DirecTV question

[user 574]

I'm sick of comcast jacking up my rates so am switching to directv. I understand you got to have a phone line into a receiver box so it can talk to the mother ship. What I can't find out is if every box has to have a phone line to it or just one. Installer comes Friday but am curious.

 

[Dude]

I'm sick of comcast jacking up my rates so am switching to directv. I understand you got to have a phone line into a receiver box so it can talk to the mother ship. What I can't find out is if every box has to have a phone line to it or just one. Installer comes Friday but am curious.

I don't have a phone line on any of my recievers. They do require it for pay per view I believe. However, I don't even know if that is true because my HD DVR gets Sunday ticket games just fine. No phone connection to it.

I can't say I'd ever recommend DirecTV, but it is worth it for the NFL ST.
Get used to asking for "Customer Retention" because it is the only way you'll ever get anything fixed by them. DirecTV customer service reps are absolutely clueless.

 

[olllllo]

Also you cannot split the signal (easily) before the box. Each box needs a home run to the dish. I've seen some internet gobbledy gook about rectifying this but I never took the time to figure it out.

If someone on this board has done this, I would appreciate that info.

 

[user 574]

Argh, you did have a nightmare install didn't you. I got a package deal thru qwest of dsl, phone and dish which saved me about 50 a mo from what I was paying. I need nfl ticket/channel though too. Maybe phone line is only for ppv requests?

Theoretical install fri between 8-12. Oh well, Wish me luck . Thought I saw 30 day guarantee of get outta the house if they suck...

 

[Beerrific]

I don't want to get into the story, it is long, and makes me see-stars mad, but. . .

DO NOT GET DIRECTV. THEY ARE EVIL.

I have comcast, it sucks, whatever. Just whatever you do don't get DirecTV, my folks have DishNetwork and like it.

 

[user 574]

... Also you cannot split the signal (easily) before the box. Each box needs a home run to the dish.

Oh ****.

 

[user 574]

I don't want to get into the story, it is long, and makes me see-stars mad, but. . .

DO NOT GET DIRECTV. THEY ARE EVIL.

I have comcast, it sucks, whatever. Just whatever you do don't get DirecTV, my folks have DishNetwork and like it.

I'm not liking this! Why did I not consult with my brethren! We're into t minus count down. Comcast is still active. If this isn't immediately giving me a postive woody post-install I will toss em out the door.

 

[HarvInSTL]

I don't have a phone line on any of my recievers. They do require it for pay per view I believe. However, I don't even know if that is true because my HD DVR gets Sunday ticket games just fine. No phone connection to it.

I can't say I'd ever recommend DirecTV, but it is worth it for the NFL ST.
Get used to asking for "Customer Retention" because it is the only way you'll ever get anything fixed by them. DirecTV customer service reps are absolutely clueless.

Technically you don't even need it for PPV. You can order and recieve PPV's without a phone line, but after a certain amount spent you can't order any more until it "phones home" and clears the PPV purchases.

As far as your NFL ST goes, DTV's birds use 1 way communication to authorize recievers/cards and the same holds true channel tiers/NFL ST/NHL OI/etc

Also you cannot split the signal (easily) before the box. Each box needs a home run to the dish. I've seen some internet gobbledy gook about rectifying this but I never took the time to figure it out.

Most DTV dishes now have a built in 4 output multiswitch that is part of the dish itself. Now I've seen a few installs where they would just run the 4 lines of RG6 to the cable companys box on the back of your house and just connect it with an inline connector to your existing wiring.

Also if you plan to utilize both tuners of your DVR you will need two seperate cable runs from the dish.

I can hear you asking now, what if I have two dual tunner DVR's and a third reciever? Then you would need something like this

DO NOT GET DIRECTV. THEY ARE EVIL.

I agree, then again DishNetwork sucked when I had them, Mediacom is fuggin' worthless, and don't even get me started on Charter HD service!

If Charter would't have kisses my ass they would be on the curb right now!.

But for $94/month I get the following:

Everything Plus Package (All available channels, including all Showtimes/HBO's/Cinemax/etc)
All HD channels
5mb/512kb Cable Internet

Is DTV offering a 30day trial or something like that?

 

[dblvsn]

I've had Directv for about 18 months now and I really enjoy it. Only problems I've had since the install is a major storm came threw and knocked my dish out of alignment. I don't have their service plan so I was expecting to have to pay them a service call to come out. Called 'em up and they had a rep at my house next day no charges!

When it comes down to it, it doesn't matter which company you go with. Somebody has had a bad experience with that company. The cable company, Directv, Dish Network are all reputable companies. (Well maybe not so much the cable company ) If they had major problems they wouldn't have hundreds of thousands of customers. Enjoy that dish!!

 

[Cheesefood]

I'm fortunate enough to deal with a company called Wide Open West. For about $145 per month, I get:

All basic cable
4 mb internet
Cable internet modem
13 channels of Starz / Encore
10 channels of HBO
DVR
Extra High Definition channels, like HDNet, ESPN, Discovery, Home & Garden, Food Network, HBO, Starz, etc. I think I get about 15 or so HD channels.
OnDemand - a TON of OnDemand channels.
Cable based Picture-in-Picture
Analog cable box in our bedroom (I think I can upgrade this to digital for free, but don't really need to).

Plus, the Guide BLOWS AWAY Comcasts guide. I get to watch
the movie or show while I'm searching for other channels.

 

[uwmgdman]

I'm waiting for AT&T's video service through phone lines so I can kick Charter to the curb. I already have with internet, and will with video service hopefully soon!

 

[user 574]

I'm fortunate enough to deal with a company called Wide Open West. For about $145 per month

Wow, that is sweet. basic phone svc (no LD); 7mb DL dsl and directv with 4 receivers (1 dvr) is $125 in this new deal. No HD but don't have a tv for it yet. Never heard of W.O.W.

I plan on making friends with the installer. Show him the beer taps; save his cell # if he calls me. In case of problems... Maybe have the wife out at the pool in a bikini. topless.

 

[Dude]

And get to know the customer retention number at DirecTV well. The regular CSR people are useless pricks.

 

[Brewing Clamper]

I can't say I'd ever recommend DirecTV, but it is worth it for the NFL ST.

First of all, I must say I too hated DirecTV, but mainly because of their Customer Service. The one year I got the NFL ticket was the best year of my life! I guess the one when my son was born was pretty neat too. Anyway, still I'm acutally thinking about going back because in the last 4 years, my cable bill has DOUBLED! I hate comcast more than all the other bastids put together.

I don't have a phone line on any of my recievers. They do require it for pay per view I believe. However, I don't even know if that is true because my HD DVR gets Sunday ticket games just fine. No phone connection to it.

Dude, how much did you pay for your HD DVR?? I really want one, I was even planning on building one, but it's become more of a PITA.

 

[Evan!]

I have Dish Network, and love it. I pay $55/month for 2 recievers, both with separate DVR. They've been great for the 2 years I've had them (worlds above stupid Adelphia). Customer service is great. Once, our dish started to malfunction and certain local channels would cut out constantly. They sent out a subcontractor to fix it and said they'd charge us $35 for it, which made no sense since it's technically their equipment. I was gonna call and complain but I never did, because they never charged us for it.

The only problem I see is that we can't get broadband.

My mom has DirecTV and they've been okay.

 

[olllllo]

Are any of these DVR's networkable or am I out of my mind for asking for a implimentation of 15 year-old technology?

 

[user 574]

...The one year I got the NFL ticket was the best year of my life! I guess the one when my son was born was pretty neat too. ...

Priorities are inline. Good on you .

My NFL bud (Packers) used to have directv for the ticket and I think he will this year as well. But he took a different route for work and is now a realtor. Sitting at his house by myself was a little uncomfortable. He has no weekend life anymore. The ticket is my mission.

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

DTV jacks their prices too unless you subscribe for 2 years. I have it with no phone line, although I never get PPV, I could if I wanted. It kinda sucks, and I hate the interface as compared to regular cable (i.e. takes a second for another channel to kick in) but it was cheaper to bundle cable/DSL with Qwest than to get it through comcast...

