# Tough choice coming up



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

This post is just about making a public statement more than anything, but I've had to switch to Comcast for internet access. My other choice where I live was ATT DSL, which is now archaic. So I was getting 20 down and 4 up, and last week they called me and said if I took their TV bundle, I'd get 50 down and 10 up, for $5 more a month for 2 years. This makes TV and internet both $70 from Comcast.

What that does is make it increasingly hard to justify keeping satellite TV, which is probably the goal of Comcast's target marketing. Some of you may know I'm not a huge fan of TV in general, and now DirecTV is incredibly non-competitive for me. Even if they offered me free internet service, which they can't, they can't come close to that price or that speed.

Yes, I know the technical arguments, and I know pricing can and will vary, but for those like me who don't worship at the altar of TV, this sort of bundled pricing makes it tough to justify paying $140 (DirecTV) on top of $70 (Comcast). 

Of note, this marks the first time this century I have considered leaving DirecTV for any other provider other than OTA only.


----------



## PCampbell (Nov 18, 2006)

Go for it and in one or two years when Comcast price goes up come back


----------



## litex2x (Sep 8, 2012)

This is THE biggest advantage cable providers has over sat providers. You gotta do what you gotta do.


----------



## PCampbell (Nov 18, 2006)

You can bundle with ATT like I do but here ATT has fast internet.


----------



## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

And what will be the price for these after two years? Something you can live with or switch providers at that time?

I've been looking at Comcast for Internet only (20 up and 4 down), but with just Internet, they only keep their promo offer for six months.


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

Yeah, that's right. I was surprised to get a call from them last week with this offer. And it goes up to only $90 after the promo period. I imagine if I start adding DVRs, the price will begin to look like what I'm paying DirecTV, but with internet included. It's the inclusion of high speed internet that's the real killer here.



trh said:


> And what will be the price for these after two years? Something you can live with or switch providers at that time?
> 
> I've been looking at Comcast for Internet only (20 up and 4 down), but with just Internet, they only keep their promo offer for six months.


----------



## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

JeffBowser said:


> This post is just about making a public statement more than anything, but I've had to switch to Comcast for internet access. My other choice where I live was ATT DSL, which is now archaic. So I was getting 20 down and 4 up, and last week they called me and said if I took their TV bundle, I'd get 50 down and 10 up, for $5 more a month for 2 years. This makes TV and internet both $70 from Comcast.
> 
> What that does is make it increasingly hard to justify keeping satellite TV, which is probably the goal of Comcast's target marketing. Some of you may know I'm not a huge fan of TV in general, and now DirecTV is incredibly non-competitive for me. Even if they offered me free internet service, which they can't, they can't come close to that price or that speed.
> 
> ...


That is what I pay here and add another $48 for my AT&T phone.
I talked to them the other day when they were digging in my back yard. The man told me they were putting in Fiber Optics and that when I got that it would be as good as DirecTV. I can not say since I have not seen it in action.
I can state that I have never seen a cable picture that was worth a crap for sure. When I see one as good as what I have now it will be a consideration that I will take note of.
I did look at the pricing for what I have now and I could get ( if I had Fiber Optics ) a bundle that would be $159 for all 3 ( Cable Internet, Home Phone and TV ) that has the same basic programming that I have now for 12 months. After that the pricing would get closer to what I am paying now.

Good luck with your choice that you make.


----------



## iceman2a (Dec 30, 2005)

I have comcrap for internet only and got a simmalar offer last week!I pay for 20dwn, but not getting that! So for $5 more per mnth (NO COMMITMENT) they will more than double the speed and add tv! 49.95 a mnth. 6 mnths then it jumps to $70 a mnth! I will take it for six months, won't even bother connecting the tv and worry about the price hike then! I will NEVER under any circumstances give up D* for Comcrap! That's just me!


----------



## usnret (Jan 16, 2009)

Jeff, why not just switch and be done with it?


----------



## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

JeffBowser said:


> Yes, I know the technical arguments, and I know pricing can and will vary, but for those like me who don't worship at the altar of TV, this sort of bundled pricing makes it tough to justify paying $140 (DirecTV) on top of $70 (Comcast).


I would look into a test drive.
U-Verse "came a knocking" last year and did give me a [free] 30 day trial.
U-Verse has pluses and minuses, which I'd guess Comcrap does too.

Only you can pick which is best for you.


----------



## gov (Jan 11, 2013)

I suppose this would depend on the provider, but I've wondered if going DirecTV alone first, then joining the Winstream bundle here might work better than just starting with the Windstream D* bundle from the get go.

It has been my impression Windstream is a little limited in the new customer bells and whistles for the D* side, but I might be mistaken. I don't have the Windstream bundle and am relying on what customers have related to me.


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

After having satellite for years (DirecTV and Dish), cable finally became a viable alternative again last year in my area. Now that I've gone back to cable, I have a much lower bill, more HD, better picture quality and an excellent whole-home DVR. I use a WMC server with a pair of quad-tuner Cetons plus extenders in every room, so my DVR fee is a whopping $2/month and every additional room is free. Unless something catastrophic happens with cable (FCC repeals the cable card requirement), I don't see myself ever going back to satellite. If I were a big sports fan, DirecTV would be the only option, but I'm not, so cable is more than satisfactory.


----------



## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

Why do people keep mentioning that the price will go up in two years when someone says they are switching carriers?

I think we all know that, but my $40 per month savings the first year and $20 per month savings the second year when I switched to FiOS put me $720 ahead of the game. I'll worry about the pricing and possibly going back to DirecTV when the two years are up.

There's so much more VOD, both free and premium, available on FiOS compared with DirecTV there's no comparison. At least that was the situation when I switched.

I'm in LA and not a pro football fan so Sunday Ticket was never a consideration. It looks like it will be another two years or so before LA gets a team.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

It absolutely is something that someone needs to consider. If you still have two DVRs, just be sure to take that into account, as the prices really start to escalate if they charge a per box DVR fee.

I would also suspend your DirecTV service, use Comcast for a few months, then make the final determination.


----------



## 242424 (Mar 22, 2012)

I wish I had this "tough choice" I couldn't pull down this dish fast enough. lol


----------



## gov (Jan 11, 2013)

{think I should have said Century Link instead of Windstream, but still same inquiry}


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

I'm going to carry them both for awhile while I make up my mind. As another poster said, I'm paying that just for internet. The fact that TV had to come with it just opened up options I hadn't considered before.

I'd love to have given Uverse a try but ATT won't run fiber into my neighborhood for whatever reason. We have a 40+ year old wire plant. Same for Comcast, but hurricane Wilma ripped all their lines down and just last year they rewired the neighborhood.



usnret said:


> Jeff, why not just switch and be done with it?


----------



## donalddickerson2005 (Feb 13, 2012)

I had charter cable down here in Atlanta. I came back to DirecTV after trying dish then charter. The downside to DirecTV is when there is a VERY bad storm the TV goes out.DirecTV does better than dish with storms. Now cable would not go out however I live in a subdivision and they do ALOT of work dang near every week for 2+ hours and during that time there is no cable. So I went DirecTV and have internet from charter.


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

JeffBowser said:


> ...
> 
> I'd love to have given Uverse a try but ATT won't run fiber into my neighborhood for whatever reason. We have a 40+ year old wire plant. Same for Comcast, but hurricane Wilma ripped all their lines down and just last year they rewired the neighborhood.


You definitely don't want to give Uverse a try if you have any appreciation for PQ. The DVR makes any DirecTV DVR with speed issues seem fast. At least with Comcast you can get a Tivo or Ceton cards mentioned earlier. Their internet has been great... Their router was giving me fits, so I called about getting a tech visit. This was Saturday at 3:30 and he was here by 4:30.

Your idea of keeping both at first is very smart because you're already paying virtually the same. Word of advice - don't let the tech cut any DirecTV wire. We had a TWC do that a few years ago.


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

I refused their install and I'm already wired for their internet on a dedicated run. I'll just run a splitter and put their box on my main TV for a side-by-side.



sigma1914 said:


> You definitely don't want to give Uverse a try if you have any appreciation for PQ. The DVR makes any DirecTV DVR with speed issues seem fast. At least with Comcast you can get a Tivo or Ceton cards mentioned earlier. Their internet has been great... Their router was giving me fits, so I called about getting a tech visit. This was Saturday at 3:30 and he was here by 4:30.
> 
> Your idea of keeping both at first is very smart because you're already paying virtually the same. Word of advice - don't let the tech cut any DirecTV wire. We had a TWC do that a few years ago.


----------



## LI-SVT (May 18, 2006)

Jeff,

I was in the same boat a few years ago. I went with, and sayed with cable. Even after the two year promo ended I still pay less than DirecTv plus Optimum Online. I "wish" I could still have DirecTv, but it is too expensive.


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

I see not worshiping at the alter of tv...but it does sound like you do worship at the internet speed alter...I get the price, but quite truthfully you couldnt pay me to use their all share the pipe topology...


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

That's why I stuck with DSL for so long, but the 6Mbs down and 1 up no longer made up for the dedicated pipe. I need the speed, my business is software and I run from home as often as not.



CCarncross said:


> I see not worshiping at the alter of tv...but it does sound like you do worship at the internet speed alter...I get the price, but quite truthfully you couldnt pay me to use their all share the pipe topology...


----------



## celticpride (Sep 6, 2006)

Good luck on your decession, I left directv 2 and a half years ago for verizon fios.I love verizon fios with my tivo premieres and although i rarely watch sd channels the picture quality is excellent,some sd channels almost look like HD on my tv! Despite that i want to return to directv for the nba league pass,because verizon doesnt carry all the games in HD or dual feeds for every game like directv does! verrizon onlhas 5 HD feeds for nba league pass and i believe they have 9 Hd channels for the extra innings and 9HD for the CENTER ICE package! So unless verizon males some changes there i may go back to directv.One other thing thats nice about verizon is we get cinemax,showtime, the movie chanel,and EPIX,included with the ultimate package.


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

You know, your post reminds me that Comcast gave me 2 yrs free HBO as well. I just don't care about that, though. Should have heard the stunned silence on the other end of the line when I told the guy I had no interest in his TV, just make the table change to allow the faster internet speed and be done with it!


----------



## PCampbell (Nov 18, 2006)

You can just change every two years if low cost is what you are looking for.


----------



## goinsleeper (May 23, 2012)

JeffBowser said:


> This post is just about making a public statement more than anything, but I've had to switch to Comcast for internet access. My other choice where I live was ATT DSL, which is now archaic. So I was getting 20 down and 4 up, and last week they called me and said if I took their TV bundle, I'd get 50 down and 10 up, for $5 more a month for 2 years. This makes TV and internet both $70 from Comcast.
> (


When something sounds too good to be true...! I'm curious to know the channel difference between what you are getting from D* and what their package would offer. I get offers from Comcast as well(I do have their internet service) and it's almost always for their next-to-nothing telelvision package.


----------



## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

mdavej said:


> Unless something catastrophic happens with cable (FCC repeals the cable card requirement), I don't see myself ever going back to satellite. If I were a big sports fan, DirecTV would be the only option, but I'm not, so cable is more than satisfactory.


Canceled DirecTV last August after one year with TWC for TV along w/ Internet. I had suspended DirecTV for 2 six month intervals with one months service between. I have a low cost TiVo HD, so the CableCard and Tuning Adapter are crucial for me too. It took the local TWC awhile to get close to DirecTV as far as HD channels, but they caught up and in certain instances offer channels DirecTV doesn't. Thing I like is that since "Later...with Jools Holland" is on Palladia, that channel is on my Digital Explorer Pak, so I don't need the HD Extra Pak DirecTV requires.

I'd heard the doom an gloom here about going back to cable here. Didn't prove true for me.


----------



## markrw58 (Apr 5, 2007)

I am jumping ship, after 16+ years with Directv, to take advantage of a great 2 year deal with Comcast for Internet and tv it is saving me just over $900 for the two years and more than doubling my Internet speed.


----------



## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

To thems who "jump ship" (your words, not mine), I completely understand. Yet this is what keeps the market competitive in the long run. I wish everyone well and hope their choices work as expected. 

And we'll still be here. Come chat, have some laughs, and we'll compare notes. 

Peace,
Tom


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

PCampbell said:


> You can just change every two years if low cost is what you are looking for.


This is my point, DirecTV cannot compete with a bundle, because they cannot offer economical highspeed internet. At any rate, after more than a decade with DirecTV, low cost is obviously not my primary motive.



goinsleeper said:


> When something sounds too good to be true...! I'm curious to know the channel difference between what you are getting from D* and what their package would offer. I get offers from Comcast as well(I do have their internet service) and it's almost always for their next-to-nothing telelvision package.


While I have both I will do my best to report what I see up here, quality wise. Channel wise, TV is just not that important to me. If I lose some channels, I simply adjust and move on. As I said earlier, I am quite certain if I go about to duplicate my DirecTV setup with Comcast, the price for TV will likely be the same, BUT, Comcast will always have internet included within that price, and DirecTV can't.


----------



## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

JeffBowser said:


> This post is just about making a public statement more than anything, but I've had to switch to Comcast for internet access. My other choice where I live was ATT DSL, which is now archaic. So I was getting 20 down and 4 up, and last week they called me and said if I took their TV bundle, I'd get 50 down and 10 up, for $5 more a month for 2 years. This makes TV and internet both $70 from Comcast.
> 
> What that does is make it increasingly hard to justify keeping satellite TV, which is probably the goal of Comcast's target marketing. Some of you may know I'm not a huge fan of TV in general, and now DirecTV is incredibly non-competitive for me. Even if they offered me free internet service, which they can't, they can't come close to that price or that speed.
> 
> ...


That is too much to pay for Internet.. get a phone company for your Internet.


----------



## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

JeffBowser said:


> I'm going to carry them both for awhile while I make up my mind. As another poster said, I'm paying that just for internet. The fact that TV had to come with it just opened up options I hadn't considered before.
> 
> I'd love to have given Uverse a try but ATT won't run fiber into my neighborhood for whatever reason. We have a 40+ year old wire plant. Same for Comcast, but hurricane Wilma ripped all their lines down and just last year they rewired the neighborhood.


Uverse sucks around here.


----------



## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

mdavej said:


> After having satellite for years (DirecTV and Dish), cable finally became a viable alternative again last year in my area. Now that I've gone back to cable, I have a much lower bill, more HD, better picture quality and an excellent whole-home DVR. *I use a WMC server with a pair of quad-tuner Cetons plus extenders in every room, so my DVR fee is a whopping $2/month and every additional room is free.* Unless something catastrophic happens with cable (FCC repeals the cable card requirement), I don't see myself ever going back to satellite. If I were a big sports fan, DirecTV would be the only option, but I'm not, so cable is more than satisfactory.


Lets be honest here, most are not going to have a setup like that. Most of the time Cable DCVR's are a far cry from DirecTV's. The cable company in my town (CableOne) offers a HD DVR that holds 20 hours. Good lord that would not work for me. I probably have double that on my DVR now and that is the lowest its been in awhile. Not to mention normal Cable DVR fees are much more expensive and in some cases are a per receiver fee as well. You solution would not work for what 95% of the target audience?


----------



## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

billsharpe said:


> Why do people keep mentioning that the price will go up in two years when someone says they are switching carriers?
> 
> I think we all know that, but my $40 per month savings the first year and $20 per month savings the second year when I switched to FiOS put me $720 ahead of the game. I'll worry about the pricing and possibly going back to DirecTV when the two years are up.
> 
> ...


Why are people so willing to change providers every 2 years? I guess I found the provider I am happy with that can provide more of my tv needs than any other provider out there. For that they get my business. I am sure I could get some of what I want cheaper somewhere else but I think I will pass. Kinds of reminds me of buying something you really want from a knockoff website you never heard of because its half the price and supposedly the same item as you are looking for. It never works out that way.


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

joshjr said:


> Why are people so willing to change providers every 2 years? I guess I found the provider I am happy with that can provide more of my tv needs than any other provider out there. For that they get my business. I am sure I could get some of what I want cheaper somewhere else but I think I will pass. Kinds of reminds me of buying something you really want from a knockoff website you never heard of because its half the price and supposedly the same item as you are looking for. It never works out that way.


I hope thats a rhetorical question....there's one thing you can depend on, people are cheap and they will do whatever they can to get something cheap, even spend more time than its worth to try to get something cheap. Like spend an hour to get something for $5 cheaper...my time is worth a heck of lot more than $5 hour as is most people that work for a living.


----------



## omartinjordan (Mar 25, 2013)

I think people have a different mindset including myself. I guess I remember how much cable was long ago and then see what it is now. I personally feel that if you are paying $100 or more for tv then you should get every channel they offer! People are cutting back because it's getting crazy. Everything seems to be going up except salaries!!!


----------



## TBoneit (Jul 27, 2006)

CCarncross said:


> I see not worshiping at the alter of tv...but it does sound like you do worship at the internet speed alter...I get the price, but quite truthfully you couldnt pay me to use their all share the pipe topology...


It is Good that You are happy that way.

I want the speed. From here 
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=3198654#post3198654
I'm getting 89.77 down and 13.74 Up from the Cable company and a decent ping of 8ms

Here is today's http://www.speedtest.net/result/2634645793.png
Ping of 0, Up is a slight bit faster, and 85.63 down.

It runs pretty consistent for me.

Cheers
TB


----------



## 242424 (Mar 22, 2012)

People talking about how much their time is worth and yet having many thousand posts on an internet forum is kind of funny. lol


----------



## goinsleeper (May 23, 2012)

joshjr said:


> Why are people so willing to change providers every 2 years? I guess I found the provider I am happy with that can provide more of my tv needs than any other provider out there. For that they get my business. I am sure I could get some of what I want cheaper somewhere else but I think I will pass. Kinds of reminds me of buying something you really want from a knockoff website you never heard of because its half the price and supposedly the same item as you are looking for. It never works out that way.


I agree but I think everyone looks at value differently. I'm willing to pay $73/mo for my internet because I use it frequently. There are others who may use it more than me but think $73 is ridiculous. I look at whether or not something is personally worth it to me before looking at costs. I feel too many people these days look at the cost before looking at the product/service then jump to their own conslusions.


----------



## litex2x (Sep 8, 2012)

goinsleeper said:


> I agree but I think everyone looks at value differently. I'm willing to pay $73/mo for my internet because I use it frequently. There are others who may use it more than me but think $73 is ridiculous. I look at whether or not something is personally worth it to me before looking at costs. I feel too many people these days look at the cost before looking at the product/service then jump to their own conslusions.


Agreed. The culture is changing and people want to watch shows on their own schedule. The majority of all my friends seem to only ever watch TV shows on Netflix and rarely watch the premieres of new episodes. If you're strapped for cash the internet is really the only thing you need at home to provide entertainment so its no surprise most people are looking for value.


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

joshjr said:


> Lets be honest here, most are not going to have a setup like that. Most of the time Cable DCVR's are a far cry from DirecTV's. The cable company in my town (CableOne) offers a HD DVR that holds 20 hours. Good lord that would not work for me. I probably have double that on my DVR now and that is the lowest its been in awhile. Not to mention normal Cable DVR fees are much more expensive and in some cases are a per receiver fee as well. You solution would not work for what 95% of the target audience?


Very true. I would not wish a cable DVR on anyone. They are shockingly antiquated. And WMC users are a very small group. But I just wanted to illustrate that it is possible to have a good DVR if you bring your own (even Tivo), and save a ton of money to boot. I thought I would never resort to WMC myself, but turns out it was much easier to set up and use than I ever dreamed. So I highly recommend it to anyone on cable. If WMC weren't an option, I'd still have DirecTV. In my current situation, I'm saving at least $40/month versus satellite or cable DVRs.


----------



## acostapimps (Nov 6, 2011)

I still have cable tv per se through my Internet even though there's only digital unscrambled QAM channels that the TV scans, when hooking another cable up from a 2-way splitter to the tv. But I heard there getting rid of those unscrambled channels also, At this point in time it doesn't seem to be a bad idea changing providers every 2 years just to get customer discounts if there's no other way get discounts or credits if you aren't eligible.


----------



## acostapimps (Nov 6, 2011)

It never hurts to ask for credits when you tell them that you are paying too much or you're struggling making payments, whenever you call about your situation they are willing to help you out if you feel you are paying too much, And if that doesn't work you can always say you are canceling to another provider to see what approach they'll make.


----------



## ehilbert1 (Jan 23, 2007)

242424 said:


> People talking about how much their time is worth and yet having many thousand posts on an internet forum is kind of funny. lol


I think this is one of the best posts I have ever seen here!! You are right on with that post too.

The truth is it's nobody's business why people switch every two years. It doesn't mean that a person is cheap either. People do what is best for them and their family. Who are we call people cheap?? If you don't like it tough. I have no idea how people can be "fanboys" of a TV provider. There is way more to life than TV.


----------



## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

242424 said:


> People talking about how much their time is worth and yet having many thousand posts on an internet forum is kind of funny. lol


Because I want my DBSTalk pages to load extremely fast so I can post even more...


----------



## n3vino (Oct 2, 2011)

ehilbert1 said:


> I think this is one of the best posts I have ever seen here!! You are right on with that post too.
> 
> The truth is it's nobody's business why people switch every two years. It doesn't mean that a person is cheap either. People do what is best for them and their family. Who are we call people cheap?? If you don't like it tough. I have no idea how people can be "fanboys" of a TV provider. There is way more to life than TV.


 I agree with you . It doesn't mean people are cheap if they want to save some money. How about this one. A fool and his money are soon parted. Why pay X for A, when you can get A and B for the same price?


----------



## akw4572 (Sep 8, 2005)

joshjr said:


> Why are people so willing to change providers every 2 years? I guess I found the provider I am happy with that can provide more of my tv needs than any other provider out there. For that they get my business. I am sure I could get some of what I want cheaper somewhere else but I think I will pass. Kinds of reminds me of buying something you really want from a knockoff website you never heard of because its half the price and supposedly the same item as you are looking for. It never works out that way.


