You’ll get sports channels, popular programming, and one of the best DVRs in the traditional TV industry (the Hopper) — and DISH manages to do so at a reasonable price compared to the competition. With DISH, you also have the option to sign a contract for a lower monthly bill if you’re looking to save money for that Bahamas vacation, or go contract free if you’re not the committal type. We really like DISH’s America’s Top 200 package, which gives you, and the family, lots to watch with a balance of sports and entertainment. But with DISH, price hikes aren’t a thing. Phew. You’ll have the same monthly price throughout your contract (or no contract) with DISH, unlike other satellite providers (cough DIRECTV). So you’ll save money in the long run. To find out what truly sets each DISH channel package apart, you’ll want to take a quick look at the full channel lineup, or check out our sneak peek section a little further down. Signing for a two-year term will save you $10–15 per month, which adds up to $240–$360 over the length of the contract. Big money! DISH does give you the option to live without a contract so you have the freedom to cancel your service anytime. If you’re not into that long-term commitment, you’ll just have to pay that $10–$15 more month to month. Compared to DIRECTV and Xfinity TV, DISH doesn’t charge a regional sports fee or a high-priced broadcast fee. DISH does charge a $12 fee for access to ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, but you can opt out of it if you don’t care for your local channels. DISH’s installation team will mount your satellite dish and set up your DVR system free of charge for up to six rooms. You can just sit back and let the DISH team do the hard work. And if you want out of your contract early, we suggest checking out our guide on how to avoid cancellation fees. If you were to compare DIRECTV’s CHOICE package and DISH’s America’s Top 120 plan, both have 190–200 channels. DISH charges $79.99/mo. and DIRECTV is about $5 more expensive at $84.99/mo. for the first two years of service. After your second year of service, DIRECTV’s prices will increase (depending on when you buy the service, so we urge you to read the package details on DIRECTV’s site). But if you’re a TV fan and want 340+ channels and NFL SUNDAY TICKET, DIRECTV is the service for you. Check out our list and find the option for you:
America’s Top 120: This is perfect for families who want a variety of popular channels everyone in the house will enjoy. You’ll find channels such as CNN, Disney Channel, HGTV, Food Network, and Lifetime. America’s Top 120+: If you want eight more sports channels, this package will give you NFL Network, PAC-12 Network, and the SEC Network. If you’re an avid sports fan, it’ll be worth the extra $15 per month. America’s Top 200: America’s Top 120+ is perfect for the college sports fans, but if you’re professional sports fan, you need this package. You’ll get CBS Sports Network, Golf Channel, MLB Network, NBA TV, and NHL Network. America’s Top 250: Alright, movie lovers. Here’s your package. Have a movie night with FX Movie Channel, MoviePlex, MGM+ Drive-In, STARZ Encore, STARZ Encore Action, STARZ Encore Family, and The Movie Channel.
Want to see a list of channels? Just scroll down a little. You get to choose from the following internet connections: broadband/wired, fiber, and satellite. If you’d like to dig into more details, check out our review on Frontier and Viasat. Here’s a breakdown of why you might want one type of internet connection over the other:
Frontier’s broadband: This internet connection is ideal for one or maybe two users in the house. Although, this plan isn’t ideal for those who work from home, game, or stream a lot. Frontier Fiber Internet: We like Frontier’s Fiber Internet because you and your family won’t have to worry about the internet slowing down when you have a family of five using the internet. We also like that it’s only $50 per month when you bundle, because normally it’s $75 per month alone. Viasat Satellite: Satellite internet is available nationwide and is great for homes that don’t have access to broadband internet. Download speeds of 100 Mbps is enough for working from home and streaming movies.
You’ll get the best variety of channels to entertain everyone in the family, along with fast download speeds for uninterrupted streaming and a smooth work-from-home internet connection. You can learn more about DISH deals here. But make sure to double-check the DISH channel lineup and make sure all of your favorite channels are in the package you’re considering. But whether you’re a sport, lifestyle, Hallmark, reality, or general entertainment fan, you should find basically everything you need with DISH. And there’s a bonus: as a new customer with DISH, you’ll get a free 3-month subscription to SHOWTIME, MGM+, Starz, Starz Encore, and DISH Movie Pack (15 movie channels, including Sony Movie Channel and MGM HD). But don’t forget, when your three months are up, make sure you cancel your subscription before you get charged $30 (if you don’t want to keep the bundle, of course). You’ll get a few niche sports channels with America’s Top 250 package, so take the plunge if you like outdoor sports and want all of the extra movie channels for more entertainment.
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DISH also offers MLB Extra Innings, which gives you all MLB games straight to your TV for the regular season. DISH serves up on-demand content in a similar fashion to Netflix. You can enjoy 80,000 movies and TV shows when you get America’s Top 120+ or higher. Let’s put those 500 recording hours in context—it would take 114 hours to watch all nine seasons of Suits. It would take about 100 hours to watch The Office from start to finish. It takes 1,320 hours to watch all five decades of Saturday Night Live. In other words, you’ll have time to record basically everything, and it will take you a long, long time to run out of space. We like the Hopper’s DVR storage space, and we like that it only costs $10 per month. And we really like that any TV package includes DISH Network’s new Hopper Plus. And if you want to add any additional TVs a la carte, it’ll cost an extra $5–$10 a month. For every extra TV you have in your house, you’ll want to get a Joey to connect it to your DVR. It’ll cost you an extra $5 to $10 per month per Joey. But is it worth it to help your family stop fighting over a single DVR? Yes. Yes, it is. The Hopper 3 allows you to enable six Joeys of any kind and can support up to seven TVs. You can add Joeys or 4K Joeys to your system for $5 more a month or the Super Joey for $10 more a month. For example, let’s say you’re on a family trip to Disneyland, and your daughter desperately wants to meet Elsa. The only problem—it’s a three-hour wait. Fortunately, you can just watch the football game while you wait. Sure, you’re paying $100+ to wait in line, but at least you’re watching good TV. The DISH Anywhere app also lets you watch recorded content offline. There’s no need to worry about streaming with data on your phone or watching while in airplane mode. Just make sure to download your recorded content with Wi-Fi before you go out in the world. Want a more in-depth 4K comparison? Check out our review of the best TV services for 4K. Over a two-year contract, DISH usually ends up being the more affordable option out of the two major satellite TV services. DISH also offers more college sports content than DIRECTV and has the best DVR in town. If you decide to go with satellite over cable TV, DISH is a smart choice. We recommend the America’s Top 200 package for the best DISH experience since you’ll get access to lots of sports, more channels for the kids, and entertaining lifestyle channels. And we recommend bundling with Frontier Fiber Internet for an extra $30 for the simplicity of one bill for your TV and internet.
