# Possible goodbye to Directv



## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

I have been a D customer since May 28, 1995. That was back in the day that I purchased my kit from Sears that i had to install myself. Back then, I received two bills, one from D and one from USSB for the HBO's etc. Fun exciting days.. I have the Genie system with 4 TVs in my home and I LOVE it but with being retired, my D bill average around $150 per month. This is getting hard for me to swallow.
Last week I saw an offer from my local cable company here in Central Pa, Blue Ridge Comm. for their new "Tivo Dream" which appears exaclty the same as my Genie and clients. And the package is their top digital package so that I would receive all the chanels important to me. I do get my internet from Blue Ridge and my TV from D. What they offered me for a 4 TV set up with the Tivo, 6 disc unit, 1TB storage with add on capability and 3 Tivo minis and internet was $84 dollars a month less than i pay for both internet and D. The ONLY difference I could see was relearning channel numbers. Keep in mind I could never settle for less than my Genie but it Tivo has a system that rivals my whole home Genie, then im there. I love Tivo and it was my first DVR back in the day with D. 
Obviously I do NOT want to leave D, Ive love D forever but, financial strains need me to look around for a comparable system. I do not feel im stepping back at all with them and they are a good company to deal with. Blue Ridge has said "go away" to the Comcraps of the world. My combined bill for internet and D was $218 vs Blue Ridge at $134.68 total taxes included. Keep in mind also that is a 12 month deal, my price would rise $20 per month in year two more after but always below what i pay now for D and internet.
Being so loyal, I call Rentention this morning and explained the above and the best they could do was off me a $5 discount. I was insulted with that, almost 22 years with D and i was worth $5 to them. The CSR said he even went to his supervisor and he also said, give this loyal customer five bucks...!!! So..Ive pretty much made up my mind to leave D. I just wanted to see if any of you other fine D folks had any suggestions. I really dont want to leave D..Ive loved being with them. 
MrDad0330 (Frank form South of Harrisburg Pa)


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Have you had any discounts recently expire? I'd call back and find another csr. Maybe even a couple more times just to see if you can find someone a little more willing to discount. You aren't in a Contract are you?


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

Call them back and as soon as you confirm that the phone number is the one listed on the account,
Say " Contract End Date". This will transfer you to a CSR that is in the Customer Loyalty department.
If they don't satisfy you, then give the cable a try.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Not a big Genie fan, I'd go for it. Always liked TiVos. You'll be saving $1,000 the first year.

Rich


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

I would keep calling til you get someone else. As long as you are not under contract. You should find someone who will give you 40/50 a month off for a year


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## sabrewulf (Sep 4, 2011)

The latest $6 increase was a last straw for me. My bill is $128. With the different options I can cut that way back. Not to mention a few channels were cut and they didn't even knock a couple of channels down to justify the $6. And what raise you get in SSI doesn't cover that increase. So I am either going with Dish Networks Flex Pack or going online with Sling or PSVue.


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Have you had any discounts recently expire? I'd call back and find another csr. Maybe even a couple more times just to see if you can find someone a little more willing to discount. You aren't in a Contract are you?


I will call them in the morning...worth a try


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

Rich said:


> Not a big Genie fan, I'd go for it. Always liked TiVos. You'll be saving $1,000 the first year.
> 
> Rich


Yep $1000 staring me in the face for an equal system and package is great plus I, like you have always liked Tivo


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

compnurd said:


> I would keep calling til you get someone else. As long as you are not under contract. You should find someone who will give you 40/50 a month off for a year


I agree but $40 to $50 isnt going to cut it for me..


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Have you had any discounts recently expire? I'd call back and find another csr. Maybe even a couple more times just to see if you can find someone a little more willing to discount. You aren't in a Contract are you?


I dont have any discounts currently and i think im past contract but have to check


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

sabrewulf said:


> The latest $6 increase was a last straw for me. My bill is $128. With the different options I can cut that way back. Not to mention a few channels were cut and they didn't even knock a couple of channels down to justify the $6. And what raise you get in SSI doesn't cover that increase. So I am either going with Dish Networks Flex Pack or going online with Sling or PSVue.


Yep and what SSI took from me in a health care increase, i ended up with less than last year. D is becoming a rich mans toy.


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

To all of you that gave me input, thank you very much. All of your comments were to the point and helped me.. I am not sure how much the AT&T take over of D last year had to do the the "non caring" response to one of D's very first customers back in the day. A $5 bill decrease was a personal insult to be honest.. 
I am most likely going to make the switch back to my cable provider. I will keep you all posted about how the "Dream Tivo System" works for me. It appears very similar to Genie. A master Tivo box with 6 tuners and with Tivo mini's at other TVs in my home. With those TVs I am told i can pause and rewind programs, order a program to record from the mini's and bring up the Tivo library to watch. Plus..who doesnt love Tivo? 
I will share my experience with Blue Ridge Cable here in Central Pa as to picture quality, etc. with you all. I will miss D but they have overpriced their service to this long time user and shown no appreciation to an almost 22 year customer.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

It is a tough trade off. I have put in hold several times and gone back to TiVo and cable but I always come back. I love TiVo but nothing can still match directv for HD content


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

MrDad0330 said:


> I agree but $40 to $50 isnt going to cut it for me..


Then I would start looking at your other options, $50 seems to be the highest disc folks have posted here. Some have gotten that on top of free NFL. Very, very doubtful you will get any monthly disc higher then $50 a month.

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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

compnurd said:


> It is a tough trade off. I have put in hold several times and gone back to TiVo and cable but I always come back. I love TiVo *but nothing can still match directv for HD content*


Gotta disagree with that. If you're comparing D* to other similar providers you might be right. D* is the provider I've had for 15 years so I can't really agree or disagree with your statement in that context.

I do spend most of my time on NF or AP. I think their content simply blows D*'s content away, so I'll take a guess and say that would be true against any similar provider. The commercials are a big part of my viewing habits, I simply don't like dealing with them. The PQ is better on NF and AP, I don't think anyone with a decent TV set would argue against that. No commercials and a constantly changing menu make NF and AP (and HBO Now) my prime choices...D* comes in last. Wasn't for sports and being able to time shift, D* would be gone.

Rich


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## Wolfmanjohn (Aug 9, 2002)

One thing that will always keep this 20+ year veteran of the DTV/USSB days around is NY/LA nets. Everyone has their little quirks, and for this early crashing, late night entertainment watching retired west coast empty nester household, those little perks are invaluable.


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## sangs (Apr 2, 2008)

I'm gonna just give you my VERY recent experience here. I canceled a couple months ago, mainly because I could not stream the Mets from any source in my area, and last year I lost parts of several games due to weather. Well, in early Feb. the Mets announced their games will be streamed on the NBC Sports app this season - in my area - finally giving me a backup plan. So I gave DirecTV a call to see what I could do about reconnecting, not expecting to get much. Here is what they offered me, without ANY prompting on my part:

-- Free equipment upgrade, including a new LNB on the dish;
-- Free NFL Sunday Ticket;
-- $50 off Premier for the next 24 months;
-- $200 Pre-Paid Visa Card;
-- Free MLB Extra Innings;
-- And they credited my account $250

Again, I didn't ask for ANY of that. I simply called the reconnection department (or whatever it's called now) and that's what they offered for me to come back. And yes, I have it all in writing and on e-mail. So my advice to you is to give it a try. Maybe quit for a month or two and then go back? But they are definitely offering incentives in these matters.


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## mobouser (May 23, 2007)

Rich said:


> Gotta disagree with that. If you're comparing D* to other similar providers you might be right. D* is the provider I've had for 15 years so I can't really agree or disagree with your statement in that context.
> 
> I do spend most of my time on NF or AP. I think their content simply blows D*'s content away, so I'll take a guess and say that would be true against any similar provider. The commercials are a big part of my viewing habits, I simply don't like dealing with them. The PQ is better on NF and AP, I don't think anyone with a decent TV set would argue against that. No commercials and a constantly changing menu make NF and AP (and HBO Now) my prime choices...D* comes in last. Wasn't for sports and being able to time shift, D* would be gone.
> 
> Rich


Wow I was just browsing and hit this link in error but have to agree with this reply one hundred percent. I'm now with TWC but moving to Fios soon. Streaming content from netflex and prime is the best picture on my OLED TV. I use TIVO and have been away from DTV for about four years. If you live in an area where you can access cable or fios the best way to go is with combining phone, tv, and internet services. I pay about 110 a month for my combined services. Wish my cell phone services was that cheap.


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## APB101 (Sep 1, 2010)

MrDad0330,

Although this isn’t financial…did you do a channel lineup comparison?

The reason? If jumping ship won’t make you lose much…you may be better off.

Although there are plenty people who do not like to jump between providers (I’m not referring only to linear cable-television subscriptions), there are plenty who do. Look at as some power that you have. If you do leave DirecTV, owner AT&T will then pursue winning you back.

I wish you, and everyone with a similar (or the same) issue, all the best!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## DishCSR (Jan 14, 2004)

compnurd said:


> I would keep calling til you get someone else. As long as you are not under contract. You should find someone who will give you 40/50 a month off for a year


Just keep in mind that type of discount comes with a 12 month commitment

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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Rich said:


> Gotta disagree with that. If you're comparing D* to other similar providers you might be right. D* is the provider I've had for 15 years so I can't really agree or disagree with your statement in that context.
> 
> I do spend most of my time on NF or AP. I think their content simply blows D*'s content away, so I'll take a guess and say that would be true against any similar provider. The commercials are a big part of my viewing habits, I simply don't like dealing with them. The PQ is better on NF and AP, I don't think anyone with a decent TV set would argue against that. No commercials and a constantly changing menu make NF and AP (and HBO Now) my prime choices...D* comes in last. Wasn't for sports and being able to time shift, D* would be gone.
> 
> Rich


Considering this topic is related to comparing to another cable company then my comparison is valid... No mention of NF or AP


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

DishCSR said:


> Just keep in mind that type of discount comes with a 12 month commitment
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk


Of Course


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

compnurd said:


> Considering this topic is related to comparing to another cable company then my comparison is valid... No mention of NF or AP


Thought I made myself clear in my post, don't see why comparing D* content (or any other provider) with NF and AP isn't valid.

Rich


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## DishCSR (Jan 14, 2004)

compnurd said:


> Of Course


But some people don't realize that or refuse to believe

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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

Well here is the latest. I did talk to another CSR in Retention. She would be willing to get my bill down to $100 per month (from $150) and to include my protection package. She spent some time with me and looked into my cable company online. My contract period is up in October so my penalty for "early withdrawl" would be 7 months x $20 or $140. Now i have to think about this. But, if i accept, I think that adds on year to my contract. I also am going to ask my cable company if they would cover my penalty. I will visit them tomorrow and discuss. I have 5 days to accept D's offer..


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## DishCSR (Jan 14, 2004)

MrDad0330 said:


> Well here is the latest. I did talk to another CSR in Retention. She would be willing to get my bill down to $100 per month (from $150) and to include my protection package. She spent some time with me and looked into my cable company online. My contract period is up in October so my penalty for "early withdrawl" would be 7 months x $20 or $140. Now i have to think about this. But, if i accept, I think that adds on year to my contract. I also am going to ask my cable company if they would cover my penalty. I will visit them tomorrow and discuss. I have 5 days to accept D's offer..


Yes, that kind of discount comes with a 12 mos committment, she should have told you that

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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

MrDad0330 said:


> Well here is the latest. I did talk to another CSR in Retention. She would be willing to get my bill down to $100 per month (from $150) and to include my protection package. She spent some time with me and looked into my cable company online. My contract period is up in October so my penalty for "early withdrawl" would be 7 months x $20 or $140. Now i have to think about this. But, if i accept, I think that adds on year to my contract. I also am going to ask my cable company if they would cover my penalty. I will visit them tomorrow and discuss. I have 5 days to accept D's offer..


I wonder though, I don't believe it adds to the current contract end date, simply resets it to one year from when you agree to the new contract. Not positive though,


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## GracieAllen (Jan 5, 2015)

I come across these discussions periodically. They're interesting, but so far I haven't found anyone actually GETTING the $40-50 monthly discounts. I sure haven't. Because we use an RV we have to stay with satellite, and I've pretty much concluded that if Dish can actually do what they're telling me they can, when the weather in MN improves enough to test what Dish has in the RV, I"ll give it a try.
I've called directv monthly for the last SEVERAL months, and the answer is the same every time. I have old discounts "expiring" and they NEVER have anything to counter them. We're now up from $98/mo to $126/mo and repeated phone calls to loyalty and retention and supervisors and whoever isn't getting anything done. It always ends up being "Well, the discounts change all the time, so call back in another month to see what they are."

Having had Directv for a while (somewhere around 20 years), I don't figure dish is any more honest, so I'm very skeptical of their claims, but I'll happily switch if when the man in the truck with the new equipment shows up, and I connect what should do what I need in the RV, if it works, we're gone.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> I wonder though, I don't believe it adds to the current contract end date, simply resets it to one year from when you agree to the new contract. Not positive though,


Correct. They don't tack on. It starts again from there


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Rich said:


> Thought I made myself clear in my post, don't see why comparing D* content (or any other provider) with NF and AP isn't valid.
> 
> Rich


Until NF and AP offer live or current shows/series it is not a valid comparison Honestly Hulu would be the closest since they offer some current series as they air


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

compnurd said:


> Until NF and AP offer live or current shows/series it is not a valid comparison Honestly Hulu would be the closest since they offer some current series as they air


I am just verifying...by NF and AP = Netflix and Amazon Prime. I agree Hulu is the closest to a true replacement. Honestly if providers ever offer ala cart, i could probably be happy with 10 must have channels besides my locals which i can pick up OTA. Then bye bye to cable, D and Dish. 
D did give me something to think about by dropping my rates by $600 year, BUT I am sure this "gift" only will last me 12 months and then what? My savings with cable would be $1000 the first year and $720 the second year. The channel package from Blue Ridge Cable is very comparable and the new Tivo with its mini's seems to be every bit as good as Genie and its clients. So the negatives to leaving D would be learning new chanel numbers and......is the picture quality as good as D? 
I will say this though, if Blue Ridge would cover my penalty of $140 to leave D (I have 7 months remaining on my contract) then I think ill have a new provider.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

MrDad0330 said:


> I am just verifying...by NF and AP = Netflix and Amazon Prime. I agree Hulu is the closest to a true replacement. Honestly if providers ever offer ala cart, i could probably be happy with 10 must have channels besides my locals which i can pick up OTA. Then bye bye to cable, D and Dish.
> D did give me something to think about by dropping my rates by $600 year, BUT I am sure this "gift" only will last me 12 months and then what? My savings with cable would be $1000 the first year and $720 the second year. The channel package from Blue Ridge Cable is very comparable and the new Tivo with its mini's seems to be every bit as good as Genie and its clients. So the negatives to leaving D would be learning new chanel numbers and......is the picture quality as good as D?
> I will say this though, if Blue Ridge would cover my penalty of $140 to leave D (I have 7 months remaining on my contract) then I think ill have a new provider.


You've written some good posts in this thread. If you do drop D* and go to cable I hope you will get back to us with your experiences.

Rich


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

Rich, I made the switch to cable from D* quite awhile back. Used a Tivo Roamio Plus. Operationally the Tivo is better in some ways than the HR/Genie and equal in other respects. PQ was excellent as I had expected it to be. Probably would have stayed with them if their service consistency was better. I lived in an old neighborhood and some 'box' of theirs had been needing replacement and they just wouldn't do it. So it was picture breakups and other glitches that happened often enough to irritate the hell out of me that made me switch back to one of the sat providers.


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## frontiercc (Nov 24, 2003)

MrDad0330 said:


> I have been a D customer since May 28, 1995. That was back in the day that I purchased my kit from Sears that i had to install myself. Back then, I received two bills, one from D and one from USSB for the HBO's etc. Fun exciting days.. I have the Genie system with 4 TVs in my home and I LOVE it but with being retired, my D bill average around $150 per month. This is getting hard for me to swallow.
> Last week I saw an offer from my local cable company here in Central Pa, Blue Ridge Comm. for their new "Tivo Dream" which appears exaclty the same as my Genie and clients. And the package is their top digital package so that I would receive all the chanels important to me. I do get my internet from Blue Ridge and my TV from D. What they offered me for a 4 TV set up with the Tivo, 6 disc unit, 1TB storage with add on capability and 3 Tivo minis and internet was $84 dollars a month less than i pay for both internet and D. The ONLY difference I could see was relearning channel numbers. Keep in mind I could never settle for less than my Genie but it Tivo has a system that rivals my whole home Genie, then im there. I love Tivo and it was my first DVR back in the day with D.
> Obviously I do NOT want to leave D, Ive love D forever but, financial strains need me to look around for a comparable system. I do not feel im stepping back at all with them and they are a good company to deal with. Blue Ridge has said "go away" to the Comcraps of the world. My combined bill for internet and D was $218 vs Blue Ridge at $134.68 total taxes included. Keep in mind also that is a 12 month deal, my price would rise $20 per month in year two more after but always below what i pay now for D and internet.
> Being so loyal, I call Rentention this morning and explained the above and the best they could do was off me a $5 discount. I was insulted with that, almost 22 years with D and i was worth $5 to them. The CSR said he even went to his supervisor and he also said, give this loyal customer five bucks...!!! So..Ive pretty much made up my mind to leave D. I just wanted to see if any of you other fine D folks had any suggestions. I really dont want to leave D..Ive loved being with them.
> MrDad0330 (Frank form South of Harrisburg Pa)


I left 2 years ago for basically the same reasons. Between my Harrisburg OTA locals and streaming Netflix and Amazon- I'm happy and spend in a YEAR what D used to cost me each MONTH. It was a little tough adjusting at first, but I watch a lot less TV now which is a good thing.

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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

lparsons21 said:


> Rich, I made the switch to cable from D* quite awhile back. Used a Tivo Roamio Plus. Operationally the Tivo is better in some ways than the HR/Genie and equal in other respects. PQ was excellent as I had expected it to be. Probably would have stayed with them if their service consistency was better. I lived in an old neighborhood and some 'box' of theirs had been needing replacement and they just wouldn't do it. *So it was picture breakups and other glitches that happened often enough to irritate the hell out of me that made me switch back to one of the sat providers.*


That's what would undoubtedly happen if I were to switch to Optimum for cable TV at this moment. But, Optimum has been bought out by Altice and they plan to start running fiber in town in the Spring. I have no idea what their DVRs are like at this time, I figure what they have now might change for the better along with the fiber. We keep checking with Verizon for FIOS, but still nothing. IIRC, FIOS uses TiVos?

Rich


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Rich said:


> That's what would undoubtedly happen if I were to switch to Optimum for cable TV at this moment. But, Optimum has been bought out by Altice and they plan to start running fiber in town in the Spring. I have no idea what their DVRs are like at this time, I figure what they have now might change for the better along with the fiber. We keep checking with Verizon for FIOS, but still nothing. IIRC, FIOS uses TiVos?
> 
> Rich


You can use a Tivo on Fios like you would with a cable company.. Verizon has there own DVR platform


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

With Mediacom if you bring your own Tivo, you don't get VOD. If you get their Pace Tivo gear, you do. You get less streamers with the Pace box too. Unfortunately they don't allow for mixing the two.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Couldn't disagree more regarding Genies. Great boxes. Great service. Yes, if you can't afford it, there are other opportunities. But for sports you'll not get good stuff via streaming, and PQ is tops with DIRECTV. If you have very high speed bandwidth, you may be able to get a slightly better picture on the Flix or other streamers.

Commercials?? Really? That's what DVRs are for with the 3x or 4x FF function. Or watch premium channel without.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Laxguy said:


> Couldn't disagree more regarding Genies. Great boxes. Great service. Yes, if you can't afford it, there are other opportunities. But for sports you'll not get good stuff via streaming, and PQ is tops with DIRECTV. If you have very high speed bandwidth, you may be able to get a slightly better picture on the Flix or other streamers.
> 
> Commercials?? Really? That's what DVRs are for with the 3x or 4x FF function. Or watch premium channel without.


My only complaint with the genie is speed. After using a TiVo bolt it is obvious. Otherwise I have no problems with it


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## frontiercc (Nov 24, 2003)

Laxguy said:


> Couldn't disagree more regarding Genies. Great boxes. Great service. Yes, if you can't afford it, there are other opportunities. But for sports you'll not get good stuff via streaming, and PQ is tops with DIRECTV. If you have very high speed bandwidth, you may be able to get a slightly better picture on the Flix or other streamers.
> 
> Commercials?? Really? That's what DVRs are for with the 3x or 4x FF function. Or watch premium channel without.


Actually- the best PQ is OTA. for local sports- cant be beat. But selection is limited.

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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

frontiercc said:


> Actually- the best PQ is OTA. for local sports- cant be beat. But selection is limited.


Not in my side by side direct comparisons. When and where were your tests made?


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## frontiercc (Nov 24, 2003)

No testing needed. OTA is uncompressed. All other transmissions are compressed.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

frontiercc said:


> No testing needed. OTA is uncompressed. All other transmissions are compressed.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Not so much anymore With all of the sub channels now it is being compressed


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## frontiercc (Nov 24, 2003)

Even with 2 or 3 sd channels on the back if the signal- theres still room for an uncompressed 1080 hd signal in there. But ymmv.

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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

NO signal you can receive in your home is uncompressed. It may be compressed more or less than other signals entering your home, but every signal has compression.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

No testing needed??? Asserting that you know the OTA signal is compressed less- or better-than DIRECTV's? And based on hearsay?

That really doesn't fly.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

frontiercc said:


> Even with 2 or 3 sd channels on the back if the signal- theres still room for an uncompressed 1080 hd signal in there. But ymmv.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


First... all signals are massively compressed. True full uncompressed Hi Definition would take several full channels of bandwidth. Heck high quality Hi Definition blu rays which are still compressed are usually twice the bandwidth a single to a full atsc channel.

Second, there is not still room for a couple more SD channels on a Hi Definition channel without additional degradation. This is a myth they want you to believe so you don't realize how much less pq you get when they add sub channels. One Hi Definition channel can easily fill the entire bandwidth for the channel and still Never be close to blu Ray quality.


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## inazsully (Oct 3, 2006)

How about the 4K channels here on Directv? How would you compare their PQ to a high quality blu-ray?


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

It's probably based on Directv using the OTA signal for locals in many, if not most cases. There are a number of threads on here and avsforum as to how Directv gets locals. If it is true that in most cases, they simply pick up the OTA signal and uplink it, it is impossible in those cases for Directv to have a better, less compressed picture than OTA.

In cases where they are getting a fiber feed and uplinking that, it could be a better picture than OTA.



Laxguy said:


> No testing needed??? Asserting that you know the OTA signal is compressed less- or better-than DIRECTV's? And based on hearsay?
> 
> That really doesn't fly.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

raott said:


> It's probably based on Directv using the OTA signal for locals in many, if not most cases.


Less compression was not the claim. No compression was the claim:


frontiercc said:


> No testing needed. OTA is uncompressed. All other transmissions are compressed.


OTA is not uncompressed.

Then add the "double down" on the claim:


frontiercc said:


> Even with 2 or 3 sd channels on the back if the signal- theres still room for an uncompressed 1080 hd signal in there. But ymmv.


No, there isn't room on an OTA signal for an uncompressed 1080 HD signal. Not even without subchannels, let alone with "2 or 3 sd channels".


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

I was not responding to the the OP. I was responding to the post I quoted.



James Long said:


> Less compression was not the claim. No compression was the claim:
> 
> OTA is not uncompressed.
> 
> ...


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

Rich said:


> You've written some good posts in this thread. If you do drop D* and go to cable I hope you will get back to us with your experiences.
> 
> Rich


 Thank you Rich. Today I decided to part with D. Love them to death and loyal to a fault till now. They just priced themselves past my pain threshold. I am retired now and have to be just a bit more careful. Its very hard to say goodbye to D after almost 22 years but I have to. 
I do plan on keeping all my friends on DBS informed with how i am finding Blue Ridge Communicatons. Picture quality, stablilty, etc, etc. I do not have a contract so if I am totally displeased, I can leave in a few months. I really do need to play around and get used to the Tivo but I had one before and they are fun. 
I did stop in the Blue Ridge office this morning and gave them the green light and my install date is Thursday March 16th AM. I will wait till everything is up and running to my satisfaction befoer calling D for the "divorce". I am a satellite geek and will probably always be so I plan to keep logging on to DBS and keep up with this all.


