I'm currently using comcast cable for my television/internet needs but I'm thinking about switching to directTV or dish network because they seem to cost less. What are some technical issues that you have encountered from using the dish? Why should I pay more for cable? Finally, how does the two compare in internet performance? Thanks for your help!!!

 

Cable only seem to cost less if you have non-digital. With digital, I actually find dish to be cheaper than cable.

And Internet? You only use the dish for TV.

 

Some services offer internet access via satellite, actually. Albeit, it's extremely slow, and not recommended.

I went satellite because I wanted to take advantage of my 60 inch sony rear-pro LCD, and Bell (here in Canada) offers about 20 HD channels. My local cable provider offers 0 HD channels.

The only technical issues I come across once in a while are a lot of strange popping sounds when a switch from regular audio to dolby digital kicks in on some of the channels... other than that, it's been very reliable. Never lost the signal once.

 

I switched to Dish about 18 months ago. I've lost signal 2 or 3 times during storms that eventually knocked out the power. I've called support several times and received much faster assistance than I got from my "local" cable company. (Dish was able to fix a technical problem over the phone and the billing department answered a question and removed a charge with no hassle.)

Charter Communications is my local cable company and I despise them. The service from Dish has been hands down better.

No experience regarding sat internet service...sorry.

 

I've had both and have digital cable with HD channels at the moment. I got rid of satellite because some trees about 3 houses behind mine have finally grown to the point that when it was windy, they would blow into the signal.

It's unfortunate because i found satellite to have a much better picture. But the real "killer app" for satellite is the DirectTiVo. It has 2 tuners built in so you can record on one channel and watch another. I think I paid $99 for it. It was also pretty easy to "open up" so that I could pull programs off the TiVo and on to a computer. I have not seen a comparable TiVo for digital cable yet.

 

sat internet is just OK because you still use a phone line outgoing

ie sat sends the signal down but your phone line sends the signal up (as of this writing 2 way sat is not set up for consumers) - don't think the speed is up to par as DSL or cable but it's still better than dial up

i have had both DTV & Dish - i like direct tv's hardware much better BUT the i find the picture a little better on dish as the signal is not as compressed

haven't had cable in about 6 years - like others have said - you'll lose tv once in a blue moon

other than that - you'll need to have a clear veiw of the south western sky

 

Actually, Direcway has had a 2-way consumer systems for a couple of years now. These systems need to be installed by professional installers since the FCC requires any satellite system that sends signals to be installed professionally. With that said, the speed still sucks when compared to "traditional" broadband. If you live in the boonies and must have your high-speed fix, it's about the only option for now. It's also very "bursty" which means that it won't work very well for online gaming and may also have trouble with IPSec-based VPN services.

 

Thanks!!!

 

I've thought about switching from cable to satellite too. I don't have digital cable, but my basic cable (about 60 channels) with HBO/Cinemax is about $55 a month.

Anyone else care to comment on how much they pay per month on satellite tv?

 

if you like gaming, satellite sucks due to latency. You will have at least 500ms pings if you do 2-way service, JUST DUE TO THE HOPS ALONE. Add another 100ms for server latency.

internet games don't work well at anything over 150ms. Cable rules for gaming.