 

[user 574]

Ok, next question as I read the fine print. So if all the equipment I'm getting (3 standard receivers + 1 dvr receiver) is leased, if any of this **** breaks I have no financial responsiblity for the repairs right? Get your arse back here and fix it right?

Really fine print on the qwest site which I believe is just parroting directv "offer details" talks about Protection Plan at $5.99 per mo effective the 13th month (It looks like I'm signing up for a 2 year commitment). What the frick is this $5.99. friggen lawyers and their bs of hiding **** in the details.

 

[ill.literate]

Wow... I guess I've been lucky. I've had DirecTV for about 10 years now and have had absolutely no problem. In that time I've moved from one house, to an apartment, to a new house. They suspended my account while we were in the apartment, and then installed a new dish for me when we moved into the new house.

After the divorce, I got DirecTV in my new place and again, haven't really had any troubles.

The only thing I don't like, are the new generation of DVRs. I miss my old Hughes DVR and the peanut remote.

The phone line isn't necessary, just good for ordering PPV, though you can order PPV movies online too.

I guess part of the reason I've not had trouble is the connections, both at the old house, and now the new house, have been very simple. In fact, at my new place, we have just one receiver, so the run was very simple.

 

[user 574]

Directv guy came promptly at 8a. Nice! One small problem. After walking around the house looking for some form of T-off junction box of the existing cable that he'd need to terminate to get signal to the kitchen tv for an hour, He's gone. No install. He had solutions for the other 3 tv's but the one in the kitchen, notta since it's in an inside wall. And that tv is required viewing around here.

Argh. Gotta see if I can figure this out but in the meantime, I gotta call Comcast to cancel that cancellation .

 

[rdwj]

Gotta see if I can figure this out but in the meantime, I gotta call Comcast to cancel that cancellation .

Call them and tell them you're having 2nd thoughts. Typically, they'll do almost anything they can to retain customers. If it means extra channels, a lower bill or a dvr, they'll usually do it to keep you

 

[user 574]

Call them and tell them you're having 2nd thoughts. Typically, they'll do almost anything they can to retain customers. If it means extra channels, a lower bill or a dvr, they'll usually do it to keep you

Just pulled the sales hat out of the closet. Looking on Comcast's site for pricing. Yea, they need to anty up a deal here as net same stuff thru comcast from that of directv is about $25 more a month. Either that or I do comcast basic ($15) in the kitchen and directv on the other sets. We'll see if they still want $ from me...

 

[olllllo]

Just so you know. I twill be virtually impossible to watch the same show in the kitchen as the other sets due to different schedules and synch.

Satellite is several seconds slower than OTA and just annoyingly slower than cable. You're going to get an annoying echo at best.

 

[grampska]

We used to have DirecTV but their customer service is awful so we switched to Dish Network. I can't compare the DVRs because we had an ancient DirecTivo compared to the brand spanking new Dish DVR. Dish's setup is slightly different though. We have two TVs. There are two lines running from the dish to the DVR (this is the same as DirecTv). The DVR than broadcasts back out to the rest of the house through a third coax connection which runs back to the input where your standard connection from the cable company would go. The second TV has a remote that works through RF instead of IR back to the DVR to change channels on the second input which is broadcast over channel 73.

 

[Ize]

The whole NFL Network discussion got me to thinking, which is occasionally dangerous for me, and for old threads here.

After searching around the DishNetwork site, I figure I can get HD, plus Fox Sports Midwest (for the Redbirds) and still save myself around 40 bucks a month over cable. Sweet!

Until I mention it to SWMBO... "Is PBS Sprout on Dish?" (dammit... kids and their tv...)

Back to searching... feck no, of course not, not offered. DirecTV has it though...

But in order to get it AND FSMW on DirecTV, I'll be paying a little more than I'm paying Insight (soon to be ComCast) NOW!

So to get my HD upgrade and keep what I want to keep it's going to cost about ten bucks more a month. And, I'll still be stuck with cable because I can't get everything I want from either of the major dish retailers.

I'd like something from the Ala Carte menu please....

Ize

 

[Dude]

The whole NFL Network discussion got me to thinking, which is occasionally dangerous for me, and for old threads here.

After searching around the DishNetwork site, I figure I can get HD, plus Fox Sports Midwest (for the Redbirds) and still save myself around 40 bucks a month over cable. Sweet!

Until I mention it to SWMBO... "Is PBS Sprout on Dish?" (dammit... kids and their tv...)

Back to searching... feck no, of course not, not offered. DirecTV has it though...

But in order to get it AND FSMW on DirecTV, I'll be paying a little more than I'm paying Insight (soon to be ComCast) NOW!

So to get my HD upgrade and keep what I want to keep it's going to cost about ten bucks more a month. And, I'll still be stuck with cable because I can't get everything I want from either of the major dish retailers.

I'd like something from the Ala Carte menu please....

Ize

But you can still get PBS and your local channels in HD with an OTA antenna. Unless you live in the boonies, that is.

 

[Ize]

But you can still get PBS and your local channels in HD with an OTA antenna. Unless you live in the boonies, that is.

Yeah but the littlest freakshow likes to watch PBS Sprout at night before bedtime. And if there's no Noddy or Berenstein Bears before bedtime, no one is getting any freaking peace...

Ize

 

[Kevin Dean]

I've got sort of a 50/50 view on DirectTV.

Firstly, Adelphia was the cable company here until they got bought out by Comcast... Comcast has me on "permanent ban" status and won't allow me to become a customer of theirs, so my options are pretty much DirecTV or Dish.

That said, other than equipment issues I've not had a SINGLE problem with DirecTV. I've got the "basic" package, no HBO, no Showtime, no sports stuff and I pay $41 a month for three room service. I've got three boxes stacked on top of each other all connected to my MythTV box...

The problem I have is with the phone line... I've got the line connected and I'm sure it works (DSL line noise tests show the line is active) but the box doesn't recognize this. So me and my wife have to order our pay-per-view online.

Of course, the 6-channel adult package isn't directly listed online so you have to call the phone ordering place which charges you $1.50 or $5.50 depending on if you're connected to a human.

As far as storm outages... I've had more power outages in the past five years than TV outages.

 

[Brakeman_Brewing]

Are any of these DVR's networkable or am I out of my mind for asking for a implimentation of 15 year-old technology?

I know two of the previously mentioned cable companies I have worked for both offered some sort of multi-room DVR capability at one time or another.

One was the MOXI which had a MOXI "Mate", a wireless cable box that you could access your recordings on auxilary TVs that had the "Mate" attached.

The other was made by Scientific Atlanta, a half-assed cable box IMHO, which functioned on the same principle, but I believe that particular DVR used the existing coax wiring in the home to complete its network.

They both pretty much suck(ed) as DVR's and Im not sure that they are being used by said previously mentioned companies anymore.


EDIT: By the way, if any of you guys have a DVR are looking to save a few bucks on your cable bill, I would check into investing in a Series 3 TiVO. Youll probably want to talk to your cable company and see if they support them because they need cable cards to operate the dual tuners in the TiVO but the cards are cheaper than cable DVR service.

 

[EvilTOJ]

All I gotta say is DirecTV has a lifetime ban from my house. I used to work in their DSL division (they bought an ISP called Telocity) and two weeks before Christmas they killed the network, gathered us all into a huge room, told us they were closing effective immediately and gave us an hour to pack up our stuff and GTFO.

Never. Ever.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I have dish network, and am very happy with it. I have heard some serious horror stories about DirecTV, with their poor service, pushy salespeople, etc. I've never had this problem with Dish. Just my .02

 

[Dude]

I have dish network, and am very happy with it. I have heard some serious horror stories about DirecTV, with their poor service, pushy salespeople, etc. I've never had this problem with Dish. Just my .02

And as soon as Dish offers Sunday Ticket, I'm switching. I hate DirecTV with the white hot fire of 10,000 suns. I've had so many bad experiences with that company, it is ridiculous. But...they have me by the balls. I have to see my Packers.

