KU Dish for Dish Subscription?

[WillyV]

Will Direct TV utilize a non functioning / disconnected KU dish to hook up a new subscriber or is their policy such that they would only use their own dish? Just trying to think thru what I'd do with my dish (excluding selling it etc.) should I grow tired of FTA down the road.

Is terminating a subscribership from a satellite tv provider a difficult process? I'd appreciate any comments.

 

[KE4EST]

-No they will use their own dish and LNBF combo.

-Well in most cases you will have to sign a 2-year contract, so yes if you cancel early no big hassle but they will charge you early termination fees that can get kinda steep.

-If you go with DISH instead of DIRECTV you can opt to buy all you own gear and install yourself and then go on a month to month basis. So if you don't like just don't pay and no extra fees.

 

[WillyV]

Hello Key4est,

Does dish require you to buy your equipment from them or can you purchase gear from your choice?

You said you could pay month to month. Do you have any idea how much monthly fees might be? Just need a ball park idea.

Do you know if there's a restriction on the dish size? I'm all set to buy a 36" geosat pro for fta sat reception but I'm also curious to know if I could use it "down the road" should I get tired (of fta) and want to "bite the bullet and go with a provider. Thanks very much for your feedback.

 

[Claude Greiner]

You can use any Dish you want with either Dish or Directv as long as it works.

The only issue I can think of is if you want Directv with HD, you may need to get the Dish from them because their LNB's shift some of the KA band frequencies on 99 and 103.

 

[Magic Static]

An installer would not take the responsibility for an install without a proper dish. The only way you could use an FTA dish is with a self-install. And that won't happen with a new customer.

 

[Dee_Ann]

I did my own self install for Dish. I bought a used receiver from a third party and 100% self installed using very much non standard, non approved dishes and methods.

I didn’t take the contract or special offers, I pay cash month to month and can terminate any time I wish without penalty.

If you can make it work right they don’t seem to care.

 

[Tron]

They surely won't provide technical support for a dish other than their own. However, sometimes it pays to be one's own technical support ...

 

[Blindowl1234]

Dish is the better deal as far you canceling or just doing month to month. Packages start at a little over $20 for Welcome Pack. I once was paying about $80 a month for Top 200 I think. I'd look for your own receiver that way you own it outright. I let them put their dish and lnb on my fence post.

 

[navychop]

Yes, DirecTV has both KU and KA band. KA may be more susceptible to rain fade. Not a major concern.

You can lease equipment from Dish with a 2 year contract. No monthly savings with buying. If you buy your gear and install it yourself with Dish, you avoid the contract but the monthly fees are the same and the resale may not be so hot because of that, and any problems in install may require a truck roll from Dish at full freight. OR you can count on support from us here to walk you thru any install problems.

There are different install methods and equipment with different STBs with Dish. Let us assume you are going with modern stuff - the ViP series or Hopper. This means DPP stuff, not DP/legacy stuff. But with the Hopper, you need 3 GHZ coax AND nodes.

 

[Dee_Ann]

They surely won't provide technical support for a dish other than their own. However, sometimes it pays to be one's own technical support ...

Amen to that !!

 

[Corrado]

A few years ago when I shut down my 4DTV equipment, I purchased my Dish VIP211K receiver from Amazon and setup my own system. I wasn't sure if I would ever like Dish and didn't want to get stuck in a contract if I wanted to bail out. I wish I had done it sooner.

 

[navychop]

A few years ago when I shut down my 4DTV equipment, I purchased my Dish VIP211K receiver from Amazon and setup my own system. I wasn't sure if I would ever like Dish and didn't want to get stuck in a contract if I wanted to bail out. I wish I had done it sooner.

Welcome to the world of pizza and Kool-Aid! :dev

 

[WillyV]

Sorry but I'm a little confused... Did you once belong to DISH and bail out? Aside from the monthly payments, what was your primary criticism with Dish?

Before I go any further, let me just say that the single thing I like most about FTA is the relatively low initial equipment costs and secondly, the absence of monthly payments. That said, I think the program variety unfortunately seems marginal unless you're interested in Islamic and foreign news etc. Yes, I'm a news junkie but getting FOX NEWS on FTA doesn't sound easy...As a result, I'm eager to here the pros and cons of both approaches from folks who've been there.

