Dish or Direct TV


Guest Finn

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Guest Finn

Just curious who has either and if you could recommend one? We're probably not going to have cable in Wisconsin, so looking at these both.

Also, does anyone have high speed internet through either of these companies? If so, how is it?

Thanks,

Craig ;)

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Direct TV here too and love it. My brother has Dish with one of their premium packages and I have more channels than he does with my Direct TV premium package. Only thing though is I have the Outdoor channel (he doesn't) and he has the Men's channel ( I don't).

I don't subscribe to internet through it since I have high speed internet service through the phone line.

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Guest Andrea

We've always had Directv.552.gif

No complaints. Have friends who had DishNetwork and nothing BUT complaints.

Also.....our internet is thru Embarq (phone service).

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We had DirecTV and went to Dish. The biggest reason was because DT didn't have the Outdoor Channel back then. It's been a few years since we've had DT, so I can't comment on it too much, other than it was a hassel to cancel our subscription. No major issues with Dish.

Our internet is through Frontier, based in Antigo. It's high-speed wireless. It's ok, but over priced. There is a lot of times you have to wait around because the net locks up. I doubt the coverage area reaches as far as your parent's place though, and I wouldn't recommend it.

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Coming from someone who has done satellite for 15 years sold and installed ... I would recomend Dish Network ... DTV customer service stinks ... at least with Dish they care and will work with you on programming ... at least that is the experience I had with them ... they even took care of my upgrade for me when I went to the dual tuner DVR ... as far as internet depending on where you are going to live I would check into DSL in your area ... that is the most economical internet choice depending on where you live ... satellite internet is available anywhere but is very expensive I mean really expensive like 70 to 80 bucks a month plus the equipment cost with the install cost ...

Steve

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Guest Finn

Thanks for all the information. The reason I'm asking about high speed is the DSL service up there only reaches 3 miles from a main hub....we may be outside that. Great for hunting, bad for modern conveniences like cell service and high speed internet. ;):(

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Was a service manager for a satellite company for about 5 years, and dealt with service and installations with direct systems when they first came out while there. Installed and serviced both direct and dish systems on my own for sometime after I left that job. We have had both in our home, had direct first, switched to dish due to local network issues, then ended up switching back to direct and would never go back to dish again.

Customer service at dish is terrible.

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Only thing though is I have the Outdoor channel (he doesn't) and he has the Men's channel ( I don't).

Check out channel 604. Mens outdoor recreation channel.

DTV customer service stinks ... at least with Dish they care and will work with you on programming ... at least that is the experience I had with them

I see it right opposite Steve. Dish charges fees for programming changes, and when you cancel or try to they will give you a hard time and will not credit you back what they owe to you. Direct will make changes to programming without charging any fees and if you cancel at any time they will send you a check if they owe you money back.

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We had DirecTV and went to Dish. The biggest reason was because DT didn't have the Outdoor Channel back then. It's been a few years since we've had DT, so I can't comment on it too much, other than it was a hassel to cancel our subscription. No major issues with Dish.

I was going to say the exact same thing that Churd said. Dish offered the Outdoor Channel and EWTN. At the time Direct didn't have either.

One thing I might add is reception. When I had DirectTV, if there was a little rain or a couple snow flakes in the air I lost my satellite reception and had to use my antenna again. Now that I have Dish, I rarely lose my reception, even during a storm.

Get Dish!!;)

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Ive had direct TV for 10-years. We bought the Platinum package back then and have never let go of any channels.

Personally ive never had a single problem with them. I added another unit in our bedroom a year or so ago. They completely replaced all of my receivers and the dish. They tired to charge me and I told them no, no argument. They were free.

I had a unit hit by lightning and they wanted to charge me to replace it. I simply told them no and a new one came a couple days later with a return box for the old one. Granted they've tried to charge me a few times but thats business.

Other than that ive never had troubles with them. Even after the lighting strike they gave me a few free pay per view movies. They had nothing to do with the lightning but made me appreciate them. Personally Im really happy with them......

