Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How is Direct TV in the rain and snow?

I hate Comcast with a passion - always raising prices on equipment I already have in house, plus this Xfinity 1 format sucks most of the time, their previous version was better I thought.

Being in Michigan we get our share of rain and snow so I'm concerned about the dish in the rain or getting covered up with snow. Plus I would need internet access as well. Comcast charges more for just cable and internet than they do for cable, internet, and phone.

Wife and I have cell phones, the only calls we get on the landline is friggin' telemarketers - even though I'm on the Do Not Call Registry. Thanks.

You don't need internet access for DirecTV. I've been on it for 20+ years. During intense thunderstorms, you may lose signal for a short period. Not sure about heavy snow due to my location but I've learned to use an antenna from Walmart for local channels when we have no signal. It doesn't happen often.

I live in Southeast AK......wind/rain/cover are the norm for a large portion of the year. Rarely a problem with signal unless it's a monster storm.

A little snow on our dish = no signal. Luckily it's at ground level and can be cleaned off quickly. If roof-mounted it would be a real pain. Maybe a heater can be stuck on the back?
Moderate to heavy rain usually disrupts the signal. Falling snow seems to be OK.

During a very severe thunderstorm/downpour, it gets temporarily lost.

Have had direct TV for five years. Above comments on rain is correct. Sometimes we loose reception for 10-20 minutes.
On snow, one year we had a storm when conditions must have been just right. Our dish on second story of house filled up and we had zero reception. Wife would not let me on roof. Finally I hired “a guy” and he cleaned the snow from the dish. That’s the only snow issue we have had.

We have lost a signal for short intervals during a thunderstorm and sometimes for a day during a bad ice storm. I won't deal with them again, because of their rates. I went back to Spectrum cable and very happy with their service so far.

Have had dish net for 13 years and i live in an area in mountain that receives over 100 inches a year. Dish is on second floor and have experienced very few problems due to snow. They keep raising the prices and some outages do to other reasons, upgrades etc. $85 a month

Satelite internet is slow. I live off grid and rely on satelite internet and cannot stream movies and I pay $80 a month.

every tv/internet company has its issues

I have a brush for roof painting screwed on a 16 foot extendable pole. Snow usually only causes a problem 2-4 storms a year. With the pole, I just walk out the front door, around the corner and clean the dish. Usually, if it is not too cold, flip flops and shorts, belly floppin.

All of that. We lost signal if a cloud came over 10 miles away, it was very poor here. We went to Spectrum after the contract was up, and told DirectTV exactly why we switched. They had no answer to that. I DID like the selection of stations better on DirectTV, but it does no good if the satellite isn't working. Spectrum works.

We had Dish for several years and now have had Direct TV satellite service for several years too and in our experience there's not been any difference in reception with either -- both are equally good in fair and moderate weather but will loose reception during heavy cloud cover be it snow or rain. Accumulating snow which we don't normally have a whole lot of here has collected on our satellite dish at times (the wetter the snow the worse it sticks) and I've had to go out and clear it off to regain reception. Same with accumulation of ice in freezing rain. As far as price, both Dish and Direct can get pretty expensive once their introductory new customer offers end. Seems Direct TV raises package prices every year or two. Just got an email a couple of weeks ago from Direct TV stating they are increasing prices yet again.

edit: the little outrigger looking gizmo that the coax attaches to on the satellite dish will glaze over with ice and needs to be cleared off good too but more carefully than the dish itself.

I have Dish and it goes out whenever it rains hard, or during heavy cloud cover. I've complained, they say it shouldn't happen, but it does....so there you go.

We've had nothing but DirecTV for something like 30 years. Would not switch.

The past few years, even a cloud would block signal. Worse, the antenna was high up on the roof and not accessible from the ground. I had to use a SuperSoaker with hot water to get snow off of it. I finally bought a dish heater (installed it myself, easily) and called DTV. They told me all of my equipment was obsolete, and would I like an all-new system for the price of a service call? You bet.

