Cox Contour vs. DISH

The Bottom Line

Cox is all about flexibility. The build-your-own-package approach is perfect for people who don’t want to pay for a bunch of channels they’ll never watch. And since there’s no contract required, you’re free to leave whenever you like. That’s flexible.

DISH is great for people who want a lot of bang for their buck and don’t mind signing a contract. You get a good variety of channels at an excellent price, plus the best DVR in the biz. If you can handle the contract (and the dish mounted to your roof), DISH is always a safe bet.

Jump to: 

• Cox vs. DISH Side-by-Side
• Packages and Pricing
• Equipment
• Customer Experience
• The Verdict
• FAQs

Cox vs. DISH Side-by-Side

Data effective 8/3/2018. Not all offers available in all areas.

Packages and Pricing

Cox and DISH take very different approaches to packaging their channels. Let’s dive in and see what’s what.

Cox takes a pretty unique approach to packages. Instead of offering several tiers that bump up the channel count, Cox offers a single base package as a starting point. You can then choose from various TV Paks of additional channels to add to that base package. This lets you build a personalized cable package where you only pay for channels you know you’ll watch.

Check Out the Full Cox Lineup

DISH follows the standard tiered package approach. There are nice, predictable bumps in channel count and cost with each tier, and the pricing is reasonable for the number of channels you get. America’s Top 200™ is probably the best balance of content and cost, but each package represents a good value.

DISH also has a complete sports lineup, so whether you’re a fan of football, soccer, golf, or even cricket, there’s something here for you.

Check Out the Whole DISH Lineup

Equipment

The Cox Contour DVR is decent, with plenty of storage for your content. But the DISH Hopper 3 is in a league of its own. The Hopper 3 is by far the most powerful DVR on the market, with tons of storage, tons of simultaneous recording capacity, and an affordable price.

Equipment Price

Both of these DVRs are priced reasonably, but the Hopper is both cheaper and more powerful, making it the better deal. Still, $19.99 per month for the Cox Contour Record 6 isn’t bad.

Simultaneous Recordings

The Cox Contour box can handle six simultaneous recordings, which is probably enough for most people. Recording conflicts are still a possibility on busy nights, though—if you’ve got roommates with different TV preferences, you might be in trouble.

The Hopper 3 aims to solve those recording conflicts by allowing a ridiculous sixteen simultaneous recordings. If you can max out the Hopper 3, we would be seriously impressed (or concerned).

Storage

Both of these boxes have 2 TBs of storage, which makes the difference in recording capacity very interesting . . .

Recording Capacity

The Cox Contour Record 6 can fit up to 340 hours of HD content in its 2 TB of storage. That’s a lot of TV! We think most users would be just fine with this.

However, the Hopper 3 disagrees. DISH’s DVR can pack up to 500 hours of HD video in the same amount of space. For some context, there are 168 hours in a week. So, a full Hopper 3 would let you watch new content nonstop, around the clock for 2.97 weeks. No contest here.

Notable Features

For your convenience, Cox and DISH offer apps for viewing your programs on the go—Cox Contour and DISH Anywhere. DISH also packs a little something extra in the form of Alexa connectivity. Let’s dive deeper.

On-the-Go Viewing Apps

Connectivity

Customer Experience

What’s it like actually living with Cox and DISH as a TV provