# newbie's silly questions about sat service



## millervt (Mar 30, 2010)

I'm currently a comcast customer - being billed for basic cable (local channels only), but for years the rest of the analog signals leaked through so we got the 70-ish analog channels (and recently the local HD versions).

our system consists of a central cable feed in the basement, then it branches off to the various TVs. We have a pretty big house since we have 9 kids total (5 still at home), so we have a variety of TVs also - 3 flat panel with Qam tuners (not that I know that much about that), and 3 older ones that (so far as I know) do not have a digital tuner. None of the TVs are particularly close to each other or in the same room. We don't necessarily need all 6, we just happened to accumulate them over the years, but we would still like to keep 3 or 4 at least with active signals.

I really dislike comcast, do not use them for internet or phone, and find that their rates are much higher than satellite, and we need to restore some higher level of channels than just our local ones for the kids (we're in a rural area so our local channels are limited).

My questions:

1. I assume if we installed a dish they would run a cable on the outside of the house down into the basement and tie into the inside cable network, essentially just replacing the comcast cable main feed?

2. would any other inside cabling need to be done, or can signals just go on the existing coax cable runs?

3. Do either of the sat companies have a better solution for distributing the signal so that I won't need a set top box on each tv? Its intensely annoying to think of up to 6 new boxes and remotes appearing in our house and needing to find a convenient (line of sight?) space and keeping all that away from younger kids.

4. What channels (if any) would we be able to get without settop boxes on either the newer, or older, tvs, from either company?

right now our comcast option is around $60 plus however many settop boxes we spring for at $7/month. Money is tight (of course) so we are looking for recommendations from anyone with helpful thoughts...thanks!


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

1. DirecTv could do this, Dish would probably need to run additional cables. With DirecTv, they would just swap out your current cable splitters with satellite splitters, assuming your cables were up to spec.

2. Depends on the quality of the cabling.

3. DirecTv and Dish all require a set to box. So does IPTV (U-Verse). DirecTv can set you up with RF remotes so line of site wouldnt be required.

4. DirecTv outputs both standard def and high def at the same time, from their HD boxes, so you could use them with your current standard def TVs (note: if your TV has only RF input, you would need a composite to RF modulator for that set if you were to get a HD box for that set).

DirecTv is $5 per box per month. You can negotiate the initial lease fee for the box. Usually the First HD DVR is free, the second is $99. They will usually supply you with receivers free (up to 4). Just have to call and explain your setup and get your best quote.

I dont have DISH, so I cannot comment on their prices or equipment.


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## millervt (Mar 30, 2010)

thanks for the quick response...am surfing the direct tv web site now.


Is it simple to upgrade the package later? In other words, right now, even the lowest package looks sufficient, but perhaps later i'd want more channels. I presume just a call gets you the different package?


Would I get any channels without a receiver on either my older or newer tvs?

And am I forced to buy/lease their receivers, or are there open market solutions I should look at? I googled and various people sell things labelled as "direct tv satelitte receivers", but I worry that you still need to have directtv do something to make them work, and/or I'd still have to pay the $5/month fee.

Sorry for more newbie questions, I'm getting a lot of pressure from the kids to get Nick back on TV.


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## wallybarthman (Feb 4, 2009)

millervt said:


> Is it simple to upgrade the package later? In other words, right now, even the lowest package looks sufficient, but perhaps later i'd want more channels. I presume just a call gets you the different package?


Yes - it's very easy. You actually can do it online.



millervt said:


> Would I get any channels without a receiver on either my older or newer tvs?


No. For every TV you wanted service on you'd need a set-top box. Keep in mind that for each additional set-top box (at least with DirecTV) you'd pay $5 extra per month.



millervt said:


> And am I forced to buy/lease their receivers, or are there open market solutions I should look at? I googled and various people sell things labelled as "direct tv satelitte receivers", but I worry that you still need to have directtv do something to make them work, and/or I'd still have to pay the $5/month fee.


You must lease equipment from DirecTV. If you hunt on eBay sometimes you can find an HR21Pro, which is an owned receiver and there is older equipment you can buy.