Dish's most basic plan for example, the "Dish Smart Pack" ($19.99 per month), seems to contain a fairly good variety of "stuff" however reading the fine print is exhausting! Sounds like there could be a 2 year obligation but I'm still not certain. And, they do stipulate that price increases can happen without warning. So, right now I'm torn between the economy of FTA (despite the limitations of a simple dish set up with one satellite / 97W) and "paying the man." I'd appreciate any comments. Thanks.

 

[navychop]

Yes there's a two year obligation.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[Mr Tony]

If you buy the equipment and set it up yourself there is no contract. You also get no discounts so that smart pack would be 32.99 next month when the dish prices go up (right now its 29.99)
If you get the free (discounted) equipment and have them install it then yes there is a 2 year contract but you get the program discounts too

They also have the Welcome Pack for 19.99 (but doesnt have Fox News)
http://www.mydish.com/upgrades/english-packages/welcome/?WT.svl=welpack-button

And, they do stipulate that price increases can happen without warning.

nah. If there is a price increase coming we know about it here
Dec 18th we found out about the Feb increase
http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/326459-Price-increases-in-February-2014-(UPDATED!)

 

[Mr Tony]

Before I go any further, let me just say that the single thing I like most about FTA is the relatively low initial equipment costs and secondly, the absence of monthly payments. That said, I think the program variety unfortunately seems marginal unless you're interested in Islamic and foreign news etc. Yes, I'm a news junkie but getting FOX NEWS on FTA doesn't sound easy...As a result, I'm eager to here the pros and cons of both approaches from folks who've been there.

Lets me answer your question with a question....what programming are you actually looking for?

A few years ago I was pretty much FTA only but decided to get Directv too mainly because I'm a sports junkie. Now while its nice to see stuff like FCS (D1-AA) and D2 stuff or even real small colleges on FTA the issues I was running into more was the headaches of trying to find the game I really wanted to see only to have it be
-too low signal (due to the low power they ran the signal would break up on smaller dishes)
-scrambled
-a different format than what i had equipment wise
-or worse...not even there as it was fibred

along with most pro sports not being on FTA I had to supplement it.

 

[Corrado]

Sorry for the confusion, I enjoy Dish and have the AT250 package with no complaints.

I was a former subscriber using a big dish for years and wasn't sure if I would like using a one of the small dish providers because of the contracts. So I went with Dish since they allow me to purchase and install my own equipment.

 

[WillyV]

What type of programing do I seek? I'm a Fox News junkie but realize that finding it on fta isn't realistic. I was drawn to fta because my cabin is in the mountains and the only fix is with either a sat provider or fta. Sat providers equate to monthly fees which always go up (never down) over time. FTA although initially inexpensive requires time to search for good stuff but has no fees.

I was pretty much set to go with fta when my wife recently saw a Dish advertisement for their $19.99 per month "Smart Pack." I did some research today and now it sounds like it's limited to 12 months and the price will go up to $32.99. Same old same old.

Does Dish negotiate any? I just don't want to play the fee escalation game.

If I go with FTA, my set up will be very basic (36" geosatpro, receiver etc.) utilizing 97W (since it seems sort of diversified) to view one of the major news networks (ABC or NBC, I think), some Jewish News (to keep up on the middle east), some Christian news, something called EBRU (with some drama stuff, not sure). There also might be some PBS stuff on it as well. Its not all that great but it beats watching movies on DVD. It just would be refreshing to view some live stuff once in a while. Down the road, I could add a dish motor and tune in some other birds. Does this sound viable? I appreciate your feed back.

 

[WillyV]

Yea, I had comcast cable for years and always had to stress over escalating monthly fees. I now have a place in the mountains where the only alternative is a sat provider and fees or fta / unconventional tv. I was pretty much set to pursue fta sat tv when my wife stumbled on to the Dish "Smart Package" which runs at $19.99 per month which isn't bad. I just found out however that the monthly fee goes up to around $32.99 per month after the 12 month period. So, I more than likely will do a very basic fta set up. I just hate the idea of paying fees that only will go up over time.

Thanks for getting back to me.

 

[77TA]

Have you considered a c band dish? You could get a new non motorized 6ft for less than $250 with shipping. Put it on 99w and you would have nbc, abc, fox, cw, live well, metv, leasea, and a bunch of syndicated feeds. You could add a motor later and add a lot more channels. You might also look for a used c band dish already motorized for even less or possibly even free.