DirecTV is very entertaining and gives customers a lot of options to choose from but it's one major negative. When there is a ThunderStorm or Snow Storm Directv does not operate properly. Does that always make digital cable a better choice?

i've got digital cable and it goes out on a daily basis, whether there is bad weather or not.
The cable company says it is because of the lines in my area and animals on the lines, whatever the case may be I am strongly considering switching to some form of satellite TV because Time Warner sure doesnt seem to have any plans to fix it.

Biggest pet peeve about the whole thing: the last THREE times i have tried to record a show, the digital cable flaked out in the middle of it :cuss: :angryfire: :cuss:

Originally posted by robyrob
i've got digital cable and it goes out on a daily basis, whether there is bad weather or not.
The cable company says it is because of the lines in my area and animals on the lines, whatever the case may be I am strongly considering switching to some form of satellite TV because Time Warner sure doesnt seem to have any plans to fix it.

Biggest pet peeve about the whole thing: the last THREE times i have tried to record a show, the digital cable flaked out in the middle of it :cuss: :angryfire: :cuss:


But wouldn't you have more problems with Satellite TV if there was abad weather storm?

I love Digital Cable, and the only reason I'd switch to satellite is if they dropped channels. I've got most of the channels I want, so I'm satisfied with it.

Ours never goes out unless there's a power outage or something. My cousin's had alot of problems with satellite in the past, so that's why I'd never want to switch to one unless I had no choice.

The Dish Network setup I had last year, until that rather bad windstorm that knocked the dish over (and apparently screwed it up somehow), would rarely go out, even in a mild to moderate Thunderstorm. Only the fairly heavy clouds involved in the stronger storms would completely knock it out (And usually, only one of the two satellites it pulled from would go out, thanks to conveinient satellite and cloud positioning). Of course, once the windstorm came and knocked the dish completely out of it's setting (due to housing regulations here it was directly attached to the GROUND rather than the house), onto the ground fairly hard, it seemed to go out at the slightest thick cloud...

I have digital cable and I get a lot of great channels and the reception in good even in bad weather. so I think digital is better than direct tv.

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
But wouldn't you have more problems with Satellite TV if there was abad weather storm? i dont know, but it couldnt be much worse that the digital cable i have now - so far it has gone out twice today, and each time it takes a couple of minutes for the box to reset itself and connect again - someone tell me if they have had as many problems as that with their dish and i'll believe it.

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
DirecTV is very entertaining and gives customers a lot of options to choose from but it's one major negative. When there is a ThunderStorm or Snow Storm Directv does not operate properly. Does that always make digital cable a better choice?

Take a visit down to a private satellite retailer (Not Best Buy, Circuit City or Future Shop), Solomon. And ask About Free-To-Air Satellite. I get Direct TV (U.S. Satellite), ExpressVU (Canadian Satellite), and EuroStar (European Satellite) all on one reciever. That's about 2000 Channels from world wide.

I know you like classic TV, Solomon. The channels You'll get with FREE-TO-AIR Satellite are: TV Land USA The Hallmark Channel, Nick@Nite, Prime TV, TV Land Canada, Deja View, CTS-TV (Toronto, ON), and NOW-TV (Vancouver, BC) FOR FREE. No Monthly charges or anything for any channel. You just can't purchase Pay-Per View programming. :)

This Website (http://skyvision.com/index.html) has more information on FTA Satellite dishes.

Originally posted by Jenya
Take a visit down to a private satellite retailer (Not Best Buy, Circuit City or Future Shop), Solomon. And ask About Free-To-Air Satellite. I get Direct TV (U.S. Satellite), ExpressVU (Canadian Satellite), and EuroStar (European Satellite) all on one reciever. That's about 2000 Channels from world wide.

I know you like classic TV, Solomon. The channels You'll get with FREE-TO-AIR Satellite are: TV Land USA The Hallmark Channel, Nick@Nite, Prime TV, TV Land Canada, Deja View, CTS-TV (Toronto, ON), and NOW-TV (Vancouver, BC) FOR FREE. No Monthly charges or anything for any channel. You just can't purchase Pay-Per View programming. :)

This Website (http://skyvision.com/index.html) has more information on FTA Satellite dishes.



But what if i get all of that and there the thunderstorm knocks out the power?

..nevermind...

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
But what if i get all of that and there the thunderstorm knocks out the power?

Your satellite will retrive all the signals after the storm. Thunderstorms (and snowstorms) will knock out your cable as well. You will also need a Signal Finder to get all the satellite feeds. Ask your retailer about it. You need to know the latitude and longitude of each satellite signal in order to get all the channels. I get all satellite channels (2000 of them) on one dish and one reciever.

By the way you can't get Satellite Internet with this dish, you have to subscribe to satellite Internet. The service can trace your IP address to see if your a subscriber or not. You have to purchase two-way satellite Internet seperately yourself. Unfortunately there is no way to get around that.

Originally posted by Jenya
Your satellite will retrive all the signals after the storm. Thunderstorms (and snowstorms) will knock out your cable as well. You will also need a Signal Finder to get all the satellite feeds. Ask your retailer about it. You need to know the latitude and longitude of each satellite signal in order to get all the channels. I get all satellite channels (2000 of them) on one dish and one reciever.

By the way you can't get Satellite Internet with this dish, you have to subscribe to satellite Internet. The service can trace your IP address to see if your a subscriber or not. You have to purchase two-way satellite Internet seperately yourself. Unfortunately there is no way to get around that.



I have had digital cable since 2000 and no storm has never caused the cable to shut off.

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
I have had digital cable since 2000 and no storm has never caused the cable to shut off.

And how much do you pay for it? I pay no money for 2000 channels from the U.S, Canada, and Europe. :D :D :D

Originally posted by Jenya
And how much do you pay for it? I pay no money for 2000 channels from the U.S, Canada, and Europe.


During the months of April, May, June, July, August, September, and October, my bill s $60 to $65, and from November to March my bill is $100

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
During the months of April, May, June, July, August, September, and October, my bill s $60 to $65, and from November to March my bill is $100

That's a lot of money. I would sooner suffer 30 minutes of losing a signal after a storm rather than paying $300-$400 a year for cable channels. But I'll leave that decision up for you to decide. I payed $450.00 back in May for my dish and 3 recievers, and I haven't payed anymore money since. And I get 2000 channels. I don't need a satellite card or anything. Just the location of the satellites themselves. A signal finder can do that for me in five minutes. :)

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
I have had digital cable since 2000 and no storm has never caused the cable to shut off. move over - i'm coming over to your house to watch TV

oh and we're watching ALF next, and I call dibs on the TV when Mork and Mindy comes on :)

My dish usually goes out right before a heavy thunderstorm, but only for a little while; then it comes right back on. And that's the only time it's ever gone out. My cable NEVER had a success rate like that.

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
But what if i get all of that and there the thunderstorm knocks out the power?

I've seen midwestern thunderstorms that were horrible. With cable, it would knock it out for hours. With the dish, no more than 15 minutes, and that's even long. Satellitle will never ever be worse than cable in regards of interruptions and interferance...NEVER.

Originally posted by dawsongirl
I've seen midwestern thunderstorms that were horrible. With cable, it would knock it out for hours. With the dish, no more than 15 minutes, and that's even long. Satellitle will never ever be worse than cable in regards of interruptions and interferance...NEVER.


Well that must only happen in the Midwest, not on the Eastcoast