Comcast Cable vs. DirectTV vs. Dish Network

[zag95]

WE have comcast- it sucks- especially with all this new HD stuff and little boxes to add to each TV, increases every year, breaks in service...... I'm not happy:mad::mad:

Are either the DISH or DIRECTTV any better??? Or would I be jumping into another frying pan?

TIA for opinions!

[JBaxter]

Direct TV goes out in heavy rains here I have also had to climb a ladder to knock ice off ice off of it in the winter. Get the dish installed where its easy to access.

[egoldber]

All satellite have issues with heavy rain and ice. Definitely get the dish where you can reach it if you can.

We have been Dish Network customers for over 10 years. My DH (who is in the technical business of knowing all the in and outs of cable vs satellite and televisions) claims they are the "best available". All have their faults though.

[rwiklendt]

We've had Dish Network for years in various states and have always had good luck. They have been the least expensive when I have checked, but I haven't done so in a couple of years. My parents have Direct TV and they like it as well. I agree with PP in that we do lose reception in heavy fog/clouds or rain, but that is not very often. We've never had an ice problem and we get quite a bit of it here in OK.

[willow33]

We also have Dish Network and like it. We do lose signal during big storms, but understand that it comes with having satellite.

[khm]

We have Directv because it was the best "bundle" with phone and internet. Dish doesn't NOT have any bundles in my area or they'd have both been in the running. Dish with the other stuff separately was considerably higher.

I've been happy with Directv. Dish does have better ability to watch stuff from other areas of the house from a certain box. I use a cheapo "a/v sender" from Amazon to watch the DVR in other locations. It's not fancy, but it works well. I was shocked, honestly. ;) The box it came in was super generic looking!

We have lost signal once or twice this past year during high wind / heavy rain. The snow has not affected ours so far, but it is on the ground if we needed to knock snow off. I have the TV set up so I can switch to over air signal without issue. So, it's not a biggie. (The TV is over air DTV ready, and at first it didn't pick up any channels. I put a coax cable on the antenna plug in that goes nowhere on the other end. I guess it just needed something to act as an antenna? Not sure!)

A neighbor uses cable (mediacom) and a vista computer hooked up to a TV to run a DVR-like thing. He loves it. It has it's own guide (he rents no boxes). But, I'm loathe to go back to mediacom and other than the box rental, he's not saving money, he just likes the vista media center setup.

[AJP]

Another Dish user here. We've had no problems in over 4 years in this home and 3 in the previous one. We've only had it go out a few times in the last year during one big/long storm. I really like that we could have 2 tv's hooked up to one DVR box and both tv's could record & play back independantly. All that said, we're switching to Verizon Fios next week lol. We are getting a better deal bundling internet, phone & tv and will be upgrading to HD. I have heard nothing but good about their service around here.

[hellokitty1]

there are pros and cons for both satellite and cable but the one thing that i appreciate about dish network is that they truly appreciate my business and they have gone out of their way to address any issue i've had, esp if i threaten to leave. whenever i call, the first thing they do is thank me for my 10+ yrs of being a customer. time warner is the local cable provider here and they could care less about you.

[zag95]

Thanks people!! I knew I could count on you guys! I'm going to call the DISH folks tomorrow and see what I can get from them!

NO more COMCAST!!! YEah (think Ding dong the witch is dead!!!):yay:

[kransden]

When I lived in the midwest, we used the DISH. It was great. Here in the southwest the price vs content was best with DirectTV. It is just as good. I would see who has the best package vs the price to fit your needs.

[khm]

there are pros and cons for both satellite and cable but the one thing that i appreciate about dish network is that they truly appreciate my business and they have gone out of their way to address any issue i've had, esp if i threaten to leave. whenever i call, the first thing they do is thank me for my 10+ yrs of being a customer. time warner is the local cable provider here and they could care less about you.

Unfortunately, my mom had the opposite experience as a long-time Dish customer. I'm convinced it's all a crapshoot with any TV provider.....

She's been with them since THE very, very beginning of Dish. A local guy was selling Dish out of the trunk of his car when she signed up.

She began having issues with her ancient box last year and they were extremely unhelpful. It was maddening because they had promos to get new customers FOUR new boxes, but nothing to retain the old customers.

She started by being super nice (her nature), and escalated to threatening to leave to no avail. (This was over the course of a month or so.) She went up the chain of command and everything. I think my brother even called on her behalf.

She did end up leaving. Switched to Directv, but couldn't get used to a few things that were slightly different. (My dad in particular is extremely set in his ways!!) Frustrated, she did go back to Dish and they were more helpful that time around in order to get her back.

I hate that they all have killer 1st year deals, then it shoots up in price. I'd have probably stayed with mediacom (I liked being able to get basic cable on any TV without a box. the previous owners have cable jacks everywhere) but after my first year expired, my price shot up an insane amount.

[HIU8]

We had Comcast and switched to Direct TV. Comcast SUCKED. It went out weekly (more than once a week). Direct TV was awesome. I know some people say it goes out with storms, but we had ours for 2 years and it went out twice. We did end up switching to Fios though b/c the Verizon Fios bundle saves us $40 a month. A neighbor 2 houses away from me has Dish Network. They could not get Direct TV b/c they had several trees that were in the way and could not get a signal from the satellite. They could get a signal from the Dish Network satellite though.

[codex57]

I think Comcast is one of the most evil companies in the world. Most companies don't have many incentives to keep current customers, so khm, I don't think Dish was out of whack with what most other companies would have done in that situation. To deal with it, you do what she eventually did. Switch, then switch back.

I think pretty much all cable companies are scum and would much rather deal with the satellite providers if at all possible. So far, my belief has only strengthened that cable is evil and satellite is ok.

[hellokitty1]

She began having issues with her ancient box last year and they were extremely unhelpful. It was maddening because they had promos to get new customers FOUR new boxes, but nothing to retain the old customers.




i made this beef with them too and they've always offered me something, like an updated receiver. they do actually have more "existing customer" offers these days on their website. i've never paid for a receiver upgrade. they tend to offer you stuff if you haven't gotten anything for over a year.

[gatorsmom]

We had DirecTV and hated it. DH would have to climb a latter to play with the dang dish while I was at the computer trying to tell him when the signal was best. It happened all.the.time.

We got Comcast and love it. I"m sorry you are having so many problems. I think going to a satellite would just mean a different set of problems. That's just our opinion though. :D