Looking To Come Back To Dish

dalyew

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Mar 16, 2012
361
70
Coral Springs, Florida
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.
 
I think you should make the jump. The first question you had was about signal strength. The thing to know about that is that it is not based on a 100 point system. 70-80 is a great signal. As far as I know the Dish Mover program would be available to you, where you take the receivers with you and Dish will install a new dish antenna at your new house when you move.

As for new hardware, there is no official timeline for release so if it was me I would not base my decision to come to Dish on what is not even announced yet.
 
I think you should make the jump. The first question you had was about signal strength. The thing to know about that is that it is not based on a 100 point system. 70-80 is a great signal. As far as I know the Dish Mover program would be available to you, where you take the receivers with you and Dish will install a new dish antenna at your new house when you move.

As for new hardware, there is no official timeline for release so if it was me I would not base my decision to come to Dish on what is not even announced yet.
Thanks Dudley, I figure I wasn't comparing apples with apples on the signal strength issue but I really do have some concerns on the moving charge as the Dish rep I spoke to was deliberately being vague & was only interested in signing me up right away at my current address. With regards to the remote, it was announced earlier this year but I just wanted to know if anyone heard how the implementation will be, meaning, will it be issued as standard equipment or upgrade option, and if so, cost to upgrade?
 
Thanks Dudley, I figure I wasn't comparing apples with apples on the signal strength issue but I really do have some concerns on the moving charge as the Dish rep I spoke to was deliberately being vague & was only interested in signing me up right away at my current address. With regards to the remote, it was announced earlier this year but I just wanted to know if anyone heard how the implementation will be, meaning, will it be issued as standard equipment or upgrade option, and if so, cost to upgrade?
Thats what I was trying to say in that there has been no announcement with any timeline for availability nor any details regarding what receivers the new remote will come with and / or costs to upgrade to it. You can rest assured that you will be able to get your hands on them though when they are available to the general public either directly from Dish or through one of the many distributors on this site.
 
Looking at dish.com it does say with regards to the move in program "Move-in Deal offer subject to customer eligibility. Fee will apply for installations within 12 months of either service activation or a previous move, or for installations requiring additional equipment. Free DISH move valid through 10/31/2015. Charges may apply for installations requiring additional equipment. Limited to existing residential DISH subscribers. Subscribers who reside in Puerto Rico should contact their participating authorized DISH Retailer for similar offers."

That said it does look like there would be some kind of charge to do that but it doesn't mention what it is. Not sure what to tell you on that one, although you may want to ask a DIRT representative here for details. On the main forum page you will see them in RED.
 
I believe there was something wrong with your previous install if it looked "hazy." Don't accept such on your new install.
 
Thanks again Dudley for the Move Agreement info, I can see why the rep was being ambiguous as he may really not know what will apply in the months to come.

Navy, the last Dish tech that visited before I jumped ship did mention he thought it could've been something with the Hopper itself but he couldn't get authorization to change it for pq issues, Dish told me I would have to pay for an upgrade to HWS or take a refurbished Hopper 2000, both would mean extending my contract at the time, which I had no interest in doing.
 
A one for one does not extend the contract.

A clueless CSR? SHOCKED! SHOCKED I AM!
 
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Thanks again Dudley for the Move Agreement info, I can see why the rep was being ambiguous as he may really not know what will apply in the months to come.

Navy, the last Dish tech that visited before I jumped ship did mention he thought it could've been something with the Hopper itself but he couldn't get authorization to change it for pq issues, Dish told me I would have to pay for an upgrade to HWS or take a refurbished Hopper 2000, both would mean extending my contract at the time, which I had no interest in doing.
When just replacing a receiver, no contract extension. When upgrading to a different model, it will create anew 24 month commitment. With things such as the Hopper, if they do not have any H2K's in stock to exchange for an RA, they will actually send you a HWS with no contract extension as well, however this will not work in reverse.
 
With the new promo it definitely makes sense to Dish, and with this site and access to DiRT, if there are any install problems they are easily rectified. I had some issue with my install when it was dione several years ago, and DiRT made sure it was rectified to my satisfaction.

I am going to PM you a refer a friend certificate so if you do come back we can each get $50 off of our bill.
 
With the new promo it definitely makes sense to Dish, and with this site and access to DiRT, if there are any install problems they are easily rectified. I had some issue with my install when it was dione several years ago, and DiRT made sure it was rectified to my satisfaction.

I am going to PM you a refer a friend certificate so if you do come back we can each get $50 off of our bill.
Got it, thanks will definitely use it going forward. Just trying to figure out this moving situation as Uverse internet is also involved, both at my present address & the one I'm moving to.
 
Okay this is what I did when it came to comparing both Directv and Dish from a Price stand point.

They are Very close when full price is in effect.
Now I could have went with a SuperJoey and saved $2 per month, But not worth losing another tuner.

But it's going to come down to the channels you want.

Dish doesn't have Nearly the same RSNS in my area as Directv, but don't care.
DISH is even missing quite a few Premium movie channels in HD and SD, but still essentially charges the same for Cinemax and Showtime as Directv.

But Dish has EPIX and Multiplex channels, and a Few more Networks that show older programming that benifits my mother.

The Hopper works better by far, But the Joeys are Hit or miss, So acually I'm going to say it's a Draw.

But DISH does offer a nice deal with Netflix,and the free 2 years DVR fee, also a large list of A la carte, and lower priced options that Directv doesn't offer.

But as you can see Directv can be cheaper.


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Ultimate is not comparable to the AT250 though. Ultimate, by DTV's own standard is 240+, where the AT250 is advertised as 290+. Significant difference. Price point shares a significant difference. The comparison the Ultimate pack would be, is the AT200 which is about 220-230 channels. That already off the bat, changes the price difference. Since you are adding a seperate internet service that is not a Dish or DTV service, we should also add in the Netflix. At the very least, for the first year it is free, then both services pay $8.99(average plan). There is not a way to compare straight across, but the best option would be to compare the AEP VS the premiere. Although there may be channels all you need in Ultimate/AT250, they are just completely different. 40 channels is far to different. Those channels, for comparison purposes, may be very important to other folks, so for the marketing mix here, we must include them into the comparison.
 
Ultimate is not comparable to the AT250 though. Ultimate, by DTV's own standard is 240+, where the AT250 is advertised as 290+. Significant difference. Price point shares a significant difference. The comparison the Ultimate pack would be, is the AT200 which is about 220-230 channels. That already off the bat, changes the price difference. Since you are adding a seperate internet service that is not a Dish or DTV service, we should also add in the Netflix. At the very least, for the first year it is free, then both services pay $8.99(average plan). There is not a way to compare straight across, but the best option would be to compare the AEP VS the premiere. Although there may be channels all you need in Ultimate/AT250, they are just completely different. 40 channels is far to different. Those channels, for comparison purposes, may be very important to other folks, so for the marketing mix here, we must include them into the comparison.
Chad, Ultimate and Top 250 couldn't be anymore alike.

They both carry all the Basepackage channels as well as the Encore channels.
And if you want to Do the everything pack, Just make sure you take note that Directv includes the Multi sports pack and Dish charges $13 extra.
 
While doing this from my phone, I am not going to pull up 530 channels to compare. But if you are going to call Dish's over inflated, do you believe DTV is not doing the same???
 
While doing this from my phone, I am not going to pull up 530 channels to compare. But if you are going to call Dish's over inflated, do you believe DTV is not doing the same???
Don't derail the thread because Directv's list in far more accurate then dish including tons of Music channels.
I can listen to all the music I want on my Smart phone and Satellite Radio.
 

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