Direct TV...dish, received, and eye compatibility.

[jack707]

TV is so bad today and high priced so I gave up my dish no TV here!.

 

[dmccarty]

We have DSL via Century Link and they are the only service provider available to use. Sat dishes won't work for us. There is a privately run email digest for our county and there are constant complaints about Century Link's service and speed. Reliability is pretty bad and the fastest speed we can get is 1.5mbps. What is frustrating is that there are 10mbps lines running 400-500 feet way that were installed in the last few years to service new areas. Century won't update the system to give us faster and more reliable speed so we are stuck. The email digest has conversations about Century Link's service at least once or twice a month. The sad thing is that the employees have been top notch with one exception. Management is just not putting money into the system and the employees have to deal with ticked off customers.

Since we are stuck with 1.5 mbps service, we paid extra to have a second 1.5 mbps line installed. We thought about combining the two lines but left them separate. The kids have one line and we have the other which is working out well. We do not have DirecTV because the contents was no where worth what we had to pay. We were not watching much TV even with DirecTV and mostly what we watch is on PBS on the weekends. We do stream content from the Internet and in spite of what everyone says, 1.5 mbps is good enough. We have noticed that the device doing the streaming is very important. Our first BD player was used to stream the Internet and it would pause frequently. That device died and we got a second player and it handled the Internet much better. We just bought an Amazon Fire TV and it has even better performance.

Our phone lines just barely do not get 3 mbps service, it is something like 2.8 mbps, and we have tried to get Century Link to gives us that speed and charge us for 3 mpbs. I would gladly pay for the extra speed but they won't do it.

Later,
Dan

 

[LD1]

We have DSL via Century Link and they are the only service provider available to use. Sat dishes won't work for us. There is a privately run email digest for our county and there are constant complaints about Century Link's service and speed. Reliability is pretty bad and the fastest speed we can get is 1.5mbps. What is frustrating is that there are 10mbps lines running 400-500 feet way that were installed in the last few years to service new areas. Century won't update the system to give us faster and more reliable speed so we are stuck. The email digest has conversations about Century Link's service at least once or twice a month. The sad thing is that the employees have been top notch with one exception. Management is just not putting money into the system and the employees have to deal with ticked off customers.

Since we are stuck with 1.5 mbps service, we paid extra to have a second 1.5 mbps line installed. We thought about combining the two lines but left them separate. The kids have one line and we have the other which is working out well. We do not have DirecTV because the contents was no where worth what we had to pay. We were not watching much TV even with DirecTV and mostly what we watch is on PBS on the weekends. We do stream content from the Internet and in spite of what everyone says, 1.5 mbps is good enough. We have noticed that the device doing the streaming is very important. Our first BD player was used to stream the Internet and it would pause frequently. That device died and we got a second player and it handled the Internet much better. We just bought an Amazon Fire TV and it has even better performance.

Our phone lines just barely do not get 3 mbps service, it is something like 2.8 mbps, and we have tried to get Century Link to gives us that speed and charge us for 3 mpbs. I would gladly pay for the extra speed but they won't do it.

Later,
Dan

I live ~1350' off the state route down the "township road". The state route has TWC lines.

My parents are the next house...bout 2000'. There is one house closer.....and two across the road. All wish for TWC....That would be 5 houses in less than 1/2 mile.

TWC just wont do it. And I inquired what it would cost if I were to pay for part of the install to get it to me........$19,500 just to TEE in and bring it to me 1350' away.

I had TWC at my old house. My house was located 250' off the road. I wonder how they were able to install that for free.....using the above it should have cost over $3500

 

[ultrarunner]

I was a former DTV customer. Won't go into my rant as to why I am no more but: When I had DTV they aired more commercials per program than I have ever seen on over the air TV. Try taking 3-1/2 to 4 hours for a movie. About a third of them were for DTV Pay Per View UFC commercials aired at inappropriate times and channels. I didn't want my child looking at that stuff. I need to get that old dish out of my attic and haul it to the dump.

These days I watch ABC news, PBS, and Netflix. Judge Judy is a sure fire channel changer or hit the off button for me. What a waste of air!

I love watching Judge Judy and it happens right as I sit down for supper... she definitely speaks her mind unlike most and I find the program entertaining... I've been in the courtroom several times for those that remember Judge Wapner... I say more power to the old girl and many more years.

 

[ultrarunner]

I live ~1350' off the state route down the "township road". The state route has TWC lines.

My parents are the next house...bout 2000'. There is one house closer.....and two across the road. All wish for TWC....That would be 5 houses in less than 1/2 mile.

TWC just wont do it. And I inquired what it would cost if I were to pay for part of the install to get it to me........$19,500 just to TEE in and bring it to me 1350' away.

I had TWC at my old house. My house was located 250' off the road. I wonder how they were able to install that for free.....using the above it should have cost over $3500

I went through the same thing for years for a 2000 feet run that was required to be underground... the highest quote was about 14k.

Eventually, with much lobbying and agreeing to spend $300 a month for a multiyear contract I was able to get it installed... many years as in 6 which also included contacting the Cable President, Vice President, Country, FCC starting a blog, etc... the contract did not include Entertainment as it was Webhosting Business service but Entertainment could be added for an additional fee.

The other option I was given several times is if a suitable 2" conduit with monuments every couple hundred feet just happened to be there with a pull string it would be a done deal...

The install eventually was done via underground boring... terrific crew that really knew what they were doing.

The kicker is at the original time of roll out almost 30 years ago the install would have been almost free... the original property owner wanted not part of it and especially the $240 I was told he was quoted.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Can you extend your internet access to the shop, either wired or wireless? The DirecTV app has tons of channels. I use it on my tablet, and it works well. But you have to have fast enough internet to use it.

5 Star Max (Ch.520)
A&E (Ch.265)
Action Max (Ch.519)
Al Jazeera (Ch.347)
AMC (Ch.254)
Aspire (Ch.381)
Audience Network (Ch.239)
axsTV (formerly HDNet) (Ch.340)
BBC America (Ch.264)
BBC World News (Ch.346)
beIN SPORTS HD (Ch.620)
beIN SPORTS Espanol HD (Ch.426)
BET HD (Ch.329)
Big Ten Network (Ch.610)
Bloomberg HD (Ch.353)
Cartoon Network HD(Ch.296)
Cinemax HD East (Ch.515)
CMT HD (Ch.327)
CNBC (Ch.355)
CNN HD (Ch.202)
Comedy Central HD (Ch.249)
Cooking Channel HD (Ch.232)
DIY Network HD (Ch.230)
Encore Action (Ch.541)
Encore HD East (Ch.535)
ESPN HD (Ch.206)
ESPN2 HD (Ch.209)
ESPN Deportes (Ch.432)
ESPN News HD (Ch.207)
ESPNU HD (Ch.208)
Food Network (Ch.231)
Fox Business (Ch.359)
Fox Deportes (Ch.425)
Fox News (Ch.360)
Fox Sports 1 (Ch.219)
Fox Sports 2 (Ch.618)
Fuse (Ch.339)
Fusion (Ch.324)
FX (Ch.248)
FXX (Ch.259)
FYI (Ch.266)
Galavision (Ch.404)
H2 (Ch.271)
Hallmark (Ch.312)
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (Ch.565)
HBO Comedy East (Ch.506)
HBO East (Ch.501)
HBO Family East (Ch.507)
HBO Latino East (Ch.511)
HBO Signature East (Ch.503)
HBO West (Ch.504)
HBO Zone (Ch.509)
HBO2 East (Ch.502)
HBO2 West (Ch.505)
HDNet Movie (Ch.566)
HGTV (Ch.229)
History (Ch.269)
HLN HD (Ch.204)
IFC (Ch.564)
Lifetime (Ch.252)
Lifetime Movie Network (Ch253)
Longhorn (Ch.667)*
Max Latino (Ch.523)
Max West (Ch.516)
MegaTV (Ch.405)
More Max (Ch.517)
Movie Max (Ch.515)
MSNBC (Ch.356)
MTV HD (Ch.331)
MTV2 HD (Ch.333)
Nat Geographic (Ch.276)
Nat Geo Wild (Ch.283)
NBA.TV (Ch.216)
NBC (Ch.4)**
Nick Jr. (Ch.301)
Nickelodeon East HD (Ch.299)
OWN (Ch.279)
Palladia (Ch.572)
QVC (Ch.275)
Reelz (Ch.238)
SEC Network (Ch.611)
Shorts (Ch.573)
Showtime 2 (Ch.547)
Showtime Beyond (Ch.550)
Showtime Extreme (Ch.549)
Showtime HD (Ch.545)
Showtime Next (Ch.551)
Showtime Showcase (Ch.548)
Showtime West (Ch.546)
Showtime Women (Ch.552)
Smithsonian Channel HD (Ch.570)
Sony Movie Channel (Ch.568)
Spike HD (Ch.241)
Starz Cinema (Ch.531)
Starz Comedy (Ch.528)
Starz Edge (Ch.529)
Starz HD East (Ch.525)
Starz In Black (Ch.530)
Starz Kids & Family (Ch.527)
Starz West (Ch.526)
Sundance (Ch.557)
TBS (Ch.247)
TCM HD (Ch.256)
Tennis Channel (Ch.217)
Thriller Max (Ch.522)
TMC HD (Ch.553)
TMC Xtra (Ch.555)
TNT HD (Ch.245)
Travel Channel (Ch.277)
TruTV (Ch.246)
TV Land HD (Ch.304)
TWC Deportes (Ch.458)
TWC SportsNet (Ch.691)
VH1 HD (Ch.335)
WE (Ch.260)
Weather Channel (Ch.362)
WeatherNation (Ch.361)
UniMas (Ch.408)
Univision East (Ch.402)
Univision Deportes (Ch.455)
USA (Ch.242)

