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ok now that my basic cable is going up to over 60 and with all taxes and equipment it will be well over 90 a month. so i am thinking about making the switch to satellite tv. im just wondering about hookups. my husband is anal when it comes to the house and he does not want the dish on the roof. can it go on the ground in a pole? i have seen it this way. and also the hookups in the house. does it go through cable that is already there or do they drill and can we do it ourselves?which is better direct tv or dish network.
A dish on a pole is not the correct way when mounting on a roof is an option. You are also going to have to pay for such "custom" installation. One option is to put it on top of a shed if you have one in the back yard.
Most installers will stay away from using existing wiring because it could end up being more work. They rather run their own direct line than guessing how the existing cables are configured. With that said, they will need to find a point of entry to get at least a new cable into the home (they probably will have to drill).
I've had Dish and recently switched to Direct. They are very similiar (it's just down to channel package and commitment. I believe Dish is 18 months while Direct is 24. Dish do have a nice feature with the dual box. This allow you to use 1 box for 2 separate room.
I think it's better to have the dish on the roof. A professional technician is usually able to mount the dish properly so it's still in the line of the satellite but the dish itself isn't an eyesore. Our dish is mounted on the second floor on the chimney. You can't see it from the street. We're very happy with Directv.
My son installs in South Jersey.
We've had Comcast up until 2 days ago when my son finally took what they offer him for being an employee. Comcast was getting expensive, times are tough, time to trim the fat.
My house is wired for everything. The attic is also wired for a dish. Hubby didn't want the dish on the roof, son put it on a pole in the back. My son said they have poles for people that want them. He'd gone to Lowes & Depot looking for a specific pole (he didn't have the one he wanted on his truck) and couldn't find what he wanted, that's when I found out about them usually carrying them, so a pole sounds pretty standard to me.
Next, what type of package do you have with Comcast?
Last night was our first night of being able to dig into DTV, setting up our shows to DVR, etc.
We never had to DVR CSI or NCIS, Comcast provided it with our package as the On Demand.
Last night I tried to access on demand with DTV. The box had to be connected to the net in order to access the list, and what a crappy list it was.
I'm sure that in time we'll get used to the differences and it's still too early to tell what we prefer better.
One tip I have is if you keep your comcast box for a few days to finish watching anything you recorded, do not unplug it from the wall. We connected ours last night, couldn't get things to work, couldn't access our DVR list, the program guide said to be announced, so all last night I had no clue what was on. We had to shut the box down a few times, in the end we did access our DVR shows but the channel guide never came back. Ours was unplugged for 24 hours. The lady at Comcast said we probably lost our DVR shows, thankfully we didn't.
If the tech uses the comcast cable wire you already have, have them show you where they are disconnecting it so that you can hook the comcast receiver back up if you need to.
FWIW, I watch a show called Say yes to the dress. Easy enough with comcast to find to record but with DTV so far, if it isn't on in a 2 week period, it isn't listed; I could be wrong, as I said, it's the 1st few days of having it.
My hubby likes the military channel, it was not included in the original package we had, neither were some of the TLC channels. Pay attention to what you currently watch before switching. You may not get the same channels with what you sign up for with DTV.
My son installs in South Jersey.
We've had Comcast up until 2 days ago when my son finally took what they offer him for being an employee. Comcast was getting expensive, times are tough, time to trim the fat.
My house is wired for everything. The attic is also wired for a dish. Hubby didn't want the dish on the roof, son put it on a pole in the back. My son said they have poles for people that want them. He'd gone to Lowes & Depot looking for a specific pole (he didn't have the one he wanted on his truck) and couldn't find what he wanted, that's when I found out about them usually carrying them, so a pole sounds pretty standard to me.
Next, what type of package do you have with Comcast?
Last night was our first night of being able to dig into DTV, setting up our shows to DVR, etc.
We never had to DVR CSI or NCIS, Comcast provided it with our package as the On Demand.
Last night I tried to access on demand with DTV. The box had to be connected to the net in order to access the list, and what a crappy list it was.
I'm sure that in time we'll get used to the differences and it's still too early to tell what we prefer better.
One tip I have is if you keep your comcast box for a few days to finish watching anything you recorded, do not unplug it from the wall. We connected ours last night, couldn't get things to work, couldn't access our DVR list, the program guide said to be announced, so all last night I had no clue what was on. We had to shut the box down a few times, in the end we did access our DVR shows but the channel guide never came back. Ours was unplugged for 24 hours. The lady at Comcast said we probably lost our DVR shows, thankfully we didn't.
If the tech uses the comcast cable wire you already have, have them show you where they are disconnecting it so that you can hook the comcast receiver back up if you need to.
FWIW, I watch a show called Say yes to the dress. Easy enough with comcast to find to record but with DTV so far, if it isn't on in a 2 week period, it isn't listed; I could be wrong, as I said, it's the 1st few days of having it.
My hubby likes the military channel, it was not included in the original package we had, neither were some of the TLC channels. Pay attention to what you currently watch before switching. You may not get the same channels with what you sign up for with DTV.
Everything you've said is true. I just switched FROM direct tv to cable, opposite of you and I'm having issues with getting used to this as well. We have IO, is that what Comcast was?? If so, I have some questions for you. Maybe you can help me and I'll help you with the DTV DVR.
DM me any questions you may have about setting it up.
One important thing is that if you are recording two shows, you CANNOT watch a third. You have to watch one of the shows on that TV that you are recording or it will cancel one and go by the ranking on your Prioritizer. Have you discovered the prioritizer yet?
Everything you've said is true. I just switched FROM direct tv to cable, opposite of you and I'm having issues with getting used to this as well. We have IO, is that what Comcast was?? If so, I have some questions for you. Maybe you can help me and I'll help you with the DTV DVR.
DM me any questions you may have about setting it up.
One important thing is that if you are recording two shows, you CANNOT watch a third. You have to watch one of the shows on that TV that you are recording or it will cancel one and go by the ranking on your Prioritizer. Have you discovered the prioritizer yet?
Not sure about the prioritizer, think I saw it on the DVR menu at one point. My main thing was to set up the shows we usually DVR.
So far I'm ok, but I will keep it in mind if I have problems.
I don't know what IO is, never heard of them.
Comcast was the same way when you DVR 2 programs you had to watch one of the two or cancel the 2nd.
Not sure about the prioritizer, think I saw it on the DVR menu at one point. My main thing was to set up the shows we usually DVR.
So far I'm ok, but I will keep it in mind if I have problems.
I don't know what IO is, never heard of them.
Comcast was the same way when you DVR 2 programs you had to watch one of the two or cancel the 2nd.
IO is the programming (?), not sure I'm using the right word. How can I say this and if anyone else can correct me and help us out, it would be great.
My cable company is cablevision. That's who I pay my bill to. My internet is Optimum Online through cablevision, phone is Optimum Voice and tv is IO digital cable, still from cablevision. Am I making sense?
I was wondering if Comcast was the company you used, but the tv was IO cable.
Oh no, not sure if this is coming out right, help, someone!
The OP is talking about basic cable and looking for saving money and did not say anything about ESPN or YES.
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