DirecTV vs. Time Warner Cable - Pros and Cons

[Scott2013]

I'm seeking some people's opinions about the idea of possibly switching TV providers. My family has always been subscribers of Time Warner Cable (Northeast Ohio area). We have their digital cable with DVR, their Road Runner high speed Internet and their phone service. But since our bills with TWC seem to have been increasing lately, we've been kicking around the idea of ditching cable for DirecTV while still keeping our phone and Internet service with TWC, as we still find those services very reliable.

We've especially been giving this some thought after we got an offer in the mail from DirecTV a few days ago promoting a special deal. The pamphlet we got offers the 145-channel package for $19.99 a month for 12 months, the 175-channel package for $29.99 a month for 12 months, or the 240-channel package for $39.99 a month for 12 months. Add to that a $150 prepaid Visa card, three months of the HBO, Starz, Showtime and Cinemax packages free and a free Genie HD DVR upgrade (my understanding is one DVR/receiver would be compatible with every HD set in the house without extra receivers).

This is no doubt a tempting offer, since we'd get most of the same channels plus some new ones, but my only qualm with DirecTV is the loss of reception during stormy weather. While on vacation in the summertime, we've stayed at rental houses that have had DirecTV and have experienced such outages during such weather. I'm not sure if anyone else on here has experienced the same thing or not, but that's obviously a concern with getting information during such severe weather situations.

What do you folks think? Has anyone else experienced such issues with DirecTV? Should we upgrade or should we stick with what we have with TWC?

 

[PTBoardOp94]

The lack of dish reception in a storm doesn't seem like a big deal to me. You're talking about losing reception for 20 minutes maybe 10 days a year (and some of those will be while you're sleeping, at work, etc.). Emergency info can easily be retrieved in other ways - for example, many TV stations stream their continuing weather coverage, and you can get weather alert information via notification on your phone.

Whether you'd actually save money in the long run, I'm skeptical.
Would cancelling the cable portion of your TWC package actually save you $39.99 a month? How about $91.99 a month, the regular price for that DTV service after the promotional period?

Guessing your whole TWC package now costs something like $139 a month. Without Cable it would probably be $89. You do the math.

 

[rwells2265]

Couple of pennies (and bonus lint) from my pocket:

1) We've had DirecTV for nearly two years, and find the service reliable. Yes, there are times of rain fade .... most of the time when clouds are too thick in your dish's line of sight. It's infrequent, and not as bad as it was 10 years ago. But do consider - 90% of the time when you have outages, it's storming outside with lightning nearby. Risky to have your set operating during those times, anyway.

2) You're going to have to talk with someone at TWC in order to terminate service. Odds are good they'll dangle a carrot in front of you, and your bill can go down without having to change providers.

--Russell

 

[vchimpanzee]

I've heard different versions of what happens with a dish in bad weather. Personally, I wouldn't want to deal with those problems. Time Warner has almost never gone out.

Plus it has a basic level of service which is really cheap, but getting more expensive especially after the switch to digital. I haven't heard you can get that with a dish. I don't know about Internet since I get my Internet from the phone company and while it's really slow, with sites like this one where I go to a lot of pages in a given day, it's almost like being at the library, and it's really cheap and, in recent years, dependable. I did have lots of Internet problems when the company first went through a merger.

 

[ShawnHill1]

I had DirecTV, and am currently a subscriber to Time Warner Cable in my area. I never had any issues with DirecTV--weather issues were very, very few, and customer service (for the most part) was good. I could be a little off-base here, but I think the older receivers may be more susceptible to weather issues than the newer ones. My reason for discounting with them was that I didn't want to be on another two-year contract, although I understand now that they're not requiring two-year contracts for new customers any longer.

As far as TWC, I've noticed too that my bill increased a little bit, and that's after downgrading certain things, such as my cable box (going from enhanced DVR to a standard HD box) and getting rid of a $30/month promotional premium package of HBO/Cinemax/Starz/Showtime. Because Scott is in a different part of the country, the TWC monthly rates will likely be different than anywhere else they're available. But Russell is correct in saying that TWC (and even DirecTV for that matter) will offer anything they can to keep you as a customer, anywhere from free premium channels for three month, a cheaper package, and so on. It'll take some negotiating on your part, but if you threaten to cancel, best believe they'll do what they can to keep you as a customer.

With many of my favorite shows, I can go on Hulu or visit that network's respective website (or their Roku app) to view what I missed; in that regard, along with every network constantly re-running their programs, it's almost pointless for me to have a DVR. I'm almost at a point, though, where I may eventually get rid of my cable service, and find a less expensive alternative. If it wasn't for sports, I would have gotten rid of cable years ago and not look back.