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## twilburn (Jul 6, 2002)

MrDad0330 said:


> Thank you Rich. Today I decided to part with D. Love them to death and loyal to a fault till now. They just priced themselves past my pain threshold. I am retired now and have to be just a bit more careful. Its very hard to say goodbye to D after almost 22 years but I have to.
> I do plan on keeping all my friends on DBS informed with how i am finding Blue Ridge Communicatons. Picture quality, stablilty, etc, etc. I do not have a contract so if I am totally displeased, I can leave in a few months. I really do need to play around and get used to the Tivo but I had one before and they are fun.
> I did stop in the Blue Ridge office this morning and gave them the green light and my install date is Thursday March 16th AM. I will wait till everything is up and running to my satisfaction befoer calling D for the "divorce". I am a satellite geek and will probably always be so I plan to keep logging on to DBS and keep up with this all.


It's too bad they wouldn't work with you. I do the DTV Discount Dance every year when my incentives expire (as I'm sure many do here).
When I see my bill spike again I give them a call and go directly to customer retention. I did this last Saturday. My criteria is $100/mo max. The CSR attempted to give me a decent discount but wanted me to accept a 12 month contract. I refused that stating I've never had a contract and do not intend to. She gave me $35/mo off for 12 months without a contract. Some mentioned to keep trying until you get what you want. I've had success that way also. Like you I've been with them since '96, but I'm looking for alternative solutions using broadband or maybe TiVo. I had UltimateTV and got hooked on time-shifting and haven't looked back.

I look forward to your feedback on this venture. Good luck!


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

inazsully said:


> How about the 4K channels here on Directv? How would you compare their PQ to a high quality blu-ray?


Significantly better. But, as fantastic as it is i am sure 4k blu Ray discs will be even better. It's just the nature of how these things work.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

raott said:


> It's probably based on Directv using the OTA signal for locals in many, if not most cases. There are a number of threads on here and avsforum as to how Directv gets locals. If it is true that in most cases, they simply pick up the OTA signal and uplink it, it is impossible in those cases for Directv to have a better, less compressed picture than OTA.
> 
> In cases where they are getting a fiber feed and uplinking that, it could be a better picture than OTA.


I was under the impression most of them now have been converted to direct fiber links. But maybe it's just they move the signals via fiber after grabbing them over the air.


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## mjwagner (Oct 8, 2005)

MrDad0330 said:


> Thank you Rich. Today I decided to part with D. Love them to death and loyal to a fault till now. They just priced themselves past my pain threshold. I am retired now and have to be just a bit more careful. Its very hard to say goodbye to D after almost 22 years but I have to.
> I do plan on keeping all my friends on DBS informed with how i am finding Blue Ridge Communicatons. Picture quality, stablilty, etc, etc. I do not have a contract so if I am totally displeased, I can leave in a few months. I really do need to play around and get used to the Tivo but I had one before and they are fun.
> I did stop in the Blue Ridge office this morning and gave them the green light and my install date is Thursday March 16th AM. I will wait till everything is up and running to my satisfaction befoer calling D for the "divorce". I am a satellite geek and will probably always be so I plan to keep logging on to DBS and keep up with this all.


Good luck and keep us posted in your experience. Now that I have had a few months with PSVue I can't ever see myself going back to anything over around $50 per month....the price point really has shifted for me.


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## lokar (Oct 8, 2006)

Laxguy said:


> But for sports you'll not get good stuff via streaming, and PQ is tops with DIRECTV.


That's not true anymore, PSVue has every sports channel I want (NBCSN, Fox Sports 1 and 2, ESPNs and even the SEC channel) in their lowest package. I now pay $30/month for what D* was charging me $95/month for before I left. I am not in a position to do a head to head picture quality comparison but PSVue on a Roku looks great to me and is perfectly smooth. The only thing D* has for sports is the NFL and being a Chargers fan, that's not such a big deal for me.


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

twilburn said:


> It's too bad they wouldn't work with you. I do the DTV Discount Dance every year when my incentives expire (as I'm sure many do here).
> When I see my bill spike again I give them a call and go directly to customer retention. I did this last Saturday. My criteria is $100/mo max. The CSR attempted to give me a decent discount but wanted me to accept a 12 month contract. I refused that stating I've never had a contract and do not intend to. She gave me $35/mo off for 12 months without a contract. Some mentioned to keep trying until you get what you want. I've had success that way also. Like you I've been with them since '96, but I'm looking for alternative solutions using broadband or maybe TiVo. I had UltimateTV and got hooked on time-shifting and haven't looked back.
> 
> I look forward to your feedback on this venture. Good luck!


Rich,
I wouldnt say they didnt work wtih me, the first CSR didnt but the 2nd did offer me $50 per month discournt for 12 months. That just wasnt good enough but I think id be wasting my time to continue asking for more.. From the other posts in here, $50 is the max. So I will make the move to Blue Ridge Cable. They arent asking for any committment either so that gives me options. 
I will keep you posted on my new Tivo systme and is it really as good as Genie...


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## cypherx (Aug 27, 2010)

It's been a long time but I've used blue ridge cable at a relatives house (they've since moved out of that area). Back then they only offered a dual tuner DVR running passport echo interface. It was and still is a pretty good performing system in the cable world. I even believe they had multiple premium channels in HD. Though then you had to go to channel 600 and up to view HD. Today I think they have an option in Passport to auto tune to HD. I'm not sure if they do that with their TiVo solution or not.

One thing I hated about cable is the separation of SD / HD. It's easy to record something in SD by accident. I love how the HD is just simple and automatic with DirecTV. I tried to switch to my local cable company and to get the same setup I think I would only be saving $20 a month but lose out to the iPhone/iPad apps, only get 1 screen of each premium in HD, have separate channel numbers, and learn the moxi "crossbar" UI.

I hope it all works out for you. I know Blue Ridge always seemed to be a little ahead of their time compared to even some of the big players out there. Best of luck!


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Tivo will not auto tune.. But will pop up with a message to hit like C or something to go to the HD version


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

What I planned to do to counter this was to add a favorites list so that Guide will only show my HD channelsand SD channels i would want. Not as good as D with "Hide SD channels" I will cover that off with the installer when he arrives next Thursday. 
If anyone is interested in seeing this new Tivo, here is the link:
www.brctv.com/blue-ridge-dream-tutorials


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## cypherx (Aug 27, 2010)

Well also see if BRC is just remapping the channels at the cable card level. What I mean is over at TWC (now charter spectrum) if the set top is HD, it gets an HD preferred lineup. They don't have duplicates anymore, you type in a number and it's in HD automatically.

This of course is dependent on the operator. It's technically possible BRC pushes an HD lineup to the Tivos, but of course that would be a corporate decision on their part. I guess just report back once it's installed!


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

cypherx said:


> Well also see if BRC is just remapping the channels at the cable card level. What I mean is over at TWC (now charter spectrum) if the set top is HD, it gets an HD preferred lineup. They don't have duplicates anymore, you type in a number and it's in HD automatically.
> 
> This of course is dependent on the operator. It's technically possible BRC pushes an HD lineup to the Tivos, but of course that would be a corporate decision on their part. I guess just report back once it's installed!


They do show the TWC in the SD channel numbers BUT they show it as an HD channel and it also then appears in the HD lineup in the 600# range.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

MrDad0330 said:


> They do show the TWC in the SD channel numbers BUT they show it as an HD channel and it also then appears in the HD lineup in the 600# range.


Yeh you are going to have to do a separate favorite list with the Tivo


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## cypherx (Aug 27, 2010)

MrDad0330 said:


> They do show the TWC in the SD channel numbers BUT they show it as an HD channel and it also then appears in the HD lineup in the 600# range.


Most TWC areas went to a universal lineup. Hudson Valley NY for example no longer has a separate block of channels for HD. You type in 2 and it shows channel 2 in HD automatically. It's about time too. When they had it separated in the 600-800's, my in laws RARELY watched HD unless it was one of the few 24 channels under 100 that TWC tested on (espn, CNN, TNT and locals).


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## cypherx (Aug 27, 2010)

One advantage you'll have is no more signal loss in the snow and heavy downpours. They are calling for 18-24" of snow for us in Berks County starting tonight into late Tuesday. I guess we will be watching a lot of Amazon Prime and Netflix. I can't reach our dish to clean it off.


