The time has arrived, R.I.P Directv

[Hemi 6.1]

Internet , Phone and Cable. All from Blue Ridge Cable.

Their phone is Voip. Just like vonage, Who I currently subscribe to.

Vonage is RIP as well come the 10th of Febuary as well.


Vonage has been good for the 3 years I've had them, but Cable has the same phone service for the same price, So I might as well take theirs since I'll have their Internet.
Plus it gives me another $5 off for having Phone and Internet with them.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Im not sure of the capabilities of the boxes compared to the HR, but the ones I have used have been clumsy and cumbersome to operate.
.

LOL, well I'm used to that.

 

[NotMe546]

Did you call Vonage? Cause I did and the cut price in half ($12.50 for 12 months) and this is the second year I'm getting that price.

 

[DodgerKing]

Internet , Phone and Cable. All from Blue Ridge Cable.

Their phone is Voip. Just like vonage, Who I currently subscribe to.

Vonage is RIP as well come the 10th of Febuary as well.


Vonage has been good for the 3 years I've had them, but Cable has the same phone service for the same price, So I might as well take theirs since I'll have their Internet.
Plus it gives me another $5 off for having Phone and Internet with them.

But you can get other VoIP services for less than what you will get with your cable, even with the bundle discounts.

I have had VoIP with my cable company for years, and in 2 weeks (when my porting is scheduled to be completed) it will too be gone. Instead of paying $35/month for phone service with them I will now be paying $3/month (taxes only) for a service that does more

 

[stonecold]

Only thing I can say is that I will miss Hemi. Who the heck will I fight with

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Did you call Vonage? Cause I did and the cut price in half ($12.50 for 12 months) and this is the second year I'm getting that price.

Yep, this past year I got that offer, It expires March 15th, Then its $34 again, Raising my Total monthly bill $256 per month for all my services, So thats one of the reasons vonage is getting dropped too.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Only thing I can say is that I will miss Hemi. Who the heck will I fight with

Yep I'll miss you guys too, Unless Satellite guys opens up a Real Cable forum.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

But you can get other VoIP services for less than what you will get with your cable, even with the bundle discounts.

I have had VoIP with my cable company for years, and in 2 weeks (when my porting is scheduled to be completed) it will too be gone. Instead of paying $35/month for phone service with them I will now be paying $3/month (taxes only) for a service that does more

What , Magic Jack? No thanks!

 

[DodgerKing]

What , Magic Jack? No thanks!

No. I wouldn't touch Majic Jack either. I just got an Ooma. I pay only $3.75/month (these are taxes and fees only). And it has more features than anything my cable VoIP offered.

Here are others:

Nettalk, Ooma, Voicpulse

There are many more than this.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Even without Phone, Cable comes in Cheaper then D* with Internet service.

Because without having phone service Verizon Charges $46 per month for just internet
Internet without Cable service also charges $57 for G10 service .

So Directv
is $160.97 for Choice Premium,Protection plan, HD access ,DVR,HD Extra

Plus the Addtional $400 I would have to come up with to upgrade my SD DVRs to HR and H receivers to do MRV with a 24 month commitment.
So $177.64 to D* for the Next 24 months, with NO internet.

So I'm still looking at $238 per month for the next 2 years if I just went with Cable Internet and D* with All the Equipment upgrades I want with still no phone.

 

[lern4483]

Well I did it, As of Febuary 10th, I will be a Blue Ridge Cable subscriber.

I will keep D* as well Untill March 15th with Just My HD DVR and the lowest pack aloud which I was told it was Still Family pack.

But I decided this morning after weeks of reveiws and the ease and low cost of upgrading the DVR storage of those Scientific Atlanta HD DVRs.

D* wants Hundreds of $$ to turn my 4 rooms system into all HD DVRs, or even MRV
Minimum $400 to be exact plus another 24 months of my life with an ever climbing price tag.
On top of that my DSL through Verizon thinks this year they are going to Charge me $39.99 for 3 Mbps internet service :rant: Not Ever Going to happen!!

So I get a 1 Year Promo with HD DVR 4 rooms,Digital Premium ,5 Mbps Internet,Unlimited Phone, All free to install For $195 per month for 12 months and then it goes to $220 after with all my taxes and fee's includes.

I upgraded to 10 mbps Internet so my Price $200 for 12 month, and $225 per month after , 2 year price lock, with NO commitment.

I currently pay $242 per month for Phone Internet and D* service including taxes and fees.

But instead of 4 HD DVrs , I got HR23,H23,R15,R16. If I want another HD DVR and and H23 for a 4 room MRV.
That will cost me $400, so why would I do it?
That would make my Average monthly bill with D* over the course of 24 months $259, and I'll still have Slow DSL ,and really nothing to bragg about.

What has D* done lately is the Question that been on my mind since I signed back up again.

• Apps , Don't care
• NFL ST to expensive to make it a deciding factor for someone who likes their in market team.
• Nascar Hot pass, Well Fox,TNT,ESPN,and ABC show the race in HD just fine.:up
• MRV, well again existing customer without all the proper equipment rains on that parade really fast with upgrade costs
• Cinemax, Enough Said.
• Directv On Demand, While its a Leader in the Satellite world, with only 2 competitors, Its Slow and Weak in the Cable world.
• Locals, well My DMA has about 10 missing in D* line up.
• Protection plan, Really on crap I don't own, nor will ever own.
• HD PQ, well not worth $50 a month more.

I'm open for thoughts and suggestions.

Hey Hemi,

Ol buddy..Your leaving us??
I remember when you were touting Direct in all its glory.
Not too long ago.

Its all good. Listen we all have to find out what makes us happy.
In my case I need more than one service to have a complete system.

