That could have been it or it could be that 14 or 15 years ago when I had DTV it just wasn't that good. I stayed with them for longer than I would have because a friend could program the card that went in the box and I could get everything: Sunday Ticket, PPV fights, movies, all for the price of basic.
True on both points. If your view of the satellite is through trees, you will get more outages. And installation expertise is everything. I watched my original installation and the guy seemed OK. But when I upgraded to the triple dish a few years later, the installer was meticulous about the post being absolutely plumb and every bolt ratcheted down tightly with extra braces on the post. He had me open the window so he could hear the signal strength tone on the speakers as he fine-tuned it. I have rarely had an issue since then and it has been ten years at least.
Absolutely all on the installer. I had the same deal at about the same time. I figured after getting everything free for about 4 years I would just pay for it when they finally figured out how to block it. I've been a paying customer since then and they have actually been pretty good to me.
I have Direct only because I can't get UVerse. I had UVerse while in Mandeville and it rocks. Never once had an issue with it. Direct goes out frequently, but it is my only option besides OTA which is not very good because I am 60 miles from NOLA and 100 from BR.
Just a possible warning. My brother has Uverse and shit keeps going out and has had guys over and over to try to fix it. Also heard it goes out randomly from others around here in Baton Rouge.
I had that problem in Florida until I insisted on a new "brain" and never had a problem again. I pointed out how much time they were wasting coming over more than once.
Now that you mention it, we did have some issue, don't remember what, and they gave us a new box. Flawless after that.
I have Uverse internet. My installer was a supervisor who said that most problems that people have are in direct correlation with their distance from the nearest buried fiber optic junction box. The further the signal must pass through copper wires in trees, junctions, splices, etc., the slower it is, the bandwidth is reduced, and more sources of problems exist. I am half a block from the box and my service is reliable and speedy. They are now offering fiber optic all the way to individual houses in some large markets for incredibly high bandwidth, probably also very expensive. But that is the way things are going and it is what will eventually kill satellite TV. But it will be years ahead, maybe a decade before every neighborhood in Baton Rouge has fibre optics. Look how long it took just to get the Uverse system up--years and it is still unavailable in most places.