They came out, gave me a new dish - located in a better place - realigned it to where the satellite is now located (they do drift a bit), swapped my old reflector with the heater on it, installed all new cables, gave us two new receivers AND the internet modem, and tuned it all up. Now, it's gangbusters, and not even a monster snow storm can block the signal.

If you live in snow country, get a dish heater. Install it on the BACK of the reflector (no matter what the instructions may say, putting it on the front hurts the signal a lot.) Mine has a thermostat that comes on whenever it is near freezing, so I just plug it in in November and forget it. Minimal power drain as far as I can tell. Best $75 I've ever spent.

Directv for 5 years or so. A big storm will block the signal, a lot of snow will too, but it is mounted where I can broom it off. The original package went obsolete, right now we pay way too much for a bunch of crappy stations selling things. Since we already have it, we don't want to start a new contract with the FEW companies approved by the local .gov people. The prices quoted don't have anything to do with what it really costs if you want HD, a second TV, and DVR, and "fees"; and to get the few stations you like you have to upgrade several packages. If something happens to the wife this thing is going in the junk.

I almost like netflix, but they too offer the same pap for the masses. I just found ROKU has a station with movies, some commercials but not like on regular TV. I am working on watching Tracker with Ray Winstone, been wanting to find it for 7 years. An ailing wife keeps me from just sitting down and watching.

It don't miss a beat....... just wish it was cheaper...

After 30 years ..do they give a fellow a price break?

We had DirecTV for 8 years or so.

It was the same as DishNetwork.......lost signal frequently.


Signal strenghth is not that great up here for any of them, at least thats what the companies told us.


We finally schit canned DirecTV because of the price and because they did not treat us like loyal customers.

Rarely, if ever, do we lose DirecTV signal due to heavy rainstorms. But, a certain amount of snow on the dish will foul the reception. So, mount the dish low enough to reach with a broom. Once in a while we lose signal due to an electrical power "blip". The lengthy time for the system to re-set itself is a pain, particularly if one is recording a program. Price break for long-term customers?? Must be joking - it goes up and up.

Pay close attention to your monthly bills too as Direct TV has been known to add (hide?) charges for unwanted extra channel packages and service/surcharge fees not actually getting or getting but not knowingly agreed to by customers. I can't say but Dish may also.

So-called "free"extra premium channel and sports package offers that are often included as sign up incentives will be automatically added to your regular service package and billed at the full rate the minute the "free" time period expires. They will do this without notifying customer first unless customers make a point to call them prior to end of "free" period and formally request cancellation of extra channel packages (be prepared for possible long winded sales pitches).

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/cable_tv/directv.htm

https://directv.pissedconsumer.com/

http://clark.com/technology/clark-howard-warns-customers-away-from-attdirectv/

https://consumerist.com/2017/05/17/att-directv-reportedly-overcharged-thousands-of-customers/

https://www.channelmaster.com/

.....and NETFLEX (need internet only)

You won't miss anything important.

I have had directv for 11 years. When it was first installed the 2 clowns they sent out put the dish on the roof of the house. Every time the wind blew i lost the signal. Called directv. They sent a guy out on the 4th of July to check it out. Told me the reason i was loosing the signal was because the wind was blowing tree branches in the way and blocking the signal. Moved the dish from the roof to a pole on the ground. Tuned things up. Gave me a new receiver and remote. End of problems. Even works if the dish is covered with snow. No it isn't cheep. $112.00 a month.

O have had Dish and Direct, Dish for over ten years. They raised my bill every year, including after the first when we had a two year contract. They never Upgraded my Equipment. After a couple years they had added so many features that the thing was over taxed and the guide would not work.
Direct also raised my bill after the first year. After the end of the two year contract, thet called and wanted to lower our bill for two years, no contract.
They have done so several times since.

sounds like dish and comcast suck about equal.

[quote=atvalaskaAfter 30 years ..do they give a fellow a price break? [/quote]


That's the part that aggravates me more than anything else. Dish will give a new customer every kind of good deal there is, then refuse to do the same for someone that's been with them for years and years. I called them and told them I was considering a switch to Direct, and they wouldn't do a thing for me. On the other hand, my son switched to Direct, and Dish kept calling trying to keep him by lowering their price. They should have ONE price for everyone.....regardless of how long you've been a customer.

Snow can, and will, cover the dish during some snows/snow storms.. Make sure you are able to have the dish mounted in such a manner as to have access to it with a broom if needed so as to regain the signal.. It happens here 3-4 times every winter.. I have the dish mounted at the end of an upper deck, so it's rather easy to go out there and brush it off. Takes about a minute total.

As to the DNC registry - might as well save yer breath on that one.. Telemarketers ignore it.....and most messages now are robo-calls whereby one can't get the name/address etc. of the caller.....and now many of them have a system to make the incoming call look like a local city code to fool you into answering the damn thing..

If I don't see a name associated with the number I do not answer - just let it go to the answering machine. If it's a genuine customer I pick it up, otherwise it goes RIGHT into the "erase all" buttons..

Back when we changed to Direct I called Dish to cancel our service and told them that we had decided to give Direct a try and had already sealed the deal. The customer service rep said that she wished I had called them first before committing because we had been such a long time Dish customer in good standing they would have offered us at least as as good or better deal than Direct to stay with them.

I called Direct once to see about lowering our monthly bill but the only thing they offered was to drop down to a cheaper channel package which I did. As it turned out though that also added back a charge for HD service that had been included free with the channel package we had just dropped so suffice to say the difference on our monthly bill turned out to be barely noticeable.

We have dish, it’s pretty good.

Have had Direct for nearly 2 years. I will cancel this service the very day we fulfill the 2 year committment. Never knew there was so much garbage.
We will be watching whatever we can get via the internet as our access provider recently upgraded to fiber optics.

I'm about at the same place you are... Soon as is possible, Direct TV will be history.. And when I call to cancel I'm going to tell 'em that unless they change their "all-or-nothing" 'package' BS, they'll be as dead as the dinosaurs within 5 years... akin to the old C-band dishes of yore..

I call Dish every year and they knock off $10- $15 month

They're all about the same IMO
Have had DTV for 12 years or so[no cable options].

Wet snow will stick to dish, I use snowballs first and a window cleaning extendable rod second if I can't hit/shake free with snowballs.
Heavy thunderstorms[low dark clouds] will also kill reception for shot periods.

dumped my Direct TV last month........was paying $70/month.......

was a 'loyal customer' for many years......all those channels & nuthing to watch

the only thing I miss is the DVR recorder.......have Amazon Prime & a Sony Blue Ray

to stream movies...along with Net Flix & U tube.......you would be surprised what is on

U Tube to watch.....also added this $30 antenna to get the local free channels......

get a 100% signal strength with this antenna.....have a clear shot of towers

https://www.amazon.com/TV-Antenna-A...s&keywords=digital+antenna&psc=1

THIS is the answer to snow in your dish. I see that the price has ballooned since I bought mine, but it is still a bargain for trouble-free TV reception in snow country.

(They show it on the front of the dish. Do NOT do that. The holes in the heater film are for the bolts that hold the reflector to the base when the film is installed on the back side.)

High-speed internet service gives you access to pretty much anything you want to watch without paying every month for stuff you don't watch or don't want to support (CNN, MSNBC, etc). An Amazon Firestick that costs about $25 gives you access to the streaming versions of more all kinds of stuff, and you can turn them on and off monthly as you feel the need. Right now, I'm paying for Starz so my wife can watch Outlander and I can watch Black Sails. When we're through, I'll cut it off. Same for HBO and GOT. Britbox is about $6 a month and has all those shows that used to only be on PBS.

