Why We Switched to DISH Network
A couple of months ago my family switched over to DISH Network, mainly for the ability to watch our shows when we travel with the DISH Anywhere app. We travel a lot and have been using DISH Anywhere on all of those trips. I had heard good things about DISH before switching over from our previous network, but I had no idea how awesome it really was. As we’ve adjusted to our new network, the one thing I’m quickly realizing is that DISH is all about the details. They’ve thought of everything you could ever need when it comes to watching television and movies both at home and on the go. You probably already know that DISH offers fantastic DVR service, hundreds of channels, and the ability to watch your shows anywhere you go. But did you know that their Hopper 3 also comes with a remote finder button that makes your remote beep if it’s lost? And how about that it’s automatically connected to Netflix so you don’t even have to switch inputs.
It’s About More than the DISH Network Channels
There are so many things I didn’t know about DISH before we switched and honestly, if I’d known about them beforehand, we probably would’ve switched years ago. I’m sure there are more things I still don’t know about but here’s my list of awesome things about DISH the average user probably didn’t know about.
The Convenience of DISH Network
1 – Your main Hopper 3 box and each of the Joeys (the smaller connected cable boxes) have a remote finder button. If you push the button, the remote will make noise so you can find it. I can’t even tell you how many times I’d lost our remote before this button entered my life. 2 – DISH has a built in Netflix connection so you no longer need to change your input or go to your Smart TV menu to switch over. You can access Netflix either through the apps menu or even easier, by just going to channel 370. It’s so much easier than flipping because different inputs. 3 – DISH also has a handful of other built in apps like The Weather Channel, Game Finder, and Pandora. Find an upcoming game, check today’s weather, or stream music right from your TV. 4 – You can connect your mobile device to your TV to use your mobile device as your TV remote instead of the actual remote. Not that you’d need to since you’ll never lose your remote again, but it’s a fun option.
Personalize Your DISH Network Experience
6 – You can customize your channel guide to only show channels that are HD, channels you subscribe to, and channels you approve of (e..g, no mature content). No more wasting time scrolling through channels you’ll never watch. 7 – You can also customize how the channel guide works and displays. Increase the size of the text for smaller TVs that are far away, change the sort order from high to low, and even change the design. 8 – You can create favorite channel lists (e.g., family channels) and then use those favorite channel lists to customize the guide. For instance, I created a favorite list called Kids that only has kids channels. When we’re trying to find something for my son to watch, I pull up the kids version of the guide and can find something without scrolling through the hundreds of channels. 9 – There’s a home page that displays options customized to your preferences and recent activity, and it updates regularly as you change your activity. It’s a simple way to find your favorites rather than having to scroll through all of your recordings. 10 – You can create personalized DVR folders (e.g., movies, Britni) and then have recorded shows go directly into those folders. Then when you are ready to watch something, just open up the folder and choose away. 11 – You can set up parental rights by each individual box. For instance, if you want to restrict the TV in your kids’ playroom to not show anything above PG movies or to hide mature channels but leave those open in the master bedroom, you can do that. You can also restrict movies based on a movie rating so no one can accidentally click into something they shouldn’t be watching.
Recording Shows on Your Favorite DISH Network Channels
12 – You can pause a recorded show in one room and watch it in another room without having to start over or miss a minute. 13 – If you trash a recorded show, you can restore it again from the trash tab unless it gets permanently deleted. 14 – DISH comes with PrimeTime Anytime recording that automatically records all prime time shows on a handful of networks. You can choose to customize which channels are recorded, but they record all on their own unless you choose not to. This is in addition to the shows you actually set up to record. 15 – Some of the PrimeTime Anytime shows have the option for an Autohop that will allow you to totally skip commercials. When the show gets to a commercial, it automatically hops right to the next part of the actual show. 16 – You can transfer recorded shows from your Hopper or Joey to an external hard drive if you run out of space and don’t want to get rid of recorded shows. This allows you to essentially double your recording space if you need it.
Watching Live TV with DISH Network
17 – DISH has an entire section dedicated to sports —> games today, games coming up later tonight, search by individual sports teams. Or just head to the Game Finder app to search for whatever game you’re looking for and find it quickly. Sign up today and receive DISH’s Multi-Sport Pack for free! This includes NFL Redzone and College Football. 18 – You can watch up to four different shows at the same time with the Hopper 3 multi view option just like at your favorite sports grill. Perfect for watching multiple competitions or games at once or letting your kids watch their favorite kids’ show while you keep up with the game. 19 – Skip through commercials quickly by using quick skip to skip ahead 30 seconds or hold it down to fast forward or rewind at high speeds. Or hit pause on your show and finish watching it in another room right from where you left off. 20 – Click the activity viewing option to see what is currently being recorded or watched live on all of your TVs. Join someone else’s session to synch up right to where they are at in a show. This would be great to start watching shows in separate rooms then finish together! 21 – Use the recall button on the remote to hop back to up to six previous locations, not just the one that’s typical of a back button. Perfect if you were watching something before and can’t remember the channel.
Watching TV On The Go with DISH Anywhere
22 – I wrote an entire post about using the DISH Anywhere App and HopperGo to watch TV while you travel, so I won’t go into this in more depth in this post. But DISH is the best I’ve seen with being able to schedule, watch, and manage your shows from anywhere through their app. It’s seriously awesome.
Find New Shows to Watch with DISH Network
23 – The DISH search function allows you to search not only from any of your subscribed DISH channels but also movies and even Netflix. You can search by title, keyword, and more. Love a particular actor? Search his name in the search box and see anything available with him in it as well as related shows. Or even just type in the first few letters and the search box will start suggesting what they think you’re searching for or popular search results that fit. 24 – You can use the search screen to find out what’s trending that other people are currently searching for. Try this before you even search to find new shows to watch you might not know you’re missing out on! 25 – Trending search isn’t the only place to find new shows to watch. On the home page there’s also a trending now section that shows you what people are watching right now, what’s the most popular, and shows you can click over to watch live. 26 – Also on the home screen there is a section of season and series premieres that are coming up. New TV season starting soon? Read the info for each of the shows to figure out which ones you want to record. Or just record directly from that screen.
Have an At-Home Movie Night with DISH Network
27 – DISH offers hundreds of free and paid movies you can rent immediately through the DISH Network. Just use the search function to find what you’re looking for then either rent immediately or watch for free. 28 – If you’re not sure what to watch, search for a movie then check out that movie’s info page. The page comes with info about the movies, trailers, Rotten Tomatoes scores, and even Common Sense Media family guides. No need to research movies elsewhere before watching, you can do it all right on DISH. 29 – With premium channels like HBO and STARZ, you can watch newly released movies live, record them, or play them on demand. It’s the perfect way to check out any new movies you didn’t get to in the theater on your own timetable!
How to Sign Up for DISH Network
After switching to DISH Network and having access to all of these features, I’m not sure I could ever go back again. I didn’t even know I needed some of these things until I had them, and they’re seriously amazing.
