Coming Back to Dish; Anything I should be aware of?

[wase4711]

So, after dealing with Comcrap for 18 month, I have had enough, and am planning on coming back to Dish; I've read all I care to in other places,, and came back here, since I know this is the best place to get the REAL story on all things Dish..

I will need 2- 222k's and a 722k for the 6 tv's in my house; its 3 stories, and should be a pretty easy install, since I know how these things go, or, at least I used to.

Has much changed in the last 18 months? I used to have some drop out in chicago snow storms/severe t-storms, but others say this is not a problem any more..
Is the service as reliable as ever? I just bought a Logitech Revue, and I see Dish has their own version; do I have to pay the 4 dollars per month to have it on their system, or is that only if you buy it from them?

Any other tips will be greatly appreciated!

glad to be back here!

 

[CK SatGuy]

Be prepared to pay an extra $28/month for the two 222k's on top of your monthly price for your programming. I'm sure you've probably heard of about Dish jacking up the rates for secondary receivers on your account.

 

[wase4711]

well, for the first year, my deal is pretty sweet; 1- 722k, and 2 222k', dvr fee, for top 120 is 63.99; add 6 bucks for the service plan, which I will probably get for the winter months in chicago
second year it goes up 15 bucks per month..

the cheapest I could get a similar plan from comcrap would be 91.00 dollars, plus tax per month

 

[tom231]

So, after dealing with Comcrap for 18 month, I have had enough, and am planning on coming back to Dish; I've read all I care to in other places,, and came back here, since I know this is the best place to get the REAL story on all things Dish..
; do I have to pay the 4 dollars per month to have it on their system, or is that only if you buy it from them?

The $4 is only if you want integration with your DVR. Otherwise, you don't have to pay the 4 bucks.

 

[jdad11]

I'm trying to shop for the best dish deal too. I wonder if the free Blockbuster for 3 months + Dish Platinum trial for 3months still available?

 

[Claude Greiner]

Dishstore has a great deal for former customers. Take Top120, HD/DVR and sign up for credit card autopay and get a $125 Visa Gift card.

As long as you left in good standing, and have not had Dish for 90 days you qualify.

 

[wase4711]

I'll have to give you a call..I originally signed up with you last time I had dish..

 

[RT-Cat]

. . .and came back here, since I know this is the best place to get the REAL story on all things Dish. . . . .I used to have some drop out in chicago snow storms/severe t-storms, but others say this is not a problem any more

Yes, best place for good information.
Can't tell you about snow, yet, just started with Dish this June, but you WILL have plenty of outages when it rains. That small signal just cannot get past those big rain drops.
Lots of help here from the DIRT team.
Welcome back!

RT.

 

[wase4711]

I sure hope you are joking!
Rain never was a problem in the past...

 

[KAB]

I sure hope you are joking!
Rain never was a problem in the past...

I don't know if he was joking or not, but at face value, a rather extreme blanket statement. I couldn't tell you the last time I had rain problems...many, many months ago at best.

 

[wase4711]

outside of the outage the other day, has the service been pretty reliable for you, even in the winter?
I'm concerned about always losing the picture when it snows here in chicagoland

I used to have lots of problems when it snowed and I had dish 2 years ago..37 degrees this morning, so its time to start thinking about that!

 

[KAB]

About the only snow problems I've ever had was ice/snow buildup on the dish itself. If you have proper alignment/signal strength, you should have few problems.

 

[wase4711]

yeah, thats what I always thought; it was weird, as sometimes when it snowed, there were no issues at all, and then sometimes a light snow would cause all sorts of problems..
I can't decide if Direct would be a better choice than Dish, but, on the surface, Dish has better pricing/promotions/ initial costs than Direct does..
I like how Google tv integrates with Dish,and I think the 722 is a great hddvr...at least it was when I had it before.

 

[RT-Cat]

I sure hope you are joking!
Rain never was a problem in the past...

No joke. I would have to estimate since June 1st, I have had at least 8 to 10 times LOS due to it raining.

I don't know if he was joking or not, but at face value, a rather extreme blanket statement. I couldn't tell you the last time I had rain problems...many, many months ago at best.

From my experience, I would call you lucky.

yeah, thats what I always thought; it was weird, as sometimes when it snowed, there were no issues at all, and then sometimes a light snow would cause all sorts of problems.

Cannot comment on snow problems yet. But from what you stated I would say it was the moisture content of the different snow storms. They are not all alike.

RT.

 

[jdad11]

Hey guys,

For new sub, say if you sign up for AT250 for $44.99 and after 12months, can you downgrade to AT120 and pay the regular rate of $44.99?

What I wanted to know about this 24 months commitment is that you're not regular to stick with the initial plan (eg. AT250) for the entire 24 mths. Is it?

 

[DodgerKing]

outside of the outage the other day, has the service been pretty reliable for you, even in the winter?
I'm concerned about always losing the picture when it snows here in chicagoland

I used to have lots of problems when it snowed and I had dish 2 years ago..37 degrees this morning, so its time to start thinking about that!

If your dish is aligned properly, you shouldn't have any major interuptions with either DBS company

I have DirecTV and take it up to Mammoth where I will get fee of snow in a few hours (average over 300 inches of year in that town) and seldom lost a signal, my Dish was aligned by me, and LOS is not very good for Direct up there. Most residents have Dish due to LOS and they too (probably less than me) seldom lose signal

I wouldn't worry about signal loss. In fact, the cable up there goes out more than the satellite

 

[DodgerKing]

No joke. I would have to estimate since June 1st, I have had at least 8 to 10 times LOS due to it raining.



From my experience, I would call you lucky.



Cannot comment on snow problems yet. But from what you stated I would say it was the moisture content of the different snow storms. They are not all alike.

RT.

It sounds like you need an alignment or a relocation of your Dish. Either that, or you have been very unlucky and happened to always get the worst storms

 

[wase4711]

If your dish is aligned properly, you shouldn't have any major interuptions with either DBS company

I have DirecTV and take it up to Mammoth were I will get fee of snow in a few hours (average over 300 inches of year in that town) and seldom lost a signal and my Dish was aligned by me and LOS is not very good for Direct there. Most have Dish due to LOS and they too (probably less than me) seldom lose signal

I wouldn't worry about signal loss. In fact, the cable up there goes out more than the satellite

Thanks for the info; getting installed on Thursday, so hopefully there won't be an issues!

 

[Dishman1978]

No joke. I would have to estimate since June 1st, I have had at least 8 to 10 times LOS due to it raining.

From my experience, I would call you lucky.

Cannot comment on snow problems yet. But from what you stated I would say it was the moisture content of the different snow storms. They are not all alike.

RT.

Sounds like your dish was not aligned correctly.

 

[CK SatGuy]

Hey guys,

For new sub, say if you sign up for AT250 for $44.99 and after 12months, can you downgrade to AT120 and pay the regular rate of $44.99?

What I wanted to know about this 24 months commitment is that you're not regular to stick with the initial plan (eg. AT250) for the entire 24 mths. Is it?

No you're not required to keep the same package for the whole 24 months. I think the only restriction is that if you change your programming, you have to stick with that change for 30 days or they'll charge you a $5 programming fee.