If you read a lot of random web pages (including this one) you’ll get the overall impression that homes are less affordable for the average person than in any time since the early 1980s. In other words, if you’re the average age for a new homeowner, homes are less affordable than any time in your life. But then, you probably didn’t need me to tell you that. You don’t even need a chart to tell you that. You’ve lived it.
That’s why you’re probably in an apartment, or thinking about going to an apartment. Rents are no thrill either, but they do carry the benefit of not needing a down payment in the high five figures. Apartment life has its benefits. You don’t have to worry about doing your own repairs, and lots of times there’s competition which makes every apartment complex better.
If you’re thinking of moving, you might be thinking about changing the way you watch live TV. And here’s the article that will help you make a decision as to what to do next.
Live TV? Really? Isn’t that a dead subject?
It’s been about a decade since I first started hearing that sad old trope about live TV being unnecessary. We’ll stream everything on demand, they say. Broadcast TV is irrelevant, they say. Here’s the funny thing: live TV is still strong, and it’s not just the boomers that are keeping it strong.
Yes, if you were born between 1945 and 1980, you’re a boomer or GenXer. Television has been your constant companion your whole life. It was your babysitter, your window onto the world, and the way you learned your important lessons. A lifetime lived in front of the TV has made you loyal. These are the people who still watch a lot of live TV, and these are the people who inspire all those drug commercials.
If you were born later than 1980, though, you are just as beholden to the internet as you are to TV, perhaps even more so. You might have asked yourself if live TV is another thing like land lines that just needs to go quietly into the night.
Live TV is here to stay and Pluto just isn’t enough
Live TV is more than just one way to get your information. It is a mindset. If you find yourself mindlessly scrolling your socials but still not getting enough relaxation out of it, try live TV. In the world in which we live, there’s absolutely a need for something where you can simply sit there and be fed pleasant stories at a slow pace. That’s what live TV does. Live TV doesn’t pressure you to keep scrolling. It doesn’t change subjects every 20 seconds. It doesn’t grab you by the throat and demand that you watch. Live TV resets the pace of your life.
You might have experienced some of this effect if you watch a FAST (free, ad-supported TV) service like Pluto. Sometimes it’s nice to put it on and watch a few episodes of Happy Days one after another. But sometimes that’s not enough. This kind of service has its place, but it’s still rooted in quick, casual watching. Pluto separates its “channels” so that every channel has one or two programs on it. That’s great but sometimes you don’t want to binge. Sometimes you just want to be taken on a nice long journey with different stops. That’s where traditional live TV comes in.
But let’s pretend for a minute that you’re already convinced.
If you weren’t convinced that you need live TV, you probably wouldn’t have found this article. So let’s move on and talk about the two ways you can get live TV that might satisfy you. I’m going to skip traditional cable TV since it seems like those companies are giving up on live TV just like they gave up on landlines. Satellite TV seems to be the service that will rule in the future, so let’s compare that with internet-based live TV.
The pluses and minuses of satellite TV
Satellite TV’s big benefit is that it never slows down no matter how many people are using it. If you’ve lived in an apartment before, you know that the internet can get pretty pokey some times of the day. When everyone’s trying to stream, ironically no one can stream pretty well.
With satellite TV you get 99.9% uptime with no buffering ever. You get hundreds of channels of live TV and a physical DVR that stores your stuff so that you don’t need to go to the internet and get it. As long as you have power and the weather isn’t utterly awful, you’ll get satellite TV, period.
On the other hand, the big issue with satellite TV for apartments is that the apartment management needs to get involved. There are great programs for apartment managers to keep people from drilling too many holes in the walls, and there are even cables that can fish through window frames — while the window is closed! So yes that can be a challenge but it’s not an impossible one.
The pluses and minuses of live streaming TV
Both DIRECTV and DISH have live TV streaming services. DIRECTV’s is called (confusingly enough) DIRECTV. DISH’s is called Sling. Both offer a very traditional live TV experience, with the video coming through the internet. DIRECTV’s solution even offers a boomer-friendly remote with big number buttons.
The appeal here to younger folks is just as strong. With cloud DVR service you can watch your recordings anywhere. DIRECTV has some ability to do this with their satellite service, but with their internet service it really works seamlessly. It’s a lot easier to take the service with you if you move, and you don’t have to get the apartment manager involved. It just uses your normal internet.
The obvious downside, though, is the internet. If your internet isn’t perfect, you could lose quality or lose signal altogether. Supplying internet to 100 apartments through one fiber strand is a pretty tough thing to do, and not every company does it well. You may have no control over what your internet speed is, and that could make your live TV watching pretty stressful.
Which to choose and how to get what you need
The choice is going to depend on how comfortable you are thinking you’ll have consistent internet, and how accommodating the apartment management is going to be to satellite. The manager can’t stop you, but they can make it hard if they want. And if your internet isn’t good, streaming will just be no fun.
However, once the choice is made, the next step is simple. You don’t have to follow a long Google trail to find what you need. Call the experts at Signal Connect. We’re both DIRECTV and DISH dealers. We can help you sign up for internet or satellite, and we can talk about the benefits of both. You don’t need to have competing chat windows open for four different choices. We’ll give you all the information you need. Call us at 888-233-7563, fill out the form below, or if you’re a live chatter, use the chat button at the bottom right of this page. We’ll make it easy, no matter what you choose!