My biggest piece of advice to you is to make sure you do the math on this - given the number of TVs you have if you put DirecTV on every TV you're going to be paying a lot per month in extra lease fees. The perk to cable is that it works with the built-in tuners and doesn't need a set-top box that you have to pay for.

What I ended up doing is only putting DirecTV on two TVs in our house. Then I invested in a really good outdoor antenna set-up and fed that to the rest of the house. We get broadcast in every room and DirecTV on just two.


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## millervt (Mar 30, 2010)

yeah, i'm definitely doing the math on whatever choice I end up...doubt i'd actually hook up all 6 TVs at $5/month, but that is why i'm trying to understand whether some set top boxes can control more than one TV, whether I'd get any channels without a STB, etc.

And yes, OTA is always (somewhat) of an option which I have to figure in.

That is what got me started on this hunt - with comcast it would be $65/month + STB fees @$7 + DVR + blah blah blah.

After I get a decent understanding then I can make a reasonable decision. I'll probably be conservative and order "just a couple" of receivers to start with and gain some experience, since i'm assuming I can order more later if I want to.

The sad thing is that we'd be happy with around 10 channels, but of course you have to order 150 to get them...

thanks again for all the help here.


PS - and one thing that does confuse me is what channels I'd get "in the clear" from comcast with a QAM tuner, since i'm thinking (without really knowing for sure) that all i'd get are the local channels - that maybe everything else is encrypted, which would then make me buy a bunch of STBs from comcast too


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Also, remember that the HD Access fee and the DVR fee is per household, not receiver. You can get receivers from Best Buy etc, but they are leased and the only benefit of doing it that way is you know which model you're getting. You still pay the lease fee.

One thing to look into as well, do you have something that qualifies you for a discount? My phone company gives me a $6 a month discount. Some AAA clubs (might be nationwide), you get $10 off for 20 months. Be careful though, with some of them you have to call a special phone number, not the main DirecTV number.


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## millervt (Mar 30, 2010)

sadly, no discounts that I know of....oh well.

Every time I look at this again, I get more questions..maybe they are obvious. I'm assuming that if I get the DVR service I can only watch saved shows on the TV that the DVR receiver is hooked up to? So if I wanted to save shows and watch on more than one TV I'd have to "purchase" more than one DVR...

Which brings up the question as to whether there are any reliable means to somehow stream tv signals myself without cable to another TV, since I could then at least use (somehow) the second output of a receiver to antoher TV is a remote area of the house without running cable directly.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

millervt said:


> sadly, no discounts that I know of....oh well.
> 
> Every time I look at this again, I get more questions..maybe they are obvious. I'm assuming that if I get the DVR service I can only watch saved shows on the TV that the DVR receiver is hooked up to? So if I wanted to save shows and watch on more than one TV I'd have to "purchase" more than one DVR...
> 
> Which brings up the question as to whether there are any reliable means to somehow stream tv signals myself without cable to another TV, since I could then at least use (somehow) the second output of a receiver to antoher TV is a remote area of the house without running cable directly.


DirecTV has a service in public beta now, if the receivers are networked, any receiver can play a recording from any dvr. There are some limitations, two receivers can't play back recordings from the same DVR at the same time for example. I'd wait until the public beta is over and they roll out DECA, ethernet over coax. It will be much easier and cheaper, and the only officially supported method. If you can run everything through a wired ethernet network easily, that would work as well.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

With a run of three cables from the dish (pretty much as easy as running one), you could also use DISH Network's services. They offer receivers (at a higher monthly cost) that serve up two televisions each. From where your splitter is now, both DIRECTV and DISH Network can use a single cable.

You order up the service and they do the installation for you.


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## millervt (Mar 30, 2010)

yeah, I'd be fine with 3 cables on the outside instead of 1, so that doesn't matter.

Programming-wise, both have similar packages at similar prices that i'd be thrilled with, so they are a wash at first glance.

I mostly would go with whichever company would require the least amount of futzing with inside cables, needed the fewest boxes, and could use RF remotes to control them so we could "hide" them from the younger kids (in cabinets, up high, etc).


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