Insight vs Dish vs DirectTV

[Robin Garr]

Okay, we're about done with Insight Cable, with its near-$100 monthly charge for HD and DVR with NO movie or premium channels (which we absolutely don't want, not with Netflix and Roku, so special premium-channel offers do not snow me).

We're thinking hard about Dish and DirectTV, both of which seem to be popular in our neighborhood, judging from the number of antennas I can count between here and Heine Bros.

I'm interested in personal experiences, though, if any of you have tried any or all and have personal experiences to compare. How about pricing, signal quality, reliability (what happens in rainy/snowy weather?), and, not least, quality of customer service.

Tell us your best, and worst, experiences as I ponder this life-changing decision.

I had Dish and it could be pretty frustrating. If the wind blew hard when a storm was approaching then the service would go out. Unfortunately, when a storm/tornado may be coming is really a time you want to see the warnings...

Switched back to Insight....

I do have the basic cable however and no HD. Don't have HD flatscreens and don't want to pay those prices.

DirecTV...I've have been a customer for more years than I care to remember. it is extremely rare that we have a problem...and if you do they will credit your account with no questions. Just got a free HD receiver from them this past week just for being a loyal customer. I would guess that 5 or 6 months out of the year we have some kind of free "premium" programing available just for being good customers. Most recently it was 4 free months of Showtime and coupons for 4 free PPV movies. Wouldn't consider for as nano-second going with anyone else.

If the wind blew hard when a storm was approaching then the service would go out. Unfortunately, when a storm/tornado may be coming is really a time you want to see the warnings...

That sounds like a mounting and/or location problem. I've had satelite TV in four different houses and wind itself was never a problem. As far as losing signals when the weather is bad, the only time I've ever lost a signal during weather was during those times when I should have had my ass hunkered down in the basement.

Went from Insight when in the city to Dish now that no cable options exist. I've been pretty happy with it, although a heavy rain does knock it out. (You MUST have a weather radio if you go Dish, otherwise the TV weather guys disappear at the worst possible time!)

[Robin Garr]

(You MUST have a weather radio if you go Dish, otherwise the TV weather guys disappear at the worst possible time!)

iPhone. A vast array of weather applets - I generally multitask NOAA (the official word), The Weather Channel (great moving satellite imagery that shows cloud locations and rain), and My-Cast (by far the closest radar to real time, never more than about 15 minutes behind at most). Runs on batteries and surfs on the cell system.

(You MUST have a weather radio if you go Dish, otherwise the TV weather guys disappear at the worst possible time!)

iPhone. A vast array of weather applets - I generally multitask NOAA (the official word), The Weather Channel (great moving satellite imagery that shows cloud locations and rain), and My-Cast (by far the closest radar to real time, never more than about 15 minutes behind at most). Runs on batteries and surfs on the cell system.

I'm so far behind the technology curve it's frightening. I'm still a Blackberry "world" user. I have no apps.

Robin who will you get your on line services through? It was my understanding that Insight did not offer computer hook up only; you had to buy some sort of tv service as well. Or was that lady giving me a sales pitch?

Robin, switch if you want to or just call Insight and tell them you are thinking of switching and they will cave in like a house of cards, 1 phone call and I saved $700/ year. Crappy business practices, but they rely on people not noticing the bill going up. If we had a competing cable service as we should, we wouldn't be having this issue, thanks City Council !

I don't have Dish, but the parents do. The signal does go out at times in poor weather, the receivers seem to have a short lifespan, and, the one that really gets me, you have to pay extra for local HD. Maybe that's the standard, but that seems like highway robbery to me. Not sure about customer service and/or billing, as I never deal with that.

Robin who will you get your on line services through? It was my understanding that Insight did not offer computer hook up only; you had to buy some sort of tv service as well. Or was that lady giving me a sales pitch?

I have Insight cable-internet only. $52.50 a month or something like that. Not a good deal, but there are limited alternatives. They will try to tell you that it needs to be packaged, but if you say, "I only have need for and only want internet installed," they will cut you a contract.

Every few weeks an Insight salesperson comes by door-to-door and tries to get me to purchase phone and/or cable TV service. They, probably purposefully, struggle with the idea that I can live w/o a home telephone. As for not having TV, they can't even imagine it. Why would I want internet only when I could also have TV? I once tried to explain to them that, in reality, the internet pretty much doubles as a TV, but that didn't seem to be of interest to them. I now tend to tell them that I am a leftist academic who only reads and would've never watch TV. That works, maybe only because it scares them off my porch.

Dish customer service is about as expected - mostly contractors, block out half a day or more to wait for them, etc. Fortunately, I've had only one or two calls in five years, including when I upgraded to HD and they were fine, especially for the upgrade call. Billing is auto-deduct and works with no quirks.

I have the same setup as Annemarie, about the same price, but I'm on DirectTV. Great customer service, got a few free PPVs last month, haven't had too many complaints. Seldom have service drops.

If Insight gives you a sales pitch, tell them you are under contract with your satellite company. They didn't give me any problems with setting up just internet, but we do get offers in the mail several times a week to add services.

Okay, we're about done with Insight Cable, with its near-$100 monthly charge for HD and DVR with NO movie or premium channels (which we absolutely don't want, not with Netflix and Roku, so special premium-channel offers do not snow me).

We're thinking hard about Dish and DirectTV, both of which seem to be popular in our neighborhood, judging from the number of antennas I can count between here and Heine Bros.

I'm interested in personal experiences, though, if any of you have tried any or all and have personal experiences to compare. How about pricing, signal quality, reliability (what happens in rainy/snowy weather?), and, not least, quality of customer service.

Tell us your best, and worst, experiences as I ponder this life-changing decision.

Robin,
Any satellite tv system is only as good as the installer that put it in. Most corporate employed installers are over worked, under paid, and under trained. Therefore the installer is only concerned with speed of installation, and number of units installed in a day; not the quality of each installation. You need to understand that a 1/16" misalignment of the satellite dish equates to a 90 mile misalignment in space. Our normal client base for residential installations is high end homes where they expect perfection. My husband is an electrical engineer and DirecTv is only a small part of our business. We are also Louisville's only commercial DirecTv dealer. Having a local dealer is a huge asset over 1-800-customer service. We provide free system design and consultaion to our clients.

FYI Dish Network is currently in a patent infringement lawsuit with Tivo. If they loose Dish Network is prepared to turn off 7.3 million DVR's.

If you would like residential refernces please feel free to ask.
Some of our commercial DirecTv clients include :
Boombooz Pizza, Selena's at Willow Lake, Molly Malones, Pig City BBQ, Buckheads, Rocky's, Turkey Joe's, Del Frisco's & BBC.

Bradley Gray
Owner/Senior Design Engineer
454-6628

I think Turkey Joe's closed a few months ago. How about just getting the new box and some rabbit ears for free local HD?

We have ATT U-verse. $67 per month for 200 channels, $10 for HD upgrade, plus $7 for each additional receivers. We have 5 addional receivers and movie package, I have 3 kids. We also have internet service with them. We have been happy with the service.