Should I dump Dish?

[glockmail]

Here's my situation:

At home I have internet through Time-Warner cable with download speeds of about 16 mbs, cost is $50/ month. For television I have Dish, $55/ month. I watch Velocity, History, USA, FNC, and occasionally my wife watches HGTV. The HD picture quality is excellent. We never watch network TV. Twice a year my Dad visists for a few days and watched professional sports constantly, any Boston team.

At our little cabin we have internet through Charter cable with their cheapest broadband service, about $20/ month. I have a flat screen TV with a dedicated PC and video card. Streaming video quality is good, no hesitation issues, but not HD like Dish at home. Charter must have excess capacity because this service guarantees 1 mbs but we get 30. We have no TV service at all. When I want to watch news I go on the FNC website, and that lets me watch a handful of latest videos, and generally gives me my news fix. It won't let me watch live video. History's website lets us watch several shows as well. DishAnywhere is disappointing. I have Amazon Prime ($80/ year) and that isn't bad.

Can I get by at home without Dish? Has anyone done this, and if so how is your experience?

[fj1200]

Can I get by at home without Dish? Has anyone done this, and if so how is your experience?

We get by without cable and Dish and have plenty of network options but in general watch little TV outside of the kids and they can get by with Netflix and PBSkids. It's worth it to not have to deal with all of the commercials that the kids would get inundated with if watching Nick, Disney, Cartoon Network, etc.

Oh yeah, we do streaming through the Roku which gives a few more options than you mentioned.

[glockmail]

What is a Roku. I've heard the term before.

[aboutime]

Here's my situation:

At home I have internet through Time-Warner cable with download speeds of about 16 mbs, cost is $50/ month. For television I have Dish, $55/ month. I watch Velocity, History, USA, FNC, and occasionally my wife watches HGTV. The HD picture quality is excellent. We never watch network TV. Twice a year my Dad visists for a few days and watched professional sports constantly, any Boston team.

At our little cabin we have internet through Charter cable with their cheapest broadband service, about $20/ month. I have a flat screen TV with a dedicated PC and video card. Streaming video quality is good, no hesitation issues, but not HD like Dish at home. Charter must have excess capacity because this service guarantees 1 mbs but we get 30. We have no TV service at all. When I want to watch news I go on the FNC website, and that lets me watch a handful of latest videos, and generally gives me my news fix. It won't let me watch live video. History's website lets us watch several shows as well. DishAnywhere is disappointing. I have Amazon Prime ($80/ year) and that isn't bad.

Can I get by at home without Dish? Has anyone done this, and if so how is your experience?

Glock. We have DISH, limited as it is to stay cheap. But having Dish when the weather is bad, like heavy thunderstorms, or snow clouds usually means NO Connection with the Satellite.
My Internet is with COX Cable, and it has never gone down as long as I have used it. Going on 10 years now. We thought about DISH Internet connections. But the weather would completely shut us off from everything that way.
We watch BASIC with the 5 local channels. All we want, and can afford at around 55 a month.

[red states rule]

I have Direst TV and if you sign up they may give you the NFL Season ticket for FREE

They may offer other perks

[aboutime]

I have Direst TV and if you sign up they may give you the NFL Season ticket for FREE

They may offer other perks

We tried Direct TV before going to DISH. Got tired of speaking to broken English people in the Phillipeans, and India who basically had no idea WHY we were talking to them.
And the lures of FREE stuff, only lasts for a few months BEFORE...your monthly charges increase.

[red states rule]

We tried Direct TV before going to DISH. Got tired of speaking to broken English people in the Phillipeans, and India who basically had no idea WHY we were talking to them.
And the lures of FREE stuff, only lasts for a few months BEFORE...your monthly charges increase.

I got 12 months of freebies and after that it was a minor increase AT

I am pleased with the service and the package I have

[aboutime]

I got 12 months of freebies and after that it was a minor increase AT

I am pleased with the service and the package I have

Good to hear. What I described took place many years ago. We're stickin where we are. The two companies are always trying to OUTDO each other. That's how business goes.

[tailfins]

What is a Roku. I've heard the term before.

Time-Warner has a ROKU app, so perhaps Time-Warner is portable via ROKU.

This is ROKU:

http://www.walmart.com/search/search...h_constraint=0

[red states rule]

Good to hear. What I described took place many years ago. We're stickin where we are. The two companies are always trying to OUTDO each other. That's how business goes.

Competition is the name of the game

Very happy with Direct TV. They tried to sell me the NFL package but I am not paying that much for it

[glockmail]

Time-Warner has a ROKU app, so perhaps Time-Warner is portable via ROKU.

This is ROKU:

http://www.walmart.com/search/search...h_constraint=0

So basically, its a bare bones computer with a web browser, right? Which of these services that they mention will give me the channels that I want? Will it be HD with my 15mbs internet connection?

[fj1200]

So basically, its a bare bones computer with a web browser, right? Which of these services that they mention will give me the channels that I want? Will it be HD with my 15mbs internet connection?

It's like Apple TV if you're familiar with that one. It basically streams internet over your TV but is not really a browser in that you can't just open up Chrome and browse away. I think it makes more sense to look at the channels you can get through Roku to get an idea of what it does. You can do a lot of what Roku does on a computer but Roku will streamline it IMO. Channels like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, Amazon Prime, etc. are probably the biggest channels.

http://www.roku.com/

[gabosaurus]

What is a Roku. I've heard the term before.

Roku is a streaming player where you can get Netflix for movies and all sorts of other channels. You can get one for as low as $60. We now have one because even basic cable is up to around $80-90 per month here. You do need a fast internet connection. I would recommend a Roku 2. You can get one at Wal Mart or Target.

[fj1200]

You do need a fast internet connection.

Define fast. We get by with 3? mpbs; he has more than enough.

[aboutime]

I have a Cox Cable Internet connection, 50mbps, and it's really fast for me. Downloads of pretty large programs in a matter of seconds. Not minutes like the old DIALUP with a phone line, and the funny noises of tuning into a Modum.

I have no problems with it. Works every time.