DISH vs DIRECT TV

Other than differences in programming and cost is there any reason to choose one service over the other?

petdoc4u said:

Other than differences in programming and cost is there any reason to choose one service over the other?

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My admiral will tell you, if you don't have the NFL package, there no point having satellite TV. Seems to be a lot less rabid boaters out on Sundays.

Ted

just get the final - final cost before giving your credit card, a lot of "fees" that add up.

I am in the process of dumping DirectTv after something like 11 years. They have become much more difficult to deal with after being acquired by AT&T.

With our system if I remember correctly was a question of frequency ranges that the marine ant would receive. Directtv only sent non hd programing on the band(I believe it is K) that our system could receive.... Dish did have some Hd on K band... That said because we use Direct at home and it was only 5 a month to add another receiver for the boat we went directtv... ours is an older system so maybe this is all irrelevant now...

I've had both...have had DirecTV for about 7 years. Yes, they have gotten harder to deal with since they were acquired by AT&T, but it just requires a bit of learning curve.

Dish would lose the signal in even a light cloud cover...it takes a real "gulley washer" straight out of the south to block the DTV signal. But the best parts are a) the channel #s are the same everywhere...ESPN is on 206 no matter where you are. b) about 80%--and steadily increasing--of DTV live programming can be streamed to computer, phone or tablet from anywhere DTV is available...easy to set up on the computer, download and set up the app. It doesn't have to be raining...I often take my phone or ipad out to my screened porch with my morning coffee.

CAREFULLY compare the channel lineups in the packages from both Dish and DTV...not nearly as many in the lowball introductory Dish packages as there are in comparably priced DTV introductory packages. As the price has gone up, I re-negotiate discounts with their "retention" department.

And then there are the NFL, NBA and MLB (baseball) packages you can't get on Dish...

Just my $0.02 worth based on my own experience...

Ka_sea_ta said:

With our system if I remember correctly was a question of frequency ranges that the marine ant would receive. Directtv only sent non hd programing on the band(I believe it is K) that our system could receive.... Dish did have some Hd on K band... That said because we use Direct at home and it was only 5 a month to add another receiver for the boat we went directtv... ours is an older system so maybe this is all irrelevant now...

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The history is this:
In about 2008, DirectTv began transmitting its HD programming in Ka band; prior to that everything was available in Ku. I was surprised to learn that my then brand new KVH M7 was incapable of receiving / processing Ku signals. Over the course of a year or two, DirectTv migrated all of their HD to Ku. The easy fix was for me to switch my boat to Dish. Several months ago, Dish changed the encryption of its HD signals to a format that my KVH could not process, and KVH's upgrade hardware was limited to customers whose serial numbers indicated a production in 2009 or later (even though functionally, there was no difference from the late 2008 models). Even though my antenna was not installed (by a KVH dealer) until my boat's commissioning in 2009, I was SOL (unless you count a $500 discount off of full MSRP for a factory direct purchase of a new KVH antenna).

My solution was to buy an Intellian S6 antenna, which is a vast improvement over the KVH, as it "watches" all satellites at once -- no need for it to re-aim when I change channels, and I can record two programs at once.

MYTraveler said:

The history is this:
In about 2008, DirectTv began transmitting its HD programming in Ka band; prior to that everything was available in Ku. I was surprised to learn that my then brand new KVH M7 was incapable of receiving / processing Ku signals. Over the course of a year or two, DirectTv migrated all of their HD to Ku. The easy fix was for me to switch my boat to Dish. Several months ago, Dish changed the encryption of its HD signals to a format that my KVH could not process, and KVH's upgrade hardware was limited to customers whose serial numbers indicated a production in 2009 or later (even though functionally, there was no difference from the late 2008 models). Even though my antenna was not installed (by a KVH dealer) until my boat's commissioning in 2009, I was SOL (unless you count a $500 discount off of full MSRP for a factory direct purchase of a new KVH antenna).

