AARP Online Community and Discussion Forums - Directv

TxGrandpa2 · ‎09-20-2019

This forum seems the best to ask this question. Our contract with Dish Network is up in a few months, and we're considering Directv. Only cable is only through local phone and internet company, none else if available.

If anyone has Directv would be interested in your experiences.

catladyrn · ‎09-20-2019

I had DirecTV for ten years. Their customer service was much better before AT&T bought them out.

I had frequent weather outages, problems with on-demand services not loading (it would post a message that none of the channels had any on-demand programs available), problems with the DVR freezing mid-play and having to be rebooted, lots of confusing and hidden charges. I had to call them so many times for issues that I should have had them on speed dial. I moved in 2013 and literally in the middle of the new installation, they lost my order. The poor technician had to hang out for hours while it got straightened out. Ever after, they always thanked me for being a customer since 2013, when I had been a customer since 2007. They also refused to credit me for the weeks I was without service before the move, even though I had told them to suspend service until my new installation. If anything goes wrong with their equipment, you have to pay for the repair unless you also pay for their maintenance plan, which is nuts considering you don't own the equipment. I will say that usually when I called for a discount, they could find one for me. I have Cox cable now and it's not much better. Looking to cord cut next year when I'm out of contract.

I only kept DirecTV because of NFL Sunday Ticket. Now I just get their streaming service, and at a steep discount because my daughter is a college student.

NOTHAPPENING · ‎09-20-2019

@TxGrandpa2 wrote:
This forum seems the best to ask this question. Our contract with Dish Network is up in a few months, and we're considering Directv. Only cable is only through local phone and internet company, none else if available.

If anyone has Directv would be interested in your experiences.

I actually had Directv seven years ago and then I moved where they had cable tv, internet, and phone from the same company. I assume your question is how do I get phone & internet via Directv? I believe internet is available from Directv but latency may be a problem and speeds are ??? I previously had Century Link at 1.5 Mbps and that's the fastest I could get at the time.

Heavy rain did us in a few times.

TxGrandpa2 · ‎09-20-2019

@NOTHAPPENING wrote:
I actually had Directv seven years ago and then I moved where they had cable tv, internet, and phone from the same company. I assume your question is how do I get phone & internet via Directv? I believe internet is available from Directv but latency may be a problem and speeds are ??? I previously had Century Link at 1.5 Mbps and that's the fastest I could get at the time.

I have high speed fiber internet and phone through our local telephone and cable company. Their cable TV is basic. We have had Dish for the past two years but their customer service is terrible. Our reception will go dark and blank unexpectedly without warning. We have to reset the receiver most every morning. Customer service people read through a script.

We had Directv several years ago until AT&T kept raising costs. We can accept that for dependable reception and service.

NOTHAPPENING · ‎09-20-2019

@TxGrandpa2 wrote:
@NOTHAPPENING wrote:
I actually had Directv seven years ago and then I moved where they had cable tv, internet, and phone from the same company. I assume your question is how do I get phone & internet via Directv? I believe internet is available from Directv but latency may be a problem and speeds are ??? I previously had Century Link at 1.5 Mbps and that's the fastest I could get at the time.

I have high speed fiber internet and phone through our local telephone and cable company. Their cable TV is basic. We have had Dish for the past two years but their customer service is terrible. Our reception will go dark and blank unexpectedly without warning. We have to reset the receiver most every morning. Customer service people read through a script.

We had Directv several years ago until AT&T kept raising costs. We can accept that for dependable reception and service.

Directv is going to separate from ATT so who knows what that will bring? I know that Directv Now has packages that you can stream to your TV right now and they DO have local channels also. This eliminates all the satellite dish/receiver but requires some box (Roku,Fire Stick, or Android box) to get going.

https://www.reviews.org/tv-service/directv-now-review/

https://cdn.directv.com/content/dam/dtv/gmott/html/compare-packages-account.html

catladyrn · ‎09-20-2019

@NOTHAPPENING wrote: This eliminates all the satellite dish/receiver but requires some box (Roku,Fire Stick, or Android box) to get going.
I use a Roku streaming stick. It's the size of a thumb drive and inserts into one of the HDMI ports on the TV. No box required. The stick was about $30 or so. So much easier to watch HBO and Showtime through their apps than through my cable's on-demand function.

NOTHAPPENING · ‎09-20-2019

@catladyrn wrote:
@NOTHAPPENING wrote: This eliminates all the satellite dish/receiver but requires some box (Roku,Fire Stick, or Android box) to get going.
I use a Roku streaming stick. It's the size of a thumb drive and inserts into one of the HDMI ports on the TV. No box required. The stick was about $30 or so. So much easier to watch HBO and Showtime through their apps than through my cable's on-demand function.

I happen to have a Roku Hisense TV which is 4K and has the Roku built in. Since I didn't think I could watch 4K (even despite I had the TV because of no content), I soon discovered that all the new series on Amazon Prime (membership required) were in 4K! I also discovered if you go to Youtube, there are many HDR 4K streams available!