Is anyone familar with DirecPath???

What I understand it is basically D* provided to condos and gated single-family communities.

When the small cable company that services my neighboorhood was absorbed by DirecPath, I was led to believe I would need to have a dish installed to get digital/HD programming. The only HD content I receive now is the local networks, SD is horrid on my HDTV. I didn't inquire about installing a dish b/c I would need to run the feed through the attic down to the first floor into my laundry room where all my cable/internet tie-ins are ("home run" box) and it appearred more trouble than it was worth.

Now, due to back to back calls to DirecPath, it seems the installation of a dish is NOT required. It only makes sense b/c there is a large (although not 1980's large) sat dish just outside my community entrance. This dish feeds roughly 60 receivers that are each tuned individually one per channel to our line-up that is included in our monthly HOA dues. It only makes more sense to my pea-brain when I stay in a hotel as there aren't individual sat dishes feeding each room but rather one large dish servicing the whole property, so I get the concept!

Anyway, now that more/better programming seems to be a viable offering, I'm thinking about pulling the trigger. I was told for $19.99 and a yearly contract, I could go from the basic offering of 60 channels to the Total Choice Package of 155. The HD receiver(s) are $99 with a $4.99 monthly lease fee.

The only discouraging part is that I was told right now, even with an HD receiver, I would still only get the local HD channels. One CSR told me I might be able to get the full offering of HD by March while another CSR told me by the summer or the end of the year...big difference!

So, if there was a question buried in here somewhere, besides the additional channels (up from 60 to 155), would I see any improvement in my PQ going from straight coax out of the wall to an HD receiver hooked up via component or HDMI to my HDTV (Sony 42" KDF-E42A10 RPLCDTV)?

Anybody that has had any experience with this service please chime in!

Bump because I have similar questions, and haven't found any good answers anywhere else I've asked yet :) I am moving into an apartment complex that only offers DirecPath, and as I have no southern facing view my understanding is I'm out of luck on forcing them to let me put up my own dish. Looking at the DirecPath website, it seems like they'll offer me any package a D* subscriber can get, although they have the older package names listed, and just add a "maintenance" fee to the standard package cost. I have been told by the apartment manager that they only have "some" HD channels available in every building right now, and that they will be upgrading all of the buildings to receive "more" over the next six months.

My assumption there is that some combination of dishes (I didn't see if there was one per building, or just one total when I was there applying) or multiswitches that aren't Mpeg-4 compatible, and that's what needs to be upgraded. I'm also concerned about their ability to offer full DVR functionality, I was told they will be able to provide one but I don't know if they'll give me a destacker since there's just one cable outlet in each room, or if D* technology has progressed to where you don't need one (I haven't used it in a couple of years). Is anyone here familiar with how DirecPath operates? Is there anything I can do to "encourage" them to upgrade faster? I see that they have a regional office near where I'm going to live, so maybe I'll just drop by at some point...

They are not D*

They are what you get when you mix Cable Customer Service with anolog Cable.

According to a note here, DirectPath is a D* enterprise. http://web.mac.com/jenmeadows/iWeb/CTU10redev/Electronic%20Mass%20Media.html

DirecTV ... is joining with Hicks Holding, LLC to offer broadband services, called DirectPath, to apartment complexes and gated communities. Hicks and DirecTV are also testing Internet phone services in Florida.

Dana