Ahhh, the age old question : Satellite vs Cable ?
Which is best ?
There are those who swear that cable TV delivers better service than satellite, and those who swear that it’s the complete opposite.
Truth is, which service is best for you depends on what you need, where you live, and how much you want to spend.
If you live in a rural or remote area, your only choice is satellite TV, but city dwellers almost always have a choice of either one.
New TV Market
There has been a new emerging market for Satellite and Cable TV.
That market is the Recreation Vehicle or RV.
The owners of the RV’s face a unique situation.
Their vehicle is pre-wired for TV Service.
If they stay in RV Parks they most often get Cable TV Provided.
Basic Cable TV that is.
Can You watch TV without Either ?
Absolutely you can watch TV without Satellite or Cable TV subscription.
There are many options but all will require Internet Service of some sort.
Use you Smart Phone or Tablet to watch shows directly off the Net.
Be careful that you know what is happening with your data tho.
The last thing you need is to have a $300 bill for Cellular phone Data because you watched TV.
Unpaid Satellite Service
Sometimes it will be attractive to ‘Back Door’ Satellite Services using your own Hardware and online ‘Codes’ to unlock the signal.
This path highly technical and require you to put time in monthly or weekly to keep up.
Worse still it is highly illegal and all programming is covered under Trademark laws.
We strongly suggest that this is a bad choice, if you want Satellite TV then pay for it.
Free To Air Signals
Free to Air TV is a far better choice and won’t land you in jail.
Most large cities have a decent qty of channels that are freely broadcast in the city that you can watch for free.
What do you need ?
Typically a cheap Antenna is all you need, however the better ones give better signal strength and more channels.
Make sure your antenna is in a good location, you need to try many spots before choosing the best.
Most FTA Antenna are meant for indoors, but you can install an outside one for even better signal.
Differences Between them
There are several significant differences between cable TV and satellite.
Choosing between them is almost always a case of what suits your particular situation the best.
Cable TV costs more than satellite TV for the same number of channels.
Satellite TV service is disrupted by bad weather, or even by wind blowing the dish out of alignment.
Satellite TV can offer channels from many different countries in many different languages.
Any channel that is broadcast free in any country is offered in a satellite TV channel list.
Cable TV always offers programming in other languages.
However those channels usually originate in the US, not in other countries.
Cable TV is disrupted by a power outage or a failure of the distributor’s computers, but is seldom affected in any way by the weather.
TV Service Contracts
One of the most significant differences between cable TV and satellite TV is contracts.
Cable TV providers usually offer a month-to-month service that doesn’t require the customer to sign a lengthy contract.
Satellite providers usually require the customer to sign a one or two-year contract.
Getting out of the contract is not possible.
If you decide one month in to the contract’s term that you no longer want satellite television, Ouch.
You will have to pay out the Contract to the satellite TV provider to fulfill the terms.
Satellite vs Cable : Most Important Question
Choosing between satellite and cable TV is not a matter of picture or signal quality.
It is a matter of matching your needs to the service that will best suit you.
