Mediacom or Directv?

[kloli]

I am having a dilemma. I have a choice between Mediacom (which seems to be hated by all) or Directv which has the NFL Ticket. Mediacom offers a bundle of cable and internet for a better monthly fee. Directv offers better channels and picture quality but I would have to add my own internet service. We do not have a need for a landline, but I have no choice if I go with Embarq (my only choice for internet if I decide not to go with Mediacom). The house we are moving into already has a Directv dish, so installation isn't a concern. Please give me any input on either. I may just be thinking out loud and appear to be rambling...ugg. Is Mediacom that bad?

Thanks!

 

[kloli]

Sorry...I moved this post to it's own thread, but it got bumped down after another had already posted. Thanks again.

 

[Miss Critter]

We recently moved here also, and had to choose. Like you our house has the DirecTV dish already installed, and we had DirecTV at our last house. With DirecTV here, you will not have local TV channels,so if the local news (including weather, which can become pretty important here) is something you want, DirecTV is not the way to go, unless you install an antenna. Also, one of the things I HATED about DirecTV was that we lost signal during every thunderstorm - very annoying.
I know lots of folks seem to hate Mediacom, but so far they've been fine. Had a problem with our receiver getting knocked offline during an overnight thunderstorm and when I called to have the problem corrected, it was handled promptly and w/o problems.
We use Embarq for landline and internet, and also good so far (we have only been here a month).
Having said that, I wish Cox was available here. We've had them in 3 separate locations (including Sandestin), and service was excellent.
If NFL Ticket is important, go with DirecTV. If local news and weather is important, go with Mediacom. Remember, too, that with Mediacom there's no contract. If you don't like it, you can just switch, but DirecTV makes you sign a contract (I think it's 2 years!). If you change your mind and want to switch,they will charge you something like $37/per remaining month to switch.
Hope this helps.

 

[kloli]

Thanks MC! I don't like signing a contract...don't know how long we will be living there. I guess I keep hearing that satellite is great for HD compared to a cable service...and with that we LOVE to watch football. I would only miss local weather reports (I get kinda paranoid when I hear the wind kick up). I know that with Dish Network, our signal went out quite a bit with every passing storm...that's no help either. It would only be nice to bundle everything up in one package...or would it? Some say it's best to have services separated. We pretty much had all the services at one time or another and I still can't decide.

 

[Kurt]

I like DirecTV - get HD with DVR. If your dish is in good alignment it rarely will lose the feed and is probably live much more than cable in the long run. If you get a supervisor on the phone they will give you all kinds of deals including free receivers. And getting out of a contract is no problem if they ever intend to do business with you in the future they won't hold you to it.

Local channels are a joke. If you have internet access you won't miss them. Local weather is better on the internet.

 

[Smiling JOe]

to get those local channels, you can always install a $40 external antenna on a pole, and you should be able to clearly receive the local channels very clearly.

 

[elgordoboy]

I have Dish rather than Directv. I am going to change back to Mediacom, maybe, even though I loathe them for cable service, and in fairness they have been unbeatable for internet service for me. I am going to see if I will actually save money on comparable services..anyone use Mediacom for phone btw?
At present my satellite bill is $160, phone is like $75, and internet is $60 as I kept the basic cable to have CBS, which Dish does not make available, for big games/events, and for local weather when the storms get really big.

 

[Kurt]

Wow that satellite bill is high. I pay much less for DirecTV, although I'm sure it's more than cable.

I get all the networks in HD, including CBS but I had to get waivers.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I used to have the MediaCON phone, TV, internet package, and when the phone worked, it worked well, but sometimes it would go dead for a day or two at a time. I would have to reset the combined modem and that would usually get it back on, but not always.

 

[ShallowsNole]

We have Dish Network with local channels, and absolutely no issues *except* the tops of my neighbor's trees, which we had Asplundh come over last year to trim, to the tune of $600. Thank goodness my neighbor is also my cousin. I let him use my well, he lets me cut the tops out of his trees. It's all good. Except for the expense, and since we just had the dish moved to the roof of our garage, it should be a few years before the tree truck has to come over again.

We also have a rooftop antenna, installed by my other cousin, that is great for those times when it rains and our dish goes out or the rare occasions when I remember to switch it to Channel 4 for CSI Miami or the even rarer sports event which requires a CBS feed.