Full time with DirectTV

propchef wrote:
Question from a n00b.

Does everyone have TV (Dish, DirecTv) separately from their internet service? If yes, why?

When ATT bought DirecTv service went downhill overnight and we dumped them after more than 15 years. We switched to Roku (not recommended) and finally YouTubeTV which is internet based and has more channels with a lower cost than either DTV or Dish, and has all of your local stations as well.

$.02

We have Dish Network for our TV viewing and use Verizon for our Phone/Internet service. This way, as long as we have cell service we also have internet. Most RV Parks offer internet but in reality, in most cases it is not very reliable or secure, and with limited band width. The more people on line at the same time the slower the system runs. This works for us. Goodluck!

rhagfo wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:

propchef wrote:
Question from a n00b.

Does everyone have TV (Dish, DirecTv) separately from their internet service? If yes, why?

When ATT bought DirecTv service went downhill overnight and we dumped them after more than 15 years. We switched to Roku (not recommended) and finally YouTubeTV which is internet based and has more channels with a lower cost than either DTV or Dish, and has all of your local stations as well.

$.02

Being mobile (considering this is an RV forum) watching TV via internet when no internet service is available is highly frustrating! Since most all mobile internet plans have pretty stiff limitations on their unlimited plans, even if you have service you will likely run out of service long before the month is over if that's your main source of TV programming. We are currently in PA spending the night with ZERO OTA channels available. We are very happy with our DTV service and we will be able to use our "unlimited" data to make this post.

So you full time with Direct TV, do you own or lease your equipment? Do you have the option of canceling your service for a period of time without cost, if you are in a location where you can’t get service due to trees or hills.

All DTV receivers are leased. I have no need to ever cancel service as I am truly full time. My RV is my only residence. I have only been in a place where trees blocked my service a handful of times in 20 years so I am not really concerned. I watch OTA TV for some local news and then watch something I have recorded on my Genie.
DTV used to offer suspension of up to 6 months per year but turning it on and off for short periods of time would likely not provide any savings.

Bill.Satellite wrote:

propchef wrote:
Question from a n00b.

Does everyone have TV (Dish, DirecTv) separately from their internet service? If yes, why?

When ATT bought DirecTv service went downhill overnight and we dumped them after more than 15 years. We switched to Roku (not recommended) and finally YouTubeTV which is internet based and has more channels with a lower cost than either DTV or Dish, and has all of your local stations as well.

$.02

Being mobile (considering this is an RV forum) watching TV via internet when no internet service is available is highly frustrating! Since most all mobile internet plans have pretty stiff limitations on their unlimited plans, even if you have service you will likely run out of service long before the month is over if that's your main source of TV programming. We are currently in PA spending the night with ZERO OTA channels available. We are very happy with our DTV service and we will be able to use our "unlimited" data to make this post.

I have been full time with DTV since 2010 and it continues to work well. I originally had a residential account and converted it to an RV account when I went full time. I use a tripod/slimline dish and can set it up and aim in minutes (practice makes perfect). No high $$$ signal meter either. I use the meter built into my DTV receiver and a wireless baby monitor when out at the dish. Takes minutes and I'm good to go. I do have DNS which has been a bit spotty recently especially with ABC, but overall I'm happy with DTV. Is it as good as it was prior to AT&T - definitely not.

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:

propchef wrote:

and some plans allow completely unlimited streaming of Netflix or other service.

We have similar plans. When we can get high signal levels, we can stream some things. Never been able to stream a full movie. Even the few times we have been able to get 5G (we have 5G hotspots for AT&T which is never throttled, and Verizon, which is throttled after 50GB per month.

The problem is not the plan, but cell tower access, strength.

We noticed a significant decline this past April and May which we learned was due to all of the children moving to remote classes from home. We also learned the carriers were working to program their services to give those kids priority to bandwidth.

Personally, I think that was a good move, though I would have liked some official notice. Maybe even a small drop in my monthly cost.

Many places we can see 4 bars of 4G LTE, and even a web site like this one barely crawls. But at other times, like 2 am, it is blazing fast.

Frankly, my opinion is that the carriers simply do not have enough towers, cells and other infrastructure such as the microwave or land lines from the towers to the central switches to support the usage people want.

I do miss the fiber-optic bandwidth and speed I had in my last
B/M home. A few times we have been in a park where we could arrange a high speed modem wired link. Those were wonderful.

Park WiFi - first answer - at many parks the telco simply does not have the wired infrastructure to support a few hundred people trying to stream video. The park can have the best setup and equipment in the park, but they can't get 1000 GPM of water out of a 100 GPM sized pipe.

