Direct TV/Dish Network or Atlantic Broadband? North Miami Beach (Doral: neighborhood, cinema)

[Foxtrot_01]

Hello all,
I live in North Bay Village, after 8+ years of having Atlantic Broadband in North Bay Village I am tired of paying $136 for basic cable and internet, I've seen flyers from Direct Tv and Dish Network for much less and more channels. U-verse is not an option in my island at this time tho.

Any experiences with Direct Tv or Dish network? In the past I heard complaints about signal not being reliable due to storms and high winds, I live in a 3 story building on the bay.

Any input is much appreciated.

[catt6]

I heard complaints about signal not being reliable due to storms and high winds,

My experience with satellite dishes (and i have tried both those companies) is exactly that - a little weather or some clouds and the signal is gone.... and that was in Pennsylvania - not EVEN in Florida where rain and clouds are so much more prevalent at any given moment.... and that's not even taking into account the wind - once your dish is set and calibrated, any little 1/2-inch of movement in the dish and again, the signal is lost.

As much as I also hate Atlantic Broadband, i would never switch to a dish. Until Comcast comes to the beach towns, ABB is the only reliable alternative, imho. While it is true that signal can sometimes also be lost even with cable, it is much less frequent, and it comes back much more quickly; clouds & weather doesn't affect it very much at all.

[Foxtrot_01]

Originally Posted by catt6

My experience with satellite dishes (and i have tried both those companies) is exactly that - a little weather or some clouds and the signal is gone.... and that was in Pennsylvania - not EVEN in Florida where rain and clouds are so much more prevalent at any given moment.... and that's not even taking into account the wind - once your dish is set and calibrated, any little 1/2-inch of movement in the dish and again, the signal is lost.

As much as I also hate Atlantic Broadband, i would never switch to a dish. Until Comcast comes to the beach towns, ABB is the only reliable alternative, imho. While it is true that signal can sometimes also be lost even with cable, it is much less frequent, and it comes back much more quickly; clouds & weather doesn't affect it very much at all.

I do agree that ABB rarely has any issues, but I have asked my friends and they pay way less than I do for more stuff, granted they live in other parts of Miami, my friend in Doral pays $10 for high speed internet and $90 for cable tv through Xfinity and he has a DVR and cinemax, starz, all the bells. Im stuck with ABB paying $136 for basic cable and high speed internet.

My friend previously had both direct tv and dish, he said that it usually takes a big storm to loose signal but usually wind doesn't affect that much if the antenna is properly installed. But again he lives inland, I live on the bay.

I called u-verse and they don't service my address yet.

[valicky]

Xfinity will only be cheap during your introductory period. After that runs out it will be about the same as you're paying now. I used to pay $125 a month for internet and cable with Xfinity. I had no premium channels just the basic package on 1 tv. I dropped tv entirely now and just have cable internet which is $65 a month.

We also used to have Directv for about 15 years and had very little interruption of service. When it would rain hard it would go out for a couple of minutes at most. Never had problems with the wind even after all the hurricanes of 2005. Mine is attached to the west side of my house. We had more issues with Comcast tv because the picture would freeze or get pixelated pretty regularly for no reason. I'm in a former Adelphia area so maybe that had something to do with it?

[valicky]

You can also call your current company and tell them you have an offer with another company for $xxx price and if they would be willing to match or better it to keep you from switching. Be ready to switch if they say no. A lot of times they will do something for you. I wish I had some sort of competition in my neighborhood. Comcast is the only option here for a tv/internet package.

[catt6]

granted they live in other parts of Miami,

Well yes, that is the whole point. Location is everything - beach towns are premium areas, it's more costly for pretty much everything. ABB is way more expensive than anything else because they CAN be -- they know they have a captive customer base on the beaches, where there is no other cable company.... so ppl will pay whatever it takes. It does indeed suck, but it's just basic Economics 101.

and you do not "loose" signal - you 'lose' signal.