Dish or DirecTV

[Shaggy]

Heh, I am sure there are loyalists on each side but I am thinking about making the switch from DirecTV to Dish so I was wondering if anyone here has had both and which one did you like better. Or if someone has or had Dish what your thoughts were.

Right now I have everything you can get except the premiums, DVR service and equipment protection (that $5 a month comes in handy with 3 DVRs and free equipment upgrades) on three TVs. I pay $82 a month after tax if we dont get any ppv.

Does dish charge for each receiver other than the primary one, DVR, locals, etc? They have a special now that looks like it would give me the same service I have now, if not a few more channels for $47.99/month with a 12month commitment, regulary $62.99 so even if it goes back up to that after a year its still $3 a month cheaper than the base price for what I pay now.

I guess I am more concerned with the quality of the service than anything. And how the heck does one DVR run tvs in two different rooms?

[Shaggy]

Suddenlink is the local cable co here and they do not have NFL network.... that is a requirement.

[arod757]

I've had both and prefer Dish's DVR by a mile. I have an HD DVR in my living room with dual tuners and another tuner that goes to my off-air HD antenna outside. So I can actually record three things at once on that DVR. Comes in handy with all the stupid reality shows my wife and daughter are addicted to.

I also have another HD DVR in my bedroom with two tuners. One tuner is for my bedroom and the other goes to my daughter's room. The signal to my daughter's room is not in HD but looks good enough for a 16-year-old. She can get HD when she gets her own place. She uses an RF remote to control her tuner on her TV. So she doesn't have a satellite box in her room, just the cable from the wall connected to her TV. I also have an extra RF remote that I use to control her TV usage. I can always tell when she's watching TV because the tuner light comes on on the box in my room.

My bill looks like I'm getting charged one DVR fee and that's it. Probably verify with them what they'll charge for additional satellite boxes.

[mr.72]

I had DirecTV for over 10 years before I made the switch to Dish. My experience with customer service with DirecTV was so horrible that even if they offered me identical service with a DVR as reliable and easy to use as an iPod for ten cents a month, I would never, ever switch back. But their DVR (2 years ago) was complete junk, the installation was a mess (FOUR cables to my DVR from the dish?!?!).

Don't even get me started on cable.

Dish Network has been far better. Their customer service is still not great, but you can actually get things done. You just have to call and ask for their "cancellation" dept. immediately before you can get anyone who can actually make a decision.

Which reminds me, it's about time for me to call Dish and upgrade... maybe get another HD DVR, etc. My contract is over for a long time now.

AT&T is trying to sell me on an integrated service, wireless phone + internet + TV, and TV/internet are delivered via fiber. I need to look into that, since we have AT&T for our wireless phone service.

[Abraham]

You will often be directed to someplace in India with service calls to Dish. This may not be a problem for some folks, however I've discovered a little secret: If your first call for service is answered by someone with an Indian accent, hang up and keep calling until you get someone who speaks American accented English, i.e, a call center located here in the states.

Dish doesn't place all their service centers in India - just some of them. Each call for service is routed rather haphazardly or so it seems... So, if you're persistent and want to speak to someone here in the states, keep calling until it happens. For me, I've found it may take 3 to 5 attempts.

Also, I've found when I need service, which thankfully isn't often, the folks here in the states don't assault you with sales pitches when you need advice regarding service. The folks in the states will address your problem and help you fix it. The Indian types hit you with canned sales pitches and often seem unable to comprehend technical problems. Yeah, they speak English, but are so fixated on selling you upgrades they drive you bonkers...

[Shaggy]

Ok so it sounds like people have had a positive experience with Dish. For the dual tuner models, do they require that each tuner have it's own coax like DirecTV?

[arod757]

Ok so it sounds like people have had a positive experience with Dish. For the dual tuner models, do they require that each tuner have it's own coax like DirecTV?

Not anymore. You'll have one cable coming in through the wall. They use a splitter behind the box that can separate the signal for the two tuners. No more running extra wires or drilling extra holes into the house.

[Shaggy]

That sounds good because I really hate the dual coax requirement that limits a few of my tvs to one tuner

[Liberty]

I have cable with no box and Netflix with Roku.. Cheap as many TVs as I want and more good movies than I''ll ever have tim to watch. Very fast internet. Cable ain't so bad if you have a Digital TV and can get over the fact that you don't need their lousy boxes, its not such a bad deal. I actually have one box that we will get rid of because it doesn't let us get High definition TV but we can get it without the boxes.

[Mike1951]

I had Time-Warner many years ago. There was an outage and each time I called, was told I was the only one reporting a problem.

After two weeks of no TV, I signed up with DISH. When I went to the local TW office to turn in my boxes, I learned that there was a several square mile outage, including me, that all of the TW personnel knew about . They had no idea how long it would be out and it was easier to lie to the customers.

I would do without before ever going back to cable.

Relatively few issues with DISH.

[C-dub]

If FiOS is available I highly recommend it. When I had it it was awesome. I moved and it is not available in my area.

[Mike1951]

I used to check my address fairly often to check for FIOS availability. I used to just get the answer that it was not available. Try again later.

It no longer says that FIOS isn't available, just shows their DSL/satellite packages in a bait and switch.

I wonder how many sign up before they realize they're not getting FIOS.

There was a newspaper article back in 2008 where Verizon was to have service in my area by the end of 2008. Still waiting.....