Dish has again caught my interest due to their current no nonsense $49.99 promo which I think ends Oct. 30 but I have some questions for the members here whom I always value their knowledge & opinion so forgive my long post.
As a background, I was a Dish subscriber when the Hopper first came out (sales rep didn't even know much about it when I signed up & installer took 3 days to complete install of 2 Joey's & that's after I sent him to this forum after seeing suggestions here). In combination with a Sling adapter I loved the Hopper dvr but always had a problem with the pq on my best tv, a mid end 55" Panasonic ST60 plasma but acceptable on the lower end TVs I have which were 40" & 50" that the Joey's were attached to. I had always found the service economical especially given the features of the Hopper but after having a tech visit to figure out why the picture kept having this slightly "hazy" look, with no solution, & the constant channel dropping & disputes, I decided to switch to Direct. The minute I turned on the Genie I saw a significant improvement in pq over Dish's. Even the D* installer was surprised at the difference in quality but he did point out to me that my signal strength on the Dish satellites were in the 70's & 80's which would be unacceptable in a D* install which was showing 90 something %. The Dish tech did see that on their last visit but he checked the antenna, didn't see anything wrong but said that in Dish's system that signal strength was acceptable.
I liked the Genie but it's certainly was no Hopper but the pq was so great along with their sport channels offerings I stayed with them for the 2 years until my bill kept going up from a start of $95 to over $200 per mth. I tried reducing channels, packages & boxes but could reduce the cost to only $140/mth, which in my opinion is too much for tv, especially after I found out the rest of my family wasn't using the service. Even with all the channels available to them my late teen kids were only using Netflix & Hulu, with the occasional HBO & the wife was only watching OTA channels, so I dropped D* & subscribed to Sling TV for my live cable channel fix. Pq on Sling hasn't been so great but at $25/mth & no contract I've learnt to live with it. But here comes Dish with it's 49.99 for 2 years promo which now makes a whole lot of sense as it now puts a pretty decent service in the affordable range of less than $70/mth, at least for the next 2 years. I expect that the industry will be so disrupted by the ever improving internet options during that time that by then $50/60 cable satellite bills will be the norm.
So given all of the above I've decided to come back to Dish & the Hopper with Sling I've missed so much but here are my questions & concerns. At the install, should I expect the 70 & 80% signal strength I was getting before? I'm in S. Florida so I'm not sure if that's the norm this side of the country. Also, I'm moving just 5 miles away in maybe 3 to 4 mths and haven't been able to get a straight answer if I will be charged for the move & if so how much. I know if I sign up now I will be locked in for 2 years & open to any abuse by Dish at move time. In researching I also discovered that Dish is coming out with a new remote for the HWS which I'm not sure will be supplied with all new subscriber equipment & if not, anyone know what the upgrade price for one will be? With all this, should I just wait till I make the move & hope that the promo or something similar would be on offer then or can I sign up & book an install 3 months from now?
I really hate jumping from provider to provider every couple years but I see Dish as a trying & innovative company like T-Mobile whom I've been a customer for over 11 years. With such a good promo & Dish's constant improvement of the Hopper I feel I could have that long term relationship with them, as long as they continue to provide good value for service as I feel Tmo does. All feedback & suggestions are welcomed.
As a background, I was a Dish subscriber when the Hopper first came out (sales rep didn't even know much about it when I signed up & installer took 3 days to complete install of 2 Joey's & that's after I sent him to this forum after seeing suggestions here). In combination with a Sling adapter I loved the Hopper dvr but always had a problem with the pq on my best tv, a mid end 55" Panasonic ST60 plasma but acceptable on the lower end TVs I have which were 40" & 50" that the Joey's were attached to. I had always found the service economical especially given the features of the Hopper but after having a tech visit to figure out why the picture kept having this slightly "hazy" look, with no solution, & the constant channel dropping & disputes, I decided to switch to Direct. The minute I turned on the Genie I saw a significant improvement in pq over Dish's. Even the D* installer was surprised at the difference in quality but he did point out to me that my signal strength on the Dish satellites were in the 70's & 80's which would be unacceptable in a D* install which was showing 90 something %. The Dish tech did see that on their last visit but he checked the antenna, didn't see anything wrong but said that in Dish's system that signal strength was acceptable.
I liked the Genie but it's certainly was no Hopper but the pq was so great along with their sport channels offerings I stayed with them for the 2 years until my bill kept going up from a start of $95 to over $200 per mth. I tried reducing channels, packages & boxes but could reduce the cost to only $140/mth, which in my opinion is too much for tv, especially after I found out the rest of my family wasn't using the service. Even with all the channels available to them my late teen kids were only using Netflix & Hulu, with the occasional HBO & the wife was only watching OTA channels, so I dropped D* & subscribed to Sling TV for my live cable channel fix. Pq on Sling hasn't been so great but at $25/mth & no contract I've learnt to live with it. But here comes Dish with it's 49.99 for 2 years promo which now makes a whole lot of sense as it now puts a pretty decent service in the affordable range of less than $70/mth, at least for the next 2 years. I expect that the industry will be so disrupted by the ever improving internet options during that time that by then $50/60 cable satellite bills will be the norm.
So given all of the above I've decided to come back to Dish & the Hopper with Sling I've missed so much but here are my questions & concerns. At the install, should I expect the 70 & 80% signal strength I was getting before? I'm in S. Florida so I'm not sure if that's the norm this side of the country. Also, I'm moving just 5 miles away in maybe 3 to 4 mths and haven't been able to get a straight answer if I will be charged for the move & if so how much. I know if I sign up now I will be locked in for 2 years & open to any abuse by Dish at move time. In researching I also discovered that Dish is coming out with a new remote for the HWS which I'm not sure will be supplied with all new subscriber equipment & if not, anyone know what the upgrade price for one will be? With all this, should I just wait till I make the move & hope that the promo or something similar would be on offer then or can I sign up & book an install 3 months from now?
I really hate jumping from provider to provider every couple years but I see Dish as a trying & innovative company like T-Mobile whom I've been a customer for over 11 years. With such a good promo & Dish's constant improvement of the Hopper I feel I could have that long term relationship with them, as long as they continue to provide good value for service as I feel Tmo does. All feedback & suggestions are welcomed.
