I currently have Cox and hate it. The picture is much below par, and the cust service is crap. $65 a month for crap!

I am a RadioShack employee (as well as being a  history tuitor for classes I have not taken at my college) and right now have option of getting 3 receivers, the dish, powered multi-switch, all the install, and a wirless phone jack for a bit over a hundred after all the rebates.

Is this worth it? Would digital cable be better?

Also, could i use a DBS splitter and amp instead of the multi switch?

Personaly, I  really enjoy my dish network. Great picture, great sound,  and basic packages cost less than digital cable here in Minnesota. I highly recommend getting a setup that also has a digital recorder in the unit (TiVO). I have the DireTV/UltimaTV combo unit and have not looked back.

Here is a link to a place to get all kinds of mounts, dish covers, etc. that you might end up wanting, just in case: [url=http://shop.skyvision.com/index.html]Skyvision[/url]. In case you don't want to drill your roof to put the dish on it, they have mounts, if you get snow in your area, they have dish covers and heaters, etc.

Sorry, I have no opinion on the splitter/switch. I only have one tv & box.

Good luck

Direct TV has decent picture, excellent sound and reliable service.  The picture is not as good as high quality broadcast signal, but it is watchable.  The inferiority of the picture is most noticeable during pans of scenery.  If you like the Home and Garden channel this will drive you nuts because every time they pan a garden it turns into a low res mess that clears up when they stop the pan.  Luckily, most TV programming doesn't have too many of those type of shots, and you won't notice it too often.

All I know about digital cable is that it is even more expensive than regular cable.  That alone was enough to eliminate it from consideration at my house.  Our major technological advance was going from rabbit ears to a rooftop antenna and Direct TV with the absolutely cheapest service package.

If you are talking about splitting the digital signal to avoid switching it among your receivers, I don't think that is possible.  You can get the microwave receiver ( the little box that is out in front of your dish) with multiple signal outputs (two for sure, and maybe as many as three).  These outputs can be routed to individual receivers on separate co-ax cables.

DirecTV.... sucks! worked techsupport for DirecPC and their tech dept was 5ft away. the average intellegence of DTV techs... well my shoe is smarter. you could fail the DBS test (some sort of test asking about pc stuff) and still work for DTV if you passes you could work for DPC where the smarter people were... thou our problems were more difficult to deal with as the pc can get very messed up. i bet DishNet is the same way but i dont know. so i like them better. but trust me... DTV really sucks. if your bill is screwed up forget trying to fix it. hughs wants your money, once they have it its like trying to pry money away from a lawyer.
oh and programming issues? expect the runaround (at least 4 times). when forced to work the DTV phones because they got overloaded.. i was unhelpful, my contract never specified i was to deal with DTV, only DPC. Cust : my signals out.... its all blurry.  ME : really? are you sure.  Cust: yes i cant see anything.  ME : do you were glasses.  Cust : Yes..  ME : put them on. *click disconnect button* fsking idiots..  ironicly as i watched the case he called back to apolgize for calling... seems he really didnt have his glasses on. lol... somtimes i wonder if people call techlines just ot mess with techs... wait i do!

I have had Direct TV for 2 years and I am satisfied. Its better than cable in my area and the digital music channels are good. I'd recommend it.

There are switches designed by DTV and DishNet that do just what he wants. its used for multidish installs(pick 3 or more sats, ect) and send them all down 1 cable to the receiver. most of these switchs have 2-4 outputs for receivers.

D D D  (3dish install)
\ | /   (cables from dish to switch)
SSS  (2 Receiver Switch)
| |  (outputs to receivers)
R R (Receivers)

both receivers get all 3 dish signals.

Hey Rat Shack dude, look around. There are free DirectTV systems being given away all the time on the net. I got a Direct Tivo unit for shipping costs! All I had to do was maintain service for two days. I did, for two days!

WHat you want is a "Plus Recever" with a "Dual LNB oval dish" and a "4x4 or 4x2 multiswitch". With this configuration you can get both sat's and add a second TV to the same dish later without much hassle. Plus you won't look like one of those dorks with two DSS dishes on the same house.


If you're a first time DTV subscriber you will find a free setup plus installation easy to come by. Your $100 price is, as usual for the Shack, a ripoff.

These guys are good: http://66.181.248.85/index.htm

I've had DirecTV for over four years now and it's worked fine for me. I don't experience the poor picture quality of which Weiseguy spoke either...my picture quality is just fine.

I got Direct TV 6 mths ago and love it.It's cheaper than cable and has more channels.Can you believe my cable co wanted to charge extra for TBS,Discovery,History Channel!Can you say Kiss My Ass!!!!!

The ONLY problem I have had is twice in 6 mths the pic got snowy when we had one of those Florida frog strangler rain storms.This probably won't be a problem to most people because you aint seen a thunderstorm till you been to FL.

DEFINATELY get the NFL package!No more stuck with the crappy game of the week.