Switching from Dish Network to Mediacom

[garn9173]

My wife and I are seriously considering dumping Dish Network for Mediacom, let's just say it's a long story why.

Anyway, I called Mediacom and asked what type of specials were avaiable for those switching to Mediacom.

I was told that for the first 16 months, I could get basic and expanded basic cable and the digital one star package for about $25.00 a month with additional charges for digital channels like Noggin, VH 1 Classic, etc. as well as for an extra digital box, bringing the total bill to roughly $45.00 plus taxes and surcharges.

My question to all of you is that if you have switched back to Mediacom from a satellite, have you received any other offers? Should I go with the new customer package of digital one star for $29.99 plus the high speed internet for another $29.99?

What about DVR's? I'm really starting to get interested in the DVR's. What type of package does Mediacom offer for DVR's?

Finally, here in Des Moines, i've seen that on channel 18, it states "educational access programming". It turns out this is supposed to be "PBS Kids", however, whenever i've seen the channel, it's nothing but informecials. Does anyone know what specific hours PBS Kids is on?

Thanks in advance.

 

[tvrobert]

My question to all of you is that if you have switched back to Mediacom from a satellite, have you received any other offers? Should I go with the new customer package of digital one star for $29.99 plus the high speed internet for another $29.99?

We switched to Mediacom in January when the storm of Voom rumors was reaching a peak and Mediacom came along with the same deal you describe. I’m in LeSueur, MN and there are no other options for TV other than Sat or OTA.

What about DVR's? I'm really starting to get interested in the DVR's. What type of package does Mediacom offer for DVR's?

Ya, we went with the HD-DVR option and HD tier. The whole thing adds about 19 bucks/month. The total cost (for the duration of the ‘deal,’ which will jump 20$/month in January ’06) is about 82$/month. They just boosted the internet speed to ~4.5Mbps which is great. We’ve been nothing but happy with the setup (Video On-Demand is nice, too).

Finally, here in Des Moines, i've seen that on channel 18, it states "educational access programming". It turns out this is supposed to be "PBS Kids", however, whenever i've seen the channel, it's nothing but informecials. Does anyone know what specific hours PBS Kids is on?

I’d take that up with the local office.

Thanks in advance.

Hope this helps.

 

[bpasker]

so you got an HD-DVR from mediacom? As in you can DVR HD shows?

Did you have to fork out any money for this bad boy?

 

[tvrobert]

so you got an HD-DVR from mediacom? As in you can DVR HD shows?

Did you have to fork out any money for this bad boy?

Yea, you can DVR HD shows. There was no upfront cost. There is a 9-dollars-and-change monthly fee for the dvr service. It's the Motorola 6412 dual-tuner thing. Pretty nice. You can record two shows while watching a recording of another. I only wish the hard drive was larger than 120 gig. Maybe they're already putting larger ones in. I don't know.

There have been a few bugs with the 6412, but so far it's nothing that an unplug-wait-plugin couldn't fix.

 

[garn9173]

E* gave my wife and I two month's free service as compenstation for our hassles with the subcontractor. A higher up from the subcontractor came to my home on my time (early evening) and replaced the receiver giving us trouble with a new 301 and everything has been working fine. However, now, i'm thinking about DVR from E* and was wondering if some things could be cleared up for me:

For existing Dish Network customers, in order to upgrade to a DVR, you must pay a one time lease fee of $149 to get an older DVR unit (not the top of the line receivers that new subscribers receive free of charge ) and must HAVE a continuous phone line connection or you'll get dinged with an additional monthly charge.

I'm exploring all my options for DVR service. Does Mediacom DVR's require constant connection to a land line and how stable how the DVR receivers? Log onto dbstalk.com or the E* DVR message board and all you find is subscribers having constant break downs with Dish Network's DVR receivers.

Thanks.

 

[tvrobert]

Does Mediacom DVR's require constant connection to a land line and how stable how the DVR receivers? Log onto dbstalk.com or the E* DVR message board and all you find is subscribers having constant break downs with Dish Network's DVR receivers.

Mediacom's DVR does not use a phone line. It's all hit through the coax. The thing does have some bugs, and sometimes when you have to reset, all of your recorded content on the hard drive dissapears. That's happened twice. The first time the stuff mysteriously came back after a couple resets, the second time I was trying to firewire content to my pc. It didn't like that.

I was a D*, V* and then Mediacom customer, so I can't speak for E*.

Good Luck!