Dish Network vs Direct TV

[dmccarty]

On demand only works with High Speed internet and much of the country doesn't have that option yet. M
...
Kevin

What is High Speed? When I first was thinking about canceling Directv, everything I read said one needed at least 3mbps to stream video. We stream video with 1.5mbps very successfully. In the past we would get hangs and such but I think that was due to the equipment that was dong the streaming. Our first streaming device was through a DVD player. When it died we bought a BD player which was much faster and minimized streaming pauses. We just got a Fire TV and it is even better.

For years we would be streaming to the TV in the living room and the kids would be streaming to their PCs, phone, or game boxes all on 1.5 mbps. The streams might pause from time to time but it was not bad. We can't get faster DSL, CenturyLink sucks but they are the only provider in our area and they know it. We did put in a second DSL line. At the moment, we run two networks at 1.5 mbps. One for us and one for the kids. Works well.

DSL went down one day and I had to connect to the Internet so I used my cell phone. The speeds on the PC connected via the phone where SOOOO much faster. I wish we could afford to tether the computers but we can't.

Back to the OP. We never had problems I can remember with Directv other than the always increasing bill. The guy that installed the system wanted to charge us even though it was supposed to be a free installation. That was the only issue we had with service and we did not pay extra. We canceled after many years due to increasing costs and decreasing content to watch. They had more and more channels with less and less to watch. We just stream content now, watch a few PBS shows and every once in awhile watch reruns of old shows on OTA.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

...

Up until AT&T bought DirecTV I'd get mailings every month to switch and receive a $200+ Visa card and a big channel line up at a rate lower than what I was paying for Dish....

We canceled Directv years ago and immediately started getting letters asking us to rejoin the service. We get at least two letters a month from them that I just toss in the trash. We get the $200 Visa card letter at least once a month and we got one a week or so back.

When A&E, Food Network, Discovery, and History channel went all reality programming, pay for TV was over for us and we won't go back. There is more Arts & Entertainment, science, history, and cooking on YouTube than on any of the paid for TV channels.

Later,
Dan

 

[riptides]

...

DSL went down one day and I had to connect to the Internet so I used my cell phone. The speeds on the PC connected via the phone where SOOOO much faster. I wish we could afford to tether the computers but we can't...

Dan

What is the cost with putting one cell phone on tethering and offering a WiFi spot from it?

I upgraded my cell phone data plan, tether enabled mine, and run my networks from it when I need connectivity.

I probably saved at least 100 dollars doing that, getting rid of the MiFi router and separate account that used to perform the network duties.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

We canceled Directv years ago and immediately started getting letters asking us to rejoin the service. We get at least two letters a month from them that I just toss in the trash. We get the $200 Visa card letter at least once a month and we got one a week or so back.

Maybe the difference is that I'm already an AT&T subscriber for my telephone land line. Haven't seen a DirecTV Visa card offer since the buy out. Guess they figure since I'm already a customer, I should just give them the TV subscription without any financial incentives. But even at $200, it wouldn't take long to eat it up with the top tier channel package I'd need to get the stations I really want to watch. At least with Dish I can get that lineup at a much lower tier.

 

[dmccarty]

What is the cost with putting one cell phone on tethering and offering a WiFi spot from it...

Too much. :shocked::laughing: At least it was the last time we checked a few months ago.

I really wish we could use the cell network and ditch Centurylink but for the amount of data we use, the only provider is Centurylink. We don't have cable access.

Later,
Dan

 

[NoTrespassing]

What is High Speed? When I first was thinking about canceling Directv, everything I read said one needed at least 3mbps to stream video. We stream video with 1.5mbps very successfully. In the past we would get hangs and such but I think that was due to the equipment that was dong the streaming. Our first streaming device was through a DVD player. When it died we bought a BD player which was much faster and minimized streaming pauses. We just got a Fire TV and it is even better.

For years we would be streaming to the TV in the living room and the kids would be streaming to their PCs, phone, or game boxes all on 1.5 mbps. The streams might pause from time to time but it was not bad. We can't get faster DSL, CenturyLink sucks but they are the only provider in our area and they know it. We did put in a second DSL line. At the moment, we run two networks at 1.5 mbps. One for us and one for the kids. Works well.

DSL went down one day and I had to connect to the Internet so I used my cell phone. The speeds on the PC connected via the phone where SOOOO much faster. I wish we could afford to tether the computers but we can't.

Back to the OP. We never had problems I can remember with Directv other than the always increasing bill. The guy that installed the system wanted to charge us even though it was supposed to be a free installation. That was the only issue we had with service and we did not pay extra. We canceled after many years due to increasing costs and decreasing content to watch. They had more and more channels with less and less to watch. We just stream content now, watch a few PBS shows and every once in awhile watch reruns of old shows on OTA.

Later,
Dan

We actually have enough speed on 4g cellphone tower, we just can't afford the data to stream. Even if I get on the same plan as my wife we will only have 20 gigs per month. Each phone costs 55$ plus tax for 10 gigs.

Kevin

 

[dmccarty]

Maybe the difference is that I'm already an AT&T subscriber for my telephone land line. Haven't seen a DirecTV Visa card offer since the buy out. Guess they figure since I'm already a customer, I should just give them the TV subscription without any financial incentives. But even at $200, it wouldn't take long to eat it up with the top tier channel package I'd need to get the stations I really want to watch. At least with Dish I can get that lineup at a much lower tier.

That could be. We have CenturyLink and they keep sending us mail to bundle Directv with the phone service but that is not going to happen either.

You are correct that $200 won't go far with Directv.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

We actually have enough speed on 4g cellphone tower, we just can't afford the data to stream. Even if I get on the same plan as my wife we will only have 20 gigs per month. Each phone costs 55$ plus tax for 10 gigs.

Kevin

Yeah, if you Internet is via cell the bottleneck is the data plan and not likely to be speed. We would love to use the cell for Internet access but we burn through too much data.

Later,
Dan

 

[riptides]

Yeah, if you Internet is via cell the bottleneck is the data plan and not likely to be speed. We would love to use the cell for Internet access but we burn through too much data.

Later,
Dan

I am at Verizon with a 40GB plan and 5 phones. Two offering hotspots and/or tethering. Just under 3 bills a month.

Four phones are women owned and operated, three of the four are college students traversing continents. Lots of video and photos services. I think Verzion offers plans over 60GB a month now. With carryover.

 

[rekees4300]

We actually have enough speed on 4g cellphone tower, we just can't afford the data to stream. Even if I get on the same plan as my wife we will only have 20 gigs per month. Each phone costs 55$ plus tax for 10 gigs.

Kevin

Ditto ... I'm concerned that even after 5G is available in a few years they will continue to impose data caps to suck as much money as possible out of their customers. :thumbdown: