A Reality Check on Satellite TV with MTS: Is It Really Worth It?

I decided to hook up a satellite TV for my parents once they settled down in the countryside. They were spending less time in the city, and I wanted to make sure they didn't get bored away from home.

I researched similar offers from Tricolor, NTV Plus, and Telecard before buying the MTS dish and settling on theirs. Some were cheaper, some were pricier, but the channels were pretty much the same, so I went with the largest telecom provider, which had a more straightforward concept. It turned out that not everything that looks good works well!

If you're wondering whether to get it or not, don't bother – you'll end up watching nothing but old reruns from 20 years ago and dealing with a terrible service.

**Update:** The MTS channel package is 60% comprised of free junk that you can watch without a satellite (accounting for different time zones and other factors). The rest is old stuff from the 80s and 90s, and low-quality trash with IMDB ratings of up to 3 stars.

MTV, VH1, Discovery, History, AMC, National Geographic, Travel channel, Animal planet, FOX, FOX Life, Sony, Paramount, Disney, Nickelodeon – none of these channels are available anymore.

We stopped using it.

SAT dish self-installation:

Self-installing the satellite dish wasn't too complicated, but it wasn't as easy as I thought it'd be at first. There's an instruction manual, but I hit a bunch of unexpected bumps along the way. I was tempted to just hire a pro to do it for me, but the quoted price was twice the cost of the entire package. They wanted 3000 rubles for a standard install, but it'd cost 6000-7000 rubles in the countryside – that was a bit too much for me to swallow.

Here's what you'll need:

A phone with Android and internetThe satellite dish kitSelf-tapping screwsA drillA screwdriver

Locating the spot:

Download and install the SatFinder app from the Google Play Store. Then, select our spunit ABS-2. After a few minutes, the program will superimpose a red line on the Google Map, indicating where you need to hang the dish. There should be no obstacles like buildings or trees in the way – I had a tree nearby.

Assembly and installation:

I finally decided where to put it and headed to assemble the thing. Let's just say it wasn't a breeze (maybe I'm just getting older, or maybe the instructions are for rocket scientists). The wall mount and assembly took about an hour, and I'm pretty sure 100 grams of cognac wouldn't have gotten the job done.

After getting the cosmic wave catcher assembled, I still had to connect the antenna to the TV with a cable and set up the smart card.

Ease of use for CAM Module:

The product comes with two types of bundles: one with a plug-in, and the other with a module. Given the same price, I opted for the one without the plug-in. To me, this is more convenient because I don't need an extra power outlet, more cables, another remote control, or another dust collector. I just plug it into my TV and I'm good to go.

Setting up channels on my LG TV:

From here on out, it's a four-hour opera due to the hassle with finding a stable signal and the right position for the antenna. Before I could set up the TV channels, I had to activate the device by sending an SMS with the Chip ID code to the number +79850000890, but that didn't work for me.

There's an alternative: on the product's website, you can fill out a form with your details, and after an hour, you'll receive a confirmation message. Here's the link

Setting up the TV by hand wasn't necessary – the 2019 model already had automatic settings for MTS. I started the channel search and found around 300 channels, but the signal was zero. I spent a few hours outdoors, rotating the antenna in all directions, until I found a weak signal of about 20%. After changing each position, it took 3-5 minutes to update the data and display it on the TV. I found the optimal position with a quality reception of 96% when it got dark. Success!

TV CHANNELS IN THE BASIC PACKAGE: what's the deal with that?

I found a hundred more channels than what was announced, but then I realized that most of them have 4-6 dubs in different time zones, and varying quality. There was a ton of this junk among the free federal channels, which broadcast everywhere in the country anyway. I spent another hour sorting through and deleting the dubs, and the programs I wasn't interested in, and in the end, the list was reduced to 90.

The main package of channels doesn't offer anything worthwhile. There are plenty of regional, religious, political, fashion, sports, and music channels, as well as TV shopping channels with blatant nonsense. I was not impressed.

I was only really interested in National Geographic, FOX, and FOX Life. The Amedia channels with current series are paid separately for 200 rubles a month, the music channels are all the same, and there's no VH1, MTV Rocks, MTV Dance, MTV Hits, Sony, NTV, or BBC.