 

[MarcB]

In 2010 a small scale tornado came through my area in Bristol, Connecticut. I lost Comcast TV and Internet for more than a day. My neighbor across the street who had DirecTV only lost signal for 15 minutes.

 

[Ccook55]

I've had DirecTV for ten years but I've recently been thinking about cord-cutting. Every year the rates go up to cover programming costs (read: The Kardashians need another butt lift) and none of the pay-TV companies seem to think my money is inexhaustible.

 

[landtuna]

I cannot comment on Time-Warner (probably a good thing) but my experience with DirecTV (going back a few years) was good. Living in the desert has its advantages but there are some disadvantages as well. We would lose signal briefly during severe thunderstorms (heavy rain seemed to be the culprit) and for about ten days of the year (5 at Spring Equinox and 5 at Fall). At those times the sun would be setting directly in line with the satellite and overpower its signal. Outage would last for five minutes or so. We would also lose signal during our severe dust storms occasionally but not for very long at a time. I never had an outage lasting more than a few minutes.

After having Cox Cable (for TV), DISH and DirecTV I would say that DirecTV was far and away the most reliable as well as being the least expensive. After a few years of exhausting the cable TV program inventory though I cut the cord because no one in the family, including me, was watching. I can't see any reason I would ever go back. I currently have Cox Cable for Internet and this time around it has been reliable.

 

[LKellerIII]

I live in San Francisco, and we don't have Time Warner Cable. But I can tell you we switched from Comcast cable to Direct TV last summer - primarily to save money. And I've heard that Time Warner is worse than Comcast, so you be the judge.

What with the local undergrounding of cable wiring and all, Comcast had become very reliable, but it was getting more and more expensive. We were carrying most of the basic cable channels, plus Showtime and HBO. We're not big sports fans, so we didn't get any of the sports packages. Comcast was running around $150 per month by mid 2015, and that was up about $25 from 2014.

We bought DirecTV through Costco, got a $100 gift certificate and multiple introductory offers, so it was kind of a no-brainer. The total was well under $100 for the first 6 months. Those offers expired at the end of the year, and now we're paying about $120 - which is still a $30 saving over the cost of Comcast last year, and for all I know, they've raised rates again.

As for the reception with DirecTV - it's been great. Needless to say, there are no blizzards, snow or sleet in the SF Bay Area, but it has been a wet rainy winter so far, and the reception has always been fine, no matter the weather.

 

[ansky212]

I had Directv for several years but would never go back. The rain fade was simply too annoying to deal with. Even if it's only for a minute or two, you don't want to be in the middle of a movie or sporting event and have the signal go out. Also don't forget, your DVR recordings will be affected to. So that show you recorded 3 days ago now has 5 minutes missing because a storm rolled through while you weren't home. It's simply not worth it.

I switched to Verizon Fios over six years ago and have not had a single outage, even during hurricane Sandy.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Had DirecTV from 2001 to October of last year. Had very little problems with rain fade, even though I had older equipment. Never seemed to be watching during the times there were sun outages (I'm not even sure what time of day that happens for my location). The service worked fine, what few technical issues I had in 15 years were resolved quickly when I called, they even came and remounted my dish free of charge when the building I live in got a new roof and it had to be temporarily removed for that.

In fact, they weren't even the real reason I cancelled. Time Warner was.

I'm sure a lot of you know about the dispute between TWC and everyone else concerning the Dodgers' cable channel. Well, after two seasons of Vin Scully-less television, I decided that it was longer worth keeping DirecTV in the vain hope that TWC would finally come to their senses and properly negotiate carriage agreements. And with that mindset, you don't think I switched to TWC, I hope.

I have 32 channels of over-the-air television now. Monthly charge: $0.

 

[LKellerIII]

I have 32 channels of over-the-air television now. Monthly charge: $0.

The problem for me going OTA - other than being in a poor reception area, is that I would have no access to the high-quality critically acclaimed dramas that I watch on basic cable, HBO, and Showtime. This decade really is the Golden Age of Television, and very little of it plays on the broadcast networks.

Now that more programming is stream-able, that's becoming less of an issue. I look forward to the day I can "cut the cord," but I would probably need to subscribe to HBO-GO and the Showtime equivalent at minimum, and possibly some of the basic cable websites, Netflix and/or Hulu, so my monthly charge will never be zero.

