I’ve been using cable for as long as it’s been available in my area, and recently switched to digital cable in order to get a whole bunch of additional nifty channels.
Well, the house the soon-to-be-wife and I are moving into in a month already has a DirectTV satellite dish on the roof and all the associated wiring throughout all the rooms. So the question is do we make use of the existing equipment and sign up for DirectTV, or do we call the cable company and have them run another set of wires into the house.
In the past, the main selling point for DirectTV seemed to be the large number of channels available, although I suspect that is now no longer much of a difference due to digital cable. At the same time, the local cable company has been running a number of negative ads against satellite TV in general, saying that the reception can be a problem in poor weather, etc.
Any and all opinions and personal experiences would be welcome.
I switched from digital cable to Dish Network about 6 months ago, and have been very happy. Some of the reasons we were unhappy with cable.
Seems like every time someone did road work the cable would get dug up and service would be down for a while.
There were several (non-digital) channels that would not come in clearly no matter what (low signal level, lots of snow, etc.)
The cable company (TCI, then AT&T) was frequently changing channel assignments, package contents and prices, etc.
Like you, I have heard the claim that dish reception can be poor in bad weather, but I haven’t seen that in actual practice. One time, after a heavy snow storm I did have to get up on my ladder and brush the snow off my dish, but this is the only time our service has been down. I understand that you can buy electrical dish heaters if you live in an area with lot’s of snow.
I’m al for going with satellite and letting the cable company go hang itself.
I’ve had satellite for a couple years (Dish Network) and haven’t had trouble. When I had cable, it’d go out for anywhere ranging from five seconds to five hours. And frequently.
As for weather, the cable was guaranteed to go to hell in the rain as water seeped into cables at bad connections. And it would stay bad for a couple days until the connections dried out. The worst I’ve had with satellite in the rain is the picture may go a bit blocky or stutter now and then, but no complete outage. Keep in mind that this is with rain, and not snow, and that a stronger signal to start with gives that much more “headroom” before problems are noticable.
The other thing the cable companies like to poke fun at the satellites about is how satellite requires a box at each TV and cable doesn’t. I want to slap them every time I see that! The only cable you’ll get without a box is basic cable. Digital cable requires a box at every TV.
Oh, and did I mention that in San Francisco, Dish Network’s “Top 100” package, local channels and two receivers is cheaper than the comparable offering by the cable company?
I recently moved to a new place that already was wired for both cable and a dual line satellite dish. At the time I was using digital cable, but I was somewhat unsatisfied since TimeWarner did not offer OLN (Couldn’t get my pro bike racing coverage:mad: ), so I was considering switching to Direct TV since they offered it. Otherwise there wasn’t much difference channel between the two.
But while researching different satellite packages I found out about Direct TIVO, and jumped on it like white on rice. As a new Direct TV customer I got a Philips dual line 25hr recorder, dish and hardware for around $120. I didn’t need the dish since the place I’m renting already has one, so I’m saving it for when I buy a house.
With the recorder I can record one show while watching another, or record two shows while watching one of them, or record two shows while watching a third that I have recorded previously (In dolby digital no less). I almost never use my VCR any more.
For me, quality of picture is about the same as digital cable, audio is much better (I get some movie channels in digital 5.1 with satellite), and my reception is pretty good. I seem to recall losing cable more often than losing my satellite signal. YMMV depending on where you live.
I’m been thinking of making the switch, too. My neighbor got Dish network last summer, and I’ve talked to him about it several times. He’s completely satisfied with his dish. He’s never had a problem with rain or snow (not that Tennessee gets much snow) or even during a severe hailstorm we had a few months ago. It seems cheaper than most cable and the price has remained steady. I routinely have poor reception on my expanded basic cable, and I’m paying more than I would for a dish. I just haven’t decided if I want Dish or DirecTV. Also, I have trees running along the southern edge of my property - I don’t know if that’ll make reception impossible.
I switched to Directv this past October. I switched mainly because of the sports packages. I’ve been totally happy with it since the switch. At the time, HD wasn’t available from the cable company, so I had HD before everyone else from Directv. I wouldn’t switch back.
The deciding factor for me, in keeping digital cable, was local channels. Having a lot of channels is great, and paying 15 bucks less per month would be great, but if I can’t see daily eps of The Simpsons, Friends, Jeopardy, and whatever else in syndication that I like, it just ain’t worth it. Many areas CAN get local channels via DirecTV, but NOT ours - we’ve checked. If we could, we’d hop on like a horny teenager…
I’ve had Directv for going on 7 years now, I’d always been more than happy with it, my picture quality and sound quality is great, I live in the szeattle area now. I can tell you if rain was a problem I’d know it. I have rarely had issues. I am also using Direct Tivo and have no idea how i lived without it. All my ;local channels (except like public access) are available.
Other cooments from friends with digital cable were that digital cable has a huge delay when changing channels or using the guide, and I also heard the less popular channels on digital cable also have piss poor bandwidth they sap from other channels.
