Direct to Dish

[Sea Hage]

I've been using Direct TV in the fish house and it's easy to aim and works great. I'm retiring in a month and don't want the $100.00 month anymore for Direct TV. Dish Network has a $57.00 month plan for 2 years but I would like to know if Dish is as easy to aim as Direct ?  Anyone using Dish in their fish house ?

[Adam NWI]

I use the King Tailgater portable satelite dish with Dish Network and it seems to work well as long as I don't have trees to the south of me.  No aiming, just set it down and connect the cable.

[Jim Almquist]

It should be close to the same location to find the sat. Might want to see if Direct will match Dish. They don't like to lose customers.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Between these two companies the grass is always greener on the other side.

 

I found that once your original contract is up with Direct TV you just need to call in yearly to get the "12 month promotion"  which brings your package down to where it should be. Every September I call to get my 1yr "promotion" which is worth $40 a month off the bill. Last year I got the $40 a month off and the NFL ticket. This year they wouldn't give me the NFL ticket, but with the $40 off it is priced right at the levels Dish would be at for a new customer. 

The only complaint I have with Direct TV is that I went out and bought a King tailgater for direct tv, and then bought a cheap direct tv box off of the Internet for $50. When I had it connected over the phone they guy tried telling me that when I discontinued my service I'd have to send the box in......hey wait a min....I bought and own this I ain't sending dump back to you I OWN it. 

[Sea Hage]

I called Direct yesterday and they offered me a fair price but it was only for 12 months and 12 months at regular price. That was with a 2 year contract. Dish is no contract and 24 months at one price. I asked the lady at Direct if they thought it was better to loose a customer of 35 years or match the competition.. She had no reasonable reply. So,, Hello Dish Network..

And I was on the phone 20 mins. 

Edited September 21, 2017 by Sea Hage

[fishingstar]

Dish Network is a little tufter to tune in. They use a skew to get both satellites that is why they are turned a little.

I go through how much direct charges me every other year.  I just ask for someone in charge and they usually lower it to a satisfactory amount. Last time they lowered it to 52 something because I have AT&T phone so they cut it in half.

       

[Agronomist_at_IA]

8 hours ago, Sea Hage said:

I called Direct yesterday and they offered me a fair price but it was only for 12 months and 12 months at regular price. That was with a 2 year contract. Dish is no contract and 24 months at one price. I asked the lady at Direct if they thought it was better to loose a customer of 35 years or match the competition.. She had no reasonable reply. So,, Hello Dish Network..

And I was on the phone 20 mins. 

Really? I told them I will Only Agree to one year if the discounts are for one year and no problem. About two years ago I did call Direct TV and they wouldn't throw a deal. So I canceled my service then left for the weekend. I came home called them and said dish didn't show up to put it in and asked if they wanted me back has a new customer or if I just needed to let dish install it. They flipped it back on and gave me the deal. You will never get the "deal" with the first person you talk to. You have to talk to at least 2 people and the second one always gives in. I could really care less which one I have, but learning the channel number lineup sucks big time.

I had dish about 6yrs ago and what made me go to direct tv is I had my dish get out of line on the roof of my two story house. They were gonna charge me $50-$100 for a tech to come set it right so I'd get a signal. I left and went to direct....The games they play are stupid. 

[delcecchi]

We have dish at the lake, and suspend it for 9 months.  Only turn it on in the summer.   5 bucks a month while suspended.  

[Moon Lake Refuge]

12 hours ago, delcecchi said:

We have dish at the lake, and suspend it for 9 months.  Only turn it on in the summer.   5 bucks a month while suspended.  

Is that the only place you have it?  We have it at home with a dish at the lake also and we can suspend that box for free and turn it on and off whenever we want.

[delcecchi]

We just have it at the lake.   I could be wrong about the 5 bucks, as it was from memory of last year.   But I figure they want or need something to keep me in their system.   

Having a subscription in two locations would be different.   I have never done that, although have considered it. 

[Sea Hage]

I still haven't "Pulled the Trigger" on this but my question still is, If I get standard package, (no Hopper or recording) and I drive out on Lake of the Woods and drop the house will I be able to have the dish on the house and find the satellite signal in 30 seconds with Dish like I can with Direct ? Or not so easy..

[Moon Lake Refuge]

45 minutes ago, Sea Hage said:

I still haven't "Pulled the Trigger" on this but my question still is, If I get standard package, (no Hopper or recording) and I drive out on Lake of the Woods and drop the house will I be able to have the dish on the house and find the satellite signal in 30 seconds with Dish like I can with Direct ? Or not so easy..

It depends on your dish.  Your finding a satellite not a service provider.  Shouldn't be any more difficult.  Our dish syncs up by itself in under a minute.  If your doing it manually it shouldn't be much different.  Point your signal meter, aim the dish and turn on the box.

[BlackLabGuy]

Just as easy with Dish as Direct, as someone else mentioned I would look at the Tailgater from DISH, It will automatically lock onto the sats. I bought mine from DISH, it included a receiver and was about $300.  Then it is $7/month when you want to use it, they also prorate that $7 for a part of a month or day or week. We use it fishing and at hunting camp.

[castmaster]

4 hours ago, BlackLabGuy said:

Just as easy with Dish as Direct, as someone else mentioned I would look at the Tailgater from DISH, It will automatically lock onto the sats. I bought mine from DISH, it included a receiver and was about $300.  Then it is $7/month when you want to use it, they also prorate that $7 for a part of a month or day or week. We use it fishing and at hunting camp.

You must have an existing subscription for it to be $7 a month when you use it, and for getting it prorated? I'm looking at getting a tailgater but from what I was reading the cheapest package I can get will be $39.99 a month and will be billed in full month increments. But it does allow me to only pay by the month when I use it instead of having to sign into a contract and pay every month for something that will likely only get used a few months a year.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

12 hours ago, Sea Hage said:

I still haven't "Pulled the Trigger" on this but my question still is, If I get standard package, (no Hopper or recording) and I drive out on Lake of the Woods and drop the house will I be able to have the dish on the house and find the satellite signal in 30 seconds with Dish like I can with Direct ? Or not so easy..

If you have the tailgate dish from King or the other brand they both are easy to get signal. If your talking using an actual dish you'd mount on your house.....do yourself a favor and get a tailgater dish.. What it comes down to for most people is having the NFL ticket with direct tv or not. 

[BlackLabGuy]

I do have an existing subscription at home, thus the $7/month for the tailgater sub.

From my experience Direct and Dish both manually align/aim the same so should not matter.

[Sea Hage]

Thanks for all the input .