Dish Network Buyers Remorse -Reassurance Needed

[DavidL20]

I recently switched to Dish Network because their sales folks called up and told me they offered network channels in HD. I should have done more homework I guess.

When I switched I lost:

Local Channels in HD
Our local HD sports channel that shows the Denver Nuggets and Avalanche
Hundreds of On-Demand movies
HBO on Demand

Worst of all is that the supposed 25 HD channels that are part of Dish's "VOOM Network" all look horrible and not like the 1080i I had on cable. Discovery HD in particular looks fuzzy and has artifacting when compared to what the same programming looked like under cable.

Does anyone know when: 1. Dish Network will actually have real On-Demand
2. Does Dish mess with the actual resolution to free up
bandwith?
3. Why would cable 1080i look better than Dish 1080i
all other variables the same??

I WOULD TRADE ALL THE WORTHLESS CONTENT ON THE VOOM NETWORKS (THE KUNGFU CHANNEL, ect) TO HAVE ABC, NBC, AND FOX IN HD

AM I ALONE HERE?

ANY THOUGHTS TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER ABOUT MY 18month COMMITMENT?

[bfdtv]

David,

Can't you cancel in the first 30 days?

That said, how far do you live from your local broadcasters? AFAIK, all of Dish Network's modern receivers will integrate DTV/HDTV locals from an off-air antenna into the guide with the satellite channels. If you live close to the broadcast affiliates, a simple set-top antenna would add all your DTV/HDTV local networks to your program guide at the appropriate channel numbers. If you live 30-50 miles away from the broadcasters, see the Local Info and Reception forum to see what others in your area recommend.

Does anyone know when: 1. Dish Network will actually have real On-Demand

I would say never, but never is an awfully long time. It won't happen in the next few years.

2. Does Dish mess with the actual resolution to free up
bandwith?

Yes, like DirecTV, Dish Network downconverts much of their HD from 1920x1080 to lower 1280x1024 resolution so they can fit more channels on their satellite.

3. Why would cable 1080i look better than Dish 1080i
all other variables the same??

Probably, but that would depend on your cable company. A few cable companies -- Charter being one -- significantly degrade their high-definition in some areas. If Comcast or Verizon FiOS is available in your area, their high-def would certainly look better on a larger screen.

[mjones73]

Cancel if you still can, you won't be happy if you keep Dish and as pointed out, you will need to add an additional antenna to get your local channels back via OTA though you won't get the sports network back.

[DavidL20]

I would like to cancel but my wife is tired of people in her house

I am too far away from the radio tower to pick the HD channels up via local broadcast.

Does Dish downgrade ALL of their HD content, or just some of it? If they are downgrading their 1080i that means we are probably light years away from the satalite providers giving us 1080p no?

[AKA BUD]

Originally Posted by DavidL20

I would like to cancel but my wife is tired of people in her house :

I would agree that you need to keep the wife happy....that being said with all the cabling (from your cable company) probably still in place....you may be able to do a self install to get you back where you want to be (no extra people in her house). If you can cancel, then keeping 18 months of a service that is unsatisfactory is like throwing $$$ away. How easy is it going to be for you to put up with that for 18 months?? Personally, I'm very close to the end of my 18 month Dish contract....I will be going back to Comcast service very quickly.

[DavidL20]

Bud

Is it my imagination or do you agree that Bresnan/Comcast compress their signal less and stream their HD at closer to true 1080i?

The Dish Network HD looks horrible on my 1080p screen given that Dish has skimped it down so far.

FRUSTRATING!

[DavidL20]

If I could at least find out that Dish was working on the problem I would consider not canceling, but I cant even get their technical support people to answer my questions about what they are trying to do to remedy the bandwith problems.

Anyone have any good articles to read about Direct TV and Dish Networks solutions?

[AKA BUD]

Originally Posted by DavidL20

If I could at least find out that Dish was working on the problem I would consider not canceling, but I cant even get their technical support people to answer my questions about what they are trying to do to remedy the bandwith problems.