 

[Evan!]

I have dish network, and am very happy with it. I have heard some serious horror stories about DirecTV, with their poor service, pushy salespeople, etc. I've never had this problem with Dish. Just my .02

I'm right there with you. Dispite the recent install appointment where they gave me a 12-5pm window and the jacklegs didn't get there till 5:30 and weren't out my door until 8pm...at least they were courteous and apologetic. And if HD DVR dual tuning didn't rock so fuggin hard, I might be more peeved, but as it stands, I have trouble complaining about anything while I'm watching NFL Thursday Night Football in HD on my new Aquos, while switching back and forth via PIP to an HD movie I had in the DVR queue. Ya know? Their customer service has always been really helpful and courteous, too...even when they claimed they were going to charge me for service on a dish I don't even own, they ended up letting it go in the end.

 

[Evan!]

And as soon as Dish offers Sunday Ticket, I'm switching. I hate DirecTV with the white hot fire of 10,000 suns. I've had so many bad experiences with that company, it is ridiculous. But...they have me by the balls. I have to see my Packers.

dude, you got HD with DTV?

 

[Dude]

dude, you got HD with DTV?

Yes.

While we are on this...that's another thing that gets my goat...the new HD DVR receiver, doesn't have dual buffers. How stupid is that?

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I'm right there with you. Dispite the recent install appointment where they gave me a 12-5pm window and the jacklegs didn't get there till 5:30 and weren't out my door until 8pm...at least they were courteous and apologetic.

That is one problem that plagues both of the satellite companies. They contract out their installations to a bunch of flunkies that both don't have a clue and are so overbooked that they need to get in and out in as big of a hurry as possible. I have a friend that had Dish Network installed and the job was very poorly done. The cables were routed in through window panes, not secured, etc. The installer put it together the quickest way he could, and when my friend complained, he said that it was the only way possible to do it. I went over and fixed it for him. Funny thing is, I know the guy that put it in, so I KNOW he's a moron.

Point is, no matter what company you go with, MAKE SURE you are home when your sevice is installed, and that it is installed exactly how you want it. If the installer says that something can't be done, chances are that he is lying, or is just too stupid to know how.

 

[Ize]

But...they have me by the balls. I have to see my Packers.

That's how it is for me with Insight. I gotta have FSMW for the Redbirds and the little **** needs his kiddie channel until he's old enuf to be done with it. So I'll be visiting the cable company to see about a receiver upgrade for HD.

Ize

 

[Evan!]

Yes.

While we are on this...that's another thing that gets my goat...the new HD DVR receiver, doesn't have dual buffers. How stupid is that?

By buffer, you mean a signal buffer? Yeah, that's weird. Do you just have it on one?

I was miffed last night at one issue with my new receiver. So I've got two signals coming into the box which I can switch back and forth on via PIP. I can pause one, flip the other, watch it, pause that, and jump back. Okay. But that PIP box gets annoying sometimes so I like to turn it off. But here's the problem: the paused program that I "hide" by hiding the PIP box happens to be currently recording on the DVR, it will automatically resume playback and push it forward to live TV. What this means is that if I'm watching something that is currently recording and switch to the other signal, I must keep the PIP box open. But if I'm not recording it, it's fine.

 

[Bobby_M]

Dishnetwork seems to have the better equipment these days (no so much 5 years ago). The 622 receiver is pretty sweet. It's charged as a single receiver but it's a 3 TUNER - two output box. That is, it will record two channels off the sat and one off an HD antenna all at the same time. It also sends a downres'd signal to a second TV and allows the playback of two different DVR programs to each of the TVs. The only complaint I have is that it can't output two HD channels so I'm screwed when I upgrade the bedroom TV.

A cablevision guy recently knocked on my door and we had a good 30 minute conversation. He claimed they recently upgraded to include old Voom channels just like dish and that they're currently testing a server/host whole house solution that will send HD content to any TV or PC with RF remotes. Sounds promising and I'm always willing to switch to the better service/price when the contracts are up. Verizon FIOS (fiber to the home) is nowhere to be seen in my neighborhood.