I feel your pain. I have Comcast and I HATE them. I try not to say hate, but hate is what I feel for Comcast.

I had DirectTV in college... while I loved the satellite I also had someone to split the bill and installations costs with. The up side is the channel selections and they usually have pretty good package prices for premium channels like HBO. The down side was that EVERY time it rain above a light drizzle, we lost signal. So no TV and no clue what the weather was doing since we had no signal to get the weather channel. And another down side was for some reason we couldn't get but one of our 5 local channels.

I'd switch to satellite now if it wasn't for the fact that satellite is too expensive for me to afford alone. Plus I have my internet through Comcast as well and satellite internet is really expensive in my area. That and my landlord won't let me put up a dish, but that's besides the point.

Hope it helped... and if it just confused you more, I'm sorry!!!

I have Cox cable and I do just fine with them, I had Direct TV but it was a nightmare.

I have DirecTV and it's been the best decision I've ever made. I had Comcast and it was awful. Comcast was actually A LOT more expensive than DirecTV. And I have had no issues with local channels. DirecTV also had a lot more HDTV channels than Comcast did. I don't know if that's still the case, but when I signed up two years ago it was.

I think the issues some people have with satellite is that they don't have a good place to actually put the dish. The installer person will try to find the best possible place to aim it...the clearer the path to the actual satellite, the better everything will be. In both houses I've had DirecTV, there hasn't been anything blocking the dish. My service has never gone out, never been fuzzy. I've had no problems with rain or wind affecting the dish either.

blue - do you have a lot of trees? I worry that our trees will be a problem (they are close to shade our house almost entirely) plus we get crazy storms that pop up and leave within like a half hour nearly every day in the summer...

I would keep my internet with my cable company because my bro has satelitte internet and its soooo slow!

And I don't know your situation Haus, but I wouldn't put the dish on anything other than your roof. It's much more stable up there and I think you'd have fewer issues with it.

Hope that helps!

Ummmmm and if you do decide to get DirecTV, I'll totally be your "Refer a friend" so you can get $100 off!

you get 100 off with refer a friend???

I think what it works out to be is $10 off your bill for 10 months. So technically it's not $100 off your first bill or anything like that, but still!

Best case scenario is a clear view of the southern sky (according to their website). So if you have that, then you should be good. Shade itself isn't an issue, it's blockage of the satellite that could present some problems.

Blue Can two TVs have two different channels on at the same time or do all Tvs have to be watching the same thing? That is one of the myths I have heard about satellite and I have always wondered if it were true.

I HATE Comcast, as well. But I'm stuck with them at least until I move in September. I may look into Fios at that point.

When I was much, much younger we had a satellite. We thought we were very cool. I lived in a suburban community, but we were in a rural area of the community, so we couldn't get cable. So I loved it, but before we got it we just got basic channels, so that could be why I liked it so much.

Ive heard from others that its hard to cancel, they really try to keep you in, so I just worry too that if it doesnt work out then I'll be fighting with them to get out of it...

Have you had any issues with their customer service?

Not true Star.

I haven't had any problems with customer service...actually they've been much more helpful than Comcast ever was. You're in a year long contract though Haus, so they really want you to be happy with the service.

And when I say Star I mean Kas

My biggest problem with Comcast is that I don't get channels that I am supposed to get like MSNBC and the Gameshow Network (I like Lingo) and then I get channels that are classified as local on the guide but are actually things like BET, speed channel and the golf channel so I get no information on them. It seems to me like those should be easy things to fix but they just don't.

DirecTV sucks big time. I currently have them and the Customer service is crap...oh, and if you go with them make sure you call them after it's installed to get your "rebate". Otherwise, they wont give it to you, which they don't tell you. And after three months you need to call them to cancel the HBO, Starz, Cinemax because they will just start billing you for it, that of course they don't tell you either. If you need service it takes them about 4-5 to get to your place. AND if you call them for help they charge you. If you need a service tech to come out they charge you. If you don't want them to charge you for those things then you need to buy a service plan that's an additional 5 or 6 bucks a month. Not a lot i know, but still ANOTHER charge. I hate hate hate them.

~~~~~

The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master.

"4-5 to get" should be "4-5 DAYS to get"

atleast in my neck of the woods, and i live in the city.

~~~~~

The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master.

Comcast started billing me for the free introductory stuff without notifying me as well. After I learned that I was way more on top of things with DirecTV, so I wasn't charged for things when they ran out.

You were charged for calling them Brook? I've never been charged when I've called for help...

I'm not trying to be argumentative but none of those things you've experienced happened to me! I made sure I filled everything out in order to get my rebates, and had no issues with them.

I guess it's cause I have the Service Plan. Which I just figured was part of my bill.

Probably so Blue, i had to purchase the service plan so that i wasn't charged for the phone call and the service tech that had to come out. (sigh)

But yeah, they never mentioned anything to me about the rebates, and my only paperwork i got from them was the contract. So i assumed that they would just be charging me the lesser amount since i had signed up for the appropriate service. I then had to call after i noticed i was being charged about double.

Then with the HBO, after the 3 months ran out they just started charging me, which i'm sure is probably my fault, but still, i hadn't received any paper work from them other than the contract. Very weird to me.

and i didn't think you were being argumentative.

~~~~~

The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master.

We've had Dish for years, and are generally pretty happy with it. A few minor irritations, like the Guide not being updated or being incorrect (which can mean your recorder doesn't pick up a show you though you had programmed).

However, we have one television and (no intrusive trees or storms). We didn't want to have a lot of entertainment stuff in the kids' rooms, as a conscious parenting decision. No TV or computers in there. A bookshelf stereo is sufficient.

If you go satellite, check out the business positions of both Direct and Dish; I think Direct is currently a stronger company.
===================================
Conservative in exile
Washington and Sacramento: Stealing our children's futures.

Comcast customer service here sucks. I don't remember having any problems with DirectTV's customer service other than you'd get people in India and couldn't always understand them. That would always piss my roommate off because she was foreign too and it was even harder for her to understand them. Anyhoo...

brooke - yeah you have to be careful with any cable/satellite company when they give you a x number of months of premium channels free. The fine print says we'll start charging you and YOU have to be the one to cancel it in time. Sucks.

sarah - aw, how sweet... you were thinking of me.

Haus you could also check to see if you have AT&T Uverse available. I've heard nothing but really good things about them.

I've never heard of Uverse? Its like satellite?

I live in a podunk town though so I doubt I'll have it avail... our cable company doesnt even have OnDemand!

Ugh, when I had Comcast our city didn't have OnDemand either. And it wasn't a podunk town, it was the biggest one in our county! So lame.

Uverse is like cable, it's a bundle service (phone, internet, cable). I don't know much about the logistics but I've heard performance wise, everything is really great.

I would say go for direct tv. I had them for years and when I moved in Dec. 07, I switched to Dish Network because it was offered in a package from AT&T and I saved like $35 per month. It was a terrible decision. There basic channel package is crap, and has at least 10 less channels than are offered by direct tv. Channels like FX and Bravo are in a premium package that you have to pay more for. Also, I never had any problems with Direct TV customer service, they were always helpful and it was always free. The downside to satellite is that you do lose reception occasionally, but for me it was only during really powerful storms with high winds.

Thanks so much for the help girls! I went to my friend's house today and she has a dish and its on a pole in her yard so I think I might do that! She had a ton of trees around too... I really just didnt like the idea of mounting anything to my house but now it seems like I may not have to!

Is the pole stable Haus? I don't like the idea of attaching the dish to something other than my house. I just don't want any kind of wind or squirrely weather to interrupt my signal!

Did you ask her how her signal is in bad weather?

I think you'd have to be careful with the satellite on a pole. That sounds like an accident waiting to happen. I'd find out how she has it secured. Did she did a hole, pour cement, and then put the pole in? Stuff like that....

I know they do their best to make it as secure as possible, but I think they really prefer to attach it to your house. That'll provide the most stability.

she said when we get the really crazy storms she might lose signal, but for the most paart she said its good. I've seen it on a few houses here, its not a tall pole, its about 4 ft high. The guy must have installed it so I guess he did a good enough job.... they're renting too so Im thinking thats probably why they went with the pole method.

Yup, DirecTV wouldn't attach the dish to my house until I had permission from the landlord. The apartment complex I lived previously didn't allow it at all, and some people had their dish on little stands on their tiny balconies. That was when I had Comcast, because I couldn't imagine that would produce a very good signal.

Blue does your house have vinyl siding? I worry about them drilling into that.

No, it's wood siding. The only drilling they did to the side of the house was attaching the cable and running it down to the bottom of the house. I suppose they could've run it through the wall closer to the roof but since I won't be living in this house permanently it wasn't a huge deal to me.

And it's a beautiful day out, so I took pictures!

This is the backside of the house. Normally they'll find a more discreet location, but since my room is basically directly under the dish, that's where we decided to put it. Again, since it's not permanent I wasn't too concerned about the aesthetics of it. I just wanted it to work great!

And when my Morning Glory decides to grow up that trellis, you won't even be able to see most of the cable!

YOU HAVE A POOL! I am SO jealous.

Hmm... I think it could work... the guy who lived in this house before us closed up the screened in porch to make it into a sunroom, only he did a crap job, so i don't really worry about going through there...

I'm getting pretty sold! I think I'll talk to hubby when he comes home tomorrow... I think he'll be sold because he hates the cable companies too!

I love my pool. I'm in it at least once a day in the summertime!

I want a pool. Your house looks really cute!

Thanks Sy!

We got Dish Network, we like it. MUCH cheaper than Comcast. The one thing my hubby told me to be sure of was to not let the install guys put the dish on the porch roof, to make sure they put it on top of the house roof. Guess that makes a big difference! But they will not volunteer to put it up there, because they don't want to go up on the roof lol

"If the lion lies down with the lamb, the lamb must be replaced frequently." --Attributed to Martin Luther In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist violence of September 11, 2001.