What Satellite Provider to go with?

[ryand]

I have had it with ATT and our contract expires next month so I am dumping them. I am specifically looking at a Satallite provider for home service at home to eventually transition to the RV. I know some hardcore campers frown on this.....but with a 3 and 6 year old it is nice for the evenings to calm things down. I like being able to catch the ball game too...STL Cards all the way.

What provider do you think is most cost effective for service while on the road? I would likely take our reciever from the home TV along and purchase a Carryout or similar. It seems Dish has more options on Portable dish's. Any help would be appreciated.

[aceinspp]

I go with free over the air when camping. Kids need other things to do besides tv. . Later RJD

[Mr. Dan]

I use DIRECTV at home... take the main receiver, a client mini-Genie, and an antenna I bought through eBay. If you do a search for 'satellite', you should find your question answered many, many times with 4-5 unique answers given.

[BandJCarm]

Go CARDS!

I could talk hours on this subject.........and argue with myself 3 times.

[ryand]

Originally Posted by aceinspp

I go with free over the air when camping. Kids need other things to do besides tv. . Later RJD

Let me know where you are at...I'll ship my kids to you around 8pm.

I get it. Have resisted for 4 years, it would be nice for mom and dad to have a few options while the kids are asleep too.


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[lbrjet]

You do know that Direct TV is now owned by ATT?


2010 F250 5.4L 3.73
2011 Flagstaff 831FKBSS
Equal-i-zer 4pt 12K

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by lbrjet

You do know that Direct TV is now owned by ATT?


2010 F250 5.4L 3.73
2011 Flagstaff 831FKBSS
Equal-i-zer 4pt 12K

This "You" does. I was using AT&T and DIRECTV before the buy-out/acquisition.

[Telstar]

Although we have FIOS for Internet and home phone we have stayed with DISH Network for superior service and the fact we take two boxes with us in our 5th wheel. With DISH you can get all the stations in HD even with a dome antenna, you can only get SD with Direct TV. With one call to DISH they will switch your local channels to the serving the area where you are.

[ccsvolsfan]

X2 for Dish.

[woody9]

x3 dish

[Stormrider151]

We had Dish and dumped them. They can't seem to get along with networks and they drop a lot of the best channels like AMC. We went with Direct and haven't had any problems. We use a 1st gen Carryout with a dedicated receiver. It's not high def but the neither are my eye's. Works great for us.

[spock123]

I was with Dish and they would not cut the price and I went to Direct and now the price has gone up. I'm going back to Dish


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[edcronin01]

Dish, I've had Direct TV but Dish is better, customer service is great. Your can buy a Dish tailgater model 4500 which is fully automatic for about $350 and is HD. To get an automatic HD satellite with Direct TV you have to spend a lot more. Also if you have Dish at home you can add your RV for only $7 a month and you can deactivate it at anytime and the pro-rate month. So if you use it for 2 weeks you pay about $3.50. Also with the new tailgater you can run 2 TV's on the tailgater and it doesn't need a separate power input since it uses power from the receiver coax hook up. Check the internet for different Dish retailers some give you $200 cashback, free upgrades etc. Good luck

[dahagen]

If you don't need Hi Definition and locals, Direct is the way to go. Easier setup, and you can get 'distant networks' which is ABC CBS NBC FOX from NY and LA. And it is simple to move the receiver from RV to home and where ever. Perfect for those of us who live in an area with no broadcast TV and like to camp away from the big cities.

[Chuck.C]

There is no problem with locals with Directv. All you need to do is call them and have them change your Installation Location to wherever you are. The national channels are a joke. Why would I want the news, weather, etc., from Los Angeles or NY? Only problem is sometimes getting a ignorant rep that says they can't do it. I just hang up and call back.
But I'll probably switch to Dish for the next contract. I'm tired of DTVs nonsense with not carrying PAC-12 networks.

[Strigflag]

The additional box will cost you $7.00/month prorated. You can use it at home or drag it along. If you cross hour lines while going cross country you only need to notify them and they will adjust the programming. If you purchase a 211k set top box it will(should, check the specs)include a coax connection (the 211v does not) allowing you to send programming to the entire rv. I use a Dish tailgater that automatically locates the satellite. But remember yoy need a clear view of the southern sky.

[jkoenig24]

I bought my Super C diesel puller in May 2014. The RV dealer recommended Dish but, within a month, Dish decided to jack up my rate and, would not honor the plan I had agreed to when I signed up. I've heard from other Dish subscribers who have had the same treatment. I dumped Dish. Now, I go with whatever I get OTA (often, 20+ channels) and, bring along hundreds of gigabytes of movies and TV shows on my 17" laptop. I can stream those to my 40" flat panel in my RV if I care to. I also have a Sangean AM/FM radio that is able to pull in distant stations when I want to listen to radio.

[TimVWulp]

Dish Tailgater or king easy to set up. All you need is one coax cable to power and get the signal from the tailgater (no 12v power needed). I use a Vip211z receiver for the trailer this unit is SD and HD capable. I have the Dish Hopper at home and can watch all the home channels I subscribe to on the Vip211z receiver. I have also added a 1 gigabit Western Digital desktop hard drive to the Vip211z receiver for a one time fee of $40. to make this a DVR receiver. The good thing about this setup is that you don't have to pay for a DVR rental ever on this receiver. The set up is easy and is displayed step by step on the television each time you set the system up in a new location. The big thing is you need a clear sky to the south (no trees) or a hole through the trees to the south southwest. If you live in or visit Maine or Canadian maritime s you will need a satellite dish that can pick up the eastern ark satellites and the western ark satellites.
With dish you don't need to sign up with a long term contract if you own your Vip211 receiver. You should be able to go month to month service so you only pay for the months you use the system. If you have dish service at home it costs around $7 per month to activate the receiver. If you don't have dish at home you will need to setup a month to month service with the programming you will want.

Hope this helps Tim

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by Telstar

With DISH you can get all the stations in HD even with a dome antenna, you can only get SD with Direct TV. With one call to DISH they will switch your local channels to the serving the area where you are.

My customer service has been better with DIRECTV. With one call to DIRECTV, they will switch your local channels to the serving the area where you are. I've done this with great success. I don't use a dome antenna but I DO get all DIRECTV in HD. I am not limited to SD with my antenna for which I paid $60.

[RSchleder]

Dish with proper portable sat.dish = HD
Directv with any portable sat. dish = SD

Pretty easy choice, if you must have HD, go with DISH, if SD works for you, go with DIRECTV!