Questions on DirectTV

Thundyrkatz

So, I hate my cable provider, and am considering switching to DirectTV, for the cable TV option.

I live in southern New Hampshire, our only cable options are Comcast and Fairpoint. Fairpoint is not even an option, they have so many problems. The service from Comcast is fine, but the cost is just getting ridiculous.

So I have some questions.

First, I am not excited about attaching a dish to the side of my house. Is it possible to put the dish onto a post and mount it in the ground in my yard, in an inconspicuous place? I have a pretty good view of the SW sky at ground level.

Second, Many years ago, when i lived with my parents they had a type of dish TV. What I remember about that was, whenever there was a really thick cloud cover, or a big storm, the signal would cut out until the storm had passed. Is this still the case? Can I expect a lot of signal loss whenever its a cloudy day, or has technology improved in the last 15 years or so?

Also, any other user experience with DirectTV would be helpful as well.

Just to head this off, getting rid of cable all together and going to some sort of streaming only service like HULU or Netflix is not an option at this point. I understand the cost savings, but am not interested in that solution at the moment.

Thanks everyone!

MushroomStick

Just know that all the good customer service reviews Directv gets are because they will hook your dish up within the next half hour on Christmas morning. Once you're locked into their 2 year contract, all bets are off though - sometimes the wait time for a tech to come out will be measured in months. If someone on the phone tells you they can offer a one year or no contract, that is a lie. Don't be surprised if they renew the 2 years if you so much as call them about troubleshooting or a billing inquiry. They will also keep all your personal info on file forever - this includes credit card numbers and bank account/routing numbers. So if a friend asks if they can hand you cash to pay their Directv bill online/over the phone, don't - Directv will even keep that info and will charge your card if said friend's account ever goes delinquent.

I once had a very difficult time cancelling a Directv account. My contract had long run out and I was moving to a place where the cable bill wasn't going to be my responsibility. Directv refused to take my equipment back, saying that I owned it and it was mine, I requested, received, and paid a bill the was labelled as my final bill. Fast forward about a year and a half into the future and I randomly get a postcard from Directv, congratulating me on reactivating my account - I never requested or authorized this and had never even given them my new address for that matter. So I called them up to ask what this was about about and was told that my account was never canceled, but merely put on a period of hiatus and that that period had ended. I told them that I was not interested in this and that I wanted the account canceled forever. Suddenly the equipment that they refused to take back before was on lease and they would need that back, luckily it was collecting dust in the corner of the garage so it only took about 6 more calls like this over the next 2 months to get them to send the shipping boxes for that. Another 4 months after that was when they started charging my credit cards and attempted to make withdrawls from my checking account. At this point I called the police and mailed Directv a copy of the police report and within a few months I finally received a written letter stating that my account was closed for real and no more attempts to collect fees would occur.

So, if Directv were the only option, I would do without. I don't have firsthand experience with Dish Network, but I have heard similar horror stories about them. Do you have Uverse of Fios available in your area?

Thundyrkatz

Wow, that is quite an ordeal. Verizon sold its network in my area to Fairpoint, and they are terrible in all the same ways you quoted for your experience with DirectTV. Poor service, never ending billing, won't cancel the account, etc.

Lindsay Lohan

I really like DirecTV - we've had them twice now (for awhile we lived in a place where we couldn't get signal). While I hate how they love to add channels with limited appeal rather than updating existing ones to high def (BBCA is still standard def with them) - the price is much better than we had with cable.

I believe they can attach to a pole, but I'd call to confirm. The previous tenant had one attached to a tree - so I'd say it should be possible. We lose signal occasionally - mostly during ice or major snow events (we're in Maine) - wind/rain/snow showers haven't really affected it that much. It's obviously less stable than cable, which pretty much never went out, but it's not bad at all. A lot of the time we lose just high def so we can still watch the other channels. Cloudy days have never affected us.

They also have some streaming stuff through the boxes now (at least through our DVR) that if you hook up the box to ethernet you can do some on demand content that's pretty good. I do still supplement with Netflix streaming too since we don't have pay channels with DirecTV. One thing to watch is that a lot of their major deals do require you to do automated payments. Also, make sure to find a friend to sign up under since you'll both save $10 per bill for the first 10 bills.

Creamstout

I've had DirecTV for around 6 months and I've been fairly pleased with it. Their own in-house network "Audience" network has some unique shows that are pretty cool. I had one issue with billing where I wasn't credited for ordering Blizzcon (was supposed to be free) but the customer service member took care of it when I called. I live in Arizona so I rarely have to deal with signal issues. When it rains hard (very seldom here) sometimes you'll get stutters in the programs or the signal will go away completely. Never lasted more than a half an hour or so, ymmv.

I didn't want the dish attached to my house, so the install guy got a pole, dug a hole and put it in my backyard. They are pretty accommodating to new customers from my experience. I believe the picture quality is superior to the one offered by my cable company as well. The standard BBC does suck though. All in all I won't cancel my contract early, but after two years I might be done w/ all cable/satellite in general.

Lindsay Lohan

Definitely read over the list of HD channels if that's an issue for you - I get really annoyed with the lack of HD BBC, DIY, and Hub (I have a kid...). I can't prove it, and I really can't put a finger on it, but I find the SD quality on DirecTV is worse than SD quality on cable - however HD is the opposite for me. Maybe it's a setting, but it just feels more blurry than cable used to be on SD channels.

etdragon

I've also had a good DirecTV experience. My dish is attached directly to my house because the neighborhood I live in has a lot of large old trees so a good view of the sky just wasn't possible any other way.

Customer service has always been really helpful to me and we rarely lose signal unless there is a very severe weather event. We keep our service during most minor storms the only time I have had issues in the last 3 years were during one of the major snow storms in 2010 and during the recent hurricane. In both situations the signal came back immediately once the worst of the weather passed.

Thundyrkatz

Thanks for the help guys. I think any service is likely to have its good and bad customer service. I appreciate the perspective that the reception is mostly good.