DISH or Direct TV

[perryg114]

So of the two satelite providers, what do folks prefer? I am leaning towards DISH. The DISH prices seem better and their fee structure seems less confusing. DISH is also a little cheaper. I am planning to get a dish for the house and take it on the road when we travel. My cable company has let me down for the last time and I am looking for alternatives.

Perry

[Silver Goose]

We have been with DISH since back in the 90s when it was EchoStar. It seems that in recent years their customer service has become less than what it used to be like so many other businesses that grow. In my opinion, if you decide on DISH and if there is a DISH agent in your area that has a good reputation, I would sign up with him rather than going through the website or 800#.

[perryg114]

What happens if something craps out? Do they just bring you are new one or do you have to buy it?

Perry

[Silver Goose]

It is possible to purchase the equipment, but typically you rent it as part of the monthly price. If there's a problem they send you a replacement and a box to put the dud into and give back to the UPS man. The frustration I have is convincing the guy on the phone that the equipment has has gone bad. If you are a customer of a local agent, you can either take it by his location or schedule an appointment for an onsite visit and that seems to be hassle free. You asked a good question and down the road it might save some misunderstanding if you know up front if the equipment is yours or theirs. I don't know, but Direct may be the same. I'm sure someone who has Direct will respond here. Those I know who have Direct seem happy with there offerings also.

[tkasten]

We've used both providers and find Direct tv is better all the way around. After the sign up period both the prices are comparable. We have Direct in our home with two receivers. We just put the second in our AS and it only cost $7.00 per month for the extra receiver. I find Direct is also easier to find sats. JMO.

[Gene]

We have had Dish for 13 years. The reception is good although when there is an intense thunderstorm it may suffer, but that is rare. Technically they are very good and things don't break. Snow, probably not a problem for you, can hurt reception, so I go out and broom the snow off the dish—wet snow is the worst.

Calling them is awful. First you get someone who can't speak English well. I tell them to get me a native English speaker and after a long wait, they do. That person has little authority, so I ask to get a supervisor. That takes a long time, but that person can make decisions. I have succeeded in getting my bill reduced by complaining and threatening to go elsewhere. They sometimes try to charge extra fees and I say I won't pay them and they give in almost immediately. It is a silly game, but it works. I don't have to call them often—every 4 or 5 years and it is always about changing the service or the bill.

Direct TV has an incomprehensible price structure and it seems their specials are short term and then the bill goes way up, but the info on the price structure on their website is impossible to understand—not a good sign.

Both plus cable are terrified of everyone going to the internet for TV, so they are easy to push around. If I had the time, I would figure out how to do it, but I have better things to do and internet service is not very good where we live either.

So if you don't want to figure out how to use the internet for TV, I'd recommend Dish. I don't know how it works on a trailer because I can live without my favorite channels for days at a time and don't want to spend the money for a receiver and antenna for a trailer. Dish has an internet satellite service since they bought Hughes.net and they claim they have improved it a lot. You get a discount on it if you bundle. I don't know how well it works, but would be interested in finding out if it works well.

Gene

[Silver Goose]

Originally Posted by Gene

... The reception is good although when there is an intense thunderstorm it may suffer, but that is rare. ... Gene

This will happen regardless of the provider. A thunderhead pouring down rain blocks the signal just as a big tree in the way.

We also have a 2nd receiver that we toss in the AS if we feel compelled to take it along with a Winegard Carryout. DISH and Direct appear to charge the same fee for the extra receiver.

[bwoodtx]

DISH hands down! There RV division has been beyond reproach.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by perryg114

What happens if something craps out? Do they just bring you are new one or do you have to buy it?

Perry

I have Dish and on the road use a Dish Tailgater automatic dish I am very happy with. There is one that works for Direct but is more expensive.

99% of the problems I have solved with Dish Technical support on the phone.

Dish also has a inexpensive insurance plan that covers the equipment and most of the service call cost.

Dish also has free HD.

Dish will also let you save a few bucks by deactivating a receiver if you are not going to be using it for a while.

I had Direct but found them more expensive

[bunni]

Do you get ABC, CBS, NBC & Fox with DISH or Direct TV? Do you pay extra for them? I don't care if they're "local" channels. NY or LA are fine with me.

[xo1rider]

Originally Posted by perryg114

So of the two satelite providers, what do folks prefer? I am leaning towards DISH. The DISH prices seem better and their fee structure seems less confusing. DISH is also a little cheaper. I am planning to get a dish for the house and take it on the road when we travel. My cable company has let me down for the last time and I am looking for alternatives.

Perry

We had DISH for six years and now have had Directv for about five years. I prefer Directv for the primary reason I hated Dish's customer service (or lack thereof). I find each contact with Directv to be short, easy and I can speak English and get the correct answer on the first call.

We installed a roof mounted Directv antenna on the roof of the A/S and carry a DVR. As far as TV watching it's like being at home. When I call Directv from the trailer they're happy to help and they have never hassled me about using the DVR on the road.

[Silver Goose]

Originally Posted by bunni

Do you get ABC, CBS, NBC & Fox with DISH or Direct TV? Do you pay extra for them? I don't care if they're "local" channels. NY or LA are fine with me.

At one time DISH would provide either the east or west coast network feeds if you provided them a copy of your RV registration and a statement that you had a receiver installed in the RV. They now provide local channels as part of the package. I've not tried, but I understand if you call the 800# and give them the zipcode where you are they will simply switch your locals to those in the market for that zipcode.

[Safari-Rick]

You guys know that Dish was bought out by an Indian Company (no not TATA Motors) but another company. Customer service is in India not the USA, which is why they have no concept of American culture and habits and logic. That being said, I'm fed up with Direct TV. The fact that Direct charges for HD, and Dish doesn't, especially now that you get it free with non-pay tv broadcasting it, and with DISH charging over $70 for basic channel program packages with 70% of the shows telling you have to reduce your Bumba Butt, jewelry, knifes etc.. It's extremely irritating !

The lesser of the two evils in my opinion is Dish. You can also buy your receiver and RV package from Camping World.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth.

[perryg114]

I called DISH today and their sales people are not from India. I did not call tech support. Maybe I should.

Perry

[Taylormade]

Originally Posted by perryg114

I called DISH today and their sales people are not from India. I did not call tech support. Maybe I should.

Perry

Yeah, quite often American companies who've outsourced their support offshore retain their sales and retention call centers in the US to keep you around.

I don't really have much to offer in the battle between dishes. I like that, with Dish, I can only pay for months I need to and suspend the account when I'm not in the trailer. I understand you'll use this at your house as well, so that's not an issue.

I also like the tailgater that Dish has available. I've never heard an owner complain about it.

DirecTV charges for HD but from what I've heard, if you add an additional dish for your RV, it's only $5 extra a month (assuming you have home service), so that's really attractive as well.

[m.hony]

I have had DirecTV since the beginning in about 1994. I don't know enough about Dish to comment. We take a receiver from the house when we go. We have an antenna in a carrying case to set up when we get to our destination. We have to know the ZIP code to get the azimuth and elevation.

[perryg114]

So how do the portable dish systems work? You put in a zip code and you get the alightment parameters. I assume you have to orient the dish to north or something like that?

Perry

[Lumatic]

I have found Dish Tech Support excellent with no accent.

There are 3 kinds of portable dish systems:
1. A regular satellite dish on a tripod or some other mount. You have to manually set the elevation, azimuth(compass bearing) and sometimes the skew. There is a screen on the tv that lets you know when you've found the signal. But I found it to be a pita
2. Automatic or semi automatic dish antenna. For the Tailgater you enter the state you are in and push a button. It does the rest.
3. The satellite dishes that will follow the signal while in cruising down the road. $$$

[jcanavera]

I'm pretty sure Dish support is in the US. I've been a long term customer and for the most part have been happy. One of the things I have noticed over the years is that other than receiver replacement, they tend to want to send a service person out if you have problems. When I first went with Dish, and you dealt with them directly, they sent you everything but the coax and you did the complete installation yourself.

In this case I had a problem with what I diagnosed as a bad LNB. I've replaced two of them previously but in this particular case they wouldn't send me a replacement. They insisted that someone come out. In the course of 4 hours they replaced a receiver, reran cable, put in a new switch to no avail. It ended up being a bad LNB and if they had listened to me and sent one, all that tomfoolery would have been avoided.

I just bought a Dish Tailgater for camping which is the dish "in a sealed box". Pretty cool in that it aims itself. While there is an equivalent model for Direct (made by the same company), it does not provide HD service due to what I was told, the Direct HD being delivered over the KU satellite band while their other services being delivered under a different frequency. If you ever look at a fixed Direct dish, you will see that odd ball LNB hanging out to one side. That's the HD LNB.

You are limited to certain receivers when using the Tailgater but if you have home Dish service, you can start and stop the service on your RV receiver without a surcharge. Cost for that receiver being functional is $7 a month. It has access to the same programming as your home receiver. Local channels are on a spot beam so once you are out of the range of your home spot beam signal, you lose those locals. You can call Dish and they will change your spot beam to the local spot beam (if one is present). Note however that this changes your account so you home receiver at that point will lose it's local connectivity. (This would be a problem if you have a home DVR and you are using timers to record local programming when you are gone). You can call once you get home and get your local channels changed back to your home area.

Note that there are stand alone plans for folks who have no home service but the cost is going to be higher due to the need to subscribe to a plan and commit to a term of service. You may also not have the option of turning the receiver off and on at will, and finally there may be service charges for changing your locals when on a stand alone plan.

Jack

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by Safari-Rick

You guys know that Dish was bought out by an Indian Company (no not TATA Motors) but another company. Customer service is in India not the USA, which is why they have no concept of American culture and habits and logic...

I have dealt with Dish's tech support on two occasions, years apart. Once very recently and another time about five years ago. Neither time was the tech support way off in India. It was way off in the Philippines!

Once my Dish DVR was completely dead. The LEDs on the front would flicker and then go out. No power, nothing. Over and over.

After explaining that,

Dish: What does it say on the screen?
Me: Nothing. There is nothing on the screen.
Dish: What does it say on the screen?
Me: There's no power at all, there's nothing on the screen.
Dish: What does it say on the screen?
Me: Nothing.
Dish: What does it say on the screen?

etc...

They will try to charge you, from $50 to $75 five years ago to $95 recently, to send a technician out. If you remain adamant that you are not paying to repair equipment that you lease from them (it's their property after all), they will (grudgingly) send someone out for no charge.

This attempt at gouging appears to be located in their operation in Manilla. Once you get someone locally you are in good shape.