I'll tell you exactly why. Five months ago, I was way out of contract with DTV, and I called to see if I could get a WHDVR, and some money knocked off. My bill had risen to about $100 a month, and I had two HR 22's that were painful to use. They said no, they couldn't do anything for me. I went to cable. They gave me a "deal", I already had phone and internet with them, and they were given me cable for $70 a month that included everything I wanted, and a WHDVR. 2 months later, they raised my phone and internet, about $25, and told me my guaranteed price was only on my cable. Then I called to cancel my home phone. There was a new tower built by my house, and I could now get great cell phone coverage. They were going to RAISE my bill another $30 if I cancelled home phone, because I'd be losing my bundle (even though they had told me my cable was on a separate contract). I answered one of the DTV's emails, and now I'm getting WHDVR, cinema connection, MLB EI, and Sunday Ticket for free, and the ultimate package for like $64 a month, and like $80 a month for the second year. So I've lowered my bill a considerable amount, gotten new equipment, and gotten more channels. I really had no intention of coming back, but their deal was too sweet to pass up. My install is tomorrow.


----------



## inf0z (Oct 16, 2011)

Comcast Internet speed vs price sucks. I'm not sure about ATT but my local Telco offers 40 down and 20 up for $65 a month, which Comcast charges about $80 for 25 down and 5 up. If I could get my apartment manager to get phone line installed that isn't 40 years old I would switch from Comcast with out a second question. I would contact ATT first just to see what they may have in your area since you last inquired.


----------



## TBoneit (Jul 27, 2006)

242424 said:


> People talking about how much their time is worth and yet having many thousand posts on an internet forum is kind of funny. lol


MY time is worth money, That is why I have high Speed Internet.

On the other part of it. I do have well over 5,000 posts on another forum, However I'm a Moderator there so that is to be expected.

I value my time enough to not want to wait for something on slow Internet. 
I'll be downloading the MS Patch Tuesday security fixes in a few moments. With the Fast Internet I won't even see an impact from that.

Different User name too. I use this one for satellite forums only.

Cheers
TB


----------



## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

JeffBowser said:


> This is my point, DirecTV cannot compete with a bundle, because they cannot offer economical highspeed internet. At any rate, after more than a decade with DirecTV, low cost is obviously not my primary motive.


D* sometimes offers their own bundle with local phone/Internet providers. Some of them aren't advertised. You get them by calling retention when you go to cancel. I was offered the advertised bundle, said I still wanted to cancel, followed by a better bundle I almost took but it still cost $20 more per month.


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

Around here, ATT is the only bundle. In my neighborhood, DSL is the only thing ATT offers. Non-starter.



bobcamp1 said:


> D* sometimes offers their own bundle with local phone/Internet providers. Some of them aren't advertised. You get them by calling retention when you go to cancel. I was offered the advertised bundle, said I still wanted to cancel, followed by a better bundle I almost took but it still cost $20 more per month.


----------



## RACJ2 (Aug 2, 2008)

billsharpe said:


> Why do people keep mentioning that the price will go up in two years when someone says they are switching carriers?
> 
> I think we all know that, but my $40 per month savings the first year and $20 per month savings the second year when I switched to FiOS put me $720 ahead of the game. I'll worry about the pricing and possibly going back to DirecTV when the two years are up.
> 
> ...


I did the opposite, switched from Time Warner Cable to DIRECTV and saved over $800 my first 2 years. I got by with cable, because my father-in-law had DIRECTV with NFLST. So we would go to his house to watch the games on Sunday. When he passed, I made the switch to DIRECTV. Now with NFLST and NHLCI having all the games I watch in HD, it would be hard for me to switch. Although if TW Cable suddenly had NFLST and NHLCI with all HD and I could save $800 again, I would switch.



JeffBowser said:


> That's why I stuck with DSL for so long, but the 6Mbs down and 1 up no longer made up for the dedicated pipe. I need the speed, my business is software and I run from home as often as not.


When I switched DIRECTV, I dropped TW Cable TV and Internet. For internet I went to AT&T, since they had the best speed available at the time. And it was the same 6MBbs you had, which was actually 5Mbps consistently. Then Time Warner upgraded their equipment and I switched back.



CCarncross said:


> I see not worshiping at the alter of tv...but it does sound like you do worship at the internet speed alter...I get the price, but quite truthfully you couldnt pay me to use their all share the pipe topology...


You're right about sharing the pipe, the speed can vary. Although I now prefer to share the pipe using TW Cable. I only have 20Mbs service, but I get higher speeds then I had. Even at peak usage times, I get more than 10Mbs, which is double what I was getting with AT&T. It cost more @ $40/mo, then AT&T was @ $20/mo, but its worth it. Especially since I work from home when not traveling and my employer pays up to $50 for internet service. So its actually free for me.


----------



## jmpfaff (Dec 13, 2004)

inf0z said:


> Comcast Internet speed vs price sucks.  I'm not sure about ATT but my local Telco offers 40 down and 20 up for $65 a month, which Comcast charges about $80 for 25 down and 5 up.


Depends where you live and what your choices are. I'm certainly not a Comcast fan (hence I'm browsing a DirecTV forum)....but I've got to give them credit on the Internet service in my area.

I used to stick with Telco DSL to avoid the supposed shared pipe problem. I was paying $63/month for 10 down, 768k up. Never got quite the advertised speeds, usually in the 8's on download speeds. Called the Telco and told them I needed a faster upload speed (company VPN was struggling when working from home and making VOIP calls), they said it wasn't available.

So I am currently paying Comcast $30/month for 25 down, 5 up. That will go to $65/month after 12 months. (Those prices are Internet only. I could add basic cable for $5/month if I desired.)

And regarding the consistency of the shared pipe.....I've never gotten less than 20 down on speedtest in the 6 months I've been on Comcast. Not a single time. Up speeds vary a bit, but never less than 3.5 Mbps. And I frequently get speedtest results that exceed my supposed 25/5 limits -- they've been as high as 32/8 during primetime, and I just got 28/6 as I was typing this.


----------



## goinsleeper (May 23, 2012)

jmpfaff said:


> Depends where you live and what your choices are. I'm certainly not a Comcast fan (hence I'm browsing a DirecTV forum)....but I've got to give them credit on the Internet service in my area.
> 
> I used to stick with Telco DSL to avoid the supposed shared pipe problem. I was paying $63/month for 10 down, 768k up. Never got quite the advertised speeds, usually in the 8's on download speeds. Called the Telco and told them I needed a faster upload speed (company VPN was struggling when working from home and making VOIP calls), they said it wasn't available.
> 
> ...


I'm not their biggest fan either, especially after finding out 90-95% of the cost of their higher end internet packages are pure revenue. I currently get the 25 down / 5 up package but in my area they're increasing our speeds as some kind of competitve trial or something, and currently I'm speed testing at 65 megs down and 11-12 up. I would have to say it's rather nice. I've never tested lower than 33 megs down, even before they increased the speeds. I'm running a DOCSIS 3 Motorola SURFboard with an ASUS RT-N56U wireless router. Computer is wirelessly connected to the router which is about 20 feet away with no walls blocking. I've got a Logitech Revue in my bedroom which is quite a bit further away with walls between and it has flawless connection.

I posted incorrectly in another thread about Google Fiber in Kansas City. Last I checked, their gigabit connections were $60/mo. Sad days when everyone else is looking at $70+ for 25 megs...


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

Spent some time with Comcast vs DirecTV at lunch. Picture-wise, HD is pretty similar. However, Comcast's channel guide looks about 20 years old, with weird number choices and no way to sort between what you are subscribed to and not, and no indicator in guide to let you know if you get the channel or not. Plus, if I want, for example, WPTV channel 5 in HD, I have to remember that 5 is SD, and some bizarre number in the 400's is the HD version.

Their guide, in short, is awful, compared to DirecTV. Not sure it's $140 some dollars awful, though. I'll give it a few months with both yet.


----------



## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

joshjr said:


> Why are people so willing to change providers every 2 years? I guess I found the provider I am happy with that can provide more of my tv needs than any other provider out there. For that they get my business. I am sure I could get some of what I want cheaper somewhere else but I think I will pass. Kinds of reminds me of buying something you really want from a knockoff website you never heard of because its half the price and supposedly the same item as you are looking for. It never works out that way.


Besides my $720 savings over two years, I also got a larger-capacity, responsive multiroom DVR, lots more VOD, a much better SD picture, and local public-service channels with my switch to FiOS. The slow DVR response to my remote inputs is what started me on the search for another provider.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

JeffBowser said:


> Spent some time with Comcast vs DirecTV at lunch. Picture-wise, HD is pretty similar. However, Comcast's channel guide looks about 20 years old, with weird number choices and no way to sort between what you are subscribed to and not, and no indicator in guide to let you know if you get the channel or not. Plus, if I want, for example, WPTV channel 5 in HD, I have to remember that 5 is SD, and some bizarre number in the 400's is the HD version.
> 
> Their guide, in short, is awful, compared to DirecTV. Not sure it's $140 some dollars awful, though. I'll give it a few months with both yet.


I never understood why cable did it this way. It also is the bane of a lot of us (fortunately not me), where we can't get our parents etc to switch to the HD channel, even though they have HD service etc.

A friend of mine has lamented that DirecTV does not do it this way, he preferred them being split. I'd hate it.


----------



## longrider (Apr 21, 2007)

dpeters11 said:


> I never understood why cable did it this way. It also is the bane of a lot of us (fortunately not me), where we can't get our parents etc to switch to the HD channel, even though they have HD service etc.
> 
> A friend of mine has lamented that DirecTV does not do it this way, he preferred them being split. I'd hate it.


There actually is a valid reason why cable doesn't do that which is only slowly fading away. When part of a cable system is analog "channel 4" has a very specific meaning. Until you are 100% digital you cant have two "channel 4"s. Of couse they could have done like DirecTV did with On Demand and just added 1000 to the SD channel number - 4 SD is 1004 HD, 210 SD id 1210 HD, etc On a funny side note to this, when a system does try to go 100% digital there is usally a ton of complaints because every TV now needs a cable box


----------



## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

JeffBowser said:


> Spent some time with Comcast vs DirecTV at lunch. Picture-wise, HD is pretty similar. However, Comcast's channel guide looks about 20 years old, with weird number choices and no way to sort between what you are subscribed to and not, and no indicator in guide to let you know if you get the channel or not.


If you're not going to use a third-party approach, TiVo or Cable Card for HTPC with extender, you're probably not going to adjust to Comcast's equipment.


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

bidger said:


> If you're not going to use a third-party approach, TiVo or Cable Card for HTPC with extender, you're probably not going to adjust to Comcast's equipment.


I can adjust to anything. The only reason I am considering Comcast at all is their TV comes for free with my internet for the next two years. Otherwise, i was considering no pay TV at all.

After a night of watching Comcast and switching between Sat and Cable sources, Comcast's audio comes across as "muddy" (my wife's words, to boot). Some channels look overly sharpened, and I did notice some motion artifacts I don't get on DirecTV.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

longrider said:


> There actually is a valid reason why cable doesn't do that which is only slowly fading away. When part of a cable system is analog "channel 4" has a very specific meaning. Until you are 100% digital you cant have two "channel 4"s. Of couse they could have done like DirecTV did with On Demand and just added 1000 to the SD channel number - 4 SD is 1004 HD, 210 SD id 1210 HD, etc On a funny side note to this, when a system does try to go 100% digital there is usally a ton of complaints because every TV now needs a cable box


I saw a few days ago that Comcast was going to start requiring boxes.


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

JeffBowser said:


> I can adjust to anything...


But it will be a very unpleasant adjustment. Cable DVRs are incredibly bad. I thought I could adjust too, but I couldn't. I only lasted a few days before I broke down and built an HTPC. You should at least have a backup plan for Tivo or HTPC, if not to avoid the cable DVR's 30 year old interface, then at least to save a lot of money.


----------



## markrw58 (Apr 5, 2007)

I posted near the beginning of this thread that I was switching to Comcast after 16 1/2 years with Directv. Well I have had Comcast for a week now and on the plus side I would say the picture is slightly better than Dorectv but other than that, and the faster Internet speed, I do not like the Comcast experience. 

The instal could not be done on the first appt because they needed to get into the neighbors backyard and they weren't home. So after many calls it got rescheduled for the following Saturday. That appt took 4 hours and they tried to give me a box with no HDMI, got that straightened out then one of the two small hd boxes was doa so they gave me a massive box instead. The installer left some trash and did not leave a remote for our family room fortunately I have a Harmony remote for that room any way. 

After the install the Internet works great and the picture quality is a little better than I had with Directv, just a little, but the guide is a joke, very frustrating, the wife already said she hates it and having to watch a number of shows I like 3 hours later is a pain. All of these issues have me rethinking my decision and what I can drop from my suspended Directv service to get the cost down, cancel Comcast and go back to Directv.


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

I agree, the guide is a silly joke. The box is, however, responsive. I have not had the same picture experience in my neighborhood, but its close enough to not be a major concern. The audio, however, is a good deal worse, even their "uncompressed" DD 5.1 signal is muddy. Still, I'm getting TV free with my $70 internet connection, DirecTV for $140 on top of that is still a major decision point.


----------



## markrw58 (Apr 5, 2007)

That is a major cost savings hard to ignore, fortunately my audio with Comcast is excellent. My cost savings is less than yours $55 a month for the first year although the package with Comcast is less as well, no dvr and fewer channels.


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

markrw58 said:


> That is a major cost savings hard to ignore, fortunately my audio with Comcast is excellent. My cost savings is less than yours $55 a month for the first year although the package with Comcast is less as well, no dvr and fewer channels.


You should seriously consider an HTPC. You'll have a DVR on par with DirecTV and even better in some ways and save a lot of money to boot. It's the only way I've been able to survive the shock of cable DVRs. Mine is an 8-tuner whole home system that works beautifully and looks fantastic. And it's fully integrated with the rest of my media (videos, music, photos, movie rips, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Netflix, etc.). Plus it works so seamlessly, my wife still thinks we have satellite.


----------



## markrw58 (Apr 5, 2007)

Do you have recommendations for the tuner cards, software, etc that you used to build the HTPC?


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

markrw58 said:


> Do you have recommendations for the tuner cards, software, etc that you used to build the HTPC?


My system is very simple. I just use Windows Media Center, which is free with Windows 7 ($10 add-on, I think, with Windows 8). My cards are Ceton InfiniTV quad tuner PCIe cards. They also make USB versions. Silicon Dust and Haupauge make 2, 3 and 4 tuner models as well, like the HD Homerun Prime. The key is to make sure you get a cable-card tuner so you can access all your subscribed channels. My other TVs interface with my main HTPC via "extenders" which can be Xboxes, Ceton Echos, and a few others. This works very similar to the way a Genie and C31/C41 clients work or Hopper/Joey if you are coming from Dish. It's not a viable option if you have a lot of TV's since you can only have 6 clients simultaneously using the system, but it's plenty for my 4 person household.


----------



## goinsleeper (May 23, 2012)

JeffBowser said:


> I agree, the guide is a silly joke. The box is, however, responsive. I have not had the same picture experience in my neighborhood, but its close enough to not be a major concern. The audio, however, is a good deal worse, even their "uncompressed" DD 5.1 signal is muddy. Still, I'm getting TV free with my $70 internet connection, DirecTV for $140 on top of that is still a major decision point.


I can only assume you had quite a bit of programming with that $140 D* bill. I would imagine you could trim a ton of stuff off in order to make the price more feasible. What package did Comcast give you?


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

goinsleeper said:


> I can only assume you had quite a bit of programming with that $140 D* bill. I would imagine you could trim a ton of stuff off in order to make the price more feasible. What package did Comcast give you?


No, pretty basic, but I have two DVR's and 3 STBs


----------



## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

Since we're touching on HTPC and DVR options, The Green Button is a great WMC resource: http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/index.php

And Tuner Salad now supports 32 tuners in W7 and W8 MC! :gott: http://www.mychannellogos.com/Pages/TunserSalad.aspx


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

While 32 tuners is great, remember you're still limited to 5 simultaneous extender (client) sessions. That's 6 possible viewers per server. I guess you could at least record 32 programs at once.