Anyone have any good articles to read about Direct TV and Dish Networks solutions?

I have given up on Dish trying to resolve the issues I have....Vip 211 HDMI malfunction...reception issues...so to think that Dish is working on "their problems" is not something I'm going to count on. Whenever I call them about my specific issues, I always get the reply "it's a known problem and we're working on it". I've gotten that reply for well over a year.

Originally Posted by DavidL20

Is it my imagination or do you agree that Bresnan/Comcast compress their signal less and stream their HD at closer to true 1080i?

From everything I've read about this, I understand that Comcast HD is less compressed than Dish/Direct. Maybe another poster will have more tech info on this.

[bfdtv]

Is it my imagination or do you agree that Bresnan/Comcast compress their signal less and stream their HD at closer to true 1080i?

I don't know anything about Bresnan, but that is true of Comcast is the vast majority of their markets. There are a few exceptions (i.e. older, acquired systems in small markets with limited capacity).

[HDTVFanAtic]

I stopped recommending E* as a provider in 3Q last year after the killed HDNET and HDNET movies. At that point the die was cast with neither DBS provider a winner - only the lesser of two evils.

[mjones73]

Originally Posted by DavidL20

If I could at least find out that Dish was working on the problem I would consider not canceling, but I cant even get their technical support people to answer my questions about what they are trying to do to remedy the bandwith problems.

Anyone have any good articles to read about Direct TV and Dish Networks solutions?

There's nothing to work on, they don't have the sat capacity, unless they put more capacity in orbit, nothing will change. I haven't heard any plans to so such a thing but maybe someone else has. As I said before, your better off sticking with cable for your situation.

[Ken H]

Originally Posted by DavidL20

If I could at least find out that Dish was working on the problem I would consider not canceling, but I cant even get their technical support people to answer my questions about what they are trying to do to remedy the bandwith problems.

As already stated, the only solution is more satellites, which Dish Network has not announced at this time.

Anyone have any good articles to read about Direct TV and Dish Networks solutions?

You'll find more info here than you want.

[HDTVFanAtic]

Originally Posted by mjones73

There's nothing to work on, they don't have the sat capacity, unless they put more capacity in orbit, nothing will change. I haven't heard any plans to so such a thing but maybe someone else has. As I said before, your better off sticking with cable for your situation.

I disagree - As Dish lost DNS they have already moved LA and Atlanta locals off Conus and gone to Spotbeam. They can do the same with Denver, Chicago and NY as there is no reason for them to be CONUS now. That would give them the bandwidth to put HDNET/HDNET Movies back to its proper bitrate and resolution at no cost to them.

Furthermore, there is plenty of capacity on 148W where they could put full bitrate versions of HDNET and HDNET Movies just as they have done with HBO-HD and SHO-HD for those that were interested. As they already have these options available, to this day I fail to see why they are not used - and do not consider it a good omen.

[mjones73]

Thanks for clearing that up, wasn't sure what exactly their capacity was.

Regardless the OP is not going to get his local's in HD or his RSN back in HD anytime soon, moving to Dish was a bad mistake for his situation regardless of the national HD channels Dish does or does not have.

[Lisa413]

We recently upgraded to the 211 (have 2 of them on different sets) with Dish and all of our channels look great. HD content is outstanding and SD is good. We only have the their "top 180" (whatever those are), but the additional stations with the voom pkg. are a nice addition to the few we had.
I 've only just joined on here and when I came across this, I was a little surprised. Is it just where you are physically located? I thought that's what satellite was for. To get good pictures when you're too far from the broadcast locations (which we are; without getting an enormous antenna).

I hope you get this worked out. Nothing's worse than bad TV.

[ivseenbetter]

I recently siwtched to Dish from cable (Cox). I can tell you one thing for sure...the picture is 100x better! More HD options and the picture on the non-HD stations are pretty good too. I hooked up a little indoor antenna to get locals and they look outstanding. The only thing I miss is that the guide does not populate with programing information on the locals...it just states "Digital Service" all day for the once I receive over the antenna. Maybe you got a crappy installer?

