Have you switched from cable (Comcast?) to a satellite dish?

[likescarrots]

If so, please tell me about it, the good/bad etc.

Our cable bill was recently raised to almost $200 for internet service and ONE hd dvr box. We started 4 years ago paying about $115, and I'm just over them raising the price constantly (I call every so often and they lower it for a few months, but it still inevitably goes up). So I'm looking for alternatives, and unfortunately FiOS and U-verse are not available in my area according to their websites.

Thanks for any info!

 

[Zim]

My experience - years and years of doing just what you did... call the cable company, threaten to cancel, get the cost down until the next time it goes up. I finally switched to DirecTV and the initial deal was awesome even though I also had to bundle with an internet / phone provider.

HOWEVER once that initial deal is over, find out just what you're cost is going to be. My Internet / phone went up to $63/mo and the DirecTV basic package is $73/mo - so a grand total for both: $136 (one receiver). Now, relative to your $200, that's not bad and the initial deal package for the first year is really good.

For me, however, I watch most of my TV on hulu, free. I watch my actual television for one show right now (Face Off). Other than that it's Disney DVDs and Hulu on my computer. I even got a Roku device which pretty much makes the DirecTV cost unnecessary once I subscribe to Hulu or NetFlix.

Basically, when the 2 year agreement is up I plan to cancel. I'll find a cheap Internet option that doesn't require the phone bundle, and use Roku for TV. But I'm not an avid TV watcher, and am willing to sacrifice shows not available to stream online. You might find the prices I listed to be good - and the reception has been much better than cable for our location at least.

Hope that helps.

 

[drinkme]

We switched to DISH network a few years ago. We noticed our tv doesn't go out as often as it did with Comcast. So, during a storm, we sometimes still have tv.

We were paying around $73/month for our tv, but I recently dropped some of our channels and I think we pay around $55. We have one HD dvr box and 2 tvs hooked up to it.

We still have our Internet through Comcast. We pay around $45/month for that. I've been thinking of looking into DISH for Internet. I haven't gotten around to pricing it yet.

 

[rcraw45425]

Now paying $50 a month for cable internet (includes basic analog cable) and $150 a month for DirecTV, but that's 3 HD converters one of which is a DVR and all the movie channels (minus the dirty ones ). Hubby has some sports package (not the NFL one, this is like Outdoor CHannel, fishing stuff like that).Prices have crept up through the years but heck, the Internet was $25 just a few years back!

 

[disneylove69]

I have Directtv. Includes 3 Hd DVRS, Hbo, starz and plenty of hd channels. Was about $50 and now $100 mth. COMCAST always went out they kept raising prices. Didn't care I was gonna cancel.

 

[disneymayz]

If so, please tell me about it, the good/bad etc.

Our cable bill was recently raised to almost $200 for internet service and ONE hd dvr box. We started 4 years ago paying about $115, and I'm just over them raising the price constantly (I call every so often and they lower it for a few months, but it still inevitably goes up). So I'm looking for alternatives, and unfortunately FiOS and U-verse are not available in my area according to their websites.

Thanks for any info!

You say the price goes up and up. Do you not know EVERYTHING does. Disney tickets do, gas does, utilities do. What other services do you have. Internet -50 Basic/standard - 60 and DVR - 20 = $130. Do you have premiums, higher speed internet that basic high speed?

 

[DaniMoon]

We just switched on Tuesday to DirecTV. We also dropped our phone and got an internet phone (Ooma) our phone bill will be $3 a month and we were able to keep our same number (the investment in the hardware was $100, and keeping our # was $40, which we will recoup in about 6 months). We had to keep our cable internet because in our rural area, we do not have much choice.

We will be saving over $100 for the first 6 months, then $50 for the next 18 months. The guy who installed our dish, told us to contact DirecTV about 4-6 months into the 3rd year to see what kind of deal we can get.

I have friends who switch back and forth between cable and DirecTV every two years, to take advantage of the deals. That is not my plan.

 

[amylevan]

Be sure you can get a good signal.

We switched to Dish several years ago, and had decent service for a good price. We'd only lose signal in severe storms.

Then, a while ago, Dish switched satelittes, changing ever so slightly where the dishes are pointing. We live in a wooded neighborhood, and we had a very tiny window for getting signal. Suddenly, anytime it rained, or was slightly windy we lost signal. Had them come out several times, and there was nothing they could do. We ended up canceling and going back to cable.

If you are locked into a 2 yr deal, you don't want to find out that you are going to lose signal several times a week. (I'm still pissed that I missed the season finales to NCIS and Bones last year.)

 

[amylevan]

For what it's worth, when we canceled in June, our bill for dish, phone & internet (bundled through our phone company) was about $160. That included 2 dvr boxes (so signal for 4 tv feeds), free HD for life, but no premium channels.

 

[DawnM]

We haven't, but we used to have Directv. It went up to $100/mo and we dropped it and bought Roku boxes and antennas! I do miss my DVR sometimes but the savings is great.

Dawn

 

[likescarrots]

Thanks!

We live in a flat area with no trees, and I would say 90% of our neighbors have dishes (both DirectTV and Dish) so I'm not concerned about signal.

We do get HBO and Showtime but that is only $20 total of our bill, and we don't have fancy internet or a higher TV channel package, no home phone service, which is why I'm not happy to be paying $200 a month. I realize 'everything gets more expensive', but a $50 jump in price with no increase in service after 6 months is, in my opinion, ridiculous, especially when there are other more affordable options. The only reason we keep it rather than ditching all together and switching to roku/hulu/etc. is because we are huge boxing fans and unfortunately they do not show boxing on broadcast TV (for the most part, there are a few exceptions).

I was wondering about the 2 TVs from 1 HDDVR box, can anyone tell me how that works? This would probably be the best option for us since I can't see us ever using more than 1 TV at a time (I don't really like to watch TV and I prefer silence over TV noise, my husband is the opposite and will sit with the TV on while he's home, and if there is a TV show I would like to watch I'd just record it and watch while he's asleep).

The other question I have is about moving. We may or may not be living in this location for 2 years, how does that work with a contract? Can we move the contract to our new location?

Thanks again!

 

[fab5friend99]

I like Directv but when my 2 year contract is up in a few months I will switching to cable. Great picture, great DVR but I just can't take losing the signal when there is weather. I live in tornado country and just when I need the local news the most with the tornado updates there is no signal. And it's not just during rain, you also lose it during snow too.

 

[amylevan]

I can only speak about Dish...

You can take a contract with you, not a problem.

Each box comes with 2 remotes. The 1 remote is for the tv that the box is connected to. The 2 remote works for whichever other tvs you have connected. (And you can have more than one 2 but all 2 tvs from the same box will have the same channels on).

 

[momof3ds]

We switched from Cable to Dish last year. After, having channels dropped, seeing prices go up and we never got our sign up bonus. We dropped everything. Plus the advertised package was always 20 dollars more after taxes

Increased our internet speed and went with hulu and netflix. Our monthly expenses (for tv and internet) went from $250 a month to around 80 a month.