When I lived in the city limits of my town I had Comcast, which is a cable TV company. Comcast offers high speed internet as well as phone services. I found that the cable service in our area was not really good, but that may be because the wires are the same wires that were in place when the cable company was owned by two different companies. The cable company has evolved through the course of three different companies since I have lived in the area. Any time there is a thunder storm I found the cable to be out. Many times the TV would be out when it wasn’t even raining here, but there may be a storm somewhere else. Another thing that was bothersome to me was when I needed to talk to someone about the service or lack of it-I never got to speak to a human being! I got the animated service to push this number or that number. Finally when I followed all the prompts and got a human being to talk to, I was put on hold. I found the whole experience to be less than satisfying.
Comcast has a phone line also, but to get it they have to rewire your home. They don’t use the phone lines that are already in place from the local phone company. I used the telephone service for a short while after having it installed and I found that it left a lot to be desired. The phone service was slow. When I wanted to make a call I found that I had to wait for a dial tone. I would have to wait about 20 seconds for the line to signal that I could make a call. After about 3 months, I cancelled the phone service and went back to the local telephone service.
Comcast also has an internet connection which is good. It is really fast, except for when the service is down, which can be a lot because the wiring in our town is still the antiquated cable from the other company that owned it before. When it works, it works well, but when it doesn’t it is frustrating.
Recently I moved out into the country and there are no cable lines here. I now have Direct TV to watch all my favorite shows. I really like Direct TV. It never loses its signal. Even in a thunder storm, I can watch without interruption. If a storm gets close, I turn it off and unplug the units just for safety sake. I like Direct TV because I can pay my bill online; I can get great customer service right away and not be put on hold. Direct TV also offers a high speed internet connection, but I have not opted to sign up for it. I am using an Internet service through my phone company.
I get about 140 channels for approximately $40 a month. I have 2 receivers, but I can have up to 2 more, which I have thought about installing. I like to watch TV while on the Internet. I am thinking of putting a TV in my den where my computer is. There are other packages for Direct TV, but since I don’t watch a lot of movies, I didn’t opt for the movie channels such as Stars, and HBO. Another thing I love about Direct TV is that I can buy movies that I want to see by just clicking on the remote on pay per view. The movies are very reasonable. I am not much of a movie watcher, but when I see one advertised that I want to see, I can view it if I want to.
I am very satisfied with Direct TV, even without the added perks such as Internet service. If cable came out here in the country, I would never change back to Comcast. Not that it was all that bad, I just prefer Direct TV because I find it more dependable.