[mjones73]

Lisa413 - Dish doesn't offer local channels in HD via satellite in all DMA's so some people still have no choice but to install an OTA antenna.

[johnnyd1]

Originally Posted by AKA BUD

I would agree that you need to keep the wife happy....that being said with all the cabling (from your cable company) probably still in place....you may be able to do a self install to get you back where you want to be (no extra people in her house). If you can cancel, then keeping 18 months of a service that is unsatisfactory is like throwing $$$ away. How easy is it going to be for you to put up with that for 18 months?? Personally, I'm very close to the end of my 18 month Dish contract....I will be going back to Comcast service very quickly.

I agree. Get out while you can. I just dropped Dish Nutwork for my local Cable company .

[DavidL20]

Thanks for all the replies.

I switched back, and Bresnan (subsidiary of Comcast) gladley took me back waving any hook up fees. Discovery HD and HD -Net look 100% better! I have Altitude Sports HD, all the On-Demand content and ALL my local channels in HD.

Anyone thinking of getting Dish -read the fine print. On-Demand is basically non-existant and HD channels look horrible. Now, to be fair: If you have a 720p plasma you probably are not going to care as much...but for those of us who have 1080p lcd or 1080p plasmas -a degraded HD picture is horendous looking and annoying.

Conusmers must create a market for QUALITY HD picture to keep the bandwidth technology moving along. Dish Network has a long way to go. Forget about the whole 1080p senario: They arent even outputing quality 1080i

Thanks for all the advice and I am glad I canceled before the 30 days.

p.s Dish had great customer service and great people -just inadequate technology

[johnnyd1]

[quote=DavidL20]Thanks for all the replies.

I switched back, and Bresnan (subsidiary of Comcast) gladley took me back waving any hook up fees. Discovery HD and HD -Net look 100% better! I have Altitude Sports HD, all the On-Demand content and ALL my local channels in HD.

Anyone thinking of getting Dish -read the fine print. On-Demand is basically non-existant and HD channels look horrible. Now, to be fair: If you have a 720p plasma you probably are not going to care as much...but for those of us who have 1080p lcd or 1080p plasmas -a degraded HD picture is horendous looking and annoying.

Conusmers must create a market for QUALITY HD picture to keep the bandwidth technology moving along. Dish Network has a long way to go. Forget about the whole 1080p senario: They arent even outputing quality 1080i

Thanks for all the advice and I am glad I canceled before the 30 days.

p.s Dish had great customer service and great people -just inadequate technology[/QUOTE]
[color=Lime]
Great customer service ? Wow you Really got lucky! You should think about playing the lottery soon. [/COLOR]

[Lisa413]

Originally Posted by mjones73

Lisa413 - Dish doesn't offer local channels in HD via satellite in all DMA's so some people still have no choice but to install an OTA antenna.

Matt, you are right. They only recently added them in our area.
I am confused about the bad picture in HD that some have complained about and as to why.
If I'm getting excellent PQ with Dish in my area, it would seem that there must be some hardware problem for those that don't? My little Sanyo 27"crt HD even gets a pretty darn good picture.
And with all the many times I've called Dish over the years for one thing or another (99% of the time someone messed up the remote) I've never had anything but great service.
I think it's the same with any kind of problem, we usually only hear about the ones that are having the problem. Those that are happy usually are quiet. Except me

[DavidL20]

Lisa

The bad picture quality I am talking about doesnt show up unless you have a large screen 1080p display. The downsample the 1080i picture resolution to allow for more HD channels within their allowed bandwidth. So on a 720p plasma you probably are not going to notice or care.....but on a 50inch 1080p LCD it really shows when they tinker with the bitrate.

Its a bit like when a kid adds water to replace the whiskey they stole out of dads liquor cabinet. It wouldnt matter much with cheap run-of-the-mill whiskey, but dad would probably notice if his expensive bourbon was watered down.

DAvid