My family and I are going to be moving soon, and we're going to have the option of having cable or satellite TV (we currently have dish network). I'm trying to figure out which option would be better...

We're going to get 2 HD-tv's when we move, so HD programing is a must. I think there are about 150 HD channels with Dish network, but how many will be available for cable?

The more TV's we can hook up, the better. Currently with Dish, we can only have 2 different programs being shown at once. I would like to have about 3 TV's that could show 3 different programs at once if possible. I know with some cable options you can just plug a TV in and watch what ever you want on it; will that work for HD cable? Otherwise, we need at least 2 different programs to be watchable at once.


With those 'requirements', which would be the better choice? I dont want to worry about pricing right now, just which option would be the best choice. We currently have standard deffintion Dish network service (on SD-TV's), and the cable provider to the area were moving to is Comcast.

Since I hardly know anything about cable TV, I want to get some answers before I decide.

I have cable and I love it. I havent had much experience with dish, but cable rocks my socks. i can have as many tvs in my house watching as many different definitions or channels of programming as i want at the same time.



something about comcast for internet you may want to know:

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Comcast has recently implemented traffic shaping measures using Sandvine hardware which sends forged TCP RST (reset) packets, disrupting multiple protocols used by peer-to-peer file sharing networks. This has prevented some Comcast users from uploading files.

On August 17, 2007, TorrentFreak reported that Comcast has been preventing bittorrent users from seeding files. In October 2007, the Associated Press confirmed the story that indicates that Comcast "actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally." In November 2007, Comcast's severe limiting of torrent applications was again confirmed by a study conducted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in which public domain literature is distributed over peer-to-peer networks. Analysis of the EFF study finds "strong evidence that Comcast is using packet-forging to disrupt peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing on their network". The studies show that Comcast effectively prevents distribution of files over peer-to-peer networks by sending a RST packet under the guise of the end user, and denying the connection, which effectively blocks the user from seeding over BitTorrent. Legal controversy arises because instead of simple filtering, Comcast is sending RST packets to Comcast customers, pretending to be the host user at the other end of the BitTorrent connection. Comcast's BitTorrent throttling was revealed to be through a partnership with Sandvine, although Comcast's internal memos instruct employees to respond to the contrary.

Now there is also evidence of Comcast using RST packets on groupware applications that have nothing to do with file sharing. Kevin Kanarski, who works as a Lotus Notes messaging engineer, noticed some strange behavior with Lotus Notes dropping emails when hooked up to a Comcast connection and has managed to verify that Comcast's reset packets are the culprit. A lawsuit, Hart v. Comcast, has been filed accusing Comcast of false advertising and other unfair trade practices for allegedly advertising unlimited high-speed internet access while in reality working to restrict their customers' usage of the internet.

In 2007, Comcast customers reported a sporadic inability to use Google because forged RST packets are interfering with HTTP access to google.com, which has further angered users.

In January 2008, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin stated that the FCC is going to investigate complaints that Comcast "actively interferes with Internet traffic as its subscribers try to share files online". During a February 2008 FCC hearing in Boston, Comcast admitted they paid people to hold seats. The company claimed it was so staffers could attend later, but opponents claimed it was to keep Comcast opponents from attending. The FCC has stated it expects to rule on the issue by June 30, 2008.

Comcast and BitTorrent agreed in late March 2008 to work together in a collaborative effort that will leave the network provider to reconfigure its network to manage traffic in a more protocol-agnostic way. Implementation was projected for late 2008.

Despite some of the apparent agreements as to peer to peer applications, Comcast continues to actively address the bandwidth use of peer to peer applications. In April of 2008, Comcast proposed a "P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" that addressed potential copyright infringement by users of peer to peer applications, but some scholars believe that this is a veiled attempt to strengthen its attempts to curb traffic instead of protecting copyrights.

We have DirecTV and imo it's better than dish. It's only about 70 bucks per month for about 500 channels. We used to have cable, but sattelite is alot better and offers more.

how much did it cost to get all the set top boxes and installation? i pay about 75 bucks a month, get all premium channels(totals around 600) and have 4 cable boxes and one hidef DVR box.

To answer the main question, cable has about 30+ HD channels right now. Time Warner is promising more than 50 by the end of the year. Up to 70 I think. I'm just happy they finally added Discovery HD. Now if only they could get Science Channel HD I would be set.

Of course the only reason I don't have satellite is because they don't have internet service. And I don't want to pay two bills.

Wow, cable only has around 30+ HD channels? Thats a bit sad...

quote axforts2212

i can have as many tvs in my house watching as many different definitions or channels of programming as i want at the same time.
[...]
have 4 cable boxes and one hidef DVR box.

Well, that's in Dallas on Time Warner. Some areas will have more others a lot less.

I currently have 44 HD channels.

With cable, to get all of the channels, you need a box for each TV otherwise you will only have basic cable. The box will let you access all the 600 channels. My cable provider is Cablevision and they have been great so far. Phone, Internet, TV, about 110 bucks a month. 15mbps down, 2mbps up, all calling features etc, premium channels etc.

To me, HD programming isnt super important. I have one HDTV, and I rarely watch in hi def as it is on it. Mainly sports programming is the most notable difference in quality from SDTV.

After looking around some more, I figured out that Dish only has around 40HD channels I think, I duno where I got the 150 from. Direct-TV climes they have 95 HD channels though, but I can only see what 65 of them are. So far it looks like that satellite is the better HD provider though. I'll talk to my dad and see what he wants to do, and I'm going to try and figure out what HD channels comcast has and compare them.

Well a few interesting links to look at are this one regarding satellite HD signals and this one regarding cable signal compression.

Thanks for those links MotVG. I've been reading through the posts, and the argument about which is better is going back and forth; cable sucks, satellite sucks, cable is better, satellite is better, ect.

I read on there that DirectTV just launched a new HD satellite and that it should come online in a few months, so that could improve HD quality from them.

I may also look into Over The Air HD and see what is offered because a few people in the first link mentioned that it was good, and with all channels going digital next year may open up some more bandwith for over the air HD channels. Does the switch from analog signals to just digital only effect over the air broadcasts, or is it also cable?

I'm going to look into Direct TV some more.