ATT Dish, Dish, or ATT Direct?

[Roxor]

Take the following with a grain of salt:

I talked to an ATT Dish CSR last night about Indianapolis HD locals and what were my options since my DHA ends tomorrow. He told me only two channels will be lit up in March and the other two within three months. He did not mention which two are coming in March. Also, he said a message will be displayed when they will be available and the need to call if you do not see them, as a new dish will be needed. He also told me that ATT will probably offer the same upgrades as Dish in the future. I think he did not want me to unbundle and go with Dish. He did say reluctantly I also had the option of going with ATT Direct when I mentioned Direct offers six Indianapolis local HD channels now. ATT Direct is offering a $28/mo rebate for 12 months on its Premier service, which is like the Everything Pack with Dish, I think. Now I am in a quandry as to what to do. Any suggestions?

 

[boomer981]

I'm in the same quandry, except I do not have Dish through AT&T, and the reps at Dish will not tell me when or if the Indianapolis local channels will be available in HD. From what I've read here, the Indy HD locals are supposed to be available in March.

My inclination right now is to switch to Direct, but I'm going to see what happens (if anything) in March, and if the Indy channels aren't available by the end of the month, I will probably switch. My main reason for not switching at this point is that I really like Dish's DVR, and my husband is a techno-phobe, and learning a new remote will be horrid for him (and for me, as he pushes buttons and freaks out).

 

[JEFFinINDY]

Take the following with a grain of salt:

I talked to an ATT Dish CSR last night about Indianapolis HD locals and what were my options since my DHA ends tomorrow. He told me only two channels will be lit up in March and the other two within three months. He did not mention which two are coming in March. Also, he said a message will be displayed when they will be available and the need to call if you do not see them, as a new dish will be needed. He also told me that ATT will probably offer the same upgrades as Dish in the future. I think he did not want me to unbundle and go with Dish. He did say reluctantly I also had the option of going with ATT Direct when I mentioned Direct offers six Indianapolis local HD channels now. ATT Direct is offering a $28/mo rebate for 12 months on its Premier service, which is like the Everything Pack with Dish, I think. Now I am in a quandry as to what to do. Any suggestions?

The Big 4 were uplinked in Indy. I think there's pretty much unanimous agreement that CSRs are uninformed and often inaccurate, so I wouldn't put much stock in that answer. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not.

If I were you, I'd wait a month and see what happens. And if you're in OTA range, that will give you the best PQ and the most flexibility, especially if you upgrade to a 722K or a 922 when available.

Getting locals OTA instead of through the dish is such a great feature, especially as severe weather season approaches and we have to deal with the occasional rain fade around here. I don't understand why so many people who live in range of good OTA signals would prefer to get the channels through the satellite.

 

[boomer981]

Getting locals OTA instead of through the dish is such a great feature, especially as severe weather season approaches and we have to deal with the occasional rain fade around here. I don't understand why so many people who live in range of good OTA signals would prefer to get the channels through the satellite.

I wish I could get the locals OTA. I definitely would, if I could. Although I'm only about 10 miles southwest of 465, hills cause me to get really lousy reception. I've tried many different antennas, and can only get a couple of channels, and the ones that I do get are really snowy.

I swear, it's a conspiracy!

 

[Fiveft20in]

I've tried many different antennas, and can only get a couple of channels, and the ones that I do get are really snowy.

If the picture is snowy, it is not a digital signal.

 

[boomer981]

If the picture is snowy, it is not a digital signal.

I kind of figured I wasn't getting any digitals, and that confirms it. Thanks.

 

[Maxdout38]

Whatever they tell you, be aware. I don't know why but DISH HD locals are available in South Bend. BUT, just NBC is up so far. We were told July 2008 and reality was 12/8/08.

So whatever dates you hear, don't believe it till you actually see it.