Dish or Direct

[Marg]

Were leaving for AZ next week and would like to setup an appointment with dish or direct for service while we are in the US at our place in ApacheJunction.Which one would be the easier setup with our roof top dish 18" with a single lnb we would also want the eastern networks and no HD also a snowbird account so we can put it on vacation every spring when we leave.Thanks for any help with this decision.

 

[Marg]

Did I put this in the wrong forum I would like to make an appointment with Dish or Direct I just don,t know which one would work with my singe LNB and 18" rooftop dish.

 

[bayguy]

Marg yes you need to ask about US sat svcs in the US forums this one is for CDN sat svcs. Altho maybe if you make the title about whether you can use the same dish someone here will know.

But I wanted to say that sorry you cant get eastern nets. Here in the US we don't get to choose what stations we get we just get the local ones. So whatever city is near ApacheJunction is what you'll get. Also there aren't snowbird accounts you'll have to pay all year AFAIK. Well ask them about that and maybe hope I'm wrong about that. Maybe that will decide you whether to get Direct or Dish.

 

[Mr Tony]

actually Dish uses "snowbird" accounts but they're different than what some folks think

Dish gets both addresses you will have service. When you go south (or north) they switch the address. My dad's buddy has one with dish. They are here in Minneapolis from April to October and Ft Myers, FL the rest of the time. Dish has both addresses on file as a "snowbird" account. When they get to Ft Myers they call dish and say "we're in Ft Myers now" and they "shut off" the Mpls account and "activate" the Ft Myers account (which just means switching locals and the RSN)

Both providers let you put an account on "vacation" which is like $5 a month and up to 6 months

IF you truly want Eastern Nets (NY) go with Directv and if you have a RV you can set up a RV account which gives you NY nets.
Dish can do it too but its a little more of a hassle
Otherwise you will get Phoenix locals which wont work outside of the market

 

[bayguy]

Hey thanks for the info on Dish Iceberg. So Marg would have to pretend that her summer house was in the US too, right? Or like you said she could just put it on "vacation" for a few months. I guess we never needed that when we had DirecTv so I didn't know about it.

Oh yes that's right I've heard about RV accounts so maybe that would help too.

Can Marg use her Cdn dish for US sat?

 

[Mr Tony]

The Bell dish (if the 2 sat option) would be the identical to Dish. Bell uses DIsh equipment
If its the old 18" dish with one LNB that works fine for Directv (since all their SD programming is on 101). The only thing is lets say Marg uses Buffalo as the address for the northern US you need a Phase III dish as Buffalo locals are on 119
Dish splits most of their networks between 110 & 119

So Marg would have to pretend that her summer house was in the US too, right?

if you want to use Dish's "snowbird" option...yes

If you use the RV option then no. They could use the ApacheJunction address and submit the RV paperwork with registration. You get the distants then.
Directv site
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/travelers/rvs?topnavtype=2


Vacation mode might be a different option.

 

[Marg]

We are in ApacheJunction and had Direct installed took him 10 min they know we are Canadian but I have a US social # since I have worked here for 11 yrs which they asked for .I live in a park in my rv the same one for 13 yrs also the plan allows you to put it on vacation for 6 mths out of the year when I go back to Canada in the spring.As far as the networks from NY they send a waiver and you fill it out and send it back and it takes up to 2 weeks to happen. Also they gave me a promotion $39 mth and free rental on the recorder not HD. It all went smooth and if it works out the way it reads then Bell will be for our summer place even though they want $10 a mth to put it on vacation and Direct is no charge so she say's.

 

[Mr Tony]

sounds like a winner Marg
Since you have a RV yes they will give you NY & LA networks

As for the "vacation mode" there is no charge for Directv
http://support.directv.com/app/answ...sion/L3RpbWUvMTM1MDY2MTQ2MC9zaWQvM3U0bVM2OWw=

If you will not be using your DIRECTV service and would like to temporarily suspend your account, you can do this at no charge by calling us at 1-800-531-5000 between 8:00 AM and 10:00 PM.

Reasons you might put your service on hold include:

Going away on vacation
You have a second home and only need service for part of the year
You are moving or relocating to a new location and it will be a while before you can have DIRECTV service at your new home

Requirements for putting your service on hold

Zero balance on your bill
Customers with only 1 account are allowed a maximum of 2 suspend requests every 12 months
Customers with 2 or more accounts are allowed a maximum of 4 suspend requests per account every 12 months
Total time with service suspended per 12 month period cannot exceed 6 months
The minimum time for an account suspend is 30 days

 

[Marg]

IceBerg does that mean they want 30 day notice before you suspend it, my plan was to use it for 6mths while in the good old USA and use the Bell while in Canada.