# does directv have any trial period



## robl45 (Aug 5, 2004)

it seems this has been asked before, but the posts are a couple years old, the last time I checked which was at least a year and a half or so ago, there was no trial period. has that changed at all? Would make it so much easier to commit if I knew I could at least get out if its a disaster.


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## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

robl45 said:


> it seems this has been asked before, but the posts are a couple years old, the last time I checked which was at least a year and a half or so ago, there was no trial period. has that changed at all? Would make it so much easier to commit if I knew I could at least get out if its a disaster.


No. It costs them a lot to install a system. Everything about directv is well known here. Is there some specific concern about subscribing?


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## samrs (May 30, 2004)

No, Techs are supposed to have you sign a lease agreement before they start work.

There might be a minuscule time period in some states.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Neither DirecTV or Dish does. They are right, there are a lot of costs. Of course if there is no line of sight, or if you end up moving where you can get line of sight etc then you get out of the contract.


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

samrs said:


> No, Techs are supposed to have you sign a lease agreement before they start work.
> 
> There might be a minuscule time period in some states.


I've never signed a thing until after the install was completed.


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## samrs (May 30, 2004)

lparsons21 said:


> I've never signed a thing until after the install was completed.


I said "supposed to", experiences may differ.


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## robl45 (Aug 5, 2004)

kikkenit2 said:


> No. It costs them a lot to install a system. Everything about directv is well known here. Is there some specific concern about subscribing?


Dvr doesn't work well, goes out 10 minasutes at a time in the rains etc. I have read as much as I can and talked to people around here that have it, but that still is different than trying it out. I know it costs to install, but other tv companies have trials.


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## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

robl45 said:


> Dvr doesn't work well, goes out 10 minasutes at a time in the rains etc. I have read as much as I can and talked to people around here that have it, but that still is different than trying it out. I know it costs to install, but other tv companies have trials.


Those are valid concerns. The older boxes are painfully slow and remotes built cheap also. The newest dvr (34) finally has potential to work properly. Heavy rain or snow will periodically break up signals. When cable tv goes down it usually takes hours or days to get back. Best to have both, but too expensive. I stay for the programming. Not perfect but better than most.


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## Rtm (Oct 18, 2011)

kikkenit2 said:


> Those are valid concerns. The older boxes are painfully slow and remotes built cheap also. The newest dvr (34) finally has potential to work properly. Heavy rain or snow will periodically break up signals. When cable tv goes down it usually takes hours or days to get back. Best to have both, but too expensive. I stay for the programming. Not perfect but better than most.


Days?

But even in rain my DirecTV doesn't go out hardly


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

robl45 said:


> it seems this has been asked before, but the posts are a couple years old, the last time I checked which was at least a year and a half or so ago, there was no trial period. has that changed at all? Would make it so much easier to commit if I knew I could at least get out if its a disaster.


 While I don't think it was ever published, it used to be 24hrs (yes, 1 day) unless your State had other regulations (most don't). I haven't been "involved" in a few years so it may have changed.


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## n3vino (Oct 2, 2011)

Rtm said:


> Days?
> 
> But even in rain my DirecTV doesn't go out hardly


It has to be pretty bad before it goes out, but not for very long. For the most part, I have a signal even when it's raining.


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## robl45 (Aug 5, 2004)

Rtm said:


> Days?
> 
> But even in rain my DirecTV doesn't go out hardly


as I've mentioned before, up in boston Dish never went out, only time it went out was twice a year during the sun thing passing by the satellites or whatever. When I had it for 4 years in south florida, it went out constantly. this was 4 years ago so i'm hoping maybe the technology is a little better.

I know it will go out, i watched my father in laws go out while we were watching in some rain, but a minute I can live with, 10 minutes twice a week during primetime is a bit much and thats what drove me to get rid of dish previously.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

With SWM installations weather impacts have been reduced significantly even on those who it was rare before. Most of the time weather impacts signals for HD now are usually in much more severe storms or when there is a faulty piece of equipment somewhere.


