I've used cable my entire life. But Dish has a lot of HD channels, and I hate Comcast. I was wondering if bad weather still results in dropped signals? I'm moving to a new place where I can mount a dish on the roof with a clear view of just about anything in the sky. Will I be OK when it pours in Houston, or should I expect weekly signal losses?

I've used cable my entire life. But Dish has a lot of HD channels, and I hate Comcast. I was wondering if bad weather still results in dropped signals? I'm moving to a new place where I can mount a dish on the roof with a clear view of just about anything in the sky. Will I be OK when it pours in Houston, or should I expect weekly signal losses?


I don't know about TX but here in NC I RARELY get signal loss and its only for a min or two if I do. When a big storm rolls in it will drop for a min or 2 but I am talking about a sever thunderstorm with hail and such.

I don't know about TX but here in NC I RARELY get signal loss and its only for a min or two if I do. When a big storm rolls in it will drop for a min or 2 but I am talking about a sever thunderstorm with hail and such.

In Chicago, there is always signal loss during nasty weather. Especially the new HD on the 129 sat. No real surprise there. The 110 HD hold up a little better during storms. Again, no real surprise. But like was just said, is often just for a minute or two. One time during a snowstorm last winder my Satellite was out for quite a while. My Fiance still laughs because she caught me actually reading! :D

I've used cable my entire life. But Dish has a lot of HD channels, and I hate Comcast. I was wondering if bad weather still results in dropped signals? I'm moving to a new place where I can mount a dish on the roof with a clear view of just about anything in the sky. Will I be OK when it pours in Houston, or should I expect weekly signal losses?

Yes, you will lose a signal with really bad thunderstorms. Rabbit ears help for locals. I can still get those. Plenty of people around Houston have satellite dishes. They can't be all bad.

TimeWarner was so bad for me here in Austin that I would likely go back to rabbit ears if I didn't have Dish.

There was another discussion of this issue here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=866200

Rick R

We've had several bad thunderstorms here, lately. All resulted in some LOS from satellites. But, I haven't noticed any problems for years before, so I think it's just the very strange weather pattern.

cdub998 - you haven't seen a really bad storm yet, then. The thunderstorms we've had lately aren't so bad - but the weather around a tropical system is a whole other kettle of fish. I keep a working OTA antenna system for when Dish goes out (and in, and out - ) just to be able to get local news and information. Besides FREE OTA is usually the best picture :)

If you install/align the DISH yourself and take your time to acquire maximum signal strength you'll have robust reception during most storms.

I lose signal here about once or twice a year really bad heavy snowing blizzards or the kind of thunderstorm that turns day into night, both are rare occurances in these parts, so dropsouts due to weather are a rarity for us.

Properly aligned DISHs with strength approaching or over 100 will prevent a lot of weather related drops.

We dumped cable years ago and have never regretted it.

Exactly - thunderstorms once in awhile, the rare tropical system - that's about it. Even the ice storms don't do too much around here. I have heard from other DBSers that snow CAN be an issue - which is why the recomendation is to put your dish where you can reach it with a broom to knock the snow off.