Content providers are always pushing up their bandwidth demands, and they are always ahead of the infrastructure capability in my experience.

Really great answer and addresses many of my questions. Thank you for typing that out!

propchef wrote:

and some plans allow completely unlimited streaming of Netflix or other service.

We have similar plans. When we can get high signal levels, we can stream some things. Never been able to stream a full movie. Even the few times we have been able to get 5G (we have 5G hotspots for AT&T which is never throttled, and Verizon, which is throttled after 50GB per month.

The problem is not the plan, but cell tower access, strength.

We noticed a significant decline this past April and May which we learned was due to all of the children moving to remote classes from home. We also learned the carriers were working to program their services to give those kids priority to bandwidth.

Personally, I think that was a good move, though I would have liked some official notice. Maybe even a small drop in my monthly cost.

Many places we can see 4 bars of 4G LTE, and even a web site like this one barely crawls. But at other times, like 2 am, it is blazing fast.

Frankly, my opinion is that the carriers simply do not have enough towers, cells and other infrastructure such as the microwave or land lines from the towers to the central switches to support the usage people want.

I do miss the fiber-optic bandwidth and speed I had in my last
B/M home. A few times we have been in a park where we could arrange a high speed modem wired link. Those were wonderful.

Park WiFi - first answer - at many parks the telco simply does not have the wired infrastructure to support a few hundred people trying to stream video. The park can have the best setup and equipment in the park, but they can't get 1000 GPM of water out of a 100 GPM sized pipe.

Content providers are always pushing up their bandwidth demands, and they are always ahead of the infrastructure capability in my experience.

2oldman wrote:

propchef wrote:
Does everyone have TV (Dish, DirecTv) separately from their internet service? If yes, why?

Not sure I understand... DTV doesn't offer internet service.

Correct, although they used to and the latency was brutal.

As someone getting into this lifestyle, connectivity is one of my questions. To me it didn't seem to make sense to pay for two separate services when there are a number of good internet providers that deliver services like Roku, Hulu, and YouTubeTv. DirecTV seems superfluous.

We have an over-55 unlimited plan and can usually stream HD with no problems, and some plans allow completely unlimited streaming of Netflix or other service.

rhagfo wrote:


So you full time with Direct TV, do you own or lease your equipment? Do you have the option of canceling your service for a period of time without cost, if you are in a location where you can’t get service due to trees or hills.

Trees and hills - that's why we have 150' of cable. And we have used that much at times to get a signal during baseball season!

Direct TV you rent the equipment. Direct doesn't have the option for suspending for a few months, but if you are full timing why would you?

Do you understand that full-timing means you don't live in a house, you get your internet via MiFis with data plans that usually limit you to 25-30 G per month and more and more people have at least 2 data plans, one from AT&T and one from Verizon to cover them when they travel. This is in addition to whatever they have for the phones.

propchef wrote:
Does everyone have TV (Dish, DirecTv) separately from their internet service? If yes, why?

Not sure I understand... DTV doesn't offer internet service.

Bill.Satellite wrote:

propchef wrote:
Question from a n00b.

Does everyone have TV (Dish, DirecTv) separately from their internet service? If yes, why?

When ATT bought DirecTv service went downhill overnight and we dumped them after more than 15 years. We switched to Roku (not recommended) and finally YouTubeTV which is internet based and has more channels with a lower cost than either DTV or Dish, and has all of your local stations as well.

$.02

Being mobile (considering this is an RV forum) watching TV via internet when no internet service is available is highly frustrating! Since most all mobile internet plans have pretty stiff limitations on their unlimited plans, even if you have service you will likely run out of service long before the month is over if that's your main source of TV programming. We are currently in PA spending the night with ZERO OTA channels available. We are very happy with our DTV service and we will be able to use our "unlimited" data to make this post.

So you full time with Direct TV, do you own or lease your equipment? Do you have the option of canceling your service for a period of time without cost, if you are in a location where you can’t get service due to trees or hills.

propchef wrote:
Question from a n00b.

Does everyone have TV (Dish, DirecTv) separately from their internet service? If yes, why?

When ATT bought DirecTv service went downhill overnight and we dumped them after more than 15 years. We switched to Roku (not recommended) and finally YouTubeTV which is internet based and has more channels with a lower cost than either DTV or Dish, and has all of your local stations as well.

$.02

Being mobile (considering this is an RV forum) watching TV via internet when no internet service is available is highly frustrating! Since most all mobile internet plans have pretty stiff limitations on their unlimited plans, even if you have service you will likely run out of service long before the month is over if that's your main source of TV programming. We are currently in PA spending the night with ZERO OTA channels available. We are very happy with our DTV service and we will be able to use our "unlimited" data to make this post.