Dish Network is a pain in the .....

I am not sure that Dish has "authorized" use of any satellite down here. I do know that I have been a Dish HD subscriber for many years. HD has only been on 110 for a few years. Before that, and before the HD free for life thing they were charging me $10 per month for their HD package. Where did they think it was coming from if not 61.5? It is very convenient to have a memory which only goes back a few years.

In all of the years that they were collecting their $10 per month for HD programming they never suggested to me that I shouldn't be receiving HD programming because I was only "authorized" to receive 119 and 110.

I am not sure that Dish has "authorized" use of any satellite down here. I do know that I have been a Dish HD subscriber for many years. HD has only been on 110 for a few years. Before that, and before the HD free for life thing they were charging me $10 per month for their HD package. Where did they think it was coming from if not 61.5? It is very convenient to have a memory which only goes back a few years.

In all of the years that they were collecting their $10 per month for HD programming they never suggested to me that I shouldn't be receiving HD programming because I was only "authorized" to receive 119 and 110.

John, I think we are in a little different boat here as you started subscribing before I did. I know others in your boat as well who are rightfully PO'd as 61.5 was never communicated as being "unsupported" back when they set everything up. In my case Alan did inform me that the use of 61.5 was not really supported back in 2009 when I pointed my Dish there and that the usefullness of having it could change at some point. Dish also would never open up non premium channels on 61.5 for me (NFL Network, NHL HD, Versus etc.) and their reps would tell me it was because they didn't support 61.5 here. They always did allow premium subscription channels such as HBO/Showtime and PPV events such as the NHL Center Ice (which got me NHL HD) to come in though and losing these are huge.

I'm sharing this thread with some people that have more pull than me on this subject. I do know that Dish never "authorized" the use of 61.5 here in the VI and they warned me that 61.5 would be pulled soon. Hopefully a plan is in place to restore more HD content for us.

Thanks Alan, hopefully they can see how bad this change is for many in PR/USVI and will figure something out, even if its just to cut the costs down to a level reciprocal with the reduced service they are now providing.

Sean

Sean,

My association with Dish started long before Alan got involved. I originally added HD to my subscription in 2004 when I bought an Echostar 6000 HD receiver and installed a 61.5 dish. Dish was happy to charge me an additional $10 per month and add the programming. In every conversation that I have had with Dish over the years I have made it clear that I get my feeds from 119, 110 and 61.5. Not once was I ever told that I should not be receiving 61.5.

I spent 30 minutes on the phone with Dish Tech support about this problem just last Thursday. And I spent over an hour talking to Dish Customer Service on Wednesday about this problem. Not once did they mention that I should not be receiving 61.5 and our entire conversation was about the loss of HD programming on 61.5. I wish Dish would get their act together.

My purpose for posting on this forum was not to slam Alan but rather to enlist the support of others who are having the same problem to call Dish and complain. I am also talking to customers in PR who are in the same boat.

I also welcome any help from Alan in bringing this problem to the attention of the proper people. It is very difficult for customers to be heard except through blind email.

John

Paradise Satellite - Serving St Croix since 2002
A lot has changed in 9 years and I suspect we will continue to see changes.

I agree, Dish has been changing things constantly down here and I am sure we will see more change. I am just pointing out that the change is not always for the better with Dish. We get substantially fewer HD channels now than we did just six months ago and Dish did not give their customers any notice they simply turned off the programming and their rates did not change. Oh wait, yes, their rates went up in January.

Dish is not a customer friendly company. But you are Alan, thanks.

99.9% of the customers did not lose those channels. They never had them to begin with. Rates have been locked in until 2013.
Thanks for the support!

99.9% of the customers did not lose those channels. They never had them to begin with. Rates have been locked in until 2013.
Thanks for the support!

Then it would have been very, very easy for Dish to notify those of us affected about the coming changes. After all, how many Dish customers down here have had their HD package for over 3 years? Those are the ones affected by changes to 61.5.

Dish is not a customer friendly company. They are like the cellphone companies. Special deals for new customers only, no reward for loyal longtime customers. How many deals does Dish have going for new customers only? How many deals do they have for long term customers only?

It's OK though, I called and canceled my Premium Movie Package today. $42 per month less for Dish, I'm sure they will miss it. They didn't even ask me why I was canceling after 12 years.

Take your wife to dinner with the $42 a month. Or better yet,...to the movies:-)
Give her my regards Rotor.

The End! ???

Alan

A "group hug" for rotorhead maybe?

Jumbie-STX

So when I get there in the summer the choices are Innovative - which is cable - or Dish Network? We had Dish Network for about 6 weeks a couple of years ago and had to cancel because the DVR was SO SO bad.

We have been TIVO people for eons. Have they (Dish) made any improvements to their DVR?

Thanks!

Well I will skip everything, DISH told me to send it all to STX I will and hope for the best its $30 bucks from ND The only other thing to do is send it back and eat 160. Or I could sell it and give my shit away.

