Dish Network vs Direct TV

[Bird]

We had Dish, and when it got so bad I couldn't tolerate them anymore, we changed to DirecTV and when they kept going up on the price, we changed to Charter Communications cable. The first couple of times DirecTV went up, I called and got a better price, but the last time I called, the guy I got said there was nothing he could do about it. So I changed to Charter and started getting phone calls from DirecTV offering to eveb cut my old bill in half if I'd come back. So far, I have not gone back. I don't like any of them, but like DirecTV's channel line-up best. Maybe now that they've merged with AT&T they'll get better.

 

[EddieWalker]

Something I forgot. The DirectTV remote control fits my hand better with an easier layout then Dish. My Dish remote has remained awkward to use for the last three or so years that I've had it.

 

[CCWKen]

I've had DirecTV for about 7-8 years now and it keeps getting higher and higher. Tried to get HD and they wanted even more. I'm pretty fed up with them. AT&T has some pretty good combo deals now--Phone, High-speed Internet and HD DirecTV for something like $89/month. The problem at my location is we can't get access to the required fiber optics for phone and ISP service (they say). There's an AT&T FO cable bundle that runs the entire length of my Eastern boundary line along the road. They had it marked when the county was doing road work a few years ago. Bummer! :thumbdown:

 

[NoTrespassing]

Every time I think about switching I start reading their advertisement small print and end up just throwing it all away.

Same here, I guess I'll be staying with Dish and upgrading to HD sometime. I'll try to negotiate a deal with them at that time. The combination of 20 years of loyalty and the option to switch to another service is usually pretty good leverage. They cut my monthly charge in 1/2 for 6 months a couple years ago when they were losing channels (fox & TBS?) after I called to complain.

Kevin

 

[turnkey4099]

Been a DirecTV customer for years. They keep increasing price every year. It's double now compared to 10 years ago. Note ATT recently purchased DirecTV and that may result in better deals for DirecTV customers?

Ah! That explains it. I have beren getting their mailers tying Direct TV to ATT and have been wondering what the deal was.

My complaint about either dish service is that they bundle so much into their 'deals' that I don't want and don't watch then charge an arm and a leg to get the channels I do want such as the nature, history and science channels. They can take all the movie and sports and give them to someone who cares.

 

[turnkey4099]

Same here, I guess I'll be staying with Dish and upgrading to HD sometime. I'll try to negotiate a deal with them at that time. The combination of 20 years of loyalty and the option to switch to another service is usually pretty good leverage. They cut my monthly charge in 1/2 for 6 months a couple years ago when they were losing channels (fox & TBS?) after I called to complain.

Kevin

The 'new customer' offers sound real good but when they run out you are right back to being gouged for crap you don't want.

 

[TractorGuy]

Had a bad experience with DTV. After 7-8 years of service my receiver failed. They offered to replace it free but said I would have to pay $20 shipping and handling. I agreed as long as my service stayed the same and did not increase. Was told it would stay the same then they raised my rate. After 3 months of calling to get adjustments and confusion they finally told me my old plan was not available any more and my new higher priced service and "FREE RECEIVER" came with a new 18 month agreement that they failed to mention. I told them to send a return shipping slip if they wanted it back and to cancel my service. They tried to charge me a $280 early disconnect fee. Went through 6 months of haggling about that and refusing to pay so they sent me to a collection agency. I replied to the collection agency via certified letter letting them know I did not owe and would not pay any early disconnect fee I wasn't informed of beforehand. I filed a complaint with the States Attorney's office but never received a reply form them. Got one more letter from DTV then they dropped it. I made sure they didn't put anything on my credit report too.

Called Dish and they said you could only sign up with auto pay. After what I went through with DTV I wasn't about to agree to that.

I got a good antenna with a rotator and never looked back. DSL, Netflix, and antenna has been all we need. A lot of the shows my wife and I watched and enjoyed have the whole series commercial free on Netflix. I have to call and renegotiate my DSL rate with Century Link every year. Have had that line since 1979 and so far they keep letting me get a decent rate for the meager 1.5 Mbps speed they can deliver to my location.

 

[Duwop]

I signed up for Slingtv I get about 40 channels for 25 a month no contract. It's a streaming service offered by one of the major carriers. I stopped paying for cable over 20 years ago opting for whatever was free over-air. I have been apart of the Slingtv for about 3 months and am enjoying it. Sorry I could offer help on the dish/ direct ? but there are options that don't cost 100-200 a month

 

[JerryK]

I have Dish Network [ no cable out in the woods, and the over the air channels are iffy ]... Just their cheapest non-HD plan. Used to call is Dish Family. Have a 322 dual receiver with a TV in the house and one in the barn on the 2nd tuner via coax... and I am a HAPPY CAMPER... Still waiting on the government to trench in my free or low cost government fiber cable......any day now......

 

[reb]

I have been a Dish customer for 15-16 years. The only reason I keep satellite TV is because the wife is a TV addict. Otherwise, I would get the news online and for less than the cost of the satellite service I can buy DVDs of any movie I want to see. My FIL had DTV until he got fed up with the increases and changed to Dish. My brother did that same.