 

[bigtiller]

Judge Judy is a sure fire channel changer or hit the off button for me. What a waste of air!

Oh no you di'ent just say that?

We have supper with Judge Judy nearly every night thanks to our DVR.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I find it amazing that people just accept that wasting 24 minutes per hour of watching TV(to watch the commercials) is reasonable. (as opposed to dvr and skipping those commercials)

" It's FREE TV! "

You can still watch OTA channels and skip commercials.. Now with a one time, lifetime, payment: TiVo Roamio OTA DVR | Antenna DVR and Streaming | 1TB Storage

 

[Midniteoyl]

I was a former DTV customer. Won't go into my rant as to why I am no more but: When I had DTV they aired more commercials per program than I have ever seen on over the air TV. Try taking 3-1/2 to 4 hours for a movie. About a third of them were for DTV Pay Per View UFC commercials aired at inappropriate times and channels. I didn't want my child looking at that stuff. I need to get that old dish out of my attic and haul it to the dump.

These days I watch ABC news, PBS, and Netflix. Judge Judy is a sure fire channel changer or hit the off button for me. What a waste of air!

?? The commercial breaks are the same length for satellite, cable and OTA. The only difference is the type of commercials you get during that time, ie: Local, Regional, or National. But the time allotted for each break is built into the broadcast from the network. Remember back when you had to have a 10' foot dish? These where fed directly from the network's satellite feeds and you would usually see 'Insert commercial here' type messages with a countdown timer on a black screen. That was the networks allotted time for the local affiliates to put in the local and regional commercials.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Since we are stuck with 1.5 mbps service, we paid extra to have a second 1.5 mbps line installed. We thought about combining the two lines but left them separate. The kids have one line and we have the other which is working out well. We do not have DirecTV because the contents was no where worth what we had to pay. We were not watching much TV even with DirecTV and mostly what we watch is on PBS on the weekends. We do stream content from the Internet and in spite of what everyone says, 1.5 mbps is good enough. We have noticed that the device doing the streaming is very important. Our first BD player was used to stream the Internet and it would pause frequently. That device died and we got a second player and it handled the Internet much better. We just bought an Amazon Fire TV and it has even better performance.

Our phone lines just barely do not get 3 mbps service, it is something like 2.8 mbps, and we have tried to get Century Link to gives us that speed and charge us for 3 mpbs. I would gladly pay for the extra speed but they won't do it.

Later,
Dan

The type of streaming box matters due to the type of compression they can receive and decode. Older is worse. Newer is better (usually) as you are finding out. At one time, Netflix said they had to maintain something like 2 dozen copies of each and every show just to accommodate the different compressions in use around the world.

As for combining your lines, I use a TP-Link Load balancing Router to combine 2 10mbps lines into one. Works pretty good for most stuff, though there is some things that wont combine, like Xbox or Netflix.