My solution was to buy an Intellian S6 antenna, which is a vast improvement over the KVH, as it "watches" all satellites at once -- no need for it to re-aim when I change channels, and I can record two programs at once.

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Thanks I didn't want to go back through my documentation to get the correct band nomenclature... I just know that to get HD programming on the boat was going to be more than what I wanted to spend...

petdoc4u said:

Other than differences in programming and cost is there any reason to choose one service over the other?

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You asked for other than programming, but this is programming. I see you're in PNW. If you like college football then Dish gives you access to PAC 12 channel and it's not available on Direct TV.

Just out of curiosity, what compels you to want either on the boat? Is it mostly to watch sports? Or is other programming equally important?

I'm just curious because I don't follow sports at all, and based on my totally unscientific observation, it seems that sports are the primary motivator for sat TV on a boat. True? No true?

My solution was to buy an Intellian S6 antenna, which is a vast improvement over the KVH, as it "watches" all satellites at once -- no need for it to re-aim when I change channels, and I can record two programs at once.


Please school me at this,as I know nothing.When you buy this Intellian,do you still pay direct/dish for their services,pay Intellian,or is this just a superior antennae to the standard supplied

tinped said:

My solution was to buy an Intellian S6 antenna, which is a vast improvement over the KVH, as it "watches" all satellites at once -- no need for it to re-aim when I change channels, and I can record two programs at once.


Please school me at this,as I know nothing.When you buy this Intellian,do you still pay direct/dish for their services,pay Intellian,or is this just a superior antennae to the standard supplied

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On land, it is a simple matter to point a dish antenna at a satellite. Once properly aligned, no adjustments are required, since the land and satellite(s) are stationary relative to one and other. In the old days, the dishes were round and picked up just one satellite. Now, the dishes are oblong in order to pick up multiple satellites.

None of that works on a boat since the boat moves relative to the satellite. The KVH and intellian antennas first find the satellite(s), then keep the dish pointed in the right direction. It is amazing to see that the antennas can track even in the harshest conditions I have ever experienced.

But you still have to pay for Direct or Dish (or outside north america, another service).

Thankyou, so in your opinion, is the intellian the best to buy, as compared to kvh, or others?

In my opinion, yes. But I am biased because I feel that KVH dropped the ball on customer service. Conversely, Intellian has a great customer service reputation. KVH is much larger and the consumer TV market is very small for them. Intellian seems to focus on that. The technology doesn't require a large base over which to spread R&D costs, so Intellian is not at a competitive disadvantage in that regard. To the contrary, from what I can tell, Intellian has better technology, having designed an antenna to work with multiple satellites and newer encryption technologies, while KVH seems to have evolved an older design.

I have two satellite domes on the top of my boat -- one says Intellian, the other KVH. It is remarkable how often other boaters ask me to compare and contrast the two.

Thanks so much for the quick response. You answered perfectly, as factory support is one of my big pet peeves. Dont mind paying for something, just getting what I paid for. Have a nice day

I went with the Intellian I3 system and Dish network. Having been both a DirecTv and Dish customer, the Dish billing is far superior. Sign up for their RV package and there is just a flat monthly rate with no contract. You pay month to month with no hidden fees or rate increases. You can even get local stations


The I3 system handles the DISH HD services for a fraction of the SD6 system. It has to change satellites depending on the channel and you can only record one show at a time, but for $3k instead of $13k for an entertainment system, it is a small inconvenience.

Also, the standard def DISH channels are much better quality than DirecTV's standard def. Not sure why, but there is a visible difference in standard def quality.

I've had Dish for nearly 20 years. Here's some of the features I like:

Eastern & Western Arc satellites (DirecTV only has Western locations). On the East Coast and in the Bahamas I find it easier to tune in Dish's Eastern Arch (72.7, 61.5, etc.) as opposed to western (110, 119, etc.).

Dish puts the majority of programming on one satellite (72.7 and 119 for the two locations). This allows the use of a smaller dish to receive the majority of programming and a smaller dish (believe it or not) gives better reception.