IMAGE QUALITY:

Good picture quality is my top priority when it comes to TV. As it turned out later, it's only available for a small list of channels (no more than 30), and it's not even the most interesting content. The rest have mediocre images, stretched on a 43-inch full HD screen like soap, with clear square details due to low resolution. This was a major letdown, as I couldn't assess the TV's quality before buying.

MTS SUPPORT: A Frustrating Experience

I've had my fair share of dealing with MTS customer support, and let me tell you, it's been a wild ride. The first time I had to call them was when my TV suddenly stopped working. I was getting an error message on the screen, and I had no idea what was going on.

Phone Support:

It took me over 30 minutes to find the phone number for MTS customer support. They have an automated system that asks you to choose from a list of options, but there's no clear way to connect with a live operator. I had to call their call center and wait for 15-20 minutes to be connected with a support representative. And then, I had to wait another 10-15 minutes to get my issue resolved.

MTS Promotion: A Bait and Switch?

When I was purchasing the TV, I was given a brochure with a promotion that promised to refund 3990 rubles to my account. The sales representative explained that I would get 50% off my subscription fee after I accumulated enough points. I thought it was a great deal, and it influenced my decision to choose MTS.

However, after a month of using the TV, I realized that the promotion was just a scam. The points I earned couldn't be used to get a full refund, and I could only use a fraction of them. It was a bait and switch tactic, and I felt like I'd been misled.

Want a discount? Good luck! You'll have to navigate through a maze of instructions and fine print to get it. And even then, there's no guarantee that you'll get it. It's like they're trying to make it as difficult as possible for you to get a refund.

But the worst part is that MTS doesn't even provide clear instructions on how to use the points or activate the promotion. It's like they're hiding the information from you on purpose.

No Competence and No Accountability:

My first phone call. I called the customer support again to clarify things, and I finally got through. The operator told me that I need to pay 250 rubles for the first month and activate my discount in my personal account. Mine's always on the 4th of the month. Done.

My second call. Two weeks later, my bonus was deducted, but the money was still there. A girl kindly explained that the free first month wasn't deducted, but my bonus was. Whoa! First time I got misinformed, and the free month magically appeared, but my bonus was gone.

Then, from the other end of the line, I found out that I need to put money on my account only on the 4th of the month and activate the discount manually each month. I did it the next time, but first, they deducted the money to zero, and then I couldn't choose the discount.

My third call. I left a complaint about the operator who misled me, asked why my bonus was deducted during the free period, and asked them to make the discount. A week later, I got an SMS response: "the operator's actions are correct, read the MTS BONUS program conditions and the link". The link leads to the program info, but the description of its mechanics is missing.

My fourth call. The operator continued to repeat the same incorrect sequence of actions to get this discount. I was fed up and hung up.

I cooled down, tried my scheme. First, I activated the discount on the day of the payment, then put the money. This variant worked, but my TV stopped working for a day. Another call to support, where they assured me that there were no issues.

Next day, after a half-hour battle with this deaf wall on both ears, the girl finally said: "okay! I'll reload the settings" and hung up. Victory! A few minutes later, my TV was working again. In general, communication with the operators is pointless - no one listens to the question, no one answers it. It's like talking to yourself. You ask a specific question, and they just keep talking about the weather.

My first encounter with such messed-up marketing on the verge of scamming. A brick in their loyalty garden.

Drawbacks:

My experience with this product has been underwhelming. The quality of content just isn't worth paying for. I've had to constantly reconfigure settings, only for MTS to disable certain channels and replace them with a black screen and "Channel encrypted" message. This has happened around 10 times over the past year. Recently, the provider cut back on the original channel lineup, forcing me to pay extra for the best ones. Their response? "We're entitled to make changes." What a joke!

Summary:

I've had zero satisfaction with the service, there's nothing worth watching, and choosing my own channels isn't an option. I'd recommend cutting back to just 5 channels and paying extra for the sixth. I haven't watched TV in over 15 years, and this experience has only reaffirmed my decision to avoid it. The idea of a digital future is a cruel joke.

I don't see the value in paying for this service. There's no modern, high-quality content that interests me or my family. No independent news, no decent shows. Just reruns from 20 years ago, local low-quality singers, and free TV with annoying ads for hemorrhoid cream and headache tablets.

My parents share my disappointment, and online streaming services have only added to their appeal.

This has been another headache. I wouldn't recommend it.

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