Dish network questions

[Bernie Crewer]

Hi guys,

 

I live around Madison, and am finally dumping Charter for the Dish network. Someone recently told me they thought that Fox Sports Wisconsin (our Brewer station) was not in Dish's lineup. Is this true? I see they have a ton of Fox Sports affiliates, including Fox Sports North, which used to be what we watched the crew on. Anyhow, can anyone provide me some feedback if they have the Dish, and if they can get FSW. Thanks much,

 

Bernie C

[jordanmuehl]

If I recall correctly, Dish Network does have FS-WI. To be honest, though, I like DirecTV a lot more than Dish Network.

[Patrick425]

Sorry to "piggyback" on this thread...but I also have questions regarding Dish/DirectTV. I'm getting increasingly frustrated with Time Warner. I think there is something wrong with the overall connection in our house. Our picture keeps pixilating and freezing. Had a guy out here to "fix" the issue on Thursday, but it's still happening. Now they are telling me that they can't get someone out here until Wednesday. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/mad.gif The TVs are basically unwatchable right now using the digital boxes.

Reason's I have stuck with Cable over dish are:

1) I have 7 TVs in my house (2 digital, 5 analog). My understanding is that hooking up this number of TVs using sattelite would not be as easy and would be more costly. Is this correct?
2) I have also been told that sattelite loses reception in bad storms. I don't like that at all. Can anyone speak to this?

Also, how is customer service with Direct TV or Dish? Do they offer high speed internet and/or phone service? What are the differences between Dish and DirectTV?

Thanks for any feedback.

[sgtcluels]

I had DirectTV for years before I moved and switched to ATT UVerse. Anyways....

 

1) You'll need a box for each of the TV and a run from it. I'm not sure what deals DTV has on boxes, but you maybe have to buy or rent some fo the boxes. As far as cabling it, it's not that bad, especially if you have a Cable connection coming in already, you'll just need an dual LNB (Or more depending on if you want HD) and a multiswitch. You should be able to re-use the cable as long as it's RG6. So you could just disconnect the TWC connection and have your DTV installer just re-use the cable.

 

2) Rain fade is going to happen. It only happened to me just before major thunder clouds hit, it's not like any average shower or mild thunderstorm took it out, but it will go out at times due to rain fade. A bigger dish and well tuned dish will reduce but not get rid of it. Seeing as the satellites sit fairly low in the sky up here you have to "go through more cloud" and can't get super duper high signal strength. Generally it would go out for 5 minutes or so, depending on the storm. And the other thing that was kind of annoying is the really sticky snow would add up and cause signal drop, if you are going to mount the dish make sure you can get it.

 

Over all, I really liked my DTV Service. Just wish they would have stuck with TiVos and I would come back, now, I'm not to sure what I'll end up with. Also, FS-WI only kicked in during the broadcast of games, so you didn't get things like Brewers Rewind or whatever it was.

 

Everyone should at least check out the possiblity of ATT UVerse. SD Image quality is fantastic, HD is between dish and DTV quality. The problem is the 1 HD Stream at a time, but that's suppsoed to be fixed in Q1 and then they are supposed to be rolling out 2 pair VDSL2 which will allow for 4 HD Streams. It doesn't bother me to much atm because I have 1 HD TV and usually I watch HD programs fairly live (SHO and HBO Series) so the lack of multiple streams doens't bother me. But it's whats killing the service compared to the other providers.

[Bernie Crewer]

Thanks for the input fellas,

 

I too wanted to go Direct, but my neighborhood is fairly new and absolutely no one has any Direct TV bundles as I was changing phone and internet as well. My hands were very much tied, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to the AT&T gig with phone, internet, and the dish.

 

They show that they have Fox Sports North, which should mean Fox Sports Wisconsin (I think), as FSW really is Fox Sports North-Wisc. I would be a little upset at not getting the rewinds, etc., but as long as I've got the games I should be alright. Does anyone know how many HD telecasts FSW is planning for our boys next year? Hopefully a bunch, as I'm finally investing in an HD tele as well.

 

If anyone else has any clarification on these questions they'd be greatly appreciated, and I thank the guys for the feedback within the thread as well. Take care,

[Samurai Bucky]

I have Dish Network. I'll try to help you with your questions.

 

FSWI only kicks in when there are Brewer or Bucks games. I have only started with HDTV a month ago, so I don't know if they carry Brewer games in HDTV. They have sports alternate channels that kick in when your local team plays. There are also HD channels next to those stations. I'm pretty sure they will broadcast in HD.

 

Dish Network currently doesn't carry the local channels in HD. However, there is a connection on the back of my box where you can hook up an antenna. We use it to get the local HD channels over the air.

 

I have one Digital set and three analog sets. We have only one analog hooked up and one unit runs them both. We would have to get units for the other TVs. However, you can hook up TVs to the same cable coming out of the back of the unit. The only caveat is that all of those TVs would have to see the same channel.

 

Dish Network has agreements with AT&T. If you get Dish Network, you can get a discount on Yahoo! DSL and AT&T Cellular service. We still have Road Runner, so we haven't taken that plunge, yet.

 

I'm very happy with Dish Network. I was a little disappointed with not having locals in HD out of the box, but not enough to really discourage me.

 

Dish or DTV -- either would be better than cable. I'm happy we made the switch two years ago.

[endaround]

Its $5 a month for each TV after the first for either Dish or DirecTV. If you want HD and especially if you want an HD DVR Time Warner really is the cheapest way to go if you can't get AT&T.

 

The biggest difference in picture quality of course comes from the digital vs non digital channels.

 

As for DSL, check on availability first. If you are in an outlying suburb DSL might not be available.

[Bernie Crewer]

Thanks Samuri and End,

 

I'm just glad they kick in, as I was a little concerned I may be getting more Twins games than I'd prefer http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Too bad about the locals not being in HD, but because I'm in an outlying "burb" my options were pretty limited. Just could not stand Cable anymore, as I'm a big Bucky hoops fan as well, and do not want to have to go to the local watering hole for Tuesday night games at 8 p.m....and I'm saving some money packaging everything up anyhow. Appreciate all your input and suggestions.

[Fatter than Joey]

What are the differences between Dish and DirectTV?

 

I think the most significant difference is that Dish does not have the NFL package.

[endaround]

Hardly the biggest. The two biggest are Dish charging for local channels and DirecTV making you pay $200 to get an HD DVR.

[Fatter than Joey]

Hardly the biggest. The two biggest are Dish charging for local channels and DirecTV making you pay $200 to get an HD DVR.

 

Fair enough -- I never had DISH after they offered locals, and I don't have HD

[MarquesJohnson2000]

DISH does show the Brewers HD games in HD (at least they did last season, and they've been showing Bucks games in HD this season).

[sgtcluels]

Doesn't DTV have a higher capacity for HD content as well, and Dish have "HD Lite" which is a much more compressed HD signal?

 

I remember when I got my first TiVo, that cost me way more then 200 bucks.. service cost more then that! Man was my first TiVo sweet....

[2hoophead]

Like Samuri, I just upgraded my DISH to HD and was pleasantly surprised to get the VOOM Network HD channels over and above the HD channels I expected. The downside is I was told I would receive my locals in HD but were not. We also had a scheduling problem so between the last two problems mentioned I received my DVR free and one month of service free of charge. To begin with, I am to receive six months of HD service free.

 

The downside, like I mentioned earlier, is that I will need to get an antenna to receive my locals in HD; they were almost unwatchable since switching over. And the final thing is that I cannot hookup my DVDR(not HD) like I used to, to one-touch record what I am watching, like a Packer/Badger game w/o commercials or halftime and to offload something recorded on the DVR to the DVDR.

 

I did opt for the Yahoo! DSL after I had a billing problem with Charter. Besides getting a good monthly price it is as good a quality that I had with cable's.