TV: cable vs.satellite
I looked at my Comcast bill this month and at a newspaper ad for Verizon that was offering a bundle of Freedom phone service, DSL and DirecTV. Even without special pricing, the non-cable services are about $60/month less than the cable stuff.
That is, IF I've deciphered the programming options of the satelite TV offerers correctly.
If they turn out to be comparable pricewise, I have to try to determine if DSL is a viable alternative for me. DSLREPORTS says
So download is great but upload is "bearable". (I was at a neighbor's today -- she still has DIAL-UP!!! Unbearable!!)
Any readers out there who have gone through this?
That is, IF I've deciphered the programming options of the satelite TV offerers correctly.
If they turn out to be comparable pricewise, I have to try to determine if DSL is a viable alternative for me. DSLREPORTS says
Your download speed : 2482947 bps, or 2424 kbps.
Your upload speed : 359034 bps, or 350 kbps.
So download is great but upload is "bearable". (I was at a neighbor's today -- she still has DIAL-UP!!! Unbearable!!)
Any readers out there who have gone through this?
posted by Pete Holsberg @ 7:41 PM
2 Comments:
At 4:49 PM ,
Keith Horowitz said...
Came here from Lisa (you previous commenter). Good to hear you are doing well!
I've done the swtich from cable to satellite twice. Once in NJ to DirecTV and once in Colorado to DishNetwork.
When I switched to DirecTV they didn't have local stations - so it was either pay for just local stations on cable or hook up an antenna. But I never had any noticiable problems with DirecTV reception in central NJ.
When I switched to Dish, we got most of our local stations for $5 more a month. But we lost UPN. And we lost good local weather on TV, the version on Dish is not very good.
I got the PVR option with Dish and absolutely love it - $5 more a month. If I ever go off Dish, I'd have to pay for TIVO or a clone. The 510 does crash every couple of months, but it has been better since the last software upgrade.
I've not had DSL myself, but have helped friends hook up and used DSL in other locations. While you don't get lightning speeds, for the price it is very usable. I agree about dial-up. Don't ever make me go back to dial up. I'll go war driving first ;-)
In the cases with satellite, more than 1 TV means more than one tuner and an extra $5 per month (unless you are willing to split before the TV and have only one tuner).
And the base packages for satellite are just a little skimpy IMHO.
Did my own install the first time. Had profession installion for free (package deal) the second time.
Most of the ads going these days are the intro price - that goes up after 30-90 days - so check out the package carefully. The full package they throw at you at first for your base cost can be a bit addicting. :)
FYI, I've never hooked either one up to phone lines. Don't have to if you aren't doing pay-per-view.
Good luck with your satellite research!
At 8:15 PM ,
Anonymous said...
I've been pretty unimpressed with satellite reception - we have a directv dish in the old house, and weather was a real problem.
Comcast (our digital cable provider up here in Boston) has been steadily upgrading their equipment, and now we're getting TV and fast internet over the cable connection, and we'll be going VOIP for our phone service (with another provider). Satellite can't do VOIP, and interactive network sessions are painfully slow (1 second turnaround time on keystrokes. Ew)
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