Cox Cable -vs- AT&T Uverse -vs- Satellite TV

[Insider]

I have had it with Cox and the sky high prices they charge for their services. I am trying to compare them to AT&T Uverse and Satellite TV (more specifically, DirecTV). Does anyone have any suggestions? Is it true that the satellite signal will go out as easily as they say (like on a cloudy day like today)? What do you guys think?

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

I have had it with Cox and the sky high prices they charge for their services. I am trying to compare them to AT&T Uverse and Satellite TV (more specifically, DirecTV). Does anyone have any suggestions? Is it true that the satellite signal will go out as easily as they say (like on a cloudy day like today)? What do you guys think?

Not really cloudy. But bad weather. My dish has good signal right now.

And let me tell you...After being on Cox for the last 7 years...I moved to an area that doesn't have cable. I used to mildly complain about Cox.

Until now.

GAWD I miss Cox. DSL sucks donkey balls, and yes, the satellite loses signal constantly in bad weather. It's gone down for HOURS a couple of times in the last month. Oh...And you pay by the TV. 4 are free. Want more? That's 10 bucks per extra box.

[Luke]

I have an all HD package with Dish Network. I pay $30 a month for that and $5 for the locals. Before getting Dish, everyone warned me about how I would lose service at the slightest breeze. We've found that to be dead wrong. The only time our signal goes out is in very, very, very windy weather. Maybe 1 in 5 storms will cause the Dish to blip in and out. And only in the very worst conditions it will go out completely. But 99.9% of the time, we have crystal clear HD. Clouds have no effect. I found that ice doesn't affect it either. Even though we had no electricity, during the ice storm I hooked up the generator to the DVR just to see... lo and behold we were able to watch TV.

[Jesseda]

i am thinking of getting rid of cox as well, they seem to be raising there prices by the month

[Charlie40]

Getting a larger dish will solve 95% of all signal loss problems, as well as having it properly aligned on the satellite.

[venture]

I went to DirecTV after being with Cox for years. Intro prices are hard to beat, but I need to crunch the numbers after the promo is done. I will say I only lose signal in extremely heavy rain and that is it. The one thing I don't like is that I have Tivo right now, and you need two receivers to do any dual recording.

Still using Cox for internet since I have a business account for that. Wondering how good the AT&T product is though, would be interesting to try out if the pricing is good for more than just a year.

[jsibelius]

I have an all HD package with Dish Network. I pay $30 a month for that and $5 for the locals. Before getting Dish, everyone warned me about how I would lose service at the slightest breeze. We've found that to be dead wrong. The only time our signal goes out is in very, very, very windy weather. Maybe 1 in 5 storms will cause the Dish to blip in and out. And only in the very worst conditions it will go out completely. But 99.9% of the time, we have crystal clear HD. Clouds have no effect. I found that ice doesn't affect it either. Even though we had no electricity, during the ice storm I hooked up the generator to the DVR just to see... lo and behold we were able to watch TV.

I wonder how much is it really...after they tax and fee you to death? This has been a very timely discussion as I have been debating dumping Cox for the same reasons - suddenly they're raising prices without warning, cutting channels also without warning...a double-whammy in my book.

How's the service with the dish? Do they treat you well?

[Thunder]

They had been raising mom's prices each month lately. Mom was furious and tried to do something about it, but they won't listen. She was never late, always pay on time in full, but still....they won't lower anything for her.

I think she should get Satellite.

[Jon27]

I can't justify getting satellite because I would want to keep Cox Internet, and I would have to keep the phone because the wife won't try VOIP or all cell. I've been looking at Uverse, but I'm a little leary. The TV is TV over IP which means it's through the internet. That brings me back to the VOIP. I tried VOIP for a little while, and it was terrible. Granted I used Lingo which probably isn't the best. I don't know about the TV service if it's internet based. Anyone have any experiences?

[bluedogok]

I went to DirecTV after being with Cox for years. Intro prices are hard to beat, but I need to crunch the numbers after the promo is done. I will say I only lose signal in extremely heavy rain and that is it. The one thing I don't like is that I have Tivo right now, and you need two receivers to do any dual recording.

Still using Cox for internet since I have a business account for that. Wondering how good the AT&T product is though, would be interesting to try out if the pricing is good for more than just a year.