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

Yes we are expecting 12-20" here in Central Pa. I live half way between Harrisburg and York. I wont have the installation until Thursday but I am actually excited about going back to Tivo. Ive watched some of the YouTube vids on it from Blue Ridge. On Youtube must search for Blue Ridge Cable and you can watch some vids on their new Tivo. It seems quite amazing to be honest and more versatile than my Genie. I will keep you all posted ont it. 
I have only lost my signal from snow once, even last year with 30" I didnt lose it but i suppose if it was a wet snow blowing into my dish..i would. I always lose it in moderate or heavy rain.. As for Cable, not sure what my experience will be with outages like they seemed to have back in the day.
It was not my intent to ever leave D but the two things needed to make that happen came together:

1. D passed my month pain threshold
AND....
2. I would not take a step backwards in my system but appears i have a system from Blue Ridge that may be on par with D's technology. 

It is hard to leave D after almost 22 years with them. One thing i do like with Blue Ridge is that i have no contract. If im unhappy in six months or so, I could come back to D with no penalty which is more than I can say about D. I just felt that once AT&T bought them that much of the love they had vanished.


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

Well today a officially cancelled my D service after nearly 22 years with them. Being now retired I just needed to cut expenses where I could. D had passed my pain threshold and my local cable company, Blue Ridge Communications threw my a bone I could not refuse. Besides the price savings of over $1000 my first year and $800 mysecond year, i also needed to see technology equal to Genie and I feel with their Tivo 6 Dream, I have that.
What I have not done is cancelled my ties with DBS Talk. I value all I have received from you all from helping me with HDTV and Blu-ray back in 2007 to late night cutting edge beta downloads on Friday and Saturday night. I always had someone and more like many helpful folks from DBS to help me. I will keep you all informed how it is with cable again. I am loving my Tivo again though, still relearning from the days when D had Tivo as THE DVR of choice. I was happy with Genie but Tivo 6 whole house appears to be right with the Genie
With Blue Ridge, I have no contract and could leave tomorrow if i wanted without penalty. With D, after 22 years, they are socking me for $120 becuse I was 6 months shy of my contract of many many contracts over the years. This is my only sore spot with D.
For now, its learning the Tivo again and it is too early to really judge it vs Genie but I will say the PQ is not as good on my 52" Samsung HDTV, not bad but not as sharp. With my smaller HDTVs, you cant really tell (43" down to 26"). Its a small trade off for the money im saving.
I do need some help though. I would like to save many of my recorded shows on my two DVR's
My Genie is a HR44 and I also have a HR24. I think there is a way to download on to a SATA drive but I have zero knowledge about that. I know there is a SATA output on both units so I could use some help on what I need to obtain and also.... once downloaded..can I play them back through my Tivo OR a HDMI input on one of my TVs? Help!!
Lastly, as I said, I left D but not DBS Talk. Who knows if ill ever come back to D, im not ruling it out but i know changes are coming with streaming and that could affect all of us whether we are cable or Dish or Directv users. Thank you all again for being so helpful

Franklin Brown
Etters, Pa (South of Harrisburg in York Co.


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## longrider (Apr 21, 2007)

Unfortunately the contents on the hard drives are encrypted and can only be played through the active DirecTV DVR they were recorded on. If service is still active right now disconnect the HR24 from the satellite before the kill signal comes down and you will have a while to watch the shows. The same applies to the HR44 but I am sure they will want that back. There have been reports of HR24s being non-recoverable


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

longrider said:


> Unfortunately the contents on the hard drives are encrypted and can only be played through the active DirecTV DVR they were recorded on. If service is still active right now disconnect the HR24 from the satellite before the kill signal comes down and you will have a while to watch the shows. The same applies to the HR44 but I am sure they will want that back. There have been reports of HR24s being non-recoverable


Yes, i was afraid of that. I did remove bothmy dvrs yesterday and I did play some of my Genie content to a TV. I am sure that is time coded so in the case of my HR24, and if they dont want it back, I suppose the recordings will die in time. Oh well...thanks for you input.. btw, im terminated at 11:59 tonight even though all me equipment is on my dining room table


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## longrider (Apr 21, 2007)

I have seen time reports from a couple days to years. If they dont recover the HR24 I would just keep using it until it does shut down or you have watched everything


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## longrider (Apr 21, 2007)

Just dont hook it back up to the satellite or it will shut down before it is done booting


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

longrider said:


> Just dont hook it back up to the satellite or it will shut down before it is done booting


No, that is all disconnected and the cable company used the existing D lines (which i installed years ago) I did fire it up in my bedroom and it did get stuck on trying to find the Sat so i had to play around with it but finally got to my list of programs


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## wilbur_the_goose (Aug 16, 2006)

I love this thread. I've been with D* since 1996, and I'm just about done with them. Prices are too high, AT&T has killed their sense of caring about customers, and the alternatives are awfully good today.

In 2000, D* was the King of TV. Today, it's at most a "Jack", using technology which may soon be obsolete.

The only thing keeping me with D* is NFL Sunday Ticket. If they lose it, they'll lose me.


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

wilbur_the_goose said:


> I love this thread. I've been with D* since 1996, and I'm just about done with them. Prices are too high, AT&T has killed their sense of caring about customers, and the alternatives are awfully good today.
> 
> In 2000, D* was the King of TV. Today, it's at most a "Jack", using technology which may soon be obsolete.
> 
> The only thing keeping me with D* is NFL Sunday Ticket. If they lose it, they'll lose me.


---------------------------------------------------------
I totally agree with you but it was still hard to pull the plug but i have and i am re-learning Tivo and I love it. The Tivo 6 Dream system is very similiar to Genie. On my project board out in my garage, I hve now the Blue Ridge splitter instead of the D green splitter. I still have all my D stuff on the board so a return to them would be easy BUT, so far, I am not missing any features from Genie with one acception. I cant enter the up arrow and get a 9 block cell of favorite channels to go to. I did like that feature. OTOH, I can access Netflix on my Tivo. I wish they also had Am Prime but I hafe Roku for that. I will post more but any of you can Youtube "Blue Ridge Cable" and there are several vids on the new Tivo if you want to check it out..


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## stanb42 (Dec 3, 2009)

Just wanted to share my (2 month) experience away from DTV.

First of all, there was some up front expenses involved.

I have three TV's that we watch regularly. Two have Apple TV's attached and the third is a Sony Bravia Android TV. With DTV, we had whole-home DVR with two mini-Genies. Like the simplicity of use, the guide, quality of picture. What I didn't like was the price increase to $140/month.

First Apple TV ($199) was bought to see what it was all about. Really didn't see the value at the time. We started looking into OTT services and opted to try the DirecTV Now service that came with 32Gb Apple TV for three months pre-paid. Thought we'd give it a try.

We had been supporting OTA with an AM-21, but DTV had all but abandoned supporting it, so we looked into other options. Settled on Tablo TV over TiVo, since the Tablo streams locally to both the Apple and Android TVs. The 4 tuner version was around $200 and has advanced guide options plus DVR.

After two months we really haven't missed DTV (sat). Most of our watching was local anyway. We figured we'd be ahead financially in a few months pay back.

I can recommend the Tablo system. Once the DirecTV Now promotional rate expires, we'll probably explore Sling and PSVue (again). Was a loyal customer, but really wore thin with cost increase after cost increase with no improvement in service/quality/or quantity of programming options.

Regards,


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

I am glad you are still alive after two months away from D. Here is a pic of my "board" out in the garage. The Blue Ridge Cable Tivo 8 way Splitter is mounted just above the D six way splitter. Of course the D pwr supply in the upper right is now also not in play and unplugged. I still have two room lines connected to the D splitter but thats only to tidy them up since they are not used at this time.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Wow, you even have a wrench. Nice!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

peds48 said:


> Wow, you even have a wrench. Nice!
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Yes Peds, too many times fighting with over tightened connectors and NOT being able to find a wrench to loosen them up. LOL.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

I am surprised they are using a 1GHZ splitter.. the newer TV's use Moca 2.0 which needs some more headroom.. My CC uses 1600mhz splitters


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

compnurd said:


> the newer TV's use Moca 2.0


Which TVs?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

compnurd said:


> I am surprised they are using a 1GHZ splitter.. the newer TV's use Moca 2.0 which needs some more headroom.. My CC uses 1600mhz splitters


How can you tell they are using a 1GHZ splitter, I cant see any markings but the 8 outputs? But if that is the case, I will bring it up to them..


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

peds48 said:


> Which TVs?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Blah Meant Tivo Boxes


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

MrDad0330 said:


> How can you tell they are using a 1GHZ splitter, I cant see any markings but the 8 outputs? But if that is the case, I will bring it up to them..


If you look in your splitter above the bottom ports you can see it is marked 5-1002GHZ It will work but just surprised


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

compnurd said:


> Blah Meant Tivo Boxes


I am a little lost now... do you mean the Tivo and minis should be rated at 2 GHZ.. ???


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

compnurd said:


> If you look in your splitter above the bottom ports you can see it is marked 5-1002GHZ It will work but just surprised


Oh oh oh..yes i see its marked 5-1002HHz ??


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

MrDad0330 said:


> I am a little lost now... do you mean the Tivo and minis should be rated at 2 GHZ.. ???


The Mini's are Moca 1.1 So those are good... The Bolts and some of the Pace/Arris Branded Tivo units support Moca 2.0 They can use higher frequencies which is why higher range splitters are used


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

compnurd said:


> The Mini's are Moca 1.1 So those are good... The Bolts and some of the Pace/Arris Branded Tivo units support Moca 2.0 They can use higher frequencies which is why higher range splitters are used


But is this something I schould bring up with Blue Ridge? Would the performance be better with a 2GBZ splitter?


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

MrDad0330 said:


> But is this something I schould bring up with Blue Ridge? Would the performance be better with a 2GBZ splitter?


It would be a 1600mhz splitter.. Dont think they are using a 2gig one No performance would most likely not change


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## Troch2002 (May 8, 2016)

compnurd said:


> It would be a 1600mhz splitter.. Dont think they are using a 2gig one No performance would most likely not change


Moca 2.0 ranges between 650-875 Mhz.

Those splitter are fine.
Tivo recommends Any splitter rated over 1000 Mhz but does not recommended splitters over 2200 Mhz.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active


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## Troch2002 (May 8, 2016)

compnurd said:


> The Mini's are Moca 1.1 So those are good... The Bolts and some of the Pace/Arris Branded Tivo units support Moca 2.0 They can use higher frequencies which is why higher range splitters are used


Blueridge Cable uses Roamio Plus .
Real Tivo platform.

The Pace model Tivos, are not real Tivos .
They are the X1 platform with Tivo software. 
Just like that THR22 that Directv calls a Tivo , that a crappy HR with Tivo software .

Blueridge Tivos also Supports VOD, Netflix, Hulu, and requires no tuning adapters.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Troch2002 said:


> Blueridge Cable uses Roamio Plus .
> Real Tivo platform.
> 
> The Pace model Tivos, are not real Tivos .
> ...


Ya. So not the X1 platform. The pace units running the software have the same specs as the Roamio hardware The pace units also support all of the above


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Troch2002 said:


> Moca 2.0 ranges between 650-875 Mhz.
> 
> Those splitter are fine.
> Tivo recommends Any splitter rated over 1000 Mhz but does not recommended splitters over 2200 Mhz.
> ...


Google is your friend

*MoCA 2.0*
MoCA 2.0 offers actual throughputs (MAC rate) up to 1 Gbps. Operating frequency range is 500 to 1650 MHz. Packet error rate is 1 packet error in 100 million.


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## Troch2002 (May 8, 2016)

compnurd said:


> Google is your friend
> 
> *MoCA 2.0*
> MoCA 2.0 offers actual throughputs (MAC rate) up to 1 Gbps. Operating frequency range is 500 to 1650 MHz. Packet error rate is 1 packet error in 100 million.


Sure that Moca operating range, But thats not Tivos Moca Range.
Tivo only requires a Splitter rated for 1000 Mhz.

And yes that Pace Tivo is the X1 platform. 
It is not a Tivo made box.
















Samsung Galaxy S6 Active


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## Troch2002 (May 8, 2016)

This is what Blue Ridge Uses.









You should Google XG1, and Tivo T6.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Not disputing X1 uses the hardware but it is used for multiple platforms


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Troch2002 said:


> Sure that Moca operating range, But thats not Tivos Moca Range.
> Tivo only requires a Splitter rated for 1000 Mhz.
> 
> And yes that Pace Tivo is the X1 platform.
> ...


Moca 1.1 also uses up to 1500 MHz and depending on the channels used you can go over 1k. While the system will default to use lower it can go higher if you tinker with settings


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## Troch2002 (May 8, 2016)

compnurd said:


> Not disputing X1 uses the hardware but it is used for multiple platforms


Yes the X1 is used across multiple cable companies with or without Tivo software.

But only a Handful of Cable Provider actually use an off the Shelf Real Tivo Roamio platform. 
RCN and BRC are 2 in PA that use them.
The XG1 platform requires Moca splitters up to 1600 MHZ.
For what reason I can't say.

Tivo Roamios and Dish Hoppers Use a range of 650-875.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active


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## Troch2002 (May 8, 2016)

compnurd said:


> Moca 1.1 also uses up to 1500 MHz and depending on the channels used you can go over 1k. While the system will default to use lower it can go higher if you tinker with settings


Thats extended D-band.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active


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## Troch2002 (May 8, 2016)

To the OP,
are you using an ACTIONTEC ECB2500C Moca Network Adapter? 
Or are you using ethernet with Bridging enabled on the Tivo Roamio T6?

Either one of these would get installed with a 1002 mhz splitter to your Minis.

I wouldn't change that splitter.



Samsung Galaxy S6 Active


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

Troch2002 said:


> This is what Blue Ridge Uses.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is exactly what they installed last Thursday. I love it actually.


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

Troch2002 said:


> To the OP,
> are you using an ACTIONTEC ECB2500C Moca Network Adapter?
> Or are you using ethernet with Bridging enabled on the Tivo Roamio T6?
> 
> ...


Bridged


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

MrDad0330 said:


> Bridged


My mistake, It was the ActionTec but here is what I have


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## Troch2002 (May 8, 2016)

Yep thats the Roamio Plus.
They work excellent. 
Still my Favorite HD DVR even over the Hopper 3 with 16 tuners.

Never a single connection issue, Never slow, the minis always work great.

Hopefully Blue ridge price the 2nd year doesn't spoil it.

Right now they are $30 higher than Dish, and $15 Higher than Directv for my setups.

And that with BRC regular bundle price.
1 year promo only evens the score.

That's sad IMO that I can pay full price for BRC internet, and still get a better rate with Directv or Dish on TV.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Troch2002 said:


> Yep thats the Roamio Plus.
> They work excellent.
> Still my Favorite HD DVR even over the Hopper 3 with 16 tuners.
> 
> ...


Same here with my local Cable Company.. After all parts and pieces they are more expensive than Direct


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

Troch2002 said:


> Yep thats the Roamio Plus.
> They work excellent.
> Still my Favorite HD DVR even over the Hopper 3 with 16 tuners.
> 
> ...


well im pretty happy with BRC for now. They will save me $1000 the first year and $700 the second year and we will go from there. Maybe D will wake up by then...


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## APB101 (Sep 1, 2010)

MrDad0330 said:


> well im pretty happy with BRC for now. They will save me $1000 the first year and $700 the second year and we will go from there. Maybe D will wake up by then...


Thank you for telling us about your experiences with this.

My brother made the switch, earlier this month, from AT&T's DirecTV to Comcast xfinity. I haven't had a chance to talk with him; I am getting over an upper respiratory infection. But, he had personal needs to make the move. (Which is not unusual.)

This is a very interesting topic.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

APB101 said:


> Thank you for telling us about your experiences with this.
> 
> My brother made the switch, earlier this month, from AT&T's DirecTV to Comcast xfinity. I haven't had a chance to talk with him; I am getting over an upper respiratory infection. But, he had personal needs to make the move. (Which is not unusual.)
> 
> ...


 Thank you APB, I certainly did not expect to see the welcome attention my post created. I am a die hard D guy. From the time i put my dish up on my roof and found the satillite myself thru the cutting edge weekend evenings to new birds launched to HD, etc etc, I always felt I was way head of my neighbors. However, I did feel a bit of that all die when AT&T purchased D. I in some ways felt betrayed but, it was really the cost that seemed to just get beyond my resources coupled with the fact that it seemed to me that the rest of the world caught up to D. With that in mind, I had another choice I felt was equal equipment wise did I then decide to return to BRC cable. Didnt want to keave D but now retired, it made sound financial sence. 
I am enjoying Tivo and even though I miss some features of Genie, Tivo adds some so to me, its a wash. I feel on some stations, the PQ is not equal to D but that isnt worth $1000 a year to me. Looking ahead, I know that on year 3 with BRC, my cost savings will be next to nothing but I also feel that the way things are going with streaming, etc, in 3 years we all may have other entertainment options on our table so....who knows. 
I have throughly enjoyed all your comments and learn from you all just as I have over the years.


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## Bigg (Feb 27, 2010)

For the duplicate channels, just go into the settings and delete the duplicate SD channels so you don't accidentally record from them. There's no reason to have SD versions of channels hanging around. TiVo does support Amazon Prime, but BRC may have disabled it on their rented TiVos versus the retail TiVos.

X1 is Comcast's software platform. The XG1 is the hardware platform that goes with the X1 software. Contour is Cox's branded version of the X1 software, and also runs on the XG1 hardware platform. The XG1s that run TiVo have nothing to do with X1 other than that they re-purposed the hardware that Comcast developed for X1 for use with TiVo because it was already available.

MoCA runs fine on any decent 860mhz splitter. It is designed with relatively high power levels to blast through crummy splitters. Most of them don't have too much of an issue passing higher frequencies anyway. You can use higher rated splitters if it makes you feel good, but really test it and see if it works. If you have a junk 860mhz splitter that won't pass MoCA, pull it out and try another one.


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

Well, Ive now been with Blue Ridge Cable and their Tivo Dream a month now. What I have observed so far compared to D are:
1) Picture Quality is up to Directv standards on most but not all channels. Not an issue
2) The Tivo 6 is great and is on par with Genie and its clients BUT what I dont like is the 30 min buffer compared to Genies 90 min buffer. I would like to see a 60 min buffer at least.

3) I have NOT found out how to initiate a "double play I think it has one but if anyone can help me there, Id appreciate it.

4) I do miss hitting the "up" arrow to get a window to chose my 9 fav channels that Genie has.

5 ) I can only customize on favorites list unlike Genie where I could have several

6) I do like having access to Netflix on Tivo and Im not sure why, but i am pulling in Dolby Digital on Netflix on Tivo vs my Roku where I was not lighting up my blue indicator light indicating digital on my Sony AVR. I do wish Blue Ridge also included Amazon video as well. 

D has sent me several offers to return and I could probably BUT they all come with the 2 year commitment and offers are good for one year. With Blue Ridge, I have NO Commitment, period. With the Tivo and its "minis" I feel I have very comparable hardware and did not take a step backward by leaving D. Blue Ridge has always been great to deal with and very responsive unlike most cable companies.
So far so good. I am happy with my savings, picture quality, equipment and service. This has been an easy conversion but I have caught myself entering the D channel number a few times, lol. I cant say I miss D at all, at least at this time, even after 22 years with them. Time will tell but I will keep you all posted and I have always appreciated all the input you all have shared with me.


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## btedford (Mar 10, 2010)

I just cancelled DirecTV. I switched to Cable as they offered to buy me out of my contract with AT&T for TV and Internet. No Contract with Spectrum, so in a few months I will go entirely streaming. TV is getting expensive and I got tired of paying for channels I don't watch.


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

I'll just enjoy saving $1000 my first year with BRC and $700 the second year and after that...lets see where streaming is? Channels like FNC and the ESPNs and the like aren't stream-able if you are subscribed to a cable or sat provider are they? 
Sat and Cable suppliers must have to know they are dying in the not to distant future. The next 5 years will be interesting.


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## mjwagner (Oct 8, 2005)

MrDad0330 said:


> I'll just enjoy saving $1000 my first year with BRC and $700 the second year and after that...lets see where streaming is? Channels like FNC and the ESPNs and the like aren't stream-able if you are subscribed to a cable or sat provider are they?
> Sat and Cable suppliers must have to know they are dying in the not to distant future. The next 5 years will be interesting.


FNC and the ESPN's are available to stream using PSVue....I often watch them.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

MrDad0330 said:


> Channels like FNC and the ESPNs and the like aren't stream-able if you are subscribed to a cable or sat provider are they?


Depending on the provider, you can use satellite/cable log in credentials to watch Fox and ESPN streamed programming as part of one's subscription.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

btedford said:


> I just cancelled DirecTV. I switched to Cable as they offered to buy me out of my contract with AT&T for TV and Internet. No Contract with Spectrum, so in a few months I will go entirely streaming. TV is getting expensive and I got tired of paying for channels I don't watch.


My monthly bill just jumped from $160 to $200. Credits came off and commitment expired. If we weren't in the MLB season with the Yankees doing so well...

Rich


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## APB101 (Sep 1, 2010)

MrDad0330 said:


> Well, Ive now been with Blue Ridge Cable and their Tivo Dream a month now. What I have observed so far compared to D are:...


Thank you, *MrDad0330*, for the update of your experience!

I have something I'm going to relate. (If you don't mind.)

My brother and sister-in-law switched from AT&T's DirecTV to Comcast [xfinity] on March 2.

We live between two to three miles apart and are in the market of Detroit, Michigan.

They had their reasons for switching; but, I'm not going to go into the details.

They are not _fussy_ with the channel lineup. (For an example: Perhaps they haven't noticed that Comcast, unlike AT&T's DirecTV, does not carry Boomerang.) They're not into stuff some people would describe as _fringe_ or _specialty_ to worry that they would be on AT&T's DirecTV but not on Comcast's lineup. They watch the popular fare like USA Network and TNT. My brother watches ESPN a lot.

They like the x1 platform. They like speaking into the remote when they have anything in mind, like to change a channel.

I had the chance to be there myself. (It was to feed their pets while they were not available on a given day.) It feels fresh and loosely easy to navigate. (AT&T's DirecTV, and I have H20, HR20, has become stiff. That has more to do with lousy codes, I've been told here, and a thread was created May 1, 2015: DTV very slow, channel changes and GUI are horrible .) While exploring x1, it had me thinking, _"AT&T really needs an update!"_ (Also of note: I didn't notice anything bad about the HD-picture quality of what programming I checked out on Comcast. That would have been more a concern in 2007 and 2012 while it is not the case in 2017.)

My brother and sister-in-law also like that On Demand plays immediately. (My sister-in-law told me it seemed like it took hours to download onto DVR content from the On Demand of AT&T's DirecTV.)

Although my brother and sister-in-law are on a promotional package, which includes the highest basic-cable level (not with the separate sports package), along with Starz, they like bundling Double Play of television and Internet. (The speed level is 75Mbps download.)

I have Comcast for Internet. (It is the same speed level. And my two-year introduction of promotional pricing ends after May.) What is keeping me with AT&T's DirecTV has to do with my being fussy with the channel lineups. There are programming, particularly in HD, that AT&T's DirecTV has that are not carried on the Michigan system of Comcast: ASPiRE HD, beIn Sports HD, Crime & Investigation HD, Disney Junior HD, ESPN Deportes HD, Fox Deportes HD, Galavision HD, MTV2 HD, Nick Jr. HD, Ovation HD, Reelz Channel HD, Revolt HD, Sundance TV HD, TV Land HD, and Univision HD. Now, there are some on Comcast not available on AT&T's DirecTV: C-Span HD, Discovery Family HD, Home Shopping Network HD, Outdoor Channel HD, Sportsman Channel HD, Sprout HD, TV One HD, and UP HD. (This is comparing linear channels, from standard definition at the very least, made available on both, with in mind: _Which does AT&T's DirecTV and which does Comcast carry in high def while the other does not?_ I have some pics with a post here: DIRECTV HD Channel Anticipation (Official Q2-17 Thread) .) There are other trade-offs. AT&T's DirecTV has more multiscreen of premium-movie programmers in high definition. With Comcast, I would gain two more locals in high definition: CBET, Ch. 9 (CBC-Windsor, Ontario, Canada) HD and WGTE, Ch. 30 (PBS-Toledo, Ohio) HD. For standard-definition fare, ones pretty pivotal, AT&T's DirecTV has numerous public-interest programmers while Comcast has the Detroit affiliates of stations' subchannels (like Retro TV).

Perhaps you're appreciating from Blue Ridge Cable any programmers with HD that you did not get in that format while you were still with AT&T's DirecTV.

