Dish Network

[tsilveus]

I had a new roof put on my house. They had to take off the dish and then put it back on when they were finished. It's on the house now. No signal. Nothing. Call dish network. Long story short, they said their is nothing they can do but have a service tech come out and reinstall everything. I said ok, if that's all they can do. Been a customer for 15 years. First time they said they could come out is 9 days from today. I am not happy at all. Am I right to be this upset or is this normal?

 

[Dr.Midnight]

Dish Network is awful. My parents just had a major issue with them Saturday. They were having signal problems, so they had a tech come out to relocate the dish. Dad said he didn't want the dish attached to the house. He wanted it mounted on a pole in the yard with the cable buried. The tech said no problem. He comes outside thirty minutes later and the tech had punched holes in the siding for brackets and ran the cable along the outside of the house. Dad said WTF. He asked the guy if I didn't want a dish on the house, why in the hell would I want cable attached? He told him pack his crap and leave. They're going to cancel Dish and look elsewhere.

 

[churchmouse]

They all suck at some level. All of them.

We have Dish. It was pretty decent until they did an upgrade on the screen displays. Now it is slow as hell.

 

[dnurk]

Can you reach the dish where it is currently mounted on the roof? It’s actually pretty easy to re aim the dish if you can reach it.

you can search online for sites that will give you the exact compass direction and azimuths for your address. That will get you in the ball park to hit them. I positioned a few directTV dishes but I’m assuming DishNetwork is the same....there is a set up diagnostic in the settings for your receiver. It will emit a tone that becomes more high pitched as you get stronger and stronger signal. As I was up on the roof slightly moving the dish up/down and side to side I had a helper watch the diagnostic..kind of like playing a game of “you’re getting warmer...getting colder”.

Again, getting up to a roof mounted dish is the hard part. Actually aiming it is very easy.

 

[mkgr22]

Best way to get Dish network to do something for you is to read them the great deal you were offered by Direct TV.

And vice versa.

 

[mmpsteve]

Couldn't it be something simple like a loose or broken connection? Assuming the roofers got it even close to the same angle/position it had been, you wouldn't think you'd lose all signal?

 

[jkaetz]

Couldn't it be something simple like a loose or broken connection? Assuming the roofers got it even close to the same angle/position it had been, you wouldn't think you'd lose all signal?

Most of the TV Dishes now days look at multiple satellites and are very intolerant of minor elevation or angle changes. They pretty much need to be dead on. Step one is making sure the dish mast or pole is 100% level. Then you can set the dish rotation and azimuth. Once those are done it can be pointed at the southwest sky and slowly moved left/right until you get a signal on the receivers. From there make very minor left/right and up/down movements to find the signal peak. After that tighten the bolts to keep it from moving.

Since the OP's dish was already set at the proper azimuth and rotation, if the mast was level before and is level now, he should be able to rotate it on the mast clockwise or counterclockwise to get a signal back. That also assumes it's not something like a cabling problem.

 

[bacon#1]

I've had them the same amount of years. Customer service went to crap, they used to be great. Dropped service down to minimum package and got rid of 2 of the 3 receivers. Had to move the main unit into the living room. Hooked it up, wouldn't work. Called them to ask which wire to switch on the dish to make it work, they wouldn't help. Wanted to charge me $90 service call. Told me 5 days, nope I figured out a free solution. They will be gone when the contract runs out.

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

They all suck at some level. All of them.

We have Dish. It was pretty decent until they did an upgrade on the screen displays. Now it is slow as hell.

I had this problem as well. I had to call because we had lost signal and while on the phone they said my receiver was too outdated to handle the update. When they came to fix my problem, they switched out my receiver with a new one and it works great. Might be worth a call.

 

[mmpsteve]

I had no idea they were that sensitive. I'm still on cable, but looking at alternatives. Thanks.

Most of the TV Dishes now days look at multiple satellites and are very intolerant of minor elevation or angle changes. They pretty much need to be dead on. Step one is making sure the dish mast or pole is 100% level. Then you can set the dish rotation and azimuth. Once those are done it can be pointed at the southwest sky and slowly moved left/right until you get a signal on the receivers. From there make very minor left/right and up/down movements to find the signal peak. After that tighten the bolts to keep it from moving.