I live in an area where the weather does affect satellite reception…mostly in the winter. From December to April, we average about 2-3 sunny days a year. Most days, the satellite works fine. On the extremely cloudy days, though (quite frequent in the winter), satellite reception is poor.
Water in a cable line will never affect reception. The signal will follow the path with the least resistance which will always be the center conductor. However, corrosion inside a cable line will affect reception. That only seems to be a problem when it’s raining because people tend to watch TV more when it rains.
I can’t get high speed internet through a satelite.
Many cable companies offer a “same day service guarantee”. Some even do it for free. Some (including most dish companies) charge a per visit fee…and the call may be scheduled a week or more out.
Cable companies are being forced to undertake massive rebuidling projects. Our town (though the cable company is exceptional) is no exception. It pays to know if one lives in such an area.
It really does differ from area to area. There really is no alternative in my city. The cable company rules.
However, when hearing stories from some other towns, the pendulum definitely swings the the other way.
It pays to learn a bit about your cable company. A dish can be cheaper…but it one may need additional packages to get the channels he wants.
Cable company: “We’ll have to charge a connection fee to your building of $1200, but if that’s ok, we can get you connected in about six months.”
Note that our apartment isn’t on some remote mountain peak surrounded by shark-infested waters, it’s in the middle of a freakin’ huge city and just ten minutes from their company headquarters.
DirectTV: “Ok, you bought a decoder and dish and have them set up? [we had trouble getting the dish lined up at first, but the store reimbursed us for the service visit] Just give us your address and the number on your IC card, and we’ll start your two free months and send you a price list with subscription card.”
The signal started coming in fifteen minutes later, as there hasn’t been a single problem since then. When I wanted a new channel added, I sent them a postcard and it was coming through by the end of the week. There’s a good reason why almost every apartment in Tokyo has a little dish perched on its balcony railing.
The difference is in the area. I have digital cable (for free heh, heh) and love it. I rarely have any problems, and, if I do, my cable company has same day service for trouble calls. Also, there is no charges attached to the service calls. It’s all FREE. Dog chews through a calbe…they replace it. I had Direct for a year and a half (read the fine print, those contracts are SCARY) cost me over 800 dollars to get out of my contract, had piss poor service, and they hooked up a vacume cleaner to my wallet when service calls were concerned. Also, they had no High Speed internet!!! If you do not have this product, I weep for you. 3mg downloads rule.
That being said, my parents Cable Co in Ohio sucks big time. Their digi box is almost as big as the tv, poor pictures, ingress and sometimes rolling lines. So, area does matter.
BTW, I work for my local cable company, all statements about cable and dish were before I started working for them.
Thanks for all the comments so far. I should point out that (a) I live in an area that sometimes gets a LOT of snow in the Winter, and (b) is have high speed Internet access via DSL (over the phone line) and that’s not a consideration when deciding between cable and satellite.
I live in Colorado, we occassionally get some snow. In the two years of DirectTV, the only hitch I’ve seen was a stutter during a storm that rained 1" in a half hour. Of course, your snows generally contain more moisture than ours.
What really matters is the access to the south. We live on a large hill facing south and have a great signal. Our friends on the other side of the hill, are stuck with the local cable company, which is more expensive - offers fewer channels for the same bucks. (I’m not sure they can even get the ESPN college game day!) Also, local stations are just being rolled out as the cable companies blocked the satellite companies from offering the local stations. I have nice reception using rabbit ears (see that part about the hill), so that is not an issue for us, except in high winds. We get a fair number of days with 50 mph or higher gusts, which seems to affect their broadcast abilities, but not our dish.
FYI, there is a company that sells a broadband, two way satellite connection. I have no experience with it.
The one con of digital satellite TV that I never hear mentioned is that you must have a home phone. For people like myself who have gone exclusively to their cell phone, that’s the sticking point right there.
You may be able to buy them, but I live in Alberta Canada (we usually get lots of snow) and I’ve never needed them.
I had my signal go out once in a wicked electrical storm, but thats it. The thick cloud in the winter never bothered me. I’ve heard from installers that more often than not if there is a problem with reception in poor weather, its usually due to poor aligning with the satellite in the first place.
Our receiver has a phone jack and I know the satellite co would like us to plug it in, but we never have and it works just fine. We’ve been with digital satellite for 4 years.
The only reason you would need to plug in your phone line is if you want to order PayPerView movies or events.
I’ve got both basic cable and Digital Satellite. I watch the satellite a lot more than the cable. Only time I watch cable is for the local news first thing in the morning.
A great thing about satellite is that, as long as you’ve got the HBO, Showtime, Starz package, there is almost always a good movie on.
I love my satellite. So much so, that in looking for a new apartment over the next couple months, a clear view of the SW sky is a key feature we require
I don’t have satellite (yet) but I’m not sure that this is true. I don’t have the time to research it now, but I thought a phone line was required for updating the converter box software. I could be wrong, but make sure you verify before assuming that you can do without landline phone service.
rsa, as far as I understand it, the phone line is for sending information. The satellite is for receiving it.
I could be wrong, but that is my understanding of it. I’ve never plugged in my phone line and not had any problems.