As someone else said: RV subscription are excellent (I have Dish at home so the boat is only $7 extra per month).

"Tailgater" - Dish has a line of receivers aimed at RV/boats/tailgaters. The 211 series takes external hard drives and turns them into DVRs. $40 one time flat fee and all 211 receivers on an account can be DVRs. I take my hard drive with me and have all my movies. Formatting on the drive is Linux and one can easily make backup copies for safety (I do this monthly).

With all that said a big area of consideration will be which dome you go with. On my 30' power cat I have an AzTrax. On my 36' trawler I'm re-fitting I'm likely going with Track-It-TV. $1,000 is better than $13,000 and I already painted the dish white so it won't stand out as much as a gray dish.

I've had KVH/Direct TV. I'm finished with them both.
I now have an Intellian I-4 and Dish Network. Far superior to the former and they have good customer service.

At our mountain house we had Dish for over 6 years. Recently a component quit working which rendered the system non functional. They would not allow the end user to do an install of the component. The earliest a technician could come out was 13 days from the phone call. Direct TV on the other hand installed a complete 4 TV system in 48 hours. Therefore we dished Dish!

Capt. Jon said:

At our mountain house we had Dish for over 6 years. Recently a component quit working which rendered the system non functional. They would not allow the end user to do an install of the component. The earliest a technician could come out was 13 days from the phone call. Direct TV on the other hand installed a complete 4 TV system in 48 hours. Therefore we dished Dish!

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Yes, to snag a new customer they are really quick. Hope you don't need them again.

Was on intellians website,and there is a I-5,other than the size ,is there any advantage over the 4,to justify the grand price difference?The only reference that I saw advertised,is that the larger dome is more esthetically appealing on larger boats!

Check out the coverage maps. The 5 has greater range than the 4. It depends on where you plan to use it.

thankyou

I have the I-4 and have great reception from CT to FL. Haven't gone further than that. (Yet). BTW I added an external hard drive to the Dish box, paid Dish $40 as a one time activation fee and it now is a DVR as well.

You should back that drive up! Easy to do.

The 4 will work great near coastal. My deal is I want to spend a lot of time in the Exumas in another year or so. The smaller domes can't get reception there. But using an 18" dish should work well. I never had a problem with a 16" AzTrax dish in the Abacos other than pointing it nearly 60 plus degrees. The Dish Network Easter Arc gets pretty high in the sky there. DirecTV and Dish Western Arc get too low to the west.

I recently installed a KVH TV1 and am quite happy with the performance. We seldom stray more than 90 miles offshore. It hasn't lost a signal yet. I have DirectTV.

hjorgan said:

I recently installed a KVH TV1 and am quite happy with the performance. We seldom stray more than 90 miles offshore. It hasn't lost a signal yet. I have DirectTV.

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This points out matching systems to boating habits. In this case, to where boating, and to how much one is bothered if they can't get reception. Most of the time, we have enough shows on DVR. In fact, the only shows we watch live are sports. Just would be very unhappy if we missed game 7 of the NBA finals or the World Series or missed the Super Bowl.

Wifey B: We're at home but I sure wouldn't want to be missing tonight's game, my Panthers vs. the Broncos who beat us in the Super Bowl.

Neptunejeater, I am really curious about your comment regarding standard def quality between Dish and DirecTV. I have DTV at home and just cannot watch a standard def program. It drives me insane. We are in the process of getting a new boat and want to put a dish on it. Yes, primarily for sports.

While I don't want to spend $10k for the s6, I also don't want to spend less only to end up with a picture I can't stand watching. So, how good is the standard def with Dish? Adding a receiver to our DTV account would cost us only $5 a month, so that's appealing, but not if the picture sucks. Thanks.

hmason said:

Yes, to snag a new customer they are really quick. Hope you don't need them again.

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Howard, it would have to go out past 13 days to be worse than dish! If it does then I'd say your right.