Cable Vs. Satellite

Stick with cable. I have had Dish and DirecTV and they both STINK!!! Especially DirecTV. They are awful.

I had cable for years until we moved to a small town with horrible cable service, so we had no choice but to go satellite. Overall, I really enjoy it, especially if you go with the DVR (similar to TIVO)- we have DISH, 4 rooms, and we opted for the DVR for only 2 TV's. BUT, there are problems when the weather gets rough. I can honestly say that I never lost cable when we had severe weather, but the slightest thunderstorm, and the satellite is gone, BUT you can still watch the programs you recorded on your DVR!

My parents had satellite TV several years ago, before cable was available in their area (they live outside city limits). We hated it because every time the wind blew too hard or if it rained, we lost the picture. So once Charter offered cable in their area, they got the TV/Internet service from them. MUCH better!!

Now, I suppose satellites may have improved since they had one, but that was our experience.

We just recently switched from cable to Dish Network for that exact reason. We absolutely love the satelitte, I don't know how we ever lived without DVR. We have satellite, internet and phone through AT&T.

we have had both, stick with cable, everytime the wind blew wrong we lost our signal w/ satellite! Why paying for something that is always going out??? Good luck w/ whatever you choose.

We looked into this just like you--we were thinking about satallite but needed our high speed internet and when it came down to it we couldn't beat the bundled price of Charter high speed and cable. To have a comparable internet source and then satallite was going to cost more. Of course this could be different it different locations.

We use Dishnetwork, and we love it. We had Directv but they did not offer local channels in our area like Dishnetwork. So we switched.

The only time our satellite goes out is when the clouds are extremly thick, and then it is only out for a few minutes.

I do not know if they offer internet service.
You can check their website is www.dishnetwork.com

We have had both and they both have pros and cons. We love having DirecTv, but I wouldn't want the internet hookup for it, it is like having dial up. Once you have had high speed internet and then you go back to dial up, it is such an adjustment. Cable seems to work great for high speed internet and when it comes to watching shows during a storm, cable definately is better. DirecTv or the Dish programs will go out while it is searching for a signal and if you are recording something, it records the blank screen as well.

It just matters what you are looking for. Price wise, we have everything under the sun except for the movie type channels like HBO, ShowTime, etc. and we pay about $65-$70 a month. We had everything with our last cable provider and paid about the same amount.

We don't have cable here because their internet connection would cost $100+ for high speed, so we have AT&T's DSL.

Just a few thoughts. Hope that helps.

Take care,
God Bless,
J. D

Proud, Blessed Momma to Ash & AJ ~ 4 in April

I had cable and it was not as regulated as Satellite so we switched and hasve not regretted it ever since. You get more channels and more reliability since it is a satellite controlling things---only one draw back--in really bad weather, signals are out but it is less expensive than cable when you figure up cost based on how many channels you get and satellite companies will offer more affordable packages than cable ever could! We will eventually have to switch to all HD tvs soon because some stations are changing formats but once again, it will be a blessing rather than inconvience when it happens. I will also be getting DSL but through a phone company rather than satellite because of the signal situation at times.

High speed internet through the satellite is VERY expensive (at least with DirecTV). It may be different for you depending on where you live. You can have satellite TV and still use the cable for the internet if DSL is not available to you. It might come out cheaper that way depending on what package you chose, some are very reasonable, and it is usually about $5.00 more a month to add the local channels.

I don't know anything about the other satellite providers, but we love our direcTV and have had it for about 7 years now.

Good morning. We have satellite and I absolutely love it. The only downside is that when the weather is extremely bad, the satellite may lose it's signal. The picture is always clear and customer service is always on point. If you decide to try satellite, I recommend Dish Network. They have a shorter contract. I like the idea of 12 months as opposed to 18. Also they can accommodate more mores than Direct TV at a lower price. Check it out.

Check with your cable company and see if they have a less expensive plan. Ours offers a "Basic-Basic" plan that no one knows about and it is only $13 a month. You could do that for a few months. Satellite seems to be pretty reliable but its not cheap. I still think $30 a month is expensive if you are trying to save money. Anyone spending over that, say up to $50 or $75 a month better not have any money concerns. Then make sure you have the slowest internet your cable company has available. That will save you quite a bit. Good luck. m

When the wind blows satellite goes out, when it rains, snows, or ices up it goes out, when a storm is nearby the satellite goes out, plus you don't get local service on the weather channel, whenever you are watching a show and it is at the climax the satellite starts to update and all you can see is a status bar that moves very slowly across the screen. We use cable at home but my father-in-law uses satellite. When we had an ice storm and all power was out to our town we were able to use our battery backups for the tv and computer and watch tv and be online at full speed. I would never switch to satellite if given any other choice.

I have DirecTV and DirecWay. They are OK but if I had a choice I would do the cable thing for the internet. We had to purchase all our equipment on the DirecWay and it was VERY expensive! And when the weather is bad, you guessed it, no signal. I don't mind too much when we loose the TV signal but when we loose the internet I get VERY cranky!
Before you make a decision either way, do your research. Check and compare prices on things like set up/install fees, price per month, maintainence and repair costs, replacement of damaged equipment. Do you want to mow/weedeat around equipment that is installed on the ground? Or have the worry of a possible leaky roof on roof mounted equipment?
Oklahoma wind and ice are always problems.
D.

My husband and I tried satellite, but we switched back to cable. Satellite absolutely sucks when it comes to over-cast days; the satellite has a hard time getting through clouds during storms. We hated when we were in the middle of a movie or even one of our favorite shows when, all of a sudden, we weren't able to finish it because of the satellite being "blocked" by clouds. Anyways...my advice to you is stick with cable. Good luck.. :-)

We used satellite when we lived in Georgia with dish network. We loved the reception and never had any problems. In fact after a hurricane our satellite was on longer and back up sooner after the storm than our neighbors who had cable. Of course we had to get power first. We were unable to get high speed through satellite, ony dial-up, so we used our phone company for high speed. It may have changesd now so be sure to check

i have had both, i like cable cause i like the local chanels. and i also liked the satalight some. i would not recomend direct tv, they sucked, if it even thought about getting cloudy the service went out. but i had dish network and i liked it and we would have kept it but the local chanels wern't available in our area. but they were both about the same price.

i now use suddenlink for digital cable and my internet access and i love it, when it rains i can actually still watch tv... i was with direct tv and every time it rains you lose service sometimes it doesn't even have to be raining the wind can be blowing and it will go out until it slacks up and what else is there to do inside when it's raining or the wind is kicking up but watch tv... my advice is stick with what you have now b/c satellite is a DRAG

We have Direct TV which is wonderful..but for the computer we have AT&T which is a rip...we're goint to totally satellite when we can and do away with our home phone...we have cells we use all the time...I've checked around & AT&T really rip you off...it you take the home phone out they won't service you for anything else but have a "basic" package on the phone w/a bunch of stuff you don't need....so there are several satellite options but the installation & basic equip. are high.....Hughes.com is about $1800 for set up then $59 a month...just check around & see what's best for you...!

Hi LA,
I am definitely a Sat. convert. Service is far better. The weather does not pose the huge problem you hear about. Yes it goes off and freezes, but not as frequently as all that. I can still get the weather alerts most of the time. If weather gets that bad, power will go out anyway. The program pkgs. are better with a variety of choices and prices, and you can change this anytime with a quick call. They do it instantly. No one comes to your house. Go online and browse at your leisure. directtv.com or dishtv.com and click on Packages. Sat. internet is not recommended due to the high cost...and it is high! I use wireless cable through our Verizon cell phone package because we do not have other service in our new area. It is faster than DSL but a bit slower than cable. I don't have a problem with it. Reasonably priced on all. You may want to look into it if you have no other internet service available. Have fun.!!!!

Just remember, satellite service not only depends on your current weather, but also the weather at the entry port into earth's atmosphere from the satellite. It can be clear here in Oklahoma, but if it is stormy out in Texas somewhere, the portal, I am unable to receive any reception. This isn't an everyday thing, but is truly bothersome. Especially when I am working form my home office and the reports have to go out. There is no warning either. So for the $69.95 a month I a pay for it, it is a huge gamble for me at times. Unfortunately, I am signed on for a year contract, so would really lose $$ if I just quit now. I probably will not renew it after the first year.

I prefer cable over satellite. Have used both and even worked for a satellite company, and when the weather was bad, the customers were mad! Cable is just easier to me. We have a bundle pkg with our cable, internet, and phone.

I had dish satellite for our tv and i loved it, we wanted to upgrade to high defanition but becauxe we live in the woods the trees would block the signal. I have since switched to cable for my phone tv and internet. We also bundled to save money, the first few days were rough because of the adjustments, Like I said I loved Dish. I have had no problems since. I have a 3.0 modem and it seems to work just fine.

I do not have any advice on this but I say you picked a fine time to inquire! My fiance just told me (about 30 minutes ago) that was may get satellite instead of cable and I was wondering the pros and cons of them all!

