I am looking to get my Mom (76 Y/O) basic TV service on the cheap. My Dad passed away about a year ago and at the time they had Spectrum triple play with HD & DVR in 2 rooms and the bill was $200 a month. Mom could not afford to keep that going. My nephew worked on the bill and got it down to $50 a month with internet, phone plus the standard analog cable split to a few TV’s in the house for free and she was fine with that. We even scanned the cable feed into her TV QAM tuner for her so she was getting the local channels in HD and everything else SD. All STBs went back to the cable company. Fast forward a year and Spectrum “upgrades” the area to all digital service. So without a cable box you can no longer get any TV from the Spectrum cable. We did put an OTA antenna in and she does get most of the network and sub channels OTA now. One of my nephews also set her up on Hulu to stream some of the shows she likes but she does not really like to stream.
She recently got an offer in the mail from Spectrum for their new “Choice” service which includes locals, plus 10 channels from a selection of 50 or so, plus streaming live TV from the Spectrum App, for $21.99 a month, plus “taxes, fees and surcharges” with a 2 year price guarantee. She asked me to look into it to see if it is a good deal and worth doing. The offer does not mention anything about DVR service or what equipment is provided. Says no equipment costs. I assume no DVR and basic STB “probably” included in the deal. It says “No contract.” It does not say what it goes up to after 2 years only “standard rates after year 2.” It does look like a decent selection of channels to choose from for your 10 channels.
The channels she misses most are HGTV, Hallmark and religious programming. So I thought I might look into DISH’s Welcome pack to see if it would be comparable to the Spectrum offer. I know it is $22.99 a month, but that is the standard current rate and not a promotional rate. I know it includes locals, has HGTV (at least for now), Hallmark and religious programming and some other basic channels. She has never had satellite, only cable, which might be a shock. My thinking was set her up on a 211K or a Wally and add an EHD for DVR. In my opinion this would be superior to Spectrum Cable as they are known for having the worst equipment in the industry and DISH the best.
My questions would be, 1) would DISH open a new customer account with the Welcome pack and include the free equipment? 2) if not, would it be better to purchase the equipment from Dish or from an online retailer (I have searched DISH and Google online and there does not appear to be any local retailers near her or I would go that route). 3) Should I consider a self install, although I have not installed a dish since a Dish 500 hitting the western satellites (110/119) in the early 2,000’s? She would be on the Eastern Arc as I am now.
If DISH does not supply free equipment, the DISH deal would definitely be more expensive than the Spectrum deal. If they do it’s a wash. However, I feel the improved experience would justify the extra cost for DISH, which I, of course, would absorb. She will not approve. She doesn’t have to know because I will set the account up and cover installation costs.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
She recently got an offer in the mail from Spectrum for their new “Choice” service which includes locals, plus 10 channels from a selection of 50 or so, plus streaming live TV from the Spectrum App, for $21.99 a month, plus “taxes, fees and surcharges” with a 2 year price guarantee. She asked me to look into it to see if it is a good deal and worth doing. The offer does not mention anything about DVR service or what equipment is provided. Says no equipment costs. I assume no DVR and basic STB “probably” included in the deal. It says “No contract.” It does not say what it goes up to after 2 years only “standard rates after year 2.” It does look like a decent selection of channels to choose from for your 10 channels.
The channels she misses most are HGTV, Hallmark and religious programming. So I thought I might look into DISH’s Welcome pack to see if it would be comparable to the Spectrum offer. I know it is $22.99 a month, but that is the standard current rate and not a promotional rate. I know it includes locals, has HGTV (at least for now), Hallmark and religious programming and some other basic channels. She has never had satellite, only cable, which might be a shock. My thinking was set her up on a 211K or a Wally and add an EHD for DVR. In my opinion this would be superior to Spectrum Cable as they are known for having the worst equipment in the industry and DISH the best.
My questions would be, 1) would DISH open a new customer account with the Welcome pack and include the free equipment? 2) if not, would it be better to purchase the equipment from Dish or from an online retailer (I have searched DISH and Google online and there does not appear to be any local retailers near her or I would go that route). 3) Should I consider a self install, although I have not installed a dish since a Dish 500 hitting the western satellites (110/119) in the early 2,000’s? She would be on the Eastern Arc as I am now.
If DISH does not supply free equipment, the DISH deal would definitely be more expensive than the Spectrum deal. If they do it’s a wash. However, I feel the improved experience would justify the extra cost for DISH, which I, of course, would absorb. She will not approve. She doesn’t have to know because I will set the account up and cover installation costs.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
