satellite based services, do pit them against each other on the phone when you order, they usually will throw in some freebies or reduced-rate options for you to "help" you make your decision.
Comparatively, My boss just got AT&T Uverse and for most part he likes it better than his Dish TV that he had. He said he liked the way the channels on Dish TV are far more organized than Uverse. Same holds true for DirecTV.
www.dbstalk.com is a good place to do your homework and find out more info.
I was with Dish Network for 11 years, until I signed up for AT&T U-verse.
If nothing else, it proves that I was pleased enough to stay with them for 11 years.
Remember that with cable, you can get high speed internet. It isn't so easy with DishNetwork or DirecTV. If you can get high speed through your phone company, then it isn't an issue.
If nothing else, it proves that I was pleased enough to stay with them for 11 years.
Remember that with cable, you can get high speed internet. It isn't so easy with DishNetwork or DirecTV. If you can get high speed through your phone company, then it isn't an issue.
I've heard complaints from a couple of those 'consumer advocate' types that customer service is all but nonexistent with either of the major Satellite services.
That may be overblown.
Cable is certainly expensive despite their claims.
I have DSL and am happy with it: $35 a month compared to $55+ for cable's internet.
That may be overblown.
Cable is certainly expensive despite their claims.
I have DSL and am happy with it: $35 a month compared to $55+ for cable's internet.
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
I've heard complaints from a couple of those 'consumer advocate' types that customer service is all but nonexistent with either of the major Satellite services.
That may be overblown.
Cable is certainly expensive despite their claims.
I have DSL and am happy with it: $35 a month compared to $55+ for cable's internet.
Dang $35! My DSL is $50, but that is still better then hughesnet at $85 and half the speed lately. I have not had any issues with DirectTV's customer service.
I've heard complaints from a couple of those 'consumer advocate' types that customer service is all but nonexistent with either of the major Satellite services.
That may be overblown.
Cable is certainly expensive despite their claims.
I have DSL and am happy with it: $35 a month compared to $55+ for cable's internet.
Dang $35! My DSL is $50, but that is still better then hughesnet at $85 and half the speed lately. I have not had any issues with DirectTV's customer service.
Dang, Double Dang, my DSL is $15.00 a month thru Verizon.
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
I've heard complaints from a couple of those 'consumer advocate' types that customer service is all but nonexistent with either of the major Satellite services.
That may be overblown.
While some of the rep's on the phone are clueless, I have never had a problem calling customer service in 11 years of DirecTV service. In fact, they are willing to "help" you upgrade after certain periods of time. I have found that by bargaining with them on the phone when they offer deals is a win-win as my bill usually goes down afterwards
I've heard complaints from a couple of those 'consumer advocate' types that customer service is all but nonexistent with either of the major Satellite services.
That may be overblown.
While some of the rep's on the phone are clueless, I have never had a problem calling customer service in 11 years of DirecTV service. In fact, they are willing to "help" you upgrade after certain periods of time. I have found that by bargaining with them on the phone when they offer deals is a win-win as my bill usually goes down afterwards
Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
I've heard complaints from a couple of those 'consumer advocate' types that customer service is all but nonexistent with either of the major Satellite services.
That may be overblown.
While some of the rep's on the phone are clueless, I have never had a problem calling customer service in 11 years of DirecTV service. In fact, they are willing to "help" you upgrade after certain periods of time. I have found that by bargaining with them on the phone when they offer deals is a win-win as my bill usually goes down afterwards
I have also found Dish customer service to be easy to get a hold of and helpful. When a receiver died on me, once I got through the online trouble shooting, they sent me a new receiver by 2nd day air.
My wife has called them a few times when I was on travel and they helped her troubleshoot even though the problem was with our TV remote.
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
I've heard complaints from a couple of those 'consumer advocate' types that customer service is all but nonexistent with either of the major Satellite services.
That may be overblown.
While some of the rep's on the phone are clueless, I have never had a problem calling customer service in 11 years of DirecTV service. In fact, they are willing to "help" you upgrade after certain periods of time. I have found that by bargaining with them on the phone when they offer deals is a win-win as my bill usually goes down afterwards
I have also found Dish customer service to be easy to get a hold of and helpful. When a receiver died on me, once I got through the online trouble shooting, they sent me a new receiver by 2nd day air.
My wife has called them a few times when I was on travel and they helped her troubleshoot even though the problem was with our TV remote.
I currently have Dish, but we have Cox Cable in our area, and the rates really aren't THAT competetive with Cox. There's about a $5 difference. The only reason I have Dish now is that when I lived near Ft Rucker all they had was Time Warner with....12....that's right 12 HD channels, and that's including the premiums as of last Feb. Well when it was all said and done I got stuck on a contract with Dish and may actually end up keeping it as they offer GREAT customer service! I only had one negative experience but that has been outweighed by all of the positive experiences from them. Also when going with satellite companies....You deal with independant contractors as on site technicians...and some are DEFINITELY better than others! For instance in my area the ones out of Crestview are AWESOME and the ones from Saraland, AL are flat out CLUELESS.
Originally Posted By: jcwit
Dang, Double Dang, my DSL is $15.00 a month thru Verizon.
DANG, lucky.
It was not until Embark took over this area from Verizon before we could even get DSL. Verizon kept telling us it was not even possible to get DSL on our street.
Dang, Double Dang, my DSL is $15.00 a month thru Verizon.
DANG, lucky.
It was not until Embark took over this area from Verizon before we could even get DSL. Verizon kept telling us it was not even possible to get DSL on our street.
Thanks everyone for the comments and links to websites for some good info. Seems to me that most are happy with their set up on either satellite system. XS650 brought up one thing I am worried about....them giving you a price over the phone and then with all the extra charges and fees it comes to a lot more when it arrives in your mail.
That never happened to me in regards to billing increase. In fact this last upgrade I did to a Super Dish was supposed to cost me $50 for equipment, ended up N/C plus some movie channels for 3 months I think also N/C. Dish Network is great to me.
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