Hi guys,
I'm sick and tired of the available Canadian programming options - OTA, satellite, IPTV, and cable - and finally want to upgrade to US programming. The HD channels are lackluster compared to American options, and the airdates are often delayed. The finale of the first season of Homeland is airing later this weekend... That's absolutely insane. HBO Canada and FX Canada are both shells of their real networks; Food Network Canada airs shows with about a week and a half delay; Da Vinci's Demons won't be airing until June (STARZ may finish airing by that time); many more. Canadian content, in a word, is crap and I won't miss any specialty channels. I can still pick up Hockey Night in Canada OTA.
I want to pay for television as I have been paying Canadian providers the past years. I am not interested in signal theft or piracy. I'm aware of the legal implications of subscribing to DirecTV in Canada.
So for anyone that currently subscribes to DirecTV or Dish in Canada, how do you set it up?
Is a US SSN required, or optional? I've heard both.
Will a US dollar credit card from something like TD work, if not, where is the best place to get one?
Can I point my billing address to one of those cross-border shipping services?
It looks like DirecTV requires a two-year contract, is there any trick to getting no contract? (and paying outright for the hardware)
Telephone-wise the plan is to snag a cheap AT&T prepaid SIM and use it with an unlocked phone just to get the sat online.
I will either be aligning the hardware myself (never done before), or just paying one of the many contractors on kijiji to get it done right the first time.
I want to get all my ducks in a row then cross the border to grab the hardware and setup the account.
Thanks for any help or wise words related to the question.
I'm sick and tired of the available Canadian programming options - OTA, satellite, IPTV, and cable - and finally want to upgrade to US programming. The HD channels are lackluster compared to American options, and the airdates are often delayed. The finale of the first season of Homeland is airing later this weekend... That's absolutely insane. HBO Canada and FX Canada are both shells of their real networks; Food Network Canada airs shows with about a week and a half delay; Da Vinci's Demons won't be airing until June (STARZ may finish airing by that time); many more. Canadian content, in a word, is crap and I won't miss any specialty channels. I can still pick up Hockey Night in Canada OTA.
I want to pay for television as I have been paying Canadian providers the past years. I am not interested in signal theft or piracy. I'm aware of the legal implications of subscribing to DirecTV in Canada.
So for anyone that currently subscribes to DirecTV or Dish in Canada, how do you set it up?
Is a US SSN required, or optional? I've heard both.
Will a US dollar credit card from something like TD work, if not, where is the best place to get one?
Can I point my billing address to one of those cross-border shipping services?
It looks like DirecTV requires a two-year contract, is there any trick to getting no contract? (and paying outright for the hardware)
Telephone-wise the plan is to snag a cheap AT&T prepaid SIM and use it with an unlocked phone just to get the sat online.
I will either be aligning the hardware myself (never done before), or just paying one of the many contractors on kijiji to get it done right the first time.
I want to get all my ducks in a row then cross the border to grab the hardware and setup the account.
Thanks for any help or wise words related to the question.
Last edited: