Cable vs. Dish

[KenB123]

I have been a Dish subscriber now for about 4-months. My main incentive for switching was because cable prices just kept going up and up. Taking advantage of the new subscriber deals with a satellite system (Dish or Direct), I went with Dish. Installation went smoothly and I can't complain of any major issues.

Overall, and I don't mean this to intentionally stir up anyone, I am still wondering whther the move was good or not. For the first year, I will be saving money, but eventually the cost will go up and be closer to what my cable bill was. Also with cable, my best recollection is that outages occurred very rarely. With Dish, I experience one almost weekly. It might only be about a 5 minute outage, but it is annoying.

I also find the channel lineup screen really difficult. I have stations listed twice, once in a lower channel range, then again in the 9000 range. I just don't get-it. I could take the time to understand it, but maybe that's part of my point. I shouldn't have to put much time into this type of stuff. It should be straightforward and easy.

I lost the local neighborhood Cable-Access station and our village council broadcasts. I can live without these, but nonetheless, it is a difference and a loss for the satellite subscribers. On-Demand is also gone.

My intent here is to not necessarily put-down Dish, but rather to state some differences I am seeing that make we ponder whether I made the right decision. I will live with Dish for the extent of my contract, but at the end will evaluate the cost savings. To me if the cost savings is considerable, I would happily accept those things I consider as shortcomings and stay with satellite. But if the costs start to even out, I would have to believe I would consider switching back because overall my comfort level with cable seemed like it was better than what I am experiencing now.

Anybody care to offer any pursuasion for satellite?

 

[darrencp22]

I agree with you on the guide issue. I dont need to see two versions of the same channel.. potentially 3 if you could HD and SD.

 

[oljim]

Set up your fav channel list, then you will not see what you do not want to see

 

[KenB123]

Set up your fav channel list, then you will not see what you do not want to see

Agreed. But part of my original post is the fact we have to do this.

Maybe I just don't understand this satellite stuff yet. Why are there multiple stations displayed anyway?

 

[kennya]

Yea, I have repeat locals in my guide, I just took 3 minutes to set up my fav's so that I wouldnt see the duplicates. Not sure why they are there, but it is simple to "hide" them.

 

[Cyclone]

I take it that you are talking about the duplicate channel numbers for your local stations. Why are multiple stations displayed? Well that is a short history lesson.

1. Back in the old days, the receivers were dumb and each channel had to have its own unique number. So your local stations would get their own channel numbers (usually in the 700 or 8000 ranges).

2. Later they came out with a software release that allowed your SD locals to map down to their local channel number. So your local ABC 7 would now be on ch 7 as well as ch 8073. But maintaining backwards compatibilty the orig channel still is availalbe and is listed the same on old receivers which do not support this mirror.

3. HD Locals are introduced and now you have another local channel in the 6000 range.

4. HD channels are now also mapped down.

So there you have the reasons for duplcates.

 

[hrxtreme]

I was in a differing situation. With Cable, I was losing signal more than I do with Dish. I only lose my dish signal during really really bad rain storms where a giant thundercloud is to the southwest. I'd like to think my dish is setup rather well. With cable, I'd lose service for no reason, probably construction or something, and due to interference and such, never could get local channels 2, 4 and 6 to tune in snow free. Now, I have no issues. With regards to the down mapped locals, I honestly don't notice them, I never go through the guide. I usually get to 414 and then hit 2 - SELECT to go back to start or just start going backwards. As for price, cable increases their prices annually usually as well, and lots of times at higher rates then satellite. However, in time you will know which decision is right for you, because that's just it, it's about you.

 

[tsduke]

The cable vs dish isn't a cut and dry compitition. For me dish wins hands down because my cable option is Mediacom and they suck. Where cable quality might be great in one town it may suck in another making it hard to say one it overall better than the other.

I also find the 622 receiver to be a much better product then any stb the cable co's use. I clean up my guide using channel lock so that I see no duplicates.

 

[cparker]

I think it works like this...

Your local channels (for instance) are actually on those upper channels.... like.... 9234 or something. You get to SEE them in their "normal" local channel number slots like... channel 2 or channel 4 or whatever... almost as a convenience. I'm not sure if this is called "map down" but the idea is the same. You want to watch local channel 2 so you hit "2" and you're there..... much better than having to remember that you need to hit "9234" when you want "2".