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## domingos35 (Jan 12, 2006)

robl45 said:


> as I've mentioned before, up in boston Dish never went out, only time it went out was twice a year during the sun thing passing by the satellites or whatever. When I had it for 4 years in south florida, it went out constantly. this was 4 years ago so i'm hoping maybe the technology is a little better.
> 
> I know it will go out, i watched my father in laws go out while we were watching in some rain, but a minute I can live with, 10 minutes twice a week during primetime is a bit much and thats what drove me to get rid of dish previously.


if you don't like losing picture ,go with comcast


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## robl45 (Aug 5, 2004)

domingos35 said:


> if you don't like losing picture ,go with comcast


well you seem to say you are in south florida, how much do you lose it?

I was thinking of doing comcast, but the price is exhorbitant and the DVR technology is archaic.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

What are your signal strengths on a clear day?

I'm in South Florida, my signal strengths are in the mid 90's and higher and I barely ever lose signal during a torrential downpour.


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## robl45 (Aug 5, 2004)

RunnerFL said:


> What are your signal strengths on a clear day?
> 
> I'm in South Florida, my signal strengths are in the mid 90's and higher and I barely ever lose signal during a torrential downpour.


Is that for HD? I hear they go out easier. Torrential downpour is everyday here though .how quickly does it come back on?


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

I'm guessing your dish alignment is not optimized ....

Please post back with your signal readings for each satellite's transponders (and both tuners if applicable). You'll find these readings under "Menu" -> "Setup" -> "System Setup" -> Satellite -> "View Signal Strength". Note the "+" and "-" symbols next to the "Satellite" and "Tuner" entries where you can toggle the readings between the various satellites and both DVR tuners.

Fill in your readings for each satellite and tuner using these examples. A properly aligned dish will show 80-90s on most of the relevant transponders (although some will be low or zero):

Satellite transponders (32 total at 101º)
[Most of your standard definition channels are beamed from 101ºW]
1-8 # # # # # # # #
9-16 # # # # # # # #
17-24 # # # # # # # #
25-32 # # # # # # # #

Satellite transponders (3 total at 110º)
[Not present with Slimline3 dish. No channels are currently beamed from this satellite]
1-8 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA #
9-16 NA # NA # NA NA NA NA

Satellite transponders (11 total at 119º)
[Not present with Slimline 3 dish. Local SD channels for some cities, Spanish package]
17-24 NA NA NA NA NA # # #
25-32 # # # # # # # #

Satellite transponders (16 total at 99º(s)) [or 99º(b)]
[Local HD channels for some cities]
1-8 # # # # # # NA NA
9-16 NA NA NA NA NA NA # #
17-24 # # # # # # # #
[Note: these can be very slow to appear]

Satellite transponders (14 total at 99º(c)) [or 99º(a)]
[National HD channels]
1-8 # # # # # # # #
9-16 # # # # # # NA NA
[Note, these can be very slow to appear]

Satellite transponders (16 total at 103º(s)) [or 103º(a)]
[Local HD channels for some cities]
1-8 # # # # # # NA NA
9-16 NA NA NA NA NA NA # #
17-24 # # # # # # # #
[Note, these can be very slow to appear]

Satellite transponders (16 total at 103º(ca))
[National HD channels beamed from D12 satellite]
1-8 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
9-16 # # # # # # # #
17-24 # # # # # # # #

Satellite transponders (14 total at 103º(cb)) [or 103º(b)]
[National HD channels beamed from D10 satellite]
1-8 # # # # # # # #
9-16 # # # # # # NA NA
17-24 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

Satellite transponders (9 total at SWM)
[You'll only see this if you have a Single Wire Multiswitch (SWM) dish]
1-8 # # # # # # # #
9-16 # NA NA NA NA NA NA NA


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## robl45 (Aug 5, 2004)

no numbers to upload as I haven't signed up yet.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

robl45 said:


> Is that for HD? I hear they go out easier. Torrential downpour is everyday here though .how quickly does it come back on?


That's for all channels. If it goes out it's out no longer than 5 minutes.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

robl45 said:


> no numbers to upload as I haven't signed up yet.


Then how can you say "Dvr doesn't work well, goes out 10 minasutes at a time in the rains etc"?


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## Matman (Mar 24, 2008)

I agree with the comments on the SWM systems. Only time I've lost signal in the 2 years since we got it (moved 2 years ago, upgraded to SWM) is after heavy, wet snowstorms and it is simply a matter of sweeping 3 inches of snow off the dish. We watched TV all day thru Hurricane Irene last year without a blip at all, and the rain was hitting the windows so bad you couldn't see out of the house.

Don't quote me on this, but I could have sworn in some states you do have a "Trial Period". You may want to do some checking and see what your specific state laws are. Again, memory isn't what it used to be before the twins were born last year, so don't hold that as gospel!!!!!


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

RunnerFL said:


> Then how can you say "Dvr doesn't work well, goes out 10 minasutes at a time in the rains etc"?


I believe he is referring to his previous experiences..He seems to hop from provider to provider as I believe he mentioned he's been with both direct and dish in the past...


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## robl45 (Aug 5, 2004)

RunnerFL said:


> Then how can you say "Dvr doesn't work well, goes out 10 minasutes at a time in the rains etc"?


that was related to someone asking what my concerns would be with subscribing for 2 years.

as for hopping from provider to provider, I had dish for 2 years in Boston, then I moved to a building with its own cable, then I had dish for 4 more years in Florida, and now I have uverse for the past 4 years. I'd hardly call that hopping.

At any rate, with the way new customers are treated at the different outfits, you'd be crazy not to hop every time your contract is up.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"robl45" said:


> Dvr doesn't work well, goes out 10 minasutes at a time in the rains etc. I have read as much as I can and talked to people around here that have it, but that still is different than trying it out. I know it costs to install, but other tv companies have trials.


The best comparison would be Dish, and they don't have a trial either.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

robl45 said:


> that was related to someone asking what my concerns would be with subscribing for 2 years.


I don't see how it becomes a concern unless you've experienced it, but ok...



robl45 said:


> At any rate, with the way new customers are treated at the different outfits, you'd be crazy not to hop every time your contract is up.


Then call me crazy because I stick with what works.


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## robl45 (Aug 5, 2004)

RunnerFL said:


> I don't see how it becomes a concern unless you've experienced it, but ok...
> 
> Then call me crazy because I stick with what works.


thats the point, you don't know until you have experienced it. rain fade obviously you don't know until you've tried it. as for the dvr, there are reports on here of missed programs, recordings starting late etc. dish's dvr when i used it 4 years ago was awesome, uverse dvr not so much. really hard to tell until you've used it.

as for the second thing, the other reason i left dish aside from rain fade and them insisting they wanted to charge me 50 bucks to come out was that they kept raising the bill. I think i started at under 40 and 4 years later was at like 52 dollars.

honestly i wouldnt feel bad in hopping as these companies should be treating their existing and loyal customers better than new customers and not the other way around.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

robl45 said:


> thats the point, you don't know until you have experienced it. rain fade obviously you don't know until you've tried it. as for the dvr, there are reports on here of missed programs, recordings starting late etc. dish's dvr when i used it 4 years ago was awesome, uverse dvr not so much. really hard to tell until you've used it.
> 
> as for the second thing, the other reason i left dish aside from rain fade and them insisting they wanted to charge me 50 bucks to come out was that they kept raising the bill. I think i started at under 40 and 4 years later was at like 52 dollars.
> 
> honestly i wouldnt feel bad in hopping as these companies should be treating their existing and loyal customers better than new customers and not the other way around.


There's no guarantee that someone else's experience with DireTV will be your experience as well. I haven't missed a single recording in years, but that doesn't mean you won't. I don't have a big issue with rain fade, but that doesn't mean you won't either.

Oh, and btw, DirecTV raises their bill every year. Just like everyone else does.


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## joed32 (Jul 27, 2006)

Why not stick with cable and not have to worry about it. I get some pixelization when it rains hard and one day last month we lost service for about an hour. I like Directv for other reasons like ST, etc.


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## tvropro (Nov 3, 2010)

DirecTV goes out when it rains bad here in Chicago all the time. My neighbors that have it this also happens to. The skys turn dark before the rain event and it goes out. Ku & Ka band are noted for attenuation as high as 60db on ku, or more on ka (HD), because of moisture in the atmosphere, and scatter to the signal. Broadcasters that use 15 foot dishes for ku also can experience rain fade. K band was never meant for weather reliability. It originally was designed for short backhaul feeds for sporting events, news feed's or VSAT not for DBS. This came about by following the European television model. If it's a bad day with many strong cells passing through my area Direct can be out for hours. BTW I run a 39" dish for Direct on 101 and it still goes out even with a good amount of headroom over threshold.

