Bell Satellite TV

I had Bell satellite, but I wouldn’t get it today. I think Fibe TV is the way to go

A lot of people still use Bell / Shaw satellite as Fibe/Cable has limited reach once you get outside most major cities - I.E. People who live in rural areas.

KLegend wrote: ↑ Right now, Bell (with their satellite plans) is having a $25 promotion that includes basic channels -- what's key here though is that Bell provides the rental for the box for free (unlike other providers). I was thinking about signing up for this service, but it feels like Bell is really trying to push their Alt TV and Fibe TV services. Is there anyone still using satellite in 2019? And would you recommend it over newer options like Alt TV?

I have Bell satellite. I have the basic channels, added time shifting and a the get 10 channels for $20. I am paying less that I did before and have all the channels I need. The only sport channel I have is the Golf Channel. If the sport channels are important to you then I don't know if it would be cheaper.

Bob

bobmacgolf wrote: ↑ I have Bell satellite. I have the basic channels, added time shifting and a the get 10 channels for $20. I am paying less that I did before and have all the channels I need. The only sport channel I have is the Golf Channel. If the sport channels are important to you then I don't know if it would be cheaper.

Bob

I moved from rural to town almost a year ago and have had Bell satellite for years....always watching the price rise. So when I moved I took great joy in finally saying a few choice words to Bell and cancelled. By month 2 I was missing watching the news especially so started looking around for what limited options I had such as Cogeco and a few others. Due to the necessary equipment rental/purchase I just could not find a price that made me remotely interested. SO I did as bobmacgolf did above. I have exactly what he has done and am actually reasonably satisfied (not happy with myself going back to Bell of course) but since I still had existing equipment and my purchased house had a sat dish for Bell already setup this was easy. If you want sports then as commented that will cost.

If Bell is including the rental then I would say give it a shot.

Gee wrote: ↑ I had Bell satellite, but I wouldn’t get it today. I think Fibe TV is the way to go

One Bell satellite account across 3 homes and a cottage easier and cheaper though
Benefit of satellite is them not knowing where the actual receivers are.

lilmikey wrote: ↑ One Bell satellite account across 3 homes and a cottage easier and cheaper though
Benefit of satellite is them not knowing where the actual receivers are.

As long as you don’t plug the phone line in.

That is true. It is a great benefit to be able to split up to 5 receivers

Gee wrote: ↑ As long as you don’t plug the phone line in.

That is true. It is a great benefit to be able to split up to 5 receivers

I had Bell satellite TV a few years ago and had 4 receivers, and sometimes (about once a year) they would phone me and ask me to turn on each receiver and confirm a code, so they could make sure all receivers were at one residence, they didn't like account sharing understandably. Did they stop doing that? Back then they would only do that if you had at least 3 or 4 receivers, didn't seem to bother with people with only 2 receivers.

One advantage to having Bell satellite TV is you are using a different technology that is separate from your internet feed, so you might be able to avoid bundling TV plus internet from the same company. This could give more flexibility in getting best internet deals.

I am with Telus which bundles Telus TV (internet based) with internet, it's a good combination, but on the expensive side. I wonder if I might be better off with Bell satellite plus Shaw internet. Satellite TV is not very flexible in comparison to IP-based TV.

adams7 wrote: ↑ I had Bell satellite TV a few years ago and had 4 receivers, and sometimes (about once a year) they would phone me and ask me to turn on each receiver and confirm a code, so they could make sure all receivers were at one residence, they didn't like account sharing understandably. Did they stop doing that? Back then they would only do that if you had at least 3 or 4 receivers, didn't seem to bother with people with only 2 receivers...

I believe they stopped. It was instigated by a Rogers complaint to the CRTC that Bell was not doing enough to prevent piracy/ account splitting. The CRTC ordered Bell to do more to prevent piracy and to periodically report back on the status of their anti-piracy program

Some smart guy actually wrote a program that could calculate the code that should be displayed on any receiver in real-time.

l69norm wrote: ↑ Some smart guy actually wrote a program that could calculate the code that should be displayed on any receiver in real-time.

