Dish, DirecTV, or Bresnan... (Helena)

[CelticCat]

I see there was a thread about this a few years ago, but I thought I'd start one again.

First of all, I hate Helena for internet. You have Bresnan or Qwest, and both are pitifully slow. You can have 3 Mbps Qwest DSL that runs about 2.3 Mbps, or Qwest 8 Mbps which runs about 4.5 Mbps if you are lucky. Bresnan is just too expensive for the slow unreliable internet they provide.

I am moving in a few weeks, and am decided between the three providers, but honestly would prefer not to use Bresnan again unless Dish & Direct are just that much worse.

What is everyone's opinion, particular those in Helena? Which is best for viewing the Cats, or does that matter (never had satellite, I know it used to be a problem getting local channels, right?). Which is best for HD? I see you can bundle Qwest DSL with Dish, not sure about Direct.

I've been fairly happy with Bresnan cable, but their internet is disappointingly slow for 8 Mbps (I even paid a month for their supercharged 15 Mbps, which only added about 2 Mbps and did not change my latency or ping at all).

[RMD]

I have Dish Network and they have all of the local channels included.

[cats2506]

I have Dish Network and they have all of the local channels included.

Same here, have gotten all the Cat games for the last 3 years at least, Include the Sports Pak, and has a good DVR.

I dont get the CW chan though. I'm not in Helena either

[Old Skool Cat]

I have Dish Network and have never had any conflicts receiving Cat games!

[whitetrashgriz]

i admit i always talk up directv! although i was dissapointed that i couldn't watch the cat game last weekend it should be the only one i won't get all year. i don't know how into the other sports you re but for me that is what sets directv apart from all the rest. i get the baseball package every spring, (think you can get those with cable and dishnetwork too) in march i get the march madness package every year, and best of all every fall i get the nfl sunday ticket. i admit i like the nfl more than anything so to me this is the biggest reason to get directv as they still have a monopoly on the nfl market! as far as i was concerned they are all good, they all offer a lot of movies and hd options, but the countless sports packages are what set it apart. i have also found i've saved a lot of money in the long run not having to go to a bar to watch every big sporting event i wanna see.

[CelticCat]

WTG: so you can get local channels?

[Cat Grad]

I see there was a thread about this a few years ago, but I thought I'd start one again.

First of all, I hate Helena for internet. You have Bresnan or Qwest, and both are pitifully slow. You can have 3 Mbps Qwest DSL that runs about 2.3 Mbps, or Qwest 8 Mbps which runs about 4.5 Mbps if you are lucky. Bresnan is just too expensive for the slow unreliable internet they provide.

I am moving in a few weeks, and am decided between the three providers, but honestly would prefer not to use Bresnan again unless Dish & Direct are just that much worse.

What is everyone's opinion, particular those in Helena? Which is best for viewing the Cats, or does that matter (never had satellite, I know it used to be a problem getting local channels, right?). Which is best for HD? I see you can bundle Qwest DSL with Dish, not sure about Direct.

I've been fairly happy with Bresnan cable, but their internet is disappointingly slow for 8 Mbps (I even paid a month for their supercharged 15 Mbps, which only added about 2 Mbps and did not change my latency or ping at all).

I will never use bresnan again. ever. I'll use dish and get the games I want, including the Cats, in one of the packages. Suffice it to say, I literally hate bresnan.

[whitetrashgriz]

WTG: so you can get local channels?

oh ya. 6 is nbc, 7 is cbs i believe, 9 is pbs, 14 is cw, (though i don't know why you would ever watch that god-awful channel) 18 is abc, 19 is fox, and i don't know what all the rest are up till 100. all the hundreds are paperview. 200's through 300's are your regular hd programs. 400's are garbage...foreign channels or something. 500's are your movie channels and porn. 600's are all your sport channels. 700's are all your sports packages and pay-per-view stuff. and 800's are all the music channels! and no i don't work for them or anything! just always been a directv guy and always though the only thing holding them back was not having local channels. now they fixed that. i watch the local news every night as well as the butte and billings news stations. highly recommend it...

[Cat Grad]

WTG: so you can get local channels?

oh ya. 6 is nbc, 7 is cbs i believe, 9 is pbs, 14 is cw, (though i don't know why you would ever watch that god-awful channel) 18 is abc, 19 is fox, and i don't know what all the rest are up till 100. all the hundreds are paperview. 200's through 300's are your regular hd programs. 400's are garbage...foreign channels or something. 500's are your movie channels and porn. 600's are all your sport channels. 700's are all your sports packages and pay-per-view stuff. and 800's are all the music channels! and no i don't work for them or anything! just always been a directv guy and always though the only thing holding them back was not having local channels. now they fixed that. i watch the local news every night as well as the butte and billings news stations. highly recommend it...

Do you have a price comparison with dish? I'm really happy with my package but my wife says I have to be the cheapest human she's ever met. Guess she hasn't met the other Georgia-Montana couples from the Southerners BBQ in the Flathead.

[whitetrashgriz]

Do you have a price comparison with dish? I'm really happy with my package but my wife says I have to be the cheapest human she's ever met. Guess she hasn't met the other Georgia-Montana couples from the Southerners BBQ in the Flathead.

you know i have never compared the two. like i said i bet there are great things about all of them although i agree with you about bresnan...they are awful. my parents have dish and they are very happy with it. and to be honest, i couldn't even tell you what our basic monthly bill is because i always have payments on them from one of my sports packages. i started with march madness last spring, then bought the baseball package, then a few pay-per-view boxing matches, and now the nfl sunday ticket which is my favorite of all. completely guessing i'd say our monthy bill if i wasn't always getting these packages would be about 80-90 a month. but that includes some movie packages that my wife wanted.

[Cat Grad]

I highly recommend dish simply because they provide coverage of games we want to see in their alternative packages. Without extra cost. And again, I hated bresnan.

[Cat Grad]

we get out bundle (dish, phone, internet) for less than 120 per month. Brats have to have disney and I need my various and assorted sports. Even get WGN so I can watch the sorry arse Cubs.