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Cable pulled the plug on ME

W

wrsg915fm

You may remember when cable companies servicing small rural areas of 200 or fewer subscribers were shutting off service during and after the DTV transition. I'm one of those folks. I've tried to set up a gonzo Winegard antenna, with the help of a local engineer who does this for fun, but can receive no signal. I'm on a hill, but also in a 'bowl.' In my area, some folks can get OTA at great expense, while others are like me. After having cable for the better part of three decades, I now have no local channels. Also, since I have dial-up internet, my entertainment choices are severely limited.

I would love to hook back up to cable. Writing constantly to my 'representatives' in Congress has produced nothing but form e-mails. Basically, I'm screwed. If I ever wanted to sell my house, having no access to cable or high-speed internet will certainly hurt chances of getting top-dollar in a sale.

Walking over a significant part of an acre, hoisting three different antennas in the air, is not my idea of fun.

This is NOT progress! :mad:
 
For cable it would depend upon your local cable provider. Mine is Cox and their Internet service was not reliable. Fast but unreliable. So I went with Qwest DSL. A bit slower but cheaper and much more reliable.

I am not aware that either DISH or DirecTV provides Internet service. DirecTV does have a billing arrangement with Qwest here in Arizona but the service is provided by DirecTV. There are satellite Internet companies but they are very expensive (we're talking in the neighborhood of $70/month) and only provide high speed download. Upload is usually at dial-up speeds.

As far as video service both DISH and DirecTV were about the same (as you would expect). DISH has a more user-friendly presentation for tweaking the antenna (no problem to do it yourself). Both had about the same PQ and outages due to weather was about the same as well. I had absolutely no problem with DirecTV's billing and admin services. DISH was another story. Although I had a signed contract in my possession from one of their retailers stating my contract period was 8 months, when I shut off their service after 10 months they refused to honor the contract and sent my account to collection. Took me about two years and a bunch of threats to get them to back off but they finally did. I really doubt I'd do business with DISH again.
 
landtuna said:
I am not aware that either DISH or DirecTV provides Internet service.
Click to expand...

They both do.

landtuna said:
As far as video service both DISH and DirecTV were about the same (as you would expect). DISH has a more user-friendly presentation for tweaking the antenna (no problem to do it yourself). Both had about the same PQ and outages due to weather was about the same as well. I had absolutely no problem with DirecTV's billing and admin services. DISH was another story. Although I had a signed contract in my possession from one of their retailers stating my contract period was 8 months, when I shut off their service after 10 months they refused to honor the contract and sent my account to collection. Took me about two years and a bunch of threats to get them to back off but they finally did. I really doubt I'd do business with DISH again.
Click to expand...

Whoa! Eight months? I'd put the blame on the retailer. I don't know of any contract offer going less than twelve months. I dealt directly with DISH Network many years ago. My contract was for twenty-four (24) months...and that was before I moved to my new house almost four years ago.
 
I agree with the others. You don't need cable. You can get Dish Network or Direct TV for television and internet. Get Sirius XM for Radio if you want. You'll be fine.
 
azumanga said:
landtuna said:
What about DirecTV or DISH?
Click to expand...

How good are their satellite internet services, as compared to cable?
Click to expand...

I dumped Comcast for DirecTV several years ago, and have been quite satisfied. Comcast tended to fumble the ball
when it came to that most basic of all business functions, sending me an accurate bill! And if you had a problem, dealing
with their Customer Service was kind of like dealing with Tony Soprano's crew if you came up lite that month. DirectTV
gives me a lot of channel choices, and very good picture and sound quality for what, comparatively speaking, looks like
a reasonable price. (whether many of those channels are actually programming something I want to watch is a separate
matter). And it is easy to order pay-per-view or add/drop packages via their website.

The main drawback with DirecTV seems to be that you will lose your signal in a very heavy rainstorm. This is function of basic
physics, as the wavelength being used by those dishes approximates the physical size of a raindrop. (don't know why, I am guessing
the military had first dibs on all the good frequencies. Same thing is a problem with Dish Network).

The only other problem I've had with them is that I missed most of the past NHL season because they were not carrying Versus.
This was over a fee dispute that was largely caused by Versus' owner, COMCAST! Seems I just can't get away from those people!

But in your situation I think you would be satisified with either of the main satellite TV providers.
 
I've had DishNetwork since the mid 90's. That's the ONLY TV I get now. My lament is that Suddenlink services a town four miles away, but we'll never get it. The physical plant was so deteriorated that nobody now wants to take it on, as there are too few subscribers for them to bother with. I CAN'T access local TV via antenna at this point, even though a virtually new antenna is on sawhorses in my front yard, just begging to be installed, but we can't receive any signal.

It must be nice to live in an area where you can have choices.

I appreciate all the responses!
 
JayR said:
landtuna said:
I am not aware that either DISH or DirecTV provides Internet service.
Click to expand...

They both do.
Click to expand...

Actually, neither do. They administrate internet service provided by one of the phone companies (DSL) and/or Wild Blue, a pure satellite company.
 
Depending on the ISP you can watch TV on the Internet. Of course, it will be a day late except for sports, but nevertheless if you are in a remote area but can get high speed Internet, watch TV that way - again, depending on the ISP.
 
Greg Goodfellow said:
I've had DishNetwork since the mid 90's. That's the ONLY TV I get now. My lament is that Suddenlink services a town four miles away, but we'll never get it. The physical plant was so deteriorated that nobody now wants to take it on, as there are too few subscribers for them to bother with. I CAN'T access local TV via antenna at this point, even though a virtually new antenna is on sawhorses in my front yard, just begging to be installed, but we can't receive any signal.

It must be nice to live in an area where you can have choices.

I appreciate all the responses!
Click to expand...


Your locals aren't available on DISH?

If not you are eligible to get ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX from New York And San Francisco plus KWGN (CW) Denver, KTLA CW Los Angeles, WPIX CW and WWOR from New York.
 
kenrayc said:
...you are eligible to get ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX from New York And San Francisco...
Click to expand...

IINM, the stations on Dish are from New York and Los Angeles, not San Francisco.
 
Your locals aren't available on DISH?

Allegedly, WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio will be on Dish as of later this month. I will believe this when I see it. Another station closer to me, WTAP in Parkersburg, WV is one I would like to get on Dish.

I'm doing everything I can to get this thing done. Erecting several sections of tower, preamp, a high-quality antenna and everything else may not be enough.

This is a RIDICULOUS situation. I'd really like to be a part of the TWENTY-FIRST century.
 
Greg Goodfellow said:
This is a RIDICULOUS situation. I'd really like to be a part of the TWENTY-FIRST century.
Click to expand...

I'd say the DTV conversion set us right back in the good old days of the 50's.
 
DToTheJ said:
IINM, the stations on Dish are from New York and Los Angeles, not San Francisco.
Click to expand...

kenrayc is correct. Per mydistantnetworks.com, it's New York and San Fran in Standard Definition. However, L.A.'s in the HD package with Chicago.

And, as you may know, dish Network had to farm this out to a third party.
 
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