Cable uses C band and transmits it on a wire. It don't go out unless the plant takes a hit or somewhere along the way to your home get a power outage and the trunk amp is down. 

For the best reliability, which I still use to this day is a C band dish at home. It never goes out when it rains or can go out because of a connection between me and the plant since it's in my yard .


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

tvropro said:


> DirecTV goes out when it rains bad here in Chicago all the time. My neighbors that have it this also happens to. The skys turn dark before the rain event and it goes out. Ku & Ka band are noted for attenuation as high as 60db on ku, or more on ka (HD), because of moisture in the atmosphere, and scatter to the signal. Broadcasters that use 15 foot dishes for ku also can experience rain fade. K band was never meant for weather reliability. It originally was designed for short backhaul feeds for sporting events, news feed's or VSAT not for DBS. This came about by following the European television model. If it's a bad day with many strong cells passing through my area Direct can be out for hours. BTW I run a 39" dish for Direct on 101 and it still goes out even with a good amount of headroom over threshold.
> 
> Cable uses C band and transmits it on a wire. It don't go out unless the plant takes a hit or somewhere along the way to your home get a power outage and the trunk amp is down.
> 
> For the best reliability, which I still use to this day is a C band dish at home. It never goes out when it rains or can go out because of a connection between me and the plant since it's in my yard .


Where I live cable goes out far more then DirecTV does.


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## tvropro (Nov 3, 2010)

MysteryMan said:


> Where I live cable goes out far more then DirecTV does.


How far are you from the cable headend? The problem with cable is you are at the mercy of the wire traveling between you and the plant.

Some area's of the country DirecTV and Dish Network have quite a few problems with rain fade events. Some people fair better than others depending on the direction the storm cells come from, and annual moisture in their area. Florida gets hit bad since it rains quite a bit. Up here in Chicago we have to point right through the offending cell clouds to get a signal. No way around it unless you could get above the clouds. C band is never bothered even if it's a monsoon.


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## robl45 (Aug 5, 2004)

RunnerFL said:


> There's no guarantee that someone else's experience with DireTV will be your experience as well. I haven't missed a single recording in years, but that doesn't mean you won't. I don't have a big issue with rain fade, but that doesn't mean you won't either.
> 
> Oh, and btw, DirecTV raises their bill every year. Just like everyone else does.


right and you making the point as I said about why a trial is important. no ones experiences are the same. obviously you don't have the latest dvr that people are having problems with and that would be the one I would be using.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"robl45" said:


> right and you making the point as I said about why a trial is important. no ones experiences are the same. obviously you don't have the latest dvr that people are having problems with and that would be the one I would be using.


Actually he does have an HR34. You might not have access to his setup link, it's in a semi-restricted forum.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

robl45 said:


> right and you making the point as I said about why a trial is important. no ones experiences are the same. obviously you don't have the latest dvr that people are having problems with and that would be the one I would be using.


You shouldn't assume... I do have an HR34, but no missed recordings.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

tvropro said:


> How far are you from the cable headend? The problem with cable is you are at the mercy of the wire traveling between you and the plant.
> 
> Some area's of the country DirecTV and Dish Network have quite a few problems with rain fade events. Some people fair better than others depending on the direction the storm cells come from, and annual moisture in their area. Florida gets hit bad since it rains quite a bit. Up here in Chicago we have to point right through the offending cell clouds to get a signal. No way around it unless you could get above the clouds. C band is never bothered even if it's a monsoon.


Most of the cable interuptions where I live are caused motorists, weather, and service upgrades.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

Since Yesterday I've noticed there's no info for the Sony Movie Channel when using the Guide. Anyone else notice this?


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

MysteryMan said:


> Since Yesterday I've noticed there's no info for the Sony Movie Channel when using the Guide. Anyone else notice this?


Yep, mine just shows "movie" for all time slots.


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## CraigT1 (Feb 18, 2008)

I see the same thing and I'm with Dish.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

CraigT1 said:


> I see the same thing and I'm with Dish.


Given that the issue is with the Sony Movie Channel and not with the service providers.


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