 

[Scott2013]

Speaking of over-the-air TV, another con that comes to my mind is DirecTV doesn't carry any of the digital subchannels/digicast networks that are broadcast from some of our local stations. One such channel I like to watch is the Justice Network on WKYC Channel 3.2. It's available on TWC, but not on DirecTV. We only have one standard-definition TV set left in our house, so it would be nice if maybe we could just connect an OTA converter box and antenna to that one and have the HD sets in our house connected to DirecTV.

Plus, there are other digicast network affiliates in Cleveland/Akron/Canton that aren't receivable on TWC or DirecTV. For example, Heroes & Icons (H&I) is on WBNX Channel 55.4, but it's not available on TWC. Some good old shows on that network too. I especially would want to see the old episodes of Real Stories of the Highway Patrol they show if we were to ever have access to the network.

In the analog days, any TVs we had that were connected to an antenna would have also picked up WFMJ and WKBN out of Youngstown and occasionally some other out-of-market stations in nearby regions depending on the weather at the given time. I'm wondering if we'd still be able to pick those up now that we've gone through the digital transition.

 

[landtuna]

I actually chalk up more viewing hours watching the diginets than the mainstream OTA channels. Love the old shows!

 

[mrtejano]

My experiences with DirecTV were horrible. Any little air in the little rain would cause interfere with my signal. We don't have TWC we have Comcast but they work pretty much the same. What I recommend is calling TWC and tell them you're canceling due to their prices they usually lower your bill for 1 year.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I think DirecTV (and Dish) ought to make subchannels available in a premium package.

I am concerned about what is going to happen with repacking. Surely all the broadcast networks that we're used to having are available even if they are on a .2 channel, and with repacking, that is going to become common.

 

[K.M. Richards]

I think DirecTV (and Dish) ought to make subchannels available in a premium package.

The reason they don't is simple. They don't have enough satellite bandwidth to do that with the "spot beams" they use to deliver local stations to their individual markets, and if the diginets made a deal with DirecTV to carry them as a single national feed it would probably violate the terms of their carriage agreements with the local stations in each market.

I am concerned about what is going to happen with repacking. Surely all the broadcast networks that we're used to having are available even if they are on a .2 channel, and with repacking, that is going to become common.

And you won't even notice, because the PSIP information will not change, regardless of which transmitter a station is using.

Let's say channels 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 are actually transmitting from channel 48, and in the repacking they start using channel 36's transmitter, which already has channels 7.1 and 7.2 on it. 4.1 would become the third stream on 36, but it would still be displaying as 4.1 via PSIP.

You might have to rescan after packing, but that's about it.

 

[JeeperOne]

I've had Comcast & DirectTV over the years & am faced with a cord-cutting dilemna myself because (As others have said) Comcast service, while VERY reliable, is only getting MORE & MORE EXPEN$IVE to keep for TV. Only I'm looking at stripping down to just the locals (Both SD & HD) as well as the diginets

When you add all the ways one can get cable channels online now (Apps, Roku, Smart TV specific services, etc), I'm looking at switching from Comcast for cable TV to Sling TV (I already have a Slingbox so I can watch the locals wherever I want). Pluto TV also chips in with getting online networks like TYT Network (Among others)

I'll still keep Comcast for Internet however as it's about as reliable as CenturyLink so I gain nor lose nothing either way

Since I live in an apartment building that DOES NOT have a clear view of the southern horizon, Satellite isn't a viable option now as it once was at my old place

Just my $.02 worth.....

Hope this helps

Cheers & 73

 

[vchimpanzee]

And you won't even notice, because the PSIP information will not change, regardless of which transmitter a station is using.

Let's say channels 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 are actually transmitting from channel 48, and in the repacking they start using channel 36's transmitter, which already has channels 7.1 and 7.2 on it. 4.1 would become the third stream on 36, but it would still be displaying as 4.1 via PSIP.

You might have to rescan after packing, but that's about it.

This is about cable and DirecTV availability, actually. I don't want to depend on an antenna because I am too far away for a dependable signal from some stations. Depending on how I am affected by my trees, it's possible an outdoor antenna won't help.

 

[K.M. Richards]

This is about cable and DirecTV availability, actually. I don't want to depend on an antenna because I am too far away for a dependable signal from some stations. Depending on how I am affected by my trees, it's possible an outdoor antenna won't help.

Well, you might have phrased your concern to make that clearer.

To add to my original answer with that in mind, you still won't notice much of anything, because in the larger markets the stations feed a DirecTV uplink site via fiber optic from their control rooms and what happens at the transmitter has no effect.

Market #26 is very likely one of those larger markets.