Your local cable company, on the other hand, is exactly that... local.... so they aren't having to come up with a way to show the national channels to everyone and the local channels, based on location, to only those subscribers in that particular location.


I guess I'm just used to it after all these years with Dish, but I can see where it could be confusing at first. I really don't venture into the 9000 range and to be honest, while I have set up favorite lists in the past, I just don't bother with them now. I might create one ... just one... for the family that simply leaves out all of the channels we NEVER watch (there are lots of them) and this would just be to make scrolling through the guide faster. I don't want 4 individual favorite lists in there because then instead of "All channels", "All Sub", and "All HD", I'd also have to scroll through "Mom, "Dad", "Jason" and "Scott". I can't be bothered.

I don't see the guide setup as better or worse. It's just different.

"If you keep doing what you've always done.... you'll always get what you always got"

 

[NoWhrMn]

Agreed. But part of my original post is the fact we have to do this.

To me it is not a fact that you have to do this. It a fact that you have the option to do this (Which is something you could not do with cable). I cannot speak for all cable cos but Cox here in Tucson has such horrible "digital" stuff that staying with dish was a no brainer for me.

 

[adavis720]

My switch was facilated due to a Software problem with the cable co's DVR in my area.

I was a Time Warner Cable customer, and I was switched over Comcast when they bought the lines in the area. I was instructed to keep my same hardware (moto-6412's w/ passport echo software) and Comcast would be sending a update down. I was a little exited go get to Comcast, and the update came down switching my boxes over to IGuide.

Here is the problem, when the Comcast techs wrote the software for my service area, on the HD channel, they left of the "-HD" designation. So for example I would have channel 9 (WTFX) and channel 234 (WTFX). Channel 234 should have been WTFX-HD as it is on every other Comcast box in around here (all the South Jersey and Philadelphia surrounding markets). But here in the NW Philly service area it wasn't. So every time I set a season pass on the HD channel, the box would record it on the non-HD channel. It was obvious what was happening, since in the recorded shows list it showed the channel as 9 not 234.

The switch-over happened in Dec. 2006, and I called constantly trying to get them to fix this. I had both of my boxes switched 3 times each over the course of 6 months. When I called, explaned the situation thoruhgly (that the DVR is recording the WRONG CHANNEL!) I had the CSR and/or supervisor tell me:
- Are you sure your box is hooked up for HD?
- Are you sure your TV is HD?
- Some shows are not in HD.
- That is the way it is supposed to work.
- You can't record HD.
- Why do you care, I can't see the difference.

I finally got a MANAGER on the phone (Retention Department Manager) who seemed to actually care. He said he understood what was happening and was contacting the the MANAGER of the department that handles the box programming. He said he would call me back the next day with information and a time line. He did not. No call, no nothing. So I called and got him the following day, explained how displeased I was that the Retention Department Manager failed to call a customer back when he said he would! At this time he offered me a STANDARD DEFINITION DVR as if that would solve all my problems. Only after threatening to switch Satellite did he promise to call me back. He never did. I understood at that time that I was not going to get my problem resolved and it was time to switch.

So after being infuriated for nearly 8 months, I am a happy Dish Network customer.

Sure I only have 1 HD-DVR now, no real "On-Demand", have to deal with an occasional outage in really bad weather, lose a little local sports and learn a new user interface.

But at least the hardware works as advertised and I can record my show in HD. (plus all the other stuff - EXT hard drive, responsive hardware, tons more HD...)


I'm not saying the same type of customer service nightmare couldn't happen with Dish Network or Direct TV (or any other terrestrial cable provider) but I can not and will not continue to give Comcast my business. I know it is not much, but it makes me feel better that they are not getting my money anymore.

As far as the price goes, I know it is cheaper for me this way, on Dish Network, then it would have been if I was paying full price, but due to all my problems I was paying less than $75 a month.

