Which one do you use, Cox cable, Direct TV, or Dish Network? And why or why not?

[Yvsa]

Well I don't know how I could make the subject question any clearer.

The fact being is that I've had Cox Cable since it became available in my area over 20 years ago and was damned glad, as well as pleased to get it, when cable was installed in our/the neighborhood at long last.:thumbup: Twenty years ago what satellite services that were available didn't have all that good of a reputation and I'm thinking, at the time, were at the edge of just starting to get smaller in size graduating from their huge 6 to 8 foot size dishes such as the one like my neighbor two doors to the north had until just a year or two ago!
Cox Cables action's over the last few years have grown to be more and more aggravating to me personally but their services - and - prices have remained the better value for us, that is up until recently...

I won't go into full blown details about the situation as I see it until later, and then only if I'm asked, just let it suffice for me to say I don't agree with some of Cox Cable's business practices they've apparently started recently, or so it seems...

I've been asking my immediate family and friend's the question, both online and off and so far Dish Network has been getting the nod for all the right reasons, reliability, dependability, choice of channels, Initial cost, hardware rental cost, HDTV reception and etc.
The only reason Direct TV has an edge over their two competitors is their choice of Sports Channels of which we have little to no interest... :yawn:

 

[ssblood]

Can't remember exactly why but directtv was a nod for us over dish network. Dish didn't have a couple channels I wanted and directtv ended up being a few bucks cheaper.

Do have cox for the cable internet. Kinda stuck with that.

 

[Yvsa]

Can't remember exactly why but directtv was a nod for us over dish network. Dish didn't have a couple channels I wanted and directtv ended up being a few bucks cheaper.

Do have cox for the cable internet. Kinda stuck with that.

Thanks! How is the Direct TV in terms of reliability, etc, in your experience? I'm more concerned about reliability/dependability vs cost than most of the other things. We sure cannot complain over Cox Cable's reliability/dependability but their cost is becoming ridiculous! We can get Dish Network for an average of $70.00 vs damned near $100.00 a month for Cox Cable and with Dish Network we'll have a few more channels that we could watch when there is nothing at all on TV.

 

[ssblood]

Never had a problem with the service. Have three boxes, on EEF HD and two HD DVR. All the normal channels including all the discovery network, all the cartoons and such. The total something or another. Less than 90 a month.

 

[Yvsa]

Never had a problem with the service. Have three boxes, on EEF HD and two HD DVR. All the normal channels including all the discovery network, all the cartoons and such. The total something or another. Less than 90 a month.

Thanks! That's about where I figure we'll be after all is said and done which is still considerably cheaper than Cox Cable is going to be and especially after their up coming continuing changes...

In the last year or so Cox has changed channel numbers, read switched channels around which can be a hassle but I can still see the reasoning for given certain circumstances...
What's really chapped me/us is when Cox separated "History International" and National Geometric, -I think it was- , from both being in one single package into two wholly different packages so that in order to continue to keep both channels Cox was forcing their customer's to purchase both packages.
Granted you were getting more channels per package but if they're channels you're not interested in watching you're paying extra for nothing...

Anyone else have anything to add pro or con about any of the popular services?

 

[Bufford]

Been using Dish since the early 1990's and they offer competitive packages, and their customer service has been good and prompt. Don't really have any negatives about the service. The only thing I don't like are the annoying bright channel icons at the bottom of the screen that grow larger and brighter each year.

 

[OldPhysics]

Thanks! How is the Direct TV in terms of reliability, etc, in your experience? I'm more concerned about reliability/dependability vs cost than most of the other things. We sure cannot complain over Cox Cable's reliability/dependability but their cost is becoming ridiculous! We can get Dish Network for an average of $70.00 vs damned near $100.00 a month for Cox Cable and with Dish Network we'll have a few more channels that we could watch when there is nothing at all on TV.

I've been on DirecTV since the beginning. Partly because I could own my own electronics ... and mod them, if I wish. Partly because I was involved, from the government side, in the beginnings of the system (before Hughes took the technology in a commercial direction). So, I knew that tech was sound.

I've had excellent service and no issues since the beginning. Of course, I hate the expense ... but they're not gonna offer this stuff for free.

