D* Question & gripe

[Ken11861]

1) Are there More D* subscribers than E* Dishnet subscribers ? it sure looks like it by the number of threads & posts.

2) When I got my upgrade to D* HD last Fall I got a H21 & a H23 receiver, a Slimline dish with SL3PIG-WNC (LNB? SWM? pardon my terminology ignorance) Mine looks like a single "gun" aiming at the dish, but some of my neighbors & people in my area have the same Slimline dish with multiple headed (guns) LNB's.
What is the difference?

Now for my gripe: My wife & I are on a fixed retired income & think it stinks that D* rates went up again this Spring in what is a very bad economy. My last bill also went up another $10. monthly for what appears to be the loss of a "Package Discount". Then one of my friends that had cancelled with D* to go with FIOS got a fantastic offer from D* to come back with them.

All the above drives me nuts - Why doesn't D* give its long time customers a BREAK ?
(Me - D* customer since 2002)

Thanks for letting the ole guy squawk, Ken

 

[rad]

Yes, DirecTV has more customers then Dish, IIRC they are the 3rd largest provider, after Comcast and Time Warner.

The dish you have is a 3LNB which sees the 99/101/103 satellite positions, where the core SD and HD programming comes from. They also have a 5 LNB which also picks up 110 and 119 besides the other 3. If you have all the channels you should have with the 3 LNB don't worry, the 5LNB was out first so that's probably why they got it.

As for costs, I'd recommend calling DirecTV and see if they can help you out with your bill, they might offer some credits for a few months to help with the costs.

 

[buzzbar]

Rad,

Regarding the 3 lnb vs. 5 lnb. What exactly do you mean? Are you saying that the 110 and 119 are not needed? Or does the new 3 lnb capable of picking up the 110 and 119? I'm sorry but I'm confused.

Thanks for any info.

buzzbar

 

[Jimbo]

Rad,

Regarding the 3 lnb vs. 5 lnb. What exactly do you mean? Are you saying that the 110 and 119 are not needed? Or does the new 3 lnb capable of picking up the 110 and 119? I'm sorry but I'm confused.

Thanks for any info.

buzzbar

The majority of programming has been moved to the 99, 101 and 103 sats, thus not needing to hit the 110 and 119 sats any longer.

110 has international programming on it now, from what I heard, not sure what is left on the 119.

 

[Ken11861]

My 3 lnb seems to be picking up all the sats you have mentioned. I just checked my signal strengths this morning:
101 = 94%
110 = 98%
119 = 100%
99a = 89%
99b = 0 (always)
103a = 98%
103b = 89%
I rechecked the lnb on the dish, it says "Integrated Ka/Ku LNB's" - "model SL3PIG"

 

[Jimbo]

My 3 lnb seems to be picking up all the sats you have mentioned. I just checked my signal strengths this morning:
101 = 94%
110 = 98%
119 = 100%
99a = 89%
99b = 0 (always)
103a = 98%
103b = 89%
I rechecked the lnb on the dish, it says "Integrated Ka/Ku LNB's" - "model SL3PIG"

They look good.
Wouldn't worry about the 99 that is 0's, chances are it's spot beam and ones that are not in your area.

 

[stonecold]

jimbo,

119 still has alot of spot beams for locals.

 

[cfb]

Its always annoying when a provider gives better deals to new customers than long standing ones. I guess the piece of info that might make you feel a little better is that the other service providers are jacking up their prices too, right into a bad economy. Most of the cost increase has to do with programming costs (what the sp's pay to the networks and other content providers) along with increasing/improving service (more HD channels, more local channels for new markets).

What you can do for some relief is to call them up, tell them your story and ask if there are any discounts or better packages you could be on at a lower price. Chances are they might give you a $10-20 credit for 3, 6 or 12 months. Might also give you free HBO or Showtime for 3-6 months. Could even toss you a free DVR if you want one.

Be reasonable and straightforward with them. Chances are since you have new equipment that you may be under a service contract with them for 1 or 2 years, so options to bail out to another provider may be expensive.

SP's are really trying hard to not lose customers right now, as many are in the 'shrinking income, increasing bills' category. I called directv last month to complain about the pricing of the football package and got it for half price. Then I called comcast to complain about my expensive cable internet service and they gave me the $42 high speed internet for $20 a month for a year, and increased my speed from 8Mb/s to 16.

 

[sudnshok]

Then one of my friends that had cancelled with D* to go with FIOS got a fantastic offer from D* to come back with them.

Why on earth would anyone want to go back to DTV after switching to FiOS?

 

[texasbrit]

My 3 lnb seems to be picking up all the sats you have mentioned. I just checked my signal strengths this morning:
101 = 94%
110 = 98%
119 = 100%
99a = 89%
99b = 0 (always)
103a = 98%
103b = 89%
I rechecked the lnb on the dish, it says "Integrated Ka/Ku LNB's" - "model SL3PIG"

If you have an SL3 this can't see 110 and 119. Probably means the dish type in satellite setup is incorrectly set to Slimline 5.

 

[Ken11861]

Thanks for all your help & input - Ken