Cable Television VS. Satellite Television

The decision to choose satellite TV or cable TV is one made by almost every homeowner or renter. Before you make this decision and lock into a contract, you should do some research to find out which type would be best for you and your family.

Reliability-
Cable television proves to be more reliable than satellite. If the trees are in full bloom and your satellite is pointed directly at them, chances are that you will be watching your favorite show through a few "fuzzies" or not at all. During a thunderstorm, your satellite may be affected by the strong winds and driving rain. Cable TV is not affected by much unless you are in a hurricane and your power lines are destroyed. When I had satellite, I almost never had a great signal and when I had the repairmen out to check on it- they said that the trees grew leaves and it was interfering with the signal. That was when I switched to cable and have not had a problem since.

Features-
Both cable and satellites offer many of the same options. Pay-Per-View and Premium Channels can be added to your basic package. Both types offer different types of packages, and channels. Cable is geared more towards people who just want the basics, and local channels. Satellite seems to offer more 'exotic' channels in their basic packages. Both come with a 'box' and remote. In my experience, they both offer a guide to make it easy to find certain channels, shows, or to read about the show that you are watching. This is one of my favorite features, as it makes it much easier to see what will be on for the evening hours or even a few days later without flipping through a paper TV Guide. The option to block channels from view (parental controls) is available with both types of television.

Price-
Satellite TV tends to be more expensive. This may be because they need to install not only the box, but they have to spend the time to place the satellite. You will pay for the basic packages with both types, and have the option of adding the premium channels for an additional fee. In our part of the country, we paid $55 a month for satellite TV and we pay about $45-50 for cable. In other parts of the country, the prices will vary and have a more drastic difference between them. Both companies will charge you for extra rooms to have television services, unless you can find an introductory offer for new customers will waives that fee. Both fees are approximately an additional $5 per room.

Internet-
Internet services can often be purchased with your television package. Most satellite companies will subcontract the internet service out to a company like Verizon. We had Verizon DSL which was run through a phone line. It was a cheaper service, but we were also paying for the telephone line too. With cable, we have cable internet which is contracted through a local internet company. We no longer need to pay for a phone line, so we are actually saving money in the long run. With cable, a cable modem is needed, but that may be rented from the company for a small fee. While using the DSL service, if the phone lines went down, so did our internet. It was less reliable than the cable internet we use right now. To date, we have not had a problem with our internet cutting out.

These are just a few of the main points that should be considered when purchasing a television package. There are other things to consider, which may or may not be more important to you. Do some of your own research to make an informed decision.