 

[Stimw]

I've had DISH for about 14 years.
5 years ago I bought a new Doublewide and called to get antenna moved and was told it would cost me $97. I told him I was going to just call cable!
He put me through to a supervisor, I explained that I was moving but not going anywhere, she did the antenna move and threw in HD for no cost.
I sold that property in October and moved in at my new property and they installed the new antenna here for free.
If you are getting local channels through DISH you are paying for them!
I save about $10. a month by having my own over air antenna.

I bought this antenna- https://www.walmart.com/ip/HDTV-Out...-Remote-360-176-UHF-VHF-FM-150-Miles/34176799
AND I LOVE IT!! (free shipping)
I get 36 channels and can rotate the antenna to tune them. Some of the channels are the same from different cities but I do get the sub channels.

 

[ovrszd]

That must be nice!!!

I'm in "Lap Land" between KC and Des Moines. I get nothing on Antenna.

 

[roadhunter]

Both are an absolute ripoff IMO. Bait you in with a low cost then jack your bill up, 2 year contracts, phone games if you try to drop the service, bad signal if it's cloudy, or raining, or snowing,etc.... Paying for a bunch of channels you likely don't watch anyway. I have had both in my live and would never go back.

There are many better options out there. If you watch sports you can get that through places like sling which is what I use currently. I am looking forward to the new Direc TV Now which is only $35 for a good lineup of channels. I pan to switch once Direc TV Now is available on Roku which is what I use on my TV's.

Even out in the middle of nowhere I get 5 channels on antenna as well. When we lived in Stillwater we got about 40 channels between the OKC and Tulsa stations.

 

[jack707]

I had both but know I have none to much money every month for garbage now I use my dish for target pratice.

 

[jcummins]

What tv service will give you fox news...and nascar races.....don't care about anything else. On direct TV now, and occasional I'l check the local channel for weather, but 99% of watching is just that.

 

[Pixguy]

I have cable now but am interested in Dish. I've had DTV at another house and finally bought them out as their prices rose constantly.
I called Dish today but they said the only way they'd come to ck if the sightline to their satellite (I have a mtn and tall trees around me) is to give them my SS# and start the service. Sure, the contract wouldn't commence if the satellite wasn't seen from my house but I wish there was a way to ck the sightline without going through the whole rigamarole.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Both are an absolute ripoff IMO. Bait you in with a low cost then jack your bill up, 2 year contracts, phone games if you try to drop the service, bad signal if it's cloudy, or raining, or snowing,etc.... Paying for a bunch of channels you likely don't watch anyway. I have had both in my live and would never go back.

There are many better options out there. If you watch sports you can get that through places like sling which is what I use currently. I am looking forward to the new Direc TV Now which is only $35 for a good lineup of channels. I pan to switch once Direc TV Now is available on Roku which is what I use on my TV's.

Even out in the middle of nowhere I get 5 channels on antenna as well. When we lived in Stillwater we got about 40 channels between the OKC and Tulsa stations.

There's no other option for us except for satellite TV like Hughes. Our only internet is cell tower so we can't do streaming movies. We have no wires connected to our property besides power. Cable won't come this far for one customer.

Kevin

 

[JerryK]

I have cable now but am interested in Dish. I've had DTV at another house and finally bought them out as their prices rose constantly.
I called Dish today but they said the only way they'd come to ck if the sightline to their satellite (I have a mtn and tall trees around me) is to give them my SS# and start the service. Sure, the contract wouldn't commence if the satellite wasn't seen from my house but I wish there was a way to ck the sightline without going through the whole rigamarole.

You can locate your dish yourself. I went online and found where the two satellites I needed to point the dish at were. Then walked around the yard with a pole with the right angle on it and level... I live in a valley and had to clear the house peak and a big sugar maple next to the drive. I found a spot, cemented in a 2" pipe with two 3/4" PVC conduit running into the crawl of the house. Added a smaller reducer pipe to get down to the size pipe the dish folks wanted, then called them out. We pulled the two cables in and he hooked it up/tuned the dish to the two satellites/ and I was good to go. He was so happy I had prep'd it, he gave me several hundred feet of coax to run a cable out to my barn. Here is a link to the satellite info....

Satellite Finder / Dish Alignment Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com

 

[roadhunter]

There's no other option for us except for satellite TV like Hughes. Our only internet is cell tower so we can't do streaming movies. We have no wires connected to our property besides power. Cable won't come this far for one customer.

Kevin

I used to think the same thing, until I tried it. We also have limited options for TV and internet.
I use cell tower internet and stream all the time. It think it's a whopping 8mbps speed but it works. I really just use it to watch college football on ESPN. I'll drop my subscription once season is over.

 

[roadhunter]

What tv service will give you fox news...and nascar races.....don't care about anything else. On direct TV now, and occasional I'l check the local channel for weather, but 99% of watching is just that.

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