Who has Direct TV

[mitchedwards]

About to drop cable and move to Direct TV. Before I do, I want to see if anyone has any problems with the service.

Thanks
Mitch

[Mikey]

I was going to get it up until I found out I needed to pay $500.00 extra dollars upfront to mount a 6 foot pole for the dish.

They never told me this on the phone ... I didn't know until the guy came to install it.

I told them no way and get out.

Also had some friends tell me it goes out everytime the wind blows.

[megoapesnut]

During REALLY heavy snow or rain the signal comes and goes a little. But that is only once or twice a year. Other than that, I have had it for 10 years and I love it. I save quite a bit versus cable and the customer service is much better

[megoapesnut]

I have not had a problem in heavy winds. Mine is mounted on my roof

[kingdom warrior]

My father in law has it every time the weather sucks he has no Tv.....I have Version FIOS never had a problem ever with them.....

[knight errant00]

BIG improvement over cable for us 10 years ago (I couldn't *stand* Charter any more). As mentioned previously, there's some signal disruption during heavy rain or snow, but other 'n that I've been way happier since making the move.

My dish is on the back part of my roof . . . despite a couple huge trees just south of our house, we were able to get LOS with the satellite -- I do have a friend, though, who couldn't because of the tree line near his house, so I know it can be a problem.

[Godzilla]

Is it possible that some differences in signal quality could be geographic?

[Earth 2 Chris]

I had Dish Network for a few years, and the signal repeatedly went out. We switched to Direct TV because Dish kept raising their rates, and we could get a larger package for less than what we were paying to Dish. Direct TV's signal has been far more reliable for us. It rarely goes out, even during storms.

That being said, now Direct is raising their rates and Dish has a better deal right now with additional room installation, DVRs, etc. So we may switch again.

Chris

[Rallygirl]

I had DirectTV from 1996 to 2001 and have had Dish from 2001 to present. My reception during even slightly bad weather was terrible with DirectTV. With Dish, my only problems have been in extremely high winds,...the kind that knock over entire stands of full grown oak trees. But in all fairness, I think now Direct and Dish have almost the same equipment, which was not the case nine years ago.

[megoapesnut]

I had just the opposite problem. I had DISH first and the reception during any amount of rain or snow would cut out. I switched to DirecTV partly for that reason and partly because I wanted the NFL ticket. When they were installing my DirecTV dish, they discovered that cable from the dish to inside my house had a bunch of areas where the insulation was eroded away, thus any moisture would cause a drop in the signal. They were running new line anyway and I haven't had a problem for 10 years now, except in nasty thunderstorms or blizzards. My neighbor was having some trouble and discovered that when they put new shingles on his roof, they actually hacked into the cable.

I wonder how many other people who have weather related problems in just slightly bad weather actually have bad cabling.

[jwyblejr]

Heck when I had Dish,it seemed it only had to be cloudy to lose the signal. Like has been said,it's got to be really nasty before DirecTv goes on me.

[boss]

It's all based on how well your installation is done. Yes... reception sometimes drops due to weather. On the other hand, I've lost cable for days because some moron digging a trench cut the line. If you have a dish that is dropping signals, have your dish realigned.

Both satellite companies are superior to cable in nearly every aspect of customer service. They have comparable deals. Right now I believe DISH gets you a little bit more for a little less money.

[GAFan]

We've only had it go out a couple of times this winter when we had about 2-3 inches of snow sticking to the dish. The dish is pretty accessible, so I just cleared the snow and it came back on immediately. Took about 2 minutes to get something up there to brush the snow out.

[Duncan]

I've had DirecTV for 8 years across 3 different houses, and am pretty happy. My biggest complaint is that when I upgraded to HD last year, the installation wasn't done right. Eventually they sent out a competent service tech, who moved the dish and got us fixed up. He was seriously PO'ed at whoever did the original installation, and mentioned that the guy had "used the wrong size clamp, and wedged this old part in there to keep it tight. That's why the dish kept slipping."

Snow & rain don't seem to matter, except when snow accumulates as GAFan pointed out. So, my advice would be to keep your eye on the guy installing the system. If he does a good job, all should be well.

[Hulk]

LOVE IT! Been a happy customer for well over 10 years. I hate my cable (internet) company though.