[mythtv-users] (US) Dump Comcast for a dish, good Mythtv decision?

[jedi]

On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 08:29:55AM -0500, Christopher Meredith wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 8:20 AM, Dave Richardson <mythtv at derdev.com> wrote:
> 
> > Since we had such a robust discussion last week about Comcast potentially
> > encrypting (and thus requiring "Boxes"), I wanted to float a question
> > about whether there's merit in dumping Comcast for a dish provider?  I
> > don't use Comcast for broadband or telephony, so it's only a content
> > viewing decision for me.
> >
> 
> So because you're upset about Comcast potentially requiring boxes, you're
> considering dumping them for a content provider that *does* require boxes?

    It seems that Comcast is determined to make it's service just as 
complicated as Dish or DirecTV. Once they do that, they lose a certain
competitive advantage. If he's going to have to go through the whole
IR blaster rigamarole then jumping to a different provider altogether is
not as big of a deal as it would be otherwise.

    I've been using IR blasters "since the dawn of time". I have used them
with landline monopolies (analog and digital) as well as Dish and DTV. I
have found the Dish boxes to be the most problematic. The older boxes that
I used had the nasty habit of "getting hung up" if you tried to tune in an
invalid channel. They would throw up a dialog box that required human 
intervention to get past.

    My setup with DTV has worked well. I have used IR blaster and serial
control (usb). Serial control is a little tricky since the boxes have to
start up in the right sequence in order for the serial control to work.
This is not a problem with IR blasters. Although I still prefer a wired
control mechanism.

    Whether or not you will like the product better when it comes to a 
sat provider is a personal thing.