As far as Internet, I have dial up. The satellite Internet is EXPENSIVE. I also have to be within 3-miles of a hub. I actually am but the Internet is way to expensive. It would run me all hardware plus $35 a month for 250 DSL. Way to expensive.

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When I had DirectTV, if there was a little rain or a couple snow flakes in the air I lost my satellite reception and had to use my antenna again. Now that I have Dish, I rarely lose my reception, even during a storm.

Might be possible that your antenna(dish) was not properly aligned for getting the maximum signal. With that type of issue it would not matter which type of equipment you were using.

With the standard equipment, Dish might still be using a slightly larger antenna than the standard 18 inch direct tv antenna. Rain fade can be quite easily overcome by going to a larger antenna. Something some people do not know either is that you can use a dish network antenna with the direct tv receivers, just have to cahnge the azimuth and the elevation on the antenna to get on the satellites for direct. Winegard as well as some other manufacturers out there offer a larger antenna pretty reasonable, or if you opt to go with HD option with direct, they were using a triple feed with a wider antenna. A 21 inch antenna and you would likely never see any problems with snow or rain fade.

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I was going to say the exact same thing that Churd said. Dish offered the Outdoor Channel and EWTN. At the time Direct didn't have either.

One thing I might add is reception. When I had DirectTV, if there was a little rain or a couple snow flakes in the air I lost my satellite reception and had to use my antenna again. Now that I have Dish, I rarely lose my reception, even during a storm.

Get Dish!!;)

We also had the rain/snow issue with DT. We do with Dish, but only when it is really heavy rain or 50+ MPH wind. Otherwise we never have reception problems.

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Might be possible that your antenna(dish) was not properly aligned for getting the maximum signal. With that type of issue it would not matter which type of equipment you were using.

I bet William is right. I noticed the same problem with our old dish I installed. When the new equipment was brought in he aligned everything and now it has to be POURING to fade.

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I have both and wouldn't have it any other way. As far as internet, we have something called Naked DSL here that uses your existing phone line and is only $25 for the first 3 months and $25 every month after that for 1 year. you also have to sign a contract for a year too. Some houses here can get it and some can't. It's for people that don't want a land line any more and just use cell phones. I will get it as soon as I move.

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I have had both, right now I have Dish Network and prefer it much better. The guide is easier to read on my eyes and I like my channel selections. Both have pros and cons but I am sticking with Dish network for now.

As long as Dad gets to watch Speed, ESPN, and his hunting shows and the girls get to watch The Wiggles all is well in my household!! :)

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Dish Network here. My parents had DirectTV about 10 years ago but switched to Dish because of programming and having went back. Dish's channel packages suit us much better than those on DirecTV for a similar price. I'm happy because I've got a dual tuner DVR, all my ESPNs, regional sports channels (Fox Sports Midwest & Comcast Chicago), local stations, and The Outdoor Channel and Men's. I don't need much more than that. :D The only issue we've had, which wasn't unexpected, is that we have to purchase a separate ABC affiliate because there isn't a local ABC station around here. Now we get and ABC station out of Atlanta and one out of San Francisco. I would recommend Dish to anyone before I would DirecTV.

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I just ordered DirectTV and so far I am happy with it. We had cable and they kept removing channels so I upgraded and now the pictures are so much clearer than they were with cable. We had a pretty bad storm the night it was installed and did not lose reception with it.

Archerjg

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I don't need much more than that. :D The only issue we've had, which wasn't unexpected, is that we have to purchase a separate ABC affiliate because there isn't a local ABC station around here. Now we get and ABC station out of Atlanta and one out of San Francisco.

Local or network channels have been issues for both. We switched to dish when we lost our 3 major networks with direct. When they first hit the market, it was west coast or east coast feeds available only. Messed up thing was shortly after we switched to dish, they also pulled I think it was the abc network feed on us, which was not supposed to happen. Both dish and direct have a pretty good range of networks available for regions now.

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