I have been using DishNetwork for last 8 years. Overall, the quality is pretty good. I started subscribing HD channels about 3 years ago. HD is a must (with a HD TV) now. The location of TV dish may have something to do with the downtime. Three years ago, my dish was on the roof ridge, wind and heavy rain caused more downtime. Now I have the dishes installed on the ground back to a wall, it seems working very well. (However, I do not watch TV during the sever thurnder storms.) Local HD channels work very well - no traffic jam time at all. However, I do not have a lot of "good" to say on the phone calls (total about 5 times) to their severvice representatives - long waiting time, not very friendly attitude. There was one time when I called the service to diagnose and fix a problem, a guy answered my call and he solved my problem pretty smoothly (it took a while, but very nice). Another complain I have on DishNetwork is pretty expensive. I have to pay about $95/month (a 200-channel package with HD channels, 1 DVR, 1 DV). Anybody got a better deal?