| | ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/27390203/722483) | | From: |  eeedge |
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| Date: | July 13th, 2006 01:26 pm (UTC) |
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We used DirecTV in Illinois and Virginia. Any time it rained heavily (both places) or the wind was heavy (in Virginia), we lost signal. They also took off the children's music channel that my daughters listened to all the time.
In Virginia, we were living in a wooded area, and found that the trees really blocked the heck out of the signal. We would have had to cut down several trees on the property to get a reliable signal.
OTOH, the cost was reasonable, and the picture was generally better than cable. And, of course, cable wasn't available as far out in Illinois as we were. ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/43733841/1015080) | | From: | puskunk |
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| Date: | July 13th, 2006 01:53 pm (UTC) |
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That has everything to do with the installation and the installer. Both services are affected equally by weather. I have a $400 signal meter that I used when I installed for DirecTV, my installations aren't going out unless it's a tornado. Trees can severely block signal, since the wavelength that they use is absorbed by water. We always had revisits in the spring to fix the dish that an installer would put in not thinking that leaves would be in the way when stuff got green again. | | From: | eeedge |
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| Date: | July 13th, 2006 04:18 pm (UTC) |
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Wind was one of the things that really damaged our signal. In Virginia, big, springy trees would be blown into and out of the signal again. The installer set things up, but told us that he doubted we would get a consistent signal due to the location of the trees with respect to the house. He was right. | | From: | puskunk |
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| Date: | July 13th, 2006 01:50 pm (UTC) |
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I've installed for DirecTV, and currently have Dish Network. If you just going for the basics, they are about equal from what I can tell. When you start going for the upgrades, like Hi def, spanish language, and that sort of thing, DirecTV is better. Also, which carries your local channels on the main dish? DirecTV carries the locals here on the main satelite, but until recently, Dish did not. So people chose DirecTV so they'd only need one dish on their roof. I know from a friend up there that installing satellite TV is much harder the farther north you go, since the sats are lower on the horizon. Down south here, it's easy to get a shot normally. That why every singlewide here has a dish sticking off the side. Until this HD installation, we have really had zero problems with DirecTV - they've been responsive, courteous, and just plain pleasant to deal with. I'll be making the same decision myself next month (Adelphia is being replaced
by Coxsux, with whom I refuse to do business). So I'll be needing a new high
speed internet provider and a new TV provider. DirecTV ended their deal with
TiVo, which was part of their original appeal. They've also gone to a lease setup,
where you don't own your equipment. Dish offers a no-commitment option, which
I find quite appealing (allowing me to switch to DirecTV with no penalty should I
want to). There was a period a while back where one was more compressed than
the other due to satellite issues. I need to chase down the current compression
details. I'm also looking for channel flexibility (want Speed network and ESPN
for stock car racing, but zero other sports, no shopping/religious channels I
have to pay for, etc.). Keep us posted, eh? ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/4006831/508179) | | From: | happypete |
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| Date: | July 13th, 2006 04:13 pm (UTC) |
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| | You should have no problem where you are.. | (Link) |
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...getting Roadstar for broadband (www.roadstarinternet.com). However, you're in town so DSL should also be an option if you don't want an RF solution. ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/36474982/899478) | | From: | madbodger |
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| Date: | July 13th, 2006 04:24 pm (UTC) |
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| | Re: You should have no problem where you are.. | (Link) |
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Roadstar wants $60/month (plus a hefty install fee) for slower service than DSL.
Satellite internet doesn't look like a winner either. Sadly, I'm probably going to go with the loathesome Verizon until something better comes along. I've had Directv for over 5 years and we've never owned our equipment, except for the tivo boxes we bought. TIVO still works just fine with it. As a matter of fact we have 2 TIVO boxes.
Also, for those of us who are football fanatics, Directv has the Sunday Ticket in all its glory.
The only time we've ever had a problem was during extreme storms and frankly, you shouldn't be watching TV when there is an extreme storm, anyway. I don't suppose "I figured out my area's best option for internet, built lotso bookshelves, and never looked back at the babble box" is an option ?
;P ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/12072952/2346955) | | From: | ckd |
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| Date: | July 13th, 2006 03:31 pm (UTC) |
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We totally bought DirecTV for the MLB package. A few years later, when the DirecTiVo units came out, we bought one of those.
Seriously consider trying to get one of the TiVo based DTV units; some stores may still have the R10. | | From: | happypete |
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| Date: | July 13th, 2006 04:14 pm (UTC) |
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| | TiVo and DirecTV got together again... | (Link) |
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...for at least another 3 years, apparently.. | | From: | ckd |
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| Date: | July 13th, 2006 06:23 pm (UTC) |
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| | Re: TiVo and DirecTV got together again... | (Link) |
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They renewed the agreement, but I'm pretty sure that's for any software upgrades to the existing installed base. They are pretty much replacing the R10 with the R15, which is an NDS-based box that has had some issues.
(The DirecTV HD DVR is still a TiVo unit.) We've been going back and forth on this as well, for the new house (we anticipated signal issues in the apartment because of the direction the dish would end up facing) so I'm curious what you decide.
(I'm also going to post to central Florida communities and see what people say around here.) I had Dish Network about 5 years ago, and loved it. The only times we had trouble were when the rain was torrential, and given that local cable went out if there was heavy dew, Dish was a wonderful alternative.
I'm sure it's even better now. I highly recommend the DirecTV reciever with Tivo built in. The SD version is being phased out in favor of DirecTV's own non-tivo box, but they are still available from retailers and eBay. The HD version is available from DirecTV. |
curious