Since the OP's dish was already set at the proper azimuth and rotation, if the mast was level before and is level now, he should be able to rotate it on the mast clockwise or counterclockwise to get a signal back. That also assumes it's not something like a cabling problem.

 

[KLB]

I had no idea they were that sensitive. I'm still on cable, but looking at alternatives. Thanks.

If they are installed correctly, they are not that sensitive. Ours has been in place for 15 years with an upgrade a couple of years ago to a newer dish, and we've never had an issue with the dish.

 

[jkaetz]

If they are installed correctly, they are not that sensitive. Ours has been in place for 15 years with an upgrade a couple of years ago to a newer dish, and we've never had an issue with the dish.

Right, once lined up, they should never move and thus never have a problem. I suspect the OP's roofers just pointed it in the same general direction and it's a few degrees off.

 

[HoughMade]

I had Dish years ago, unless something has changed, not only can you get elevation and azimuth, but there is a set-up function with an audible signal to allow you to adjust the dish for signal strength, by yourself if you are close enough to hear the TV while moving the Dish, or with a friend within yelling distance. I had to do this after having the roof replaced.

[video=youtube;m0kxGeAlSHQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0kxGeAlSHQ[/video]

 

[yeahbaby]

We have been Dish customers for a while. Our new living room TV was connected up by co-axial connection. No Dish receiver near by so we could not get the HD signal on the new TV. In addition, they bumped our bill up $40 per month. Saying we ordered a sports package. Which we did not. I called could not get anywhere with the Dish rep. Waited a couple of days and the wife calls. She got our bill lowered more than it was for the original monthly price. We now pay $69 fro 120 channels. They came out and installed all new receivers, including in the living room. So now we get HD on the new TV. I'm probably hexing myself. But we have had very few problems with signals or reception. I honestly believe it's who you get ahold of with Dish. Good luck.

 

[KLB]

We have been Dish customers for a while. Our new living room TV was connected up by co-axial connection. No Dish receiver near by so we could not get the HD signal on the new TV. In addition, they bumped our bill up $40 per month. Saying we ordered a sports package. Which we did not. I called could not get anywhere with the Dish rep. Waited a couple of days and the wife calls. She got our bill lowered more than it was for the original monthly price. We now pay $69 fro 120 channels. They came out and installed all new receivers, including in the living room. So now we get HD on the new TV. I'm probably hexing myself. But we have had very few problems with signals or reception. I honestly believe it's who you get ahold of with Dish. Good luck.

That is true of most any company. I remember calling a mobile company in the late 90s. They had me so angry I hung up on the person I was talking to. I then called back to cancel my account, and the new rep actually got me to sign a new contract. I made sure to talk to the supervisor and explain what a great job that person did, while also explaining how pathetic the first one was.

 

[woowoo2]

Assuming the roofers got it even close to the same angle/position it had been, you wouldn't think you'd lose all signal?

Azimuth needs to be within two degrees.

 

[BlackGun]

Had the same issue when the roof was replaced, roofers cracked the dome on the LNB and it wouldn't work at all, called a local tech(Directv) and it was fixed the next morning. I no longer have Satellite tv or cable, digital internet based TV is the way to go. My setup is with a Roku player, 1080p no issues and it is less expensive.

 

[KLB]

Had the same issue when the roof was replaced, roofers cracked the dome on the LNB and it wouldn't work at all, called a local tech(Directv) and it was fixed the next morning. I no longer have Satellite tv or cable, digital internet based TV is the way to go. My setup is with a Roku player, 1080p no issues and it is less expensive.

Sure, if you have Internet service capable of handling that.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Sure, if you have Internet service capable of handling that.

Yeah...I dream of that day.

 

[mmpsteve]

So what is your internet source (or provider) ? It might be a silly question, I'm just not familiar with Roku. Thanks.

Had the same issue when the roof was replaced, roofers cracked the dome on the LNB and it wouldn't work at all, called a local tech(Directv) and it was fixed the next morning. I no longer have Satellite tv or cable, digital internet based TV is the way to go. My setup is with a Roku player, 1080p no issues and it is less expensive.