So thanks and good luck to you!

We have satellite because we have no other option (other than dial-up, ewww!). It stinks. Information travels at speeds similar to cable but first it has to make a connection to the source and that takes a while. Plus, the equipment is expensive. If you/hubby like to play internet games, satellite will never work. If you like to click and get your web page quickly, you will be frustrated. Or, at least we are :)

I wouldn't switch to satalite! I currently have satalite and I hate it, well I hate it when its raining! When the thunderstorms are rolling and I need to watch the news for tornados, thats usually when the tv goes out. So if you have a lot of rain I would not recommend the switch!

We have cable. My parents are thinking about switching to cable from satellite. Every time the weather is bad, they lose their satellite signal (or it gets very choppy). So, if you're like me, and you want to see what weather is coming (on the Weather Channel or whatever), then you'll want Cable so you can actually look at the bad stuff and know what's coming (including tornado warnings, etc!). Also, with Satellite, you have to pay extra to get your local channels included.

If you want to save money, you can get your higspeed internet through BellSouth and not have cable at all. It's amazing how many other "family" things ou can do together when everyone doesn't have the TV to disctract them :-)

How does that sound?

i don't have sattelite internet (cox has ubercheap cab;e access here), but i do have it for my television service. the only times we have spotty service is at the very beginning of a thunderstorm (usually the first 2-10 minutes) and then it comes back on even if the storm continues. it's lie the reciever has to adjust or something. anyway hope this helps.

We got Direct TV right before Hurricane Katrina, mainly because we had just bought a plasma TV and our current cable company didn't have a true digital receiption. We currently have our internet service through our old cable company since we still have their phone service. Except for the intermittant outages during heavy thunderstorm the service is extremely reliable. During the after math of Katrina, while everyone's cable was out, our satellite was working perfectly. As a matter of fact in the two and 1/2 years that we had sattelite it has never gone out except when a thunderstorm cell is blocking the sattelite receiption. It seems like when we had cable it was always going out for one reason or another and it was really annoying. Hope this helps:-)

We live out in the country in Arkansas and too far for cable to be practical at all. We use satellite. Most of the time it is just fine, but during storms the pictures pixilate. A part of that may be that the trees moving about block the reception of the dish receiver...or may just be the power in the storm itself messing with it. So...its always good to have a radio backup in case the storm turns into tornado...to keep up with the news and weather. G.

We have had cable and sattelite. We switched from cable recently because we wanted a HD Package. Cable had few channels, but charged way too much for them. We went with Dish Network. We have been very impressed. Good customer service. It has only gone out a couple of times, but it came right back. That's even through the tornadoes we have had recently.

We had Direct TV about 5 years ago and were not impressed! If there was a cloud in the sky it would go out. They had terrible customer service.

I don't have any experience with their high speed internet service. My sister has the internet w/ dish network and they have been very happy with it.

I have use both in the past but right now I have cable, mostly because it is cost less. They both run fine, the best thing about dish for us was the lick of cord running all around the apartment or house.

Honestly I did the same thing about 6 to 7 months ago. I switched to Directv and bundled all of my services through AT&T. However, I took the word of the salesperson on the phone that I could receive my local channels and I can not in my area (Harrison County MS) So in order to have FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS etc. I still have to pay my local cable company for the minimal package monthly. I had digital internet before I switched and honestly I cannot tell the difference with the AT&T DSL that I have now. I tried to cancel my service with Directv within the first 90 days of using them and they also tried to petition so that I could watch East or West Coast Stations. However, I was turned down and told that if I did not fulfill my 2 year contract I would have to pay $20 a month for each month not fulfilled. (basically $420 - and all I was trying to do in the first place was save some money) My advice to you is look into the service offered in your area with satellite before you decide on anything. If my local channels would have worked out...It would have been financially logical to bundle with AT&T. As it stands right now; I still use AT&T with 5 cent long distance, DSL and the directv plus DVR package for $118.00 per month.
GO to att.com and check out the bundles.

I hope that this has been helpful.

My husband and i tried to save some money by going to satellite. The only problem we had, was it went out every time it rained. It didn't have to be a hard rain either, even softly falling rain made the satellite go out, Our neighbors are now experiencing the same problem.

I have had cable and now have satellite. I get a lot more channels with satellite but you have to buy packages that can run into a lot of money depending on what channels you want. I don't have internet available with my satellite so I have DSL now. Before, my internet came with my cable. I love the DSL much more than the cable internet. It's faster. Satellite has been very reliable except during a very heavy ice storm when the dish iced over. We use Directv.