----------



## omartinjordan (Mar 25, 2013)

mdavej said:


> You should seriously consider an HTPC. You'll have a DVR on par with DirecTV and even better in some ways and save a lot of money to boot. It's the only way I've been able to survive the shock of cable DVRs. Mine is an 8-tuner whole home system that works beautifully and looks fantastic. And it's fully integrated with the rest of my media (videos, music, photos, movie rips, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Netflix, etc.). Plus it works so seamlessly, my wife still thinks we have satellite.


I have a stupid question. Do you subscribe to cable and use the HTPC for DVR?  Does this save much money? I would be interested in building my own if it cut my bill down.


----------



## goinsleeper (May 23, 2012)

JeffBowser said:


> No, pretty basic, but I have two DVR's and 3 STBs


So 5 receivers total? That's $24 in mirroring fees and $10 for DVR service. That would leave around $100 for programming and Ultimate is only $77.99/mo.


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

goinsleeper said:


> So 5 receivers total? That's $24 in mirroring fees and $10 for DVR service. That would leave around $100 for programming and Ultimate is only $77.99/mo.


Then I'm getting screwed and need to take a closer look at my bill.


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

02/28 03/27 XTRA Monthly 70.99 

02/28 03/27 DIRECTV HD EXTRA PACK Monthly 4.99 

02/28 03/27 Advanced Receiver-HD Monthly 10.00 

02/28 03/27 Block Viewing Data Collection 0.00 

02/28 03/27 Advanced Receiver-DVR Monthly 10.00 


Fees 

03/01 Additional TV 6.00 

03/01 Additional TV 6.00 

03/01 Additional TV 6.00 

03/01 Primary TV 6.00 


Adjustments & Credits 

03/01 Primary TV Free -6.00 Credit


Taxes 

Sales Tax 2.04 

Communications Service Tax 11.33


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

So, $127. Not $140, but still too much.


----------



## Volatility (May 22, 2010)

JeffBowser said:


> 02/28 03/27 XTRA Monthly 70.99
> 
> 02/28 03/27 DIRECTV HD EXTRA PACK Monthly 4.99
> 
> ...


I have to ask, do you watch channels 560-568? That is the HD extra pack. If you do not you can take that off to trim some. You should try calling in to get your bill lowered. Also on prices Directv is very competitive in the industry so no matter whom you go with after the rebates end it is going to be around the same price for the same or similar entertainment value. Directv is pretty reasonable on pricing like they also don't try to charge you a 5.00 fee to change the package as another company; you may also want to consider changing the package.


----------



## goinsleeper (May 23, 2012)

Yeah the HD wasn't factored in either. Gotta love Florida's "Communication Service Tax". By far the highest charge from any state. $127 is pretty rough though. You could probably scale that under $100 without much effort but compared to what you're paying now with Comcast, still a considerable difference.


----------



## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

That's been my point all along. Comcast is essentially giving me free TV with my Internet (from my perspective), and I'm not a big TV guy to start with.


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

omartinjordan said:


> I have a stupid question. Do you subscribe to cable and use the HTPC for DVR? Does this save much money? I would be interested in building my own if it cut my bill down.


Yes. It saves me about $40/month. Saving money is the only reason I do it.


----------



## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

mdavej said:


> Yes. It saves me about $40/month. Saving money is the only reason I do it.


How in the world does having a HTPC save you $40/month? What the hell does your cable company charge for DVRs??


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Truthfully, mdavej appears to have been very fortunate in finding deals on the equipment he's using for this, but the initial investment could be substantial. PC capable of running it all, 2 quad tuner cards, a 2TB HDD, remotes, etc. several xbox 360's as media extenders, that would add up to $1500 or more if you dont have the parts lying around, and most wouldnt. Isnt there also a guide service you have to pay for to get proper guide data? I did this awhile back using a Linux based box and MythTv...I never cancelled my D* service and quit using the HTPC...its not for everyone. It would take a few years to recoup your savings as well due to the initial equipment outlay.


----------



## Old_School (Nov 29, 2011)

slice1900 said:


> How in the world does having a HTPC save you $40/month? What the hell does your cable company charge for DVRs??


When comcast tried to "win" me a few months ago, the Comcast CSR quoted me $9.95 a month per TV (digital service fee) and each TV with a DVR was charged $15 DVR Fee.


----------



## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

I agree with that. I have used Linux for 15 years and always build my own PCs, but I bought a Tivo twice instead of building a DVR because when I added up the price the Tivo was *far* cheaper initially including lifetime service, and that didn't even take into account the huge residual value you get if you ever need to sell it (like if you switch to Directv) Try selling your own home-grown DVR for more than a dollar!  I posted in another thread earlier today about buying my Tivo Premiere three years ago for $530 ($199 for the Tivo, $299 for the discount lifetime service, $30 for a three year extended warranty) If you look on Ebay, there are people willing to buy a used one for $400 or more. So I've had three years of service for barely $100. Plus $1.99/month to rent a cable card from my cable company, which I'd have to pay regardless of my solution.

Building your own DVR is great if you just like to tinker, and I sometimes do, but there are certain things I just want to work. Watching/recording TV is one of them.


----------



## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

slice1900 said:


> How in the world does having a HTPC save you $40/month? What the hell does your cable company charge for DVRs??


Cable company charges a bit less than DirecTV. $25 for DVR service and the first box. $5 each for the next 3 boxes = $40.

Ccarncross, guide service on WMC is free.

I already had a cheap PC to start and add a couple hundred bucks in upgrades. I added $100 used Xbox to each additional room (functionally equivalent to C31/41).

TiVo still too expensive and limited IMO but a good option nonetheless.

My initial equip costs were recouped in the first year. The rest is gravy.


----------