So when I get there in the summer the choices are Innovative - which is cable - or Dish Network? We had Dish Network for about 6 weeks a couple of years ago and had to cancel because the DVR was SO SO bad.

We have been TIVO people for eons. Have they (Dish) made any improvements to their DVR?

Thanks!

You are correct. The cable here is 1980's style cable. Just started going digital in the last couple of years. No HD. No DVR. Though they do support Tivo Series 3 with cablecard.

Dish Network provides minimum HD and a subset of the channels offered in the states for the same price as in the states. Their DVR is still brain dead. The only people who like Dish DVR are people who have never used a smart DVR like Tivo. Dish is pushing something called TV Everywhere, which is basically a Slingbox mated with their dumb DVR and STB.

Dish is the best source of programming here. I used to use my Tivo with Dish Network to record SD only television and the dumb Dish DVR to record HD television but Dish broke compatibility with external DVRs last year. Probably because they were losing the lawsuit with Tivo.

Well I will skip everything, DISH told me to send it all to STX I will and hope for the best its $30 bucks from ND The only other thing to do is send it back and eat 160. Or I could sell it and give my shit away.

Your equipment will all work here except that you will need a new dish/lnb. Your available programming will probably be reduced unless you have one of the lower end packages. It is hard to say since Dish will not tell you exactly what to expect in the way of programming here. Try asking them for a channel lineup card for PR/VI.

Rotor, innovative has DVR now, but no HD.

*Actually they have created HD channels for all of the movie channels (1 for HBO, 1 for Cinemax, etc) but are not operational yet. Seems to be what they do before they introduce new channels in the past so, there will be a few HD coming up.

Rotor, innovative has DVR now, but no HD.

*Actually they have created HD channels for all of the movie channels (1 for HBO, 1 for Cinemax, etc) but are not operational yet. Seems to be what they do before they introduce new channels in the past so, there will be a few HD coming up.

Thanks for the info. How do their DVR's compare to Tivo? Will their DVR be able to record the HD channels, how much disk space does it have?

Innovative might improve now that they are under new ownership, they languished for so many years under Prosser's ownership.

Not sure yet, keep meaning to go buy and get the tivo but life keeps getting in the way. 🙂

Their DVR is still brain dead. The only people who like Dish DVR are people who have never used a smart DVR like Tivo. .

I had a Tivo with Innovative cable.....hated both products. The whole suggestions concept was insulting to me. I know what I want to watch, and I want it simple, clean and fast. My Dish Network 722 is far superior to Tivo....to me.
And I'm not the only one who feels that way:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/156205-dish-dvr-vs-tivo-hd-one.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8liHWu2yYZQ&feature=related

Dish isn't perfect, but what is in the USVI. Compared to Innovative, WAPA or Choice, Dish wins going away. The only service provider that out performs Dish in customer service in my opinion is Broadband VI.

Dish's price for a similar package of channels is less than what Innovative charges and even though we don't get all the HD channels that Dish offers stateside their number of HD channels beats what Innovative has available for now.

Finally after Omar I was without CATV for ten weeks. People that had satellite dishes and a generators watched TV right through the storm.

Jim

Their DVR is still brain dead. The only people who like Dish DVR are people who have never used a smart DVR like Tivo. .

I had a Tivo with Innovative cable.....hated both products. The whole suggestions concept was insulting to me. I know what I want to watch, and I want it simple, clean and fast. My Dish Network 722 is far superior to Tivo....to me.
And I'm not the only one who feels that way:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/156205-dish-dvr-vs-tivo-hd-one.html

Insulting? One click and Tivo Picks is turned off. You are not forced to use it. However it is a great concept.

For those who do not know what Tivo Picks is, Tivo takes the view that your DVR should have as much programming recorded on it as possible for you to watch. Empty disk space on a DVR is a waste. The Tivo remote has a Thumbs Up button and a Thumbs Down button. You can use these buttons to teach Tivo which programs you like and which programs you don't like. Tivo also notices which programs you watch. If Tivo Picks is turned on then Tivo will attempt to fill the unused space on your DVRs disk with shows that are similar to the shows that you like and shows you watch. When you look at available shows on your DVR it is easy to tell which shows are your requested recordings and which are Tivo Picks. When the DVR needs space to record your shows the oldest Tivo Picks are overwritten. So it costs you nothing to have the Tivo Picks on you DVR. It is a great tool for finding new programs that are similar to shows that you like but might not have heard about. Why would you prefer to have empty space? You aren't forced to watch the Tivo Picks. Dumb DVR vs Smart DVR.

Also look at the search capability. On a Tivo, if I want to record all westerns starring John Wayne and directed by John Ford or any similar search, all sci-fi movies starring Harrison Ford, these are easy to record. If I want to know about all Sci-Fi movies that are showing today I can simply filter my program guide using Genre=Sci-Fi and thats all that I will see. How would you do this on a Dish DVR? The search capabilities using wishlists are pretty amazing on a Tivo DVR. Dumb DVR vs Smart DVR.