 

[oldschool45]

+1 on Direct TV been a customer for almost 12 years, we have an $80 package, 3 sets (1 being a DVR box) and all of the History, History International, NatGeo and Military channels along with Food & Cooking. 2nd question being how do you get your internet? I have Direct TV with a Cable Modem (Insight) and just canceled the Land line & DSL (We have 2 cell phones by separate carriers) and never used the land line and we ended up saving about $50/month all said.

 

[Yvsa]

+1 on Direct TV been a customer for almost 12 years, we have an $80 package, 3 sets (1 being a DVR box) and all of the History, History International, NatGeo and Military channels along with Food & Cooking. 2nd question being how do you get your internet? I have Direct TV with a Cable Modem (Insight) and just canceled the Land line & DSL (We have 2 cell phones by separate carriers) and never used the land line and we ended up saving about $50/month all said.

I can most certainly see that depending upon where a person hails from determines what system is gonna be recommended, looks like the old adage, "Opinions are like ***h****s, everyone has one and yours stinks..." is gonna apply on this subject for sure... Which doesn't totally surprise me... The reason being most everyone knows what Cox Cable does and totally disapproves and therefore doesn't care for 'em.

Also in this general area Direct TV gets a bum rap mostly for customer service while on the other hand Dish Network gets a Thumbs Up.:thumbup: While in other areas the direct opposite is the case...

As I said in my initial post, "is that I've had Cox Cable since it became available in my area over 20 years ago and was damned glad, as well as pleased to get it, when cable was installed in our/the neighborhood at long last. Twenty years ago what satellite services that were available didn't have all that good of a reputation and I'm thinking, at the time, were at the edge of just starting to get smaller in size graduating from their huge 6 to 8 foot size dishes such as the one like my neighbor two doors to the north had until just a year or two ago!
Cox Cables action's over the last few years have grown to be more and more aggravating to me personally but their services - and - prices have remained the better value for us, that is up until recently... "

And along with Cox Cable we have AT&T DSL for our landline and Internet. That's something else I'll have to figure out before I jump into a 2 year contract as we have a package/bundled deal with AT&T on our Internet, landline, cell phone.
I figure by going with either satellite provider I'd probably need to go with a Cable Internet supplier of which the only one here is Cox.

The helluvit is by looking everything over carefully and weighing all of our pro's and Con's when it comes right down to it we might/could be better off just leaving everything alone.

 

[oldschool45]

Yvsa
On Direct TV we've had it in Pensacola Florida & here in Kentucky both are fine. They use sub-contractors for installs some are good some are "not so much." I told Direct TV after our last installer came (actually second to last) that if they ever send those retards out again I'm going to cancel my service. I just about had to escort the installer off my property at gun point. They made a note and on the last upgrade they sent somebody different.
I've used Dish Network "not bad" I'm trying to filter for 12 years of Direct TV use but their packages are different.
The problem with the landline/DSL is that you are paying a chunk in "taxes" and in my case the local phone provider royally pissed me off. I do not recommend satellite internet unless they have made drastic improvements in the last few years. You might be able to get TV through AT&t it just depends on avaliability.
Sounds like Cox cable is enjoying a distinct lack of competition that hopefully will get remedied soon. Good luck

 

[Shann]

We have our services bundled; phone, high speed internet and cable, so that is the way we went (Comcast not Cox). Its expensive but we get everything. Since we went all digital the picture has been great but we get a lot of "service unavailable" problems that generally only last a few minutes.

My friend has a dish (I think DirectTV but I could be wrong). He likes the price, but does have a problem with bad weather. In the winter, he has to do a lot of snow clearing and during storms he often loses the signal.

As far as picture goes, I'd say rough eyeballing says the quality of picture on both is about the same.

 

[texalp]

Don't leave out Apple TV My nephew lives in NYC and the only for him to afford tv is Apple Tv. Check it out I don't know price etc. Al

 

[Piso Mojado]

I lose DirecTV signal when it snows or rains and sometimes when it mists. I wouldn't have signed if I had known. We get lots of precipitation in Chicago. I don't think big satellite dishes have this problem. I don't see sports bars getting rained out.

If you still want mini-dish satellite, go with whoever will lease you the receivers and antenna. Last time I checked, that was Dish Network. Leasing beats buying if you change your mind.

If you like movies, you could buy a Roku and watch Netflix, Hulu, etc. AT&T is trying to kill this with a download cap.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/04/att-broadband-caps/

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Users-Asked-For-Caps-114047

Let's hope this idea doesn't catch on.