Char was comparing Verizon’s TV/Internet/Phone package to our current Time Warner Cable. It turns out to be nearly $90 per month less, but I have some reservations.
First, the TV is satellite. We are very treed in here with NO clear southern horizon views-- will satellite work for us? Are trees a satellite obstruction, or is that just denser things like buildings and mountains? We really don’t watch a whole bunch of TV: news, local weather, House etc. Movies we generally watch via Netflix, DVD or streaming. We don’t have any premium channels of TV and don’t want them.
Verizon tells us that their DSL is the fastest available, even faster than cable. Does that sound right?
I assume that Verizon knows how to do phone OK.
I’d appreciate any and all advice, particularly from people who have had both kinds of service.
Funny Story:
My neighbor is a cranky old man who complains about everything. He has called up and complained about the local public TV station so much and so rudely that the General Manager gave my neighbor his direct phone number so that my neighbor can contact him directly if he has any problems. (My neighbor doesn’t realize this is because everybody else is tired of dealing with him.)
A while back the cable company was at his house all day. My neighbor has a belief that any time his TV is moved, even if bumped, the TV needs to be reprogrammed by the cable company because they have some special code. I have told my neighbor that I hooked up and move my TV all the time and I don’t need my TV reprogrammed. He says my TV isn’t the right size to need to be reprogrammed. So seeing the cable copany truck at his house all day is nothing special.
Later that week, there was a massive thunderstorm and the TV picture got all pixalated. My wife asked if we should call the cable company and I said, “No, he’s called the cable company already.” Later that evening the cable went completed out. When I took my neighbor grocery shopping on Saturday, he told me that he made the worst mistake of his life. He bundled his TV and phone service. He doesn’t have internet. When the cable went out, he tried to call the cable company but his phone didn’t work. I didn’t even crack a smile but I laughed my ass off inside. When I got home, I told my wife. She laughed her ass off loudly. I joined her. When my wife could finally talk, she said that she had been considering bundling our services.
Moral of the story: Don’t get your services bundled.
We are bundled already and that’s been OK since we also have cell phones to call the cable company with. The bundle has been cheaper than the separate services by a goodly amount. I’m comparing bundles here.
I don’t know about Verizon’s specifically, but I can tell you that our cable internet is A LOT faster than the AT&T DSL we had before. In fact, we switched to cable internet when TG4 (the Irish language TV service) switched to a higher-quality feed, as the DSL just couldn’t handle it (and I go through serious Ros na Rún withdrawals without my bi-weekly fix!).
This may not be the case anymore, but when my in-laws had satellite TV (briefly!) a few years ago, you needed some kind of special set up if you didn’t want to watch the same channel at the same time on every TV in the house (for example, if my MIL wanted to watch news on the small kitchen TV and my FIL wanted to watch something else on the big flat screen in the TV room and a guest wanted to watch yet another show on the small guest room TV, they were out of luck). If you only have one TV, that won’t be a problem, but it’s something to think about if you have multiple TVs.
I’ve had others tell me that satellite reception can be pretty iffy, especially in bad weather, but that’s purely hearsay on my part.
As far as phone goes, we were with Verizon for years, and were very happy with it. The only reason we switched is that Anna and I both wanted to get smart phones, and Sprint’s data plans are A LOT cheaper than Verizon’s. Again, not an issue if you don’t want/need a smart phone.
First, their tech came into the house and started asking about telephone jacks. You see, they want a telephone hookup for their satellite box. This way, they can automatically bill you for pay-per-view. We were never told this. Further, if you don’t let them hook up to your phone line, they bill you an extra $6/mo. But, on the paper they leave in your house, they say “stay connected and save !”.
Second, after hours on the phone, we got an agreement to cancel our service. We wrote down the name and badge number of the lady involved. Then, months later, a guy calls up and demands payment and penalties. I’m talking almost $1,000. He claims they have “no record” of the cancellation agreement. I’ll be recording all our business phone calls from now on.
Third, I’ve read newspaper accounts of a satellite TV company being levied with fines in multiple states for illegal billing.
Fourth, if you call the Better Business Bureau, you will find that the major satellite TV companies have tens-of-thousands of complaints registered. Honestly, compared to the total numbers of customers, the percentages are low. But, there are plenty of unhappy satellite TV customers.
I wouldn’t touch satellite TV with a 10 foot pole.
Very happy with our Dish Network hookup. However, I suspect your trees will be a problem since the really wet, heavy snowstorms can block our signal.
But most of our snow is dry and light stuff. Snow blockage happens so infrequently that we live with it since Dish Network is a cheap alternative to the other options available here. Plus we usually record for later viewing, so there is always something to watch.
It looks like one of Jem the Flute’s piccolos in swizlestick’s avatar photo next to a a glass of dark liquid, don’t tell me it’s beer. Paul, I think the trees will be a problem, since they will block your direct view of the satellite. My father lived in a woods, but I found a remote spot in his yard with a clear view of the satellite to install the dish. I used a signal amplifier on the dish and buried about 200 feet of cable coming into the house. It generally worked well except for bad weather (rain or snow). Personally, I don’t think that I would like to go with satellite transmission if I had other options.
And Fifth, when the install tech started hooking up the dish, there were holes to be drilled in our house’s structure. We get rain, so I asked him to put some caulk in the attachments. He replied “I don’t have time for that sir”.
Over the course of the next few weeks, the attachements let go, one by one, in progression from ground-level to rooftop. I had to pay money, rent a 16ft ladder and plug the holes myself.
Yes, satellite TV, may be able to save you a few dollars a month.
But they will ask you to sign a 2-page fine-print contract on the spot.
They will drill sloppy holes in your house, and get indignant about protecting them.
They will demand a 2 year commitment.
And if you try and contest them, they’ll come after your money like penned hyenas.
Since we’re making fun of satellite TV, I’ll add my jab. A few years back, my Father got it in his head that cable was a rip-off and he signed up for satellite TV. He has the Deesh, as we liked to call it. On my first visit home after he got the Deesh, he showed me everything satellite TV had on the laminated card they gave him. Knowing my Father, I asked my Dad how many channels he got. He said his channels go all the way up to the 700’s. After asking different versions of this question, I knew I would get the answer that I was seeking. He is paying for the lower tier possible, he gets a boatload of shopping channels, a few junk channels, and does not get Bravo, Syfy, or anything decent. He’s now paying more for less than if he had cable but please don’t tell him that. Oh, he is paying the extra money so that he can watch something else in the Master Bedroom but if you’re sleeping in the Guest Bedroom (me and my wife) and watching TV, we have to get out of bed and change channels on the livingroom TV. Convenience like that you just can’t get with cable.
My other great experience with satellite TV is at deer camp. During a winter storm, too much snow had built up on the dish and reception got bad. After deciding that someone had to go out in the storm and brush the snow off the dish, we decided to put in a DVD and watch a movie.
etc. Movies we generally watch via Netflix, DVD or streaming. We don’t have any premium channels of TV and don’t want them.