Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2020 18:10:08 +0000
From: Terry Schmidt
Subject: Dish internet Chatlist responses
A few days ago I posed this question to the Chatlist: Does anyone have experience, good or bad, with Dish internet and TV? We received an offer in the mail for satellite internet, $39.99 per month, 25 Mbps, unlimited data. It seems too good to be true. If it works it would sure be better than CenturyLink which is all we can get in our part of the county.
Here are the responses. Thanks to everyone who ventured a thought – that is what makes the Chatlist great!
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We had a terrible experience with Dish but we were using their TV service – they did not deliver the stations they promised, Fortunately I took a screenshot of what they offered. Still I had to contact the BBB and finally Josh Stein’s office to get out of our contract. It’s true that Centurylink’s internet is horrible but we’re fortunate that Randolph is installing fiber in our area – we’ve waited a long time.
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We have been customers of Dish Satellite TV for years. They send out offers starting at 39.99 but the thing to watch is whether that is a contract for a year and what channels are included. We call them every year before our current contract is a month before expiration to “debate” terms for the next year. You most likely will not be at 39.99 again. We pay less than 75.00 a year for all the fee channels and one additional package they charge extra for. Usually the movie channels are not included for the entire year for free if at all. It really depends on what you want in TV channels, do you have high speed needs, how many televisions you want on the satellite etc. We live in a part of Chatham less than 4 miles from the town and still there is no cable TV. If you have a homeowners association you might have restrictions on where the dish can be mounted. We live in the woods so no problem except getting a clear view in the direction of the sat. Hope this helps.
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I am an Exede ( now Viastat) customer for many years. This uses small (1/2 meter) dish mounted on roof to provide internet access only. My review is a solid “meh”. It works OK and that’s about as good as it gets. There is always a significant latency issue. This makes my MajicJack VOIP phone very painful to use as there is a significant delay in the conversation. You end up talking over each other. My understanding is that this is also an issue if you online game. I don’t, so don’t really know for sure. This doesn’t seem to be a huge problem for streaming as things get buffered anyway.
The real issue is that it’s very weather sensitive. Heavy cloud cover messes up the signal. Rain and snow pretty well destroy the signal. I’m pretty much outside all the time unless the weather is ugly. Then I prefer to go inside and surf the net. So, yeah, this is not good.
Having said that: my cost is low and since I’m not a power user it all works for me. I now have the option for fiber optic but the cost is not worth it to me. Keep in mind that is (almost certainly) an introductory price and will increase after a short time.
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consumer cellular does much better than that
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We used DISH for several years and really enjoyed its service. We carried the DVR to our cabin and had a dish antenna there, too, so it served 2 locations. The DVR worked well, and customer service, when needed, was usually good.
The downside: the cost kept going up until it was almost $90/mo. The unit is always drawing a significant amount of power (about equivalent to a 100 watt light bulb, I guess……..the whole DVR stayed quite warm all the time). It was pretty sensitive to heavy clouds and rain such that the signal was interrupted.
We have switched now to YOUTUBETV and really like it. It lacks some channels but has enough of our favorites to be great for our needs. It’s cheaper at about $50/mo., and works well IF you have good internet service. We have Spectrum, not Centurylink, so can’t speak to that. We did not use the internet service offered by DISH.
Bottom line, for one location, DISH or DIRECTV (which we also had for a few years) both work well for television. Just expect some “sticker shock” after the cheaper intro price expires. Stay safe !
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my parents have DirecTV and Hughesnet satellite internet and they HATE it. They don’t even have the option of Century Stink.
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It is very slow, in terms of latency in loading a web page. It burns through the data cap in no time, to where they’re either switching to Verizon on their cell phones / tablets or getting major overage charges to where the bill is worse than it was with cable at their old home. It also goes out frequently with weather or anytime it is a congested peak time such as evening and weekend. They gave up on trying to get any streaming TV like Netflix or watch a pay per view because it stopped to “buffer” constantly and then they would get hit with severe data charges. At the time, the two choices were Hughesnet and Viasat, which according to the satellite providers is even worse than Hughesnet.
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If you’re able to get at least 1mb from Century Stink you’re probably better off. If you’re really lucky Randolph Telecom will come into your area. They’re putting in the fiber cable out in our / and my parents area (Goldston / Bear creek) right now and have already put it in the Silk Hope area and people LOVE it.
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I saw your post the other day on the Chatlist. I don’t have experience with dish internet per se, but I have used satellite systems extensively. From my experience most of the civilian systems that people buy operate on EHF (extra high frequency) bands, which is highly susceptible to interference from rain or even high humidity. SHF (super high frequency) systems are also popular and do not share this weaknesses. As you’re shopping, I would pay attention to what part of the spectrum your provider is using. All the info I have and I hope it’s helpful.
2020-04-08