My focus, and I tend to routinely post on the _HD Anticipation_ thread, is to see what AT&T does with DirecTV in upgrading the programming carried in SD which actually have available HD. (That's what I want.) I've been with DirecTV since March 1998. AT&T's purchase of DirecTV was approved by the FCC in July 2015. Right now, I feel that AT&T hasn't done much let alone enough. (Over the last year, GSN HD and Oxygen HD were brought in. Nearly all the rest of HD additions were programmers not previously carried at all. And I find much of that to be a waste. Not just my personal taste; but a waste; that their inclusion is at the expense of the opportunity of the SD-to-HD upgrades.)

Due to my not being in contract, and I'm not looking to upgrade equipment, I'm open to the possibility of jumping ship. (I consider that the pricing goes up annually. I expect AT&T's DirecTV to upgrade in order for my perceived value of the overall product to be worthy of continuing to subscribe. And to upgrade this year.) AT&T's DirecTV, with the recent years' two satellites launched, has capacity to do more upgrading SD into HD. Comcast reportedly is going to go IP. (That should have happened years ago. Its focus has been on Internet.)

It's nice to feel like a free agent. (I'll let it play out for a few more months.)


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## Delroy E Walleye (Jun 9, 2012)

MrDad0330 said:


> (<...)
> 
> 3) I have NOT found out how to initiate a "double play I think it has one but if anyone can help me there, Id appreciate it.
> 
> ( ...>)


I thought TiVos _always_ had two 30 min DLBs running at all times.

(Granted I've only used the DirecTV versions.)

In the older ones, the down arrow would change tuners.

In the newer (THR) - but still old-fashioned GUI - there is liveTV/swap button.

In either case the full info banner should have a way to see what's on the other tuner and select to tune to it.

I would be curious to know if they've done away with DLBs altogether in the cable versions.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Delroy E Walleye said:


> I thought TiVos _always_ had two 30 min DLBs running at all times.
> 
> (Granted I've only used the DirecTV versions.)
> 
> ...


I believe all of the tuners now will buffer for 30 min at a time


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

APB101 said:


> Perhaps you're appreciating from Blue Ridge Cable any programmers with HD that you did not get in that format while you were still with AT&T's DirecTV.


Not with Blue Ridge unless you have specific tastes, while they have some HD channels DirecTV doesn't, overall they are missing a lot more:
You gain:
Blaze HD
CSN Philly HD
Esquire HD (folding in July)
HSN HD
MavTV HD (In their equivelent of the HD Extra Package)
Nicktoons HD
Outdoor Channel HD
Outermax HD
Outside Television HD (In their equivelent of the HD Extra Package)
PCN HD (Kind of like a Pennsylvania only C-SPAN)
Sportsman HD
Sprout HD
Starz Encore Black HD
WFN HD (In their equivelent of the HD Extra Package)

You lose:
ASPiRE HD*
AWE HD*
BBC World News HD
beIN Sports HD*
beIN Sports Espanol HD*
BET HD
Bloomberg HD*
BTN HD*
Comedy.TV HD*
Cooking Channel HD
Disney Junior HD
DIY HD
Eleven Sports HD*
ESPN College Extra HD*
ESPN Deportes HD
ESPN Goal Line/Buzzer Beater HD*
FM HD*
Fox Deportes HD
Fuse HD*
Fusion HD
Galavision HD*
Justice Central HD*
Longhorn HD*
MSG HD*
MSG Plus HD*
Nat Geo Wild HD
NBC Universo HD
OAN HD*
Ovation HD*
OWN HD
Pursuit HD*
Reelz HD
Revolt HD*
Root Sports Pittsburgh HD*
Shorts HD*
Sony Movie Channel HD*
TCM HD
UniMas HD*
Univision Deportes HD*
WeatherNation HD*

* Not carried at all by the local Blue Ridge system serving our area, along with a bunch of other channels they don't carry like Babyfirst, BYU, Centric, CNBC World, Daystar, El Rey, GEB, JLTV, Logo, Pop, SBN, TVG and TV One. None of the out of market sports packages are in HD and they only have one of iNDemand's PPV channels, which means anytime boxing, wrestling and/or UFC are on the same night, only one of them is available.

Everything else like American Heroes, C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, Chiller, Discovery en Espanol, Discovery Familia, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, Evine, EWTN, FXM, GAC, GolTV, INSP, Jewelry TV, NASA, QVC2, RFD-TV, TBN, TeenNick, UP and the rest of the Starz Encore channels are also SD only on Blue Ridge.


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## longrider (Apr 21, 2007)

Delroy E Walleye said:


> I thought TiVos _always_ had two 30 min DLBs running at all times.
> 
> (Granted I've only used the DirecTV versions.)
> 
> ...





compnurd said:


> I believe all of the tuners now will buffer for 30 min at a time


The TiVo Bolt does buffer all 4 tuners. Even when you tune to a channel you cant receive it will keep it in the buffer list so in that case it is only buffering 3 tuners


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

KyL416 said:


> Not with Blue Ridge unless you have specific tastes, while they have some HD channels DirecTV doesn't, overall they are missing a lot more:
> You gain:
> Blaze HD
> CSN Philly HD
> ...


Something is off on your list as he would not get root sports Pittsburgh and MSG. And unless he speaks Spanish also I don't think he cares to lose the 5 or so hd channels related that


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

compnurd said:


> Something is off on your list as he would not get root sports Pittsburgh and MSG.


Yeah we do. Portions of our area can get the Rangers and Knicks on MSG and MSG Plus (but not the Islanders or Devils) and the Penguins and Pirates on Root Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh teams claim pretty much all of Pennsylvania except for the Philly DMA, while the NYC teams claim most of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton DMA, except for the Islanders, Devils and Nets thanks to an agreement made with the Rangers and Knicks back when they joined the NHL and NBA.

On DirecTV MSG and MSG Plus are just blacked out whenever the Islanders or Devils are playing. For cable providers in Northeast PA, MSG has a special feed that's a composite of both MSG and MSG Plus that only carries the Rangers, Knicks, Liberty and Red Bulls, but Blue Ridge dropped that after the Mets moved to SNY. So in addition to the Yankees and NYC FC (YES), Mets (SNY) and Phillies, Flyers and 76ers (CSN Philly), the Rangers, Knicks, Red Bulls (MSG) and the Pirates and Penguins (Root) are also blacked out on the out of market packages on the area Blue Ridge system. For the WNBA, NBA TV is also blacked out whenever the Liberty are playing a game that is also being televised by MSG. Since cable is done on the headend/system level if one area is affected the blackout has to apply to everyone served by that system or headend, while DirecTV and Dish can break it down to the zip code level.

As for Spanish, yeah not everyone speaks or understands it. But in the case of UniMas and Univision Deportes they do have English commentary on their SAP feed for their exclusive MLS matches, which could be a deal breaker for anyone that's a fan of the teams playing those nights. Formula 1 fans also like them since unlike NBCSN, they have a lot less commercial breaks and do not tape delay the post race celebrations. (Formula 1 uses a global feed so the graphics and post race ceremonies are all in English) Fans of international soccer also enjoy them, they actually had the exclusive broadcast of a Team USA world cup qualifier a while back.


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## Delroy E Walleye (Jun 9, 2012)

longrider said:


> The TiVo Bolt does buffer all 4 tuners. Even when you tune to a channel you cant receive it will keep it in the buffer list so in that case it is only buffering 3 tuners


Thanks. I've been curious about the modern TiVos and how they buffer.

(Maybe MrDad meant something else by "how to initiate a double play.")


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

Delroy E Walleye said:


> Thanks. I've been curious about the modern TiVos and how they buffer.
> 
> (Maybe MrDad meant something else by "how to initiate a double play.")


He may not have realized you can swap buffers with the live tv button or by hitting info and viewing the buffers


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

compnurd said:


> Something is off on your list as he would not get root sports Pittsburgh and MSG. And unless he speaks Spanish also I don't think he cares to lose the 5 or so hd channels related that


LOL, I do get Root Sports, Pittsburgh or I would have not left D. I cant lose my Pirates and Pens. I also did pick up the Phillies, but no offense, I was born in Pittsburgh. I do pick u The Blaze, but since Glenn fired Tomi, I dont watch it. The ONLY channel i lose (and miss) is the Big Ten Network so I may lose one or two Penn State games.


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## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

compnurd said:


> He may not have realized you can swap buffers with the live tv button or by hitting info and viewing the buffers


I didnt know that....Thanks


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