I also bought a $15 PCM converter that lets me pipe the sound from my TV's optical output to my 20-something-year-old stereo for music and surround sound.

You're gonna pay for internet anyway, so use it to your advantage. Saves a bundle (pun intended).

I used only DTV from 1992 to 2017, I did have two one year gaps in service.

The company needs to reward longtime customers instead of [bleep] on them with yearly increases and outdated equipment.

The Dish Networ Hopper is much nicer than the DTV garbage they brought me in 2015 that was outdated and had known bugs.

If I am not happy in two years I will dump Dish and cut the cord again.

I have had DirecTv for 12 years. Works great, sometimes will go out in a real bad thunderstorm, but only for 10 or 20 minutes, tops.
Get about an inch of snow on the dish, it won't work.

The city of Aurora has a deal with Comcast, so that is the only cable offered. For SatTV we can choose Dish or Directv. They don't have to do well as there is no real competition. As I said, since my wife in homebound we need the TV, if not for her the whole thing would go back. We do find some good things on Netflix and ROKU once in a while, but there is a tradeoff on how much time is spent on finding and connecting to whatever.

Racketeers, all of them providers. But what is one to do? Especially when one likes loves to watch hockey. It's not like it's available much anywhere except on satellite/cable TV. Or NHL.com streaming. But there's a kicker there where we live. I'm a minimum of a 6 hr drive to the team I watch, and that's in clear weather with no traffic (yeah, like that's gonna happen in the Bay Area). Still, NHL.com says I'm in their "market", as if I'm just gonna decide one afternoon to drive in and catch a game?

Where I live there is no fiber optic line or cable TV, therefor no good internet available so we are stuck with Hughes for now. And they charge extra if we stream too much, so even if I decided to get the NHL.com and fool them with a VPN to make them think I'm in OR, I'm SOL again. I'd get to watch a few games a month, then pay thru the nose or have speeds drop.

So, we have DirectTV. And I have to pay an extra $14 a month or so for the "sports package" to watch my team, on top of the package we have for my wife's programming. $102 a month or so, and sometimes I wonder if it's worth it at all. But, I gotta have hockey!

As for the weather, we've experienced a few outages from snow sticking, and very heavy summer thunderstorms. Cooking spray helps the snow slide off.(Pam types, even dollar store brand), nothing to do about the t-storms. Dishes are within reach of my push broom too, so I've had to go out on really bad nights, or turn it off and go to bed (what a concept.....but not during a hockey game!)

It sucks being out here in the wilds, but then again, yesterday I got to walk out my door, thru the gate , and onto square miles of public land yesterday to look for some bunnies. (never saw anything but a herd of 8 does and fawns).

Good luck with yours, get your wallet out, and as they say, you may as well bring your own vaseline as you're gonna get screwed.

Geno

It sucks being out here in the wilds, but then again, yesterday I got to walk out my door, thru the gate , and onto square miles of public land yesterday to look for some bunnies. (never saw anything but a herd of 8 does and fawns).

You win! I'll trade my internet for that.

I think Direct TV is horrible. Though it does not go out during rain, 85 percent of the channels they give me are infomercials or some outdated movie I have to pay for. I literally have like 10 total channels that actually show shows that a person might watch. It's a total waste of money.

Only unfortunate thing for me is all the quail hang around the house and the neighbor's where there's food and water! (from us )

That, and we just moved here a little over a year ago and we're in one of the premium mule deer units in CA, usually takes a good number of years to draw a general (rifle) tag so my odds aren't great at drawing a tag to hunt deer "out the back door". I can put in for archery and have a better change, but then the odds of me getting one go down as I shoot traditional.

But I'm not ready trade ya anyhow, not yet at least!

Geno

PS, if the 'net and the TV died forever tomorrow I'd get more stuff done around here, for sure!