Tips from a pro............
I have been a Cable Guy since 1994............Comcast Tech# 8947, Direct TV Tech# 221679, Dish Network Tech# K920, Wide Open West Tech#2226, Globecast World Satellite Tech# 111256.
Comcast, well what can one say about them, "They Are Monsters" they are in forty eight states, and desperately trying to get the final two, I have worked for them, as both an in house guy, and as a sub-contractor. Comcast internet, as much as I hate to say it, is the best internet you can get, speed is tops, availability is tops, price is a little steep.
Comcast phone, yikes ............Most people dont realize when you have comcast phone, your phone service is being distributed thru the same wire your TV is, so when I climb a pole and need to make a call, I simply plug in my homemade butt sett, linemans phone, and make calls from your and or other customers phone account. Cable phone service is also subject to the same issues, as cable TV service, bad picture also can mean bad voice quality, power out, guess what your land line phone is also out, even though some of you may have a battery pack, provided by comcast, but believe me, when I tell you, those battery packs, modems, and converter boxes, are all used and or refurbed so power outage will shut down your phone. Home security systems requiring a land line phone a great deal of them will not work with a Cable Phone connection.
Ask yourself this question how many times has the Cable gone out in your home, then take that number and add it to your future phone service.........
Wide Open West, if your lucky to have this company available in your area, and dont want to deal with dish or comcast, WOW is your best choice.......WOW is just a cheaper no frills non digital, non HD, Cable Provider, they are also in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection so who knows how long they will be around
Direct TV, I have worked for them five years plus, I call them the "Natzi's" of the Cable Industry, but in a good way. I like rules lots and lots of rules, and DTV has the most, constant drug testing, video cameras in their trucks, efficiency grades monthly, phone lines, uniforms and ID's and Quality Control, and most important customer education. If you are fortunate to have a HSP installer for DTV, you wont be disappointed, how can you tell the difference between a HSP tech, or a hack tech, its easy HSP tech's are your tech for as long as you have DTV, if your system breaks, he is coming back, if you are getting an upgrade, he will be doing it...............and so on
DTV service requires a dish, and a new home run wire to each TV, and a receiver. Dishes do not have to be mounted on roofs, but if you have to have it roof mounted, it must be close to the edge of the roof so a tech can reach it without leaving the ladder, if your dish is on top of the roof what happens when winter comes and there is snow on the roof, how can I fix it.........All satellite TV systems break, "I want them to break" if your system breaks in the winter it will remain broken until spring.
Dishes can be mounted in many ways, my favorite is on a pole four feet tall in your backyard "I like this way because if it breaks I can fix it without the cust being home" the pole should be mounted in a quick set cement, Techs will always try to charge extra for this, which is legal but I never did
I have mounted dishes on railings, boats, cars, trucks, trees, I have even mounted a dish hanging from a wire, covered in fake plants, and yes dishes can be mounted inside your home thru a window.
Dish Network, well they are the scruffy dish provider, and are virtually the same as DTV, except in price, Dish Net is cheaper
Now your going to ask me "Billy The Cable God" what do I have...............
SBC/ATT the whole works, phone service, internet, dish network, DSL internet is about 1/3 slower than Comcast, WOW. SBC uses its own wires, and strand from the pole, so even if the power goes out, your phone and data will not. SBC is also your phone company, since the 1920's "I am old school" they are also union, and american owned.
My bill is less than one hundred bucks a month, I have three TV's, three Tivo's, two phone lines, high speed internet, long distance, caller ID, and all the other goodies July's bill was 89.00 bucks, I have all the movie channells, and all the regular channells, and every year I continue with SBC, my bill get s cheaper, I have been with them for three years.
I hope this helps in some way.....................
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