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To those posters who questioned why Janipoo said this:
I think she meant she will need digital cable boxes and not converter boxes. Just trying to clarify.
This is the response I got back from Comcast today:
We have received your inquiry regarding the Cartoon Network channel.
This channel is still available to our Expanded Cable customers as part
of their Expanded line-up, however they now need a box in order to view
the channel.
If you would like to add a converter box to your account to continue to
receive these channels, please contact your local office at
703-368-4227. A Customer Care representative will be happy to assist
you.
We have had both Dish and Direct. Dish and the 2 room thing was a nightmare for us. It went out after we had it for not even 6 months, they sent us another one and it went out a week later. I called them and asked them to send a tech to see if its something with the wires or what not and they refused to. We cancelled and went with Direct after that. Had no problems at all. LOVE them. We had to move and ended up with TWC (blah!-they are horrible) When we move into our house here in the next few weeks, we will have Direct again.
As for internet, when you call direct, they will ask if you need interent and they will tell you how much it is and who the provider would be. Funny part for us, its our phone company and we currently have internet with them.
We have one cable box that feeds to the line into our house and then splits to five different sets in different rooms. We do not have to pay more to be able to watch different channels on different televisions. With satellite, it is my understanding the we would need multiple recievers and have to pay more for each television.
We also have internet through cable and telephone through internet and no phone lines at all. The internet connects seven computers (mostly wireless). As I understand it, since we do not have telephone lines, we could not get internet if we did not have cable.
We have one cable box that feeds to the line into our house and then splits to five different sets in different rooms. We do not have to pay more to be able to watch different channels on different televisions. With satellite, it is my understanding the we would need multiple recievers and have to pay more for each television.
We also have internet through cable and telephone through internet and no phone lines at all. The internet connects seven computers (mostly wireless). As I understand it, since we do not have telephone lines, we could not get internet if we did not have cable.
What cable company do you have? It is my understanding with the digital cable we will need a box for each TV just like satellite. I wouldn't mind having just 1 box and feeds to the other sets. Right now we have 5 TVs and we have 3 outlets in the basement ready to hang TVs, that is why I don't want all those boxes let alone paying out the butt every month just to watch them.
We have one cable box that feeds to the line into our house and then splits to five different sets in different rooms. We do not have to pay more to be able to watch different channels on different televisions. With satellite, it is my understanding the we would need multiple recievers and have to pay more for each television.
We also have internet through cable and telephone through internet and no phone lines at all. The internet connects seven computers (mostly wireless). As I understand it, since we do not have telephone lines, we could not get internet if we did not have cable.
We can run up to 4 tv's off one dish and yes, you need a box for each tv but there isn't an extra charge for each tv, just for the extra box-same as with the cable company.
we have DirecTV w/ HD DVR. Hardly ever goes out, and if it does you can watch recorded stuff.
My DVR I can record 2 shows AND watch another recorded show.
Con's price per "box/and or TV" We have extra TV we need to turn on for daughter and would like to add one to the garage but it's almost $10/month more per tv.
Hubby gets blacked out from many games b/c we live 4hrs away....earlier poster stated they can be seen in ARCHIVE? what is that? is it available on DirectTV??
We have had both Dish and Direct. Dish and the 2 room thing was a nightmare for us. It went out after we had it for not even 6 months, they sent us another one and it went out a week later. I called them and asked them to send a tech to see if its something with the wires or what not and they refused to. . . . .
It most likely was not your wiring, but the receiver.
From what I understand, dish had major problems with that equipment when it was first introduced. It seems as though most of the problems have now been fixed. I have a two-room receiver and its been trouble free, thankfully.
It is a neat setup, and I wouldn't tell a new subscriber to hesitate getting it.
Unfortunately you must have received one of the early models that was plagued with problems.
Overall, dish has better equipment than direct; and I've had several directv installers tell me they agree.
They have a new HD DVR coming out soon that has a slingbox built in, if you know what those are. Its supposed to be really nice.
To those posters who questioned why Janipoo said this:
I think she meant she will need digital cable boxes and not converter boxes. Just trying to clarify.
There are two different situations with some cable companies that might require the use of a converter box:
1. As eggalegga pointed out, many cable companies are moving more and more channels from their analog tier (for which no converter is needed) to their digital tier, usually to make room for more and more HD channels.
2. Some very small regional cable companies are not investing the money for necessary equipment to convert the new digital broadcast signals they receive into analog cable signals - instead they will simply pass thru the digital signal. Customers of those small systems will need to have converter boxes.
Note: These are cable converter boxes, not digital broadcast converters for over-the-air reception.
It most likely was not your wiring, but the receiver.
From what I understand, dish had major problems with that equipment when it was first introduced. It seems as though most of the problems have now been fixed. I have a two-room receiver and its been trouble free, thankfully.
It is a neat setup, and I wouldn't tell a new subscriber to hesitate getting it.
Unfortunately you must have received one of the early models that was plagued with problems.
Overall, dish has better equipment than direct; and I've had several directv installers tell me they agree.
They have a new HD DVR coming out soon that has a slingbox built in, if you know what those are. Its supposed to be really nice.
Some of the older Dish Network boxes (like mine) had problem where the cable connects to the box. Sometimes they would short out, mine done it and when I wiggled the cable it would start working again. They came out and replaced my boxes and I haven't had anymore problems.
The only downside to satellite is you'll lose the signal in bad weather, so it's a good idea to have a weather radio for times like that. I live in a hurricane area so cable is even worse IMO, it would be out for weeks after a hurricane rather than a few hours.
I know that Direct TV is big in our community but now I am leaning towards Dish because of the 2 room receivers. Was it pretty simple to connect the 2 TVs up to the receiver?
They did it all N/C. My house was already wired for TV in every room so I don't know if they would charge to run wiring to 2nd room.
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