From what I understand, firmware updates are sent in the signal stream.
I’ve had DISH-TV for about 4 years, and never had a problem with it. We don’t get snow, but we get plenty of rain, and I’ve never had a reception problem.
We had cable for local channels up to 2 weeks ago, when I discovered that we could get it from the satellite (for 1/2 the price.) First, the DISH-TV people answered quickly. Second, the service was turned on, without a call, in five minutes. (Well, maybe more, but it was on when I went home that night.) I had to repoint my second dish to get some of the local channels, but thanks to the very clear on-screen instructions that took no more than about 10 minutes.
Oh, and my phone has never been near my satellite box. You do need it for PPV, but not for anything else - even new service.
Another vote in favor of Dish Network, if only for their customer service. Before I signed up, I placed a couple calls to them, during the daytime and late evening. They answered quickly, and gave friendly, patient and accurate answers to the dumb questions I already knew the answers to. And yes, one of the answers I got from them is that they’d like the receivers to be plugged into the phone line, but it’s only required for pay-per-view purchases.
Firmware upgrades do come down off the satellite. They don’t make this as obvious as they probably should, but in order to get those updates, as well as program guide data, the box needs to be turned off at least every few days. You’ll know you’re not turning it off often enough when the box has to download the program guide when you try to use it. (fweeet! Four-minute penalty!) The box needs to be off as it’s not got enough bandwidth and/or brain power to decode the audio and video data and comprehend programming info at the same time.
After my sister and her family relocated from the Houston area to Beaumont, they looked into getting cable but ended up with DirecTV instead. Their local cable company never wired their property because that building was still a museum when the work was being done. It wasn’t cost effective for the cable company to go back and run a line to just that one home so they balked.
In the year that we’ve had digital cable here, we have experienced fewer problems than my sister’s family had with their dish in the three weeks that I’ve visited them. Maybe I was there at the wrong time of year but all the problems they were having was enough for me to not get in on the dish offer that our condo complex was offering last summer.
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/imagine/InternetAccess.jsp
I laugh at this product. They offer 500 kbps max…and they compare their services to a 28.8 kbps modem. Furthermore, they have a “bandwidth test” that tells me that my T1 connection is only downloading at 386 kbps (and is below broadband speed). They fail to mention that the only thing that a bandwidth test can accurately measure is the server’s upload speed. That test tells me that I do not want internet service from them.
DirecTV’s internet service went belly up about six months ago, and they needed to find a contractor to provide an ISP. This is the best they could do…but, of course, no one ever brings up the fact that the people who previously invested hundreds of dollars in equipment six months ago now have to invest hundreds of dollars in equipment again.