 

[birdo]

I did have anxieties when switching over to Dish. I was a cable customer forever and up and switching took some effort on our family. Cable in our area is Charter. Too many things were just putting a strike against them. Higher and higher prices, horrible technical support, lack of HD channels, very high broadband cost, horrible billing support, and just so much runaround it was not even funny. That alone is worth something.

But I do understand the concern. I mean the OnDemand was nice especially if you had movie channels for series on HBO or kids shows onDemand. Hopefully that is something in the future Dish will expand.

But as time goes on, we shall see how things turn out for Dish. I do enjoy it

 

[KenB123]

To me it is not a fact that you have to do this. It a fact that you have the option to do this (Which is something you could not do with cable). I cannot speak for all cable cos but Cox here in Tucson has such horrible "digital" stuff that staying with dish was a no brainer for me.

That's a good point. I did not have the option with cable to setup a favorites.

 

[harshness]

Agreed. But part of my original post is the fact we have to do this.

That's one of the hazards to having access to lots of programming. I wouldn't expect that someone else was going to set up my favorites list for me.

Maybe I just don't understand this satellite stuff yet. Why are there multiple stations displayed anyway?

This is done for the benefit of those who use paper guides to make the HD version of a channel line up with the printed guides.

As for the "temporary" price advantage that you fear, don't forget that cable is likely to continue going up as well. Maybe at a lesser rate, or maybe at a faster rate.

Loss of the cable access is a serious consideration for some. As I use cable for broadband and lifeline TV costs a couple dollars more, I maintain access to our three cable access stations (a couple of which I participate in production for). I also have a roof-top antenna to bring in the digital channels that satellite doesn't deliver. In my case, cable doesn't offer all the digital channels either.

Satellite brings a whole lot of programming options as compared with most cable systems and it make take a while to get acclimated.

 

[FitzAusTex]

Agreed. But part of my original post is the fact we have to do this.

Maybe I just don't understand this satellite stuff yet. Why are there multiple stations displayed anyway?

Ken,


I am very pleased that I 'have to do this", as Time Warner's boxes gave me almost no options for setting my system up the way I wanted it set up. E* lets me configure my system the way that suits my personal viewing habits (for the most part). Yes, this means it may take an hour or two to get the system the way one wants it. but at least i can do that with E*.

TW's favorites list drove me nuts. and I hated that i could not get rid of many of the channels in the main guide that I never, ever watched.

I'm probably an extreme case, but i have locked out all but 49 channels. This allows me to quickly scan through what i like to watch.

To each their own, i guess. Some dont want to mess with anything and some want to mess with everything. I'm glad I can mess with nearly everything I need to.

 

[cummingsje]

Ken,


I am very pleased that I 'have to do this", as Time Warner's boxes gave me almost no options for setting my system up the way I wanted it set up. E* lets me configure my system the way that suits my personal viewing habits (for the most part). Yes, this means it may take an hour or two to get the system the way one wants it. but at least i can do that with E*.

TW's favorites list drove me nuts. and I hated that i could not get rid of many of the channels in the main guide that I never, ever watched.

I'm probably an extreme case, but i have locked out all but 49 channels. This allows me to quickly scan through what i like to watch.

To each their own, i guess. Some dont want to mess with anything and some want to mess with everything. I'm glad I can mess with nearly everything I need to.

This is one of the main reasons I much prefer satellite to cable. All of the software options make it a much better overall experience for me.

 

[Andrewwski]

I have cable...only because I don't have to pay for extra receivers beyond the first TV (just use analog cable for each additional TV)...if it weren't for that extra cost I'd switch to satellite in a heartbeat.

 

[tsduke]

That's only partially true. If you want channel that are on digital cable on all your tv's you must have a box at each tv. So in this case satellite is actually less.

 

[Andrewwski]

Yes, that's true too, but most of the channels that one would want to watch are on basic cable.

 

[Liquidforce88]

I have cable...only because I don't have to pay for extra receivers beyond the first TV (just use analog cable for each additional TV)...if it weren't for that extra cost I'd switch to satellite in a heartbeat.

Yes, that's true too, but most of the channels that one would want to watch are on basic cable

Well in our area Comcast has gone to all digital. I am sure that most other cable companies will do the same in the future. So you will have to have a box at every tv. In our area that has made the average house cost about 70 for BASIC.