If you have the stand-alone Tivo, then yes, that is the case. For pretty much the same fee you can get the Directv DVR's instead of the receivers. I have 2 HD-DVR's and my old DirecTivo-SD, along with an HD receiver and 2 SD receivers. I still use Time Warner (Austin) through Earthlink for internet. I switched to Directv about 10 years ago when I lived in The Village and suffered through Multimedia Cablevision, which was fine in Edmond. I have MLB Extra Innings and NFL Sunday Ticket, so I'm not changing services.

Rain fade occurs when the dish is misaligned, I have started having trouble with mine after 5 years, a tree branch hit it. We are getting ready to re-roof the house and I plan on moving the dish away from the trees that have grown on that side of the house so I just haven't worried about re-alignment yet.

[venture]

The only problem with the DirecTV DVRs...i'm out of my contract period in April next year. If I want a DVR from them, it is $99 for a regular DVR or $199 for an HD DVR up front even for leasing (buy out is about 2-3 times that). Then as soon as you add the equipment, your commitment period is renewed for 2 years. So while I would love to get the DVRs from them, I don't feel like throwing that cash out right now to them or locking myself in for 2 years again.

[alan]

we have had Uverse for about 6 months now.

love it.

no signal fade in any weather. DVR records 4 shows at the same time. the user menus are crisp and user friendly. the picture is flawless. the internet and phone are also perfect.

highly recommend.

[amylynn5656]

we have had Uverse for about 6 months now.

love it.

no signal fade in any weather. DVR records 4 shows at the same time. the user menus are crisp and user friendly. the picture is flawless. the internet and phone are also perfect.

highly recommend.

Question about UVerse: Are the channel line-ups the same as Cox?

[Lord Helmet]

I have an all HD package with Dish Network. I pay $30 a month for that and $5 for the locals. Before getting Dish, everyone warned me about how I would lose service at the slightest breeze. We've found that to be dead wrong. The only time our signal goes out is in very, very, very windy weather. Maybe 1 in 5 storms will cause the Dish to blip in and out. And only in the very worst conditions it will go out completely. But 99.9% of the time, we have crystal clear HD. Clouds have no effect. I found that ice doesn't affect it either. Even though we had no electricity, during the ice storm I hooked up the generator to the DVR just to see... lo and behold we were able to watch TV.

I've been a dish subscriber for years. I took a chance and tried out Cox when they laid cable in my neighborhood (we didn't have it this far north before). I was so disapointed with the service that I switched back in less than 3 months (I do still use them for internet).

The DVR that cox uses sucks. It has very little storage, doesn't allow you to customize menus, and is flat a pain in the butt to use when compared to my dish 722.

The only time I ever lose a signal is in a VERY SEVERE storm...like, the wall cloud is over my house bad. Other than that, it works perfectly.

Uverse is nice, but its missing some channels and sports packages that I don't want to lose...so its out of the question.

[Luke]

I wonder how much is it really...after they tax and fee you to death? This has been a very timely discussion as I have been debating dumping Cox for the same reasons - suddenly they're raising prices without warning, cutting channels also without warning...a double-whammy in my book.

How's the service with the dish? Do they treat you well?

I just looked at my bill, and if I'm reading it right, the $35 plan goes to $42.63 with taxes.

I've been with Dish for three years now. They never raised the price with the package I had been on. Since we watched very few channels (of the hundreds of them) I decided to get an all HD package with fewer channels because that package still had the channels we watched. That actually lowered our monthly price. We have a DVR that can record two things at once or watch something and record something else. We are not under a contract either which is nice. I've only called a few times to Dish customer support and have been pleased with their support.

I should mention that I'm on an AT&T bundle which does kick a credit here and there. We have an iPhone family plan (2 iPhones), Dish Network service (Bronze Turbo HD), "Elite" high-speed DSL service which is 6 MB down and 768 up and while we don't have a home telephone, we do have a landline whose sole use is to provide communications with security system. For that, we pay a stable $230 a month (most of which is the iPhone plan).

And as far as the picture fading in and out during weather... Our installer must have bolted it bolted it down really well because the only time we ever have a service interruption is in the most severe weather. In those cases, we're either in the closet taking shelter or at my parents house where they have a real shelter.

[alan]

Question about UVerse: Are the channel line-ups the same as Cox?

dunno.

a friend who just switched says they don't get "Sprout" now.

[rod4soonrs]

those with uverse can answer this, I heard they don't have fox sports ok, so no thunder games, is this true?

[flintysooner]

Old house had Cox cable and internet. Wife's old house has Direct. Mother-in-law has DISH.