Where can we find this app? You will probably need the R001 number to do the calculation

@adams7

You’re referring to the Location ID. The best way to avoid that is to just say you’re not at home and call back later. If they call your house and you have a land line, just tell them you can’t get to the TV at the moment and call back

The game has changed. You can get Bell satellite and it now includes the Bell TV app which will allow an additional 5 devices to be used.

Gee wrote: ↑ Where can we find this app? You will probably need the R001 number to do the calculation..

My fav sites don’t exist anymore, I believe it was called “lidcalc”

The massive disadvantage to Fibe, Telus Optik, Shaw Cable, Roger's cable is this :

They all are a IP signal now,
ie Internet Protocol over a WIRE.
.
When you lose internet or a tree, or pole falls somewhere, or wire gets cut or damaged .

GOODBYE TV Service AND internet service

With Satellite TV be it :

Bell Satellite,
Shaw Direct,
Telus satellite.
DirecTV, or
Dish Network,
C/Ku Band FTA
OTA Antenna (buy once no fees)

All you need is electricity and you never lose HD TV.

I have 5 of the above,

Optic aka Telus version of Fibe, I've had allot of headaches, forced upgrade from high specs DSL to fibre optic line , with zero advantages, still tv drops out, endless box swaps, endless 1 hour hold times on the phone, bozo "techs" wasting hours of time at my home.

Always forced like Roger's, shaw, fibe to delete recorded content, as thier bitrate is set high , drive fills up in 4 days of modest SD recording, nvm HD & 4K 1Tb od mot enough.

Let's not forget the substandard sound quality when running Bell Satellite and Telus optik , I know because the same on Amazon Fire TV or DN has far better clearer sound, more high end and low end.

Bell satellite could fix this by simply adding. Second satellite , or a third position , with telus it's just incompetence, I've shown thier tech issues with certain Netflix having audio glitches , (repeatable ) over optic. Run samsameshow on same TV, amp via Fire TV , no issue. They just shrug.

the optic boxes run HOT and a very wide hidden wifi signal throughout your home, to the wireless boxes,

I'm.sure I don't have to mention that it doesn't play well with my countless Amazon Echo Alexa , and Google Home smart devices.

If DirecTV or DN would be official in Canada . I would simply subscribe thier satellite, and a separate internet connection from a cheap provider of internet only.

Currently the setup I have is the only way I can patchwork the channels I need. Let me say if you've not tried a FireTV Recast , you re missing out.

Speaking of Fire TV Recast and other such tech

If you find enough low cost (free) receivers for the various services, by employing various means , you can create yourself a whole home IP service on your home lLAN, (not WAN)

that's how the big guys do it, its a closed loop LAN on their private local are network, which also ports to the internet ,

[not to be confused with services that run via the internet, (one advertised by a hockey player comes to mind)]

where you can control these aspects:

Recording bitrate ,
True video frame size (4k, 1080p)
A/V Codec used
File stream size
Surround sound streams
Transmission protocol
Copy protection removed
Ads Auto removed
Choose what subtitles provider you like,
Include IMDb info
Choose your own TV EPG provider.
Access downloaded content
Recordings made by other sources windows oc)
Family pics, videos etc
Load your own suite of apps

Stores like a regular video file on a computer in latest codec. Instead of being beholden to any one company , mix all your sources, and steam to all 20-30 TV/Video capable devices in your home. And even your neighbors haha

I'm not gonna admit to having done any of that,
Lets say it's possible . That someone I see every day has done it.
As have many many others .

Running your own in house service also does not rely on a external wire , you re up and running 24x7 as long as you have AC

Fyi the OTA and Bell HD pic is very clear compared to Optic , the clearest pic is 4K HDR via Fire TV running amazon Prime video original content . The Grand Tour being one .

Good luck using anything except satellite in a RV, or Camper ,

That's where satellite shines

I just moved to the 'burbs from rural. I have: 9242, 9241, 6131x3, 6141, a couple of SW44s, dish with LNBs. Currently watching everything streaming, and thinking, "do I want to bother installing this dish?"...