Direct, Dish or AT&T

[L-TownCat]

What stat do you use as the 10 worst businesses source?

For customer service I see TWC as a permenant resident on poor customer service.

http://www.cbsnews.c...stomer-service/

Also, the shipping stat your opinion is based on is intersting but proves little as leased boxes are always returned when customers upgrade to newer equipment. Dish is very friendly in this aspect.

Just sayin'.

I cant find the original list but i did come across this one.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-18-worst-companies-in-america-2010-11#18-att-mobility-1

Part of the returns process is predicated on me asking if they are disconnecting their service or merely returning defective merch.

Not only that but most of these people are so pissed off that they waste no time in telling me their entire story of how one of these companies have ruined their lives. LOL it gets pretty comical sometimes.

[Gat]

The NID box is drilled to the back of your house right? If it is then an ATT guy ran Cat 6 to my dsl box just this week. That means nothing to me but maybe you understand it.

Yeah a NID is simply the phone box on the side of your house.

[Varking]

So everyone kept telling me that I would lose signal or it would get crappy with DirectTV when a storm comes... Haven't experienced any of that yet.

[carolinarolls]

I never have a problem with my U-verse internet or cable. The speed is constant and I have never (almost two years service) reset my gateway/wireless router (all in one w/att). I also have never had an issue with a storm. The menus are superior and the service is FAAAAR superior to TWC. Dropping of my box of scientific atlanta in the local TWC office was a great experience.

"start over" and "set a reminder" are the only facets i miss but they are not anywhere near important enough to even the balance between the two products. U-verse is far superior. The menu, menu options, navigation options, and lineup strategy alone blows TWC out of the water.

[Montsta]

Do you know the fuging definition of OPTICAL?

Sending a signal thru a copper wire isn't optical.

I'm not trying to get involved in this tiff between you guys, but I thought the optical connection on the back of the box was always for audio?

And I've had nothing bad to say about DirecTV, whom I've had for 5-6 years now. Every time my contract is up I'll get a call to extend and get something like free Sufay Ticket or a free HR23 box or whole home DVR. The picture quality is also second to none IMO. As far as Internet I've always just used Comcast. They are a little pricy but the install was free even with no contract and I've never had a problem with the speed.

[Chimera]

I loved Comcast when I had it. I thought it was superior to both Dish and TWC. Normal prices are up there, but they have very good specials. I had Internet (20ish MB) and cable (HD, several movie channels - but no DVR) for $66 a month.

As far as Dish, the channel lineups really irk me. You have to have like the second highest tier to get basic channels like Animal Planet. I switched to the Dish Family lineup last year because I barely watch TV outside of football season... Family package doesn't include Cartoon Network.

When I had the sports package for $7 a month, I had NFL network and regional Fox and Comcast sports channels (SportsSouth, for example). I had NFL Network, but the other channels were always blacked out. The HD is pretty poor quality, IMO. The menus really need work. My son likes to turn on closed captioning. When I watch TV and want to turn it off, it takes something like 38 button pushes to get rid of it.

I last had TWC before I left for Germany in 2003. Internet was fine. I remember only one outage. TV service was so-so. It definitely wasn't worth the money at the time. Sometimes, I'll go price their service, looking for specials. The basic package prices aren't bad, but once you add in HD DVR and a movie channel or two, things get ridiculous.

[B wood]

I'm not trying to get involved in this tiff between you guys, but I thought the optical connection on the back of the box was always for audio?

And I've had nothing bad to say about DirecTV, whom I've had for 5-6 years now. Every time my contract is up I'll get a call to extend and get something like free Sufay Ticket or a free HR23 box or whole home DVR. The picture quality is also second to none IMO. As far as Internet I've always just used Comcast. They are a little pricy but the install was free even with no contract and I've never had a problem with the speed.

Correct. A lot of very high end car audio also uses optics. Verizon FiOS internet uses optics, & AT&T is a hybrid of fiber optic & coaxial cable.

[Bj-Monster23]

Direct TV.

[Varking]

My issue is where I am in Winston Salem, TWC is the only even half-decent internet provider so I get stuck paying $57 a month for internet. I went from $49 a month for TWC Digital Phone to Talk2Duo on NetTalk which is only $30 a year. I would love to give ATT UVerse a shot but apparently the people across the street can get it but we can not.

[methodtoll]

My only gripe with directv is that I cannot pick up a lot of channels that we are suppose to be getting. I keep getting error message 771 and this is on a clear blue sky day. I've check all the wiring and even checked the dish to see if there are any obsructions and found nothing. I called Directv and complained and the only thing they could to do is send out a service for $50! Its not enough for them that they charge us $150 a month for half the channels we don't get now throw in $50 for something we probably could do ourselves.

[teeray]

My only gripe with directv is that I cannot pick up a lot of channels that we are suppose to be getting. I keep getting error message 771 and this is on a clear blue sky day. I've check all the wiring and even checked the dish to see if there are any obsructions and found nothing. I called Directv and complained and the only thing they could to do is send out a service for $50! Its not enough for them that they charge us $150 a month for half the channels we don't get now throw in $50 for something we probably could do ourselves.

My main gripe with Direct TV is that I Iive in Raleigh. That is fine for the most part, BUT, Direct TV refuses to pay the extended broadcasting fee for the Bobcats.

So what happens is that during the Bobcats games the local channel (FoxSports) gets blacked out. My first year having direct TV I figured it just wasn't on the local channels or was blacked out the same way Braves games were, so I bought the NBA League pass for $300 only to find out that Bobcats games were blacked out on there as well because we are considered the local market, and it plays on local channels, ONLY it is not on Direct TV because they won't pay for extended broadcasting rights (or something like that).

In short, if you are a Bobcats fan living in Raleigh, there is absolutely no way to EVER watch a Bobcats game unless it is on nationally.

That pissed me off so I left them for AT&T U-Verse. But they don't have the baseball package so I can't watch Braves games this year :(

[Davidson Deac II]

My issue is where I am in Winston Salem, TWC is the only even half-decent internet provider so I get stuck paying $57 a month for internet. I went from $49 a month for TWC Digital Phone to Talk2Duo on NetTalk which is only $30 a year. I would love to give ATT UVerse a shot but apparently the people across the street can get it but we can not.

I also live in Winston, and use ATT DSL 6x. Its not that expensive. Its not quite as fast as TWC, but its fast enough. I work from home a lot, so I use it a lot. Don't much care for the 2wire modem (already had to replace it once on my dime) but the connection itself is sufficient.

[Varking]

Like I said, according to their coverage map, the people across the street from me can use it, but I am out of range apparently. I would love to switch to ATT UVerse internet. For about 5 dollars less a month I would get a few mbs more on the download speed.

[Davidson Deac II]

Like I said, according to their coverage map, the people across the street from me can use it, but I am out of range apparently. I would love to switch to ATT UVerse internet. For about 5 dollars less a month I would get a few mbs more on the download speed.

I don't have UVerse, I have DSL 6. Uverse is not available in my neighborhood either, but I think DSL 6 is available just about everywhere.