If I have multiple Tivo DVRs (I do), then anything recorded on one Tivo is available to view on all Tivo DVRs. When I bring up the list of recorded shows I will first see the stuff on the local DVR and then everything on the remote DVRs.

To extend the above feature, Tivo also gives you free software for your PC called Tivo DeskTop. When you run Tivo DeskTop your PC/LapTop can see all programs recorded on all of your DVRs. You can download and watch any of them. It also lets you set up a central video server since any shows on the PC are also viewable from any Tivo DVR. So I have a multi-gigabyte PC on my network which contains all of the TV shows that I want to keep around. They are available for viewing from any Tivo DVR or any PC. Any movie or show downloaded to a PC is available for viewing even when you are not connected to the Internet. Try doing any of this with a Dish DVR. Dumb DVR vs Smart DVR.

Tivo DeskTop also lets you move any of your recorded shows/movies to iTunes for downloading to your iPhone. So even though Dish now has TV Everywhere, try using it on an airplane or anywhere without Internet access. The movies downloaded via iTunes work anywhere. I have had a SlingBox connected to my Tivo since 2007, this gives you the TV Everywhere features. How do you download movies to your smart phone using Dish DVR? How do you download movies to your LapTop for viewing on an airplane using Dish DVR? Dumb DVR vs Smart DVR.

As for speed, I have both DVRs right now and there isn't much of a difference. Tivo is a little slower on searches but I attribute that to the fact that Tivo typically downloads a month of program guide to your DVR, how far out does the Dish DVR program guide go?

So now that I have given my two cents, and this is only my opinion, please tell me about all of the cool features that Dish DVR has that you can't do with a Tivo DVR. If you are technologically challenged then you will probably be happy with a Dish DVR.

Dish isn't perfect, but what is in the USVI. Compared to Innovative, WAPA or Choice, Dish wins going away. The only service provider that out performs Dish in customer service in my opinion is Broadband VI.

Dish's price for a similar package of channels is less than what Innovative charges and even though we don't get all the HD channels that Dish offers stateside their number of HD channels beats what Innovative has available for now.

Finally after Omar I was without CATV for ten weeks. People that had satellite dishes and a generators watched TV right through the storm.

Jim

I agree, I have both Dish Network and Broadband VI. They are the best available in the USVI. But if you are moving down from the states you will probably be disappointed.

One of my disappointments with Dish is that they coordinated a price increase in January with removing our ability to receive the networks in HD and the removal of one of the only three satellites that we can receive down here. The one with many of the available HD channels. So in January the price went up and the available HD programming went down.

As for hurricanes, I usually remove my dish from the mount just before the hurricane and put it back on as soon as the hurricane passes. That way I do not lose my dish to the hurricane.

I believe that by this time next year the whole game will have changed with a single provider introducing fiber optic to the home...and it's going to completely change the landscape for TV, internet, and phone options. I know it seems far fetched but wait...

I believe that by this time next year the whole game will have changed with a single provider introducing fiber optic to the home...and it's going to completely change the landscape for TV, internet, and phone options. I know it seems far fetched but wait...

Do tell! And please don't say Innovative 🙂 Maybe NRTC will sell Innovative to Comcast or Verizon though and things will change. While they aren't the greatest in the world I'd take them any day down here!

Sean

We just got the innovative dvr box yesterday. Supposedly it has HD. The quality of signal is Much better but I don't know that it's really HD. The dvr is very easy to use and it will record series for you, not just one show. Not sure of the storage yet because of coarse they instructions don't say but I've already loaded it up with about 8 hours of tv. 🙂

I doubt Comcast would be interested. Comcast strongly prefers that its operations be union free.

If someone would build a single fiber to the home network the number of employees could be cut from approx 500 to 150 and a good portion of the 150 employees could be located somewhere besides the USVI. (Call centers,, billing, accounting, etc. )

Do you think the USVI government would let that happen? Even if a newcomer was to build a new system how long would it take to get permits when 350 union jobs were on the line?

The USVI government dragged the transfer of Innovative to the NRTC on for months even though the FTC has said that governments can't deny the transfer of a system unreasonably. While the USVI government dithered, Choice Broadband VI, Dish and Direct took subscribers from Innovative and others just gave up having land lines because Innovative couldn't provide them.

No large cable company would want the systems in the USVI. 25,000 Subs just isn't enough to make it worthwhile. Comcast and other large cable systems have been trading or selling systems to build massive clusters to gain economies of scale.

The land line telephone business isn't great either. Verizon and other wire line providers have been divesting themselves of small/ rural systems.

I really don't see a big time operator coming to the USVI with $200+ million to spend in a small, high cost and government unfriendly market.

Jim