Satellite or Cable?

Too many trees where I'm at to get satellite... I've got cable.

Glenn

 

We've got Dish Network. Have had problems with them over the years, but recently they've been good, since we got our HDTV receiver. Ready for more HD content (only 5 channels currently), but otherwise enjoying everything else. (Our former problems with them mainly dealt with a faulty receiver that they didn't want to cover expenses for).

-m.

 

I've got both Dish Network and cable. When Comcast took over AT&T Broadband Internet, they jacked the prices of your internet connection unless you also used their cable TV service. So I got a basic cable hookup to the bedroom (this was in the days before free multi-room Dish hookups) and pretty much broke even on the cost. As a bonus, the cable installer didn't have the right channel blocking gadgets with him, so we ended up with a full cable package (minus premium pay channels).

My wife and I do laugh at the Comcast cable commercials which complain about all the problems that having a dish bring. We get more pixallation and service outages from cable than we ever do from the Dish. And we live in a depression surrounded by trees - it took the Dish people 2 weeks to find a good install point on the roof that had satellite visiblity through the trees!

 

At my condo I have Shaw cable and their high speed Internet as the Condo Association refuses to allow satellite dishes. At the hobby farm I have Starchoice DBS.

Overall I would rate the Starchoice DBS as having better picture quality than the digital Shaw cable system. The incidence of pixelization and dropouts is about the same.

The biggest difference is package price for programming. The same programming content is a good $45 a month cheaper with Starchoice DBS. Most DBS have programming packages a lot more reasonable than what cable offers, as the cable usually has 1-2 packages and other channels are pricey add-ons.

 

SO CAL - LA / Hollywood
Direct TV
way better and way cheaper
Cable blows!!!!!
if you need net access use DSL
Can't wait for satellite net prices to drop!

 

I'm probably on the low end of the spectrum: I have extremely basic cable, combined with a TiVo.

There are a number of shows I'd watch if I had extended cable (Deadwood, The Daily Show, and probably Cartoon Network non-stop). However, my schedule is busy enough now that I barely have time to watch what I am recording.

There's that stack of books to read; some home development projects to work on; oh, and those things you humans call "chores"...

 

The poll needs a third and fourth option. . . “Other†and “none†. . . I’m an Other.

I had and hated Comcast until I switched to and loved DirecTV . . . until something better came along.

Fiber Optic!
with
Triple Play!

TV:
No rain/snow fade. No cable outages, no East Coast centric time frames.
TV channels and music clarity like DirectTV .
Local government, local weather, local PBS and community channels.
Pay-per-view. (Yawn)
Video-On-Demand!!! (Start, stop, rewind, fast forward, and pause movies . . . and no Blockbuster visits!)

Internet:
10Mbps!!! (Yes, 10,000,000 bits per second) symmetrical (up and down) always on and no possibility of a slowdown because of neighbors using up the bandwidth like cable. The fiber cable comes all the way to the house. (FTTH)

Phone:
POTS . . . sort of, except it is crystal clear, unlike POTS.

Not counting the first week of bug shake-out, The system has been up and running for me for almost a year and not even the slightest glitch.

Two TVs
Two Phone lines.
Internet.
$120 month with tax & fees. About what I was paying separately for a lesser quality of all three.

[use 95819 for zip code]
http://personal.surewest.com/

 

I prefer DirecTV over cable. We now have the TiVo receiver, and we love it!

 

From 1991 to 2002 we lived off the grid on an island so our only out of area TV was provided by satellite Direct TV (US). Then the law makers in Canada decided that receiving cross border signals was against the law however since the 52 acre island we were caretaking was owned by an American family everything was in their name. This confused the federal communications folks. So we kept Direct until moving to Vancouver Island where we now have satellite Express View (CAN). Also had Shaw TV and Internet but because my better half likes to be able to watch her US channnels both East and West we dropped Shaw TV. Decisions,decisions :|

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Canuck\";p=\"84305)</div>

Interesting how both Dish and DirecTV wanted to offer their service directly to Canadians, with Canadian-specific content, but were refused by the Canadian government.

Also interesting how the Liberal Party Of Canada, under PM Chretien, ensured that some Liberal pals made a killing off launching dedicated DBS satellites: Starchoice and ExpressVu (From the monopolistic Bell Canada).

And very interesting how Canadians cannot legally receive HBO, but can indirectly receive HBO programming if they subscribe to a Canadian movie package or ShowCase. But DirecTV does carry some Canadian channels, such as 366 CBC Newsworld.

We now have a thriving black market in illegal SIM cards for DirecTV (Which is expensive and unreliable, since it's illegal), and the taxpayer continues to pour $$$ into poor substitutes.

All of this was to ensure the continued support of "Canadian Content."

Let's face it: if Canadians were so s*** hot over "Canadian Content" then they wouldn't pay more for illegal black market DirecTV systems.

 

I have wireless TV

 

Satellite TV here. Where I live, cable is not available, and analog TV is a joke on watchability.

I used to hack Direc TV, untill I got tired of the constant cat and mouse game of keeping the system up and running. I then subscribed to Dish network, and remained a customer with them untill last month, when I switched to Direc TV. Dish networks basic package was too lacking in the channel choices that I wanted, and I would have been required to buy into their top tier of programming to get the entire discovery channel network lineup. Direc TV offered the whole thing in their entry level, which was about on par with Dish Networks mid range package. Plus they now offer RFDTV, which used to be a Dish Network exclusive.

 

Jayman, you got that right! ukeright:

 

I have Time Warner cable here. I had thought about going to Dish network because they had the programing I watched but would have to have gotten the higher program. I have not checked lately to compare the two. But another thing I had to consider was internet. I have Earthlink broadband thru my Time Warner cable and love it, never to go back to dial up. What about broadband with satellite? Any probs and how does the cost compare?

 

Rick, it's my understanding that at present the download end of things with broadband satellite internet is reasonable but the upload is relatively slow. Perhaps one of our resident gurus could give us some numbers on this. Don't know about the cost side of things.

 

with direcway, the biggest problem is the fact that the signal has to travel from your computer to the satellite to the ground receiver then to your internet provider then back. lag is horrible.

speeds are fair and loading of the network doesnt affect speed like it does for cable and you can get fairly fast uploading bandwidth for a price.

problem is setup for internet is spendy. but for TV, satellite is light years ahead cable here. now cable offers less channels for more money for standard programming. digital cable is a lot higher. also i like the fact that most of the satellite channels i see on the west coast are on east coast time slots so i can watch a lot of programs 3 hours earlier than i can with cable

 

My provider is Comcast with Microsoft TV Foundation Edition...for 9.99 extra a month I get HD (all networks plus three channels of In Hi Def), a PVR that can simultaneously record 2 Hi Def programs while watching a recorded third program. The interface is much smoother and intuitive than the prior Comcast TV Guide interface, and I must say overall that I am very pleased and hope that Comcast rolls this out to states other than Washington soon. Of course with cable the down side is the garbled look of the lesser non digital channels, but I've come to live with it since I can get the networks, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX in HD. Oh yeah I didn't have to pay 1000 smackeroos for a box either.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Canuck\";p=\"84373)</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA\";p=\"84383)</div>

I have also read about sat not being as good in the internet aspect. That is why I have been hesitant on making the switch. With my digital cable and broadband, monthly charges are around $100. Have been getting info from Verizon, my phone carrier, about DSL. Any ideas here on speeds? Maybe do DSL for internet and Dish for TV?