Throughout the last years, the interest for satellite TV with telephony and Internet packages offered by DirecTV has been continuously growing. Many customers are attracted by the opportunity of getting three different services at significantly more accessible prices and paying for all of them at once.
What are the strong and weak points of these services?
When we are talking about top-quality satellite TV services, DirecTV is, definitely, one of the main players on this market.
One year ago, DirecTV was already having over 35 million subscribers, mostly in the United States, but also in many Caribbean and Latin American countries. In the US, DirecTV holds the first position among satellite broadcasters.
After providing satellite TV services for years, they decided to diversify their offer, with the “bundles” including TV, phone and Internet, establishing partnerships with many leading telecom companies (AT&T and Verizon, to name only two of the best-known).
Reviews
Of course, just like with any other product, there are lots of user reviews available on the Internet, on various dedicated websites and forums. Since real statistics lack on the actual proportion of satisfied and unsatisfied customers, caution is needed when taking into account such reviews.
Being based mainly on each one’s personal experience, they can differ greatly, even in treating the same aspect of a given service. Generally, pricing, Internet traffic speed and customer service are the main issues taken into account.
Pros
First of all, DirecTV offer various bundles that are able to cope with a wide variety of demands. There are three main ways Internet can be brought to you by DirecTV: DSL, broadband or satellite networking.
DSL connections are the most popular, giving you access to both telephony and Net, through the same cable infrastructure and at the same time. Traffic speed is impressive, and the network is reliable.
Broadband connectivity also brings high-speed Internet to your home or business. And, for places that are remote enough not to allow terrestrial-based networking, there is always the satellite option. With just a satellite dish and a modem, you get remarkable surfing, upload and download speeds.
Another great thing is that DirecTV always offers packages designed for all pockets. There is also a variety of low paid or discounted plans that make subscription very affordable.
The required hardware is minimal and extremely easy to install and use, and, so is the software. If you choose satellite Internet, you also get high portability, since the compact dish and modem are easy to move.
When talking about TV services, DirecTV is well-known for its huge array of channels. Actually, there are 3,000 channels that you can get access to, including numerous sports, movies or sitcoms channels. On top of that, you get all the advantages of satellite TV: no money spent on cables, better reception quality and fewer transmission issues.
Cons
There is no flawless technology! First of all satellite dishes need permanent mounting to work properly. You may try to use these services while traveling, but transmission issues are not uncommon in such cases.
Furthermore, a significant flaw of satellite transmission is that it is sensitive to bad weather. Storms, snow, ice, lightning or even fog may interfere with the signal, leading to bad reception. In extreme cases, you completely lose the signal. Note, however, that cable TV is not immune to severe weather either, chances for problems to appear somewhere along the network being almost just as high.
Another debatable issue is price. Integrating TV and Internet brings quite some costs, obviously. However, it is cheaper than if you do it separately: television services from DirecTV and Internet from one of the providers. The whole deal becomes even more convenient when considering the variety of discounts available.