All the best Hemi,
I hope they don't lock you into a contract. Just in case
you decide your not happy.

 

[DodgerKing]

Even without Phone, Cable comes in Cheaper then D* with Internet service.

Because without having phone service Verizon Charges $46 per month for just internet
Internet without Cable service also charges $57 for G10 service .

So Directv
is $160.97 for Choice Premium,Protection plan, HD access ,DVR,HD Extra

Plus the Addtional $400 I would have to come up with to upgrade my SD DVRs to HR and H receivers to do MRV with a 24 month commitment.
So $177.64 to D* for the Next 24 months, with NO internet.

So I'm still looking at $238 per month for the next 2 years if I just went with Cable Internet and D* with All the Equipment upgrades I want with still no phone.

I know. I was just showing you how you can save even more money by going to a less costly VoIP other than what is offered by your cable company

 

[DodgerKing]

Hemi,

What will you do at your other home? You cannot take the cable with you

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Hemi,

What will you do at your other home? You cannot take the cable with you

My other Home has a Seperate D* account, with owned equipment.

Its also only active 1-2 months tops out of the year.

 

[ELMWOOD]

Here in Ann Arbor Comcast HD looks almost as nice as OTA HD. They also have a self install installation now. I was shipped brand new from factory Motorola dvrs. I had to call a number to activate them after I set them up. I actually pay somewhat close to what I had with Directv but I get many more channels then I did with Direct. Our system has been upgraded though in the past 3 years. I really love the HD quality on our cable system. They actually offer more HD then directv does.

 

[Mr Tony]

elmwood
The issue here in Minneapolis (and the burbs) is its the old Time Warner structure and Comcast hasnt done crap to it, St Paul was AT&T before Comcast got it and they did tons of upgrades there.

Just recently (a couple months) they dropped the analog 24-99 channels and went digital with them. All they did was require you to get this stupid box to put on the TV's that dont have a converter box. No guide, all it shows is the channel number and what it is. The only other thing they did was add a bunch of bogus channel numbers between the last HD channel and the PPV because some kids were hitting channel up and I guess it went from like MTV and the next channel was a PPV channel with adult titles. So they added like 20 bogus channel numbers that have a slate that says "Comcast"

Their HD numbering has no rhyme or reason. Some are in the 400's, some in the 700's, some are duplicated in the 900's but not all of them. Ive seen it at gramma's and its a cluster. No way to set up just channels she gets. It shows them all

 

[ELMWOOD]

elmwood
The issue here in Minneapolis (and the burbs) is its the old Time Warner structure and Comcast hasnt done crap to it, St Paul was AT&T before Comcast got it and they did tons of upgrades there.

Just recently (a couple months) they dropped the analog 24-99 channels and went digital with them. All they did was require you to get this stupid box to put on the TV's that dont have a converter box. No guide, all it shows is the channel number and what it is. The only other thing they did was add a bunch of bogus channel numbers between the last HD channel and the PPV because some kids were hitting channel up and I guess it went from like MTV and the next channel was a PPV channel with adult titles. So they added like 20 bogus channel numbers that have a slate that says "Comcast"

Their HD numbering has no rhyme or reason. Some are in the 400's, some in the 700's, some are duplicated in the 900's but not all of them. Ive seen it at gramma's and its a cluster. No way to set up just channels she gets. It shows them all

Sounds messy at best. This system has a HD button on the remote which allows you to watch nothing but HD programming. I also like the encore channels are free with a basic package as I really watch those alot.

 

[Islandguy43]

I have to look at it as a whole,
You need Internet if you want Directv , Bottom Line.

I'm Pissed at 1 of 2 only providers in my area.
Verizon Sucks, OK Fios isn't an option, and my Verizon and their 3 claimed Mbps that used to be 2.86 is now 2.35 mbps is sad.
And $34.95 per month if I sign with a bundle from them for $70 on unlimited Phone .
NO Thanks
So they want to charge me $39.99, No way!
G10 service with Blue Ridge $42.99. Yea , A no brainer.


Home phone, Well Yea we need it, I run a Business.

I know what you mean about lack of options. Time Warner is the only high speed internet provider I can get, and dish dropped my hockey teams channel (msg - they only had it sd anyways) and will never carry my baseball teams channel (yanks). So I was forced from Dish to get the programing I wanted and had to basically bundle with Time Warner whether I wanted to or not. Yes the scientific atlantic cisco boxes aren't like dishes vips; but I have 100 hd channels, great vod, plus get my teams in hd. Most likely later this fall after my promo ends I will probably get a tivo.

 

[cypherstream]

Blue Ridge is actually really good. They use Passport Echo software on their DVRs, which is much faster and pretty smooth and easy to use interface. It's WAY better than the original SARA UI that comes preinstalled on SciAtl cable boxes. Glad Blue Ridge has the sense to reformat their equipment with better software.

They also have quite a few HD channels that DirecTV doesn't have (who the hell knows why). The VOD is really robust and also includes HD content on demand. It's instant and there's no "downloading", plus the library is much more extensive.

I don't have Blue Ridge myself, but the inlaws have it up in Pike county PA. Every time we go visit I have to say I'm impressed with that company, especially since it's not a big name like Comcast, Time Warner, Charter, Cox, Mediacom, etc. I think you will be happy with the service and congrats for expressing your feelings with your wallet. It's good to have options!

I do have 10mbps Internet through PTD.net via Service Electric Cablevision. It's rock solid and always achieves the rated speeds. PTD.net also provides Blue Ridge with their Internet connection, so you should have a good experience as well.

 

[Joe The Dragon]

D* has a basic pack with encore and movie channel.
Comcast wants about $16 just for movie channel (not part of showtime)