U-verse internet is 6 Mbps down and about 1 up and is excellent. I really like U-verse phone, too, but what I like is the ability to manage it by computer. U-verse DVR is great and pretty happy with TV in general. Only big problem is there is some "skipping" primarily over HD. That said though it doesn't take much to satisfy us for TV.

I can't tell much difference between Direct and DISH as for picture quality. I think DISH seems to lose signal more frequently than Direct but hard to say. DISH seems to have better customer service. Don't have DVR on either.

Cox was okay on internet but not as good as what I have now with U-verse. Cox cable was pretty good but never had HD nor DVR so can't say. Cox cable and internet went down about every big storm where we were.

So far U-verse has been more reliable as far as being up but I've only had it a short time.

No real idea what channels we have and most we don't watch anyway. Did "rent" a movie once and that was great.

[Insider]

I called DirecTV this morning and got an amazing offer...

Premier Package-
All Standard Definition (SD) Channels offered
All High Definition (HD) channels
DVR
HBO
Starz
Encore
Showtime
The Movie Channel
Cinemax
The Sports Package
Local Channels (SD and HD)

All of this came to...

Months 1-3: $53.99 a month plus tax
Months 4-10: $77.00 a month plus tax
Months 11-12: $87.00 a month plus tax

This includes several discounts. They told me that these prices are good for anyone, but require you to call a certain number and use a special AAA code.

[amylynn5656]

I called DirecTV this morning and got an amazing offer...

Premier Package-
All Standard Definition (SD) Channels offered
All High Definition (HD) channels
DVR
HBO
Starz
Encore
Showtime
The Movie Channel
Cinemax
The Sports Package
Local Channels (SD and HD)

All of this came to...

Months 1-3: $53.99 a month plus tax
Months 4-10: $77.00 a month plus tax
Months 11-12: $87.00 a month plus tax

This includes several discounts. They told me that these prices are good for anyone, but require you to call a certain number and use a special AAA code.

Was that a promotional (limited time) rate?

[Insider]

Was that a promotional (limited time) rate?

Part of it yes, part of it no. Some of the discounts are only good for a few more days and others are good for a few more months.

[Lord Helmet]

those with uverse can answer this, I heard they don't have fox sports ok, so no thunder games, is this true?

Last I heard they were still getting FSSW instead. Dish Network is FSSW in this region too, but they show all FSOK specific games (including the Thunder) on an alternate channel.

[rod4soonrs]

Last I heard they were still getting FSSW instead. Dish Network is FSSW in this region too, but they show all FSOK specific games (including the Thunder) on an alternate channel.

I have directv, fox sports ok is on channel 679, mostly blank channel unless thunder are playing.

[Jon27]

we have had Uverse for about 6 months now.

love it.

no signal fade in any weather. DVR records 4 shows at the same time. the user menus are crisp and user friendly. the picture is flawless. the internet and phone are also perfect.

highly recommend.

If you don't mind me asking, which U-Verse channel package do you have and what internet package do you have? How much is your bill each month, the final number including taxes and fees?

[jsibelius]

I just looked at my bill, and if I'm reading it right, the $35 plan goes to $42.63 with taxes.

I've been with Dish for three years now. They never raised the price with the package I had been on. Since we watched very few channels (of the hundreds of them) I decided to get an all HD package with fewer channels because that package still had the channels we watched. That actually lowered our monthly price. We have a DVR that can record two things at once or watch something and record something else. We are not under a contract either which is nice. I've only called a few times to Dish customer support and have been pleased with their support.

I should mention that I'm on an AT&T bundle which does kick a credit here and there. We have an iPhone family plan (2 iPhones), Dish Network service (Bronze Turbo HD), "Elite" high-speed DSL service which is 6 MB down and 768 up and while we don't have a home telephone, we do have a landline whose sole use is to provide communications with security system. For that, we pay a stable $230 a month (most of which is the iPhone plan).

And as far as the picture fading in and out during weather... Our installer must have bolted it bolted it down really well because the only time we ever have a service interruption is in the most severe weather. In those cases, we're either in the closet taking shelter or at my parents house where they have a real shelter.

No contract? Now you've got my attention... I hate AT&T, but 15 years later, maybe it's time to forgive. The price is definitely lower than what I'm paying for cable. I really might be worth taking a serious look at switching. ($7.50 or so in taxes and fees sounds about right) Or maybe this will at least give me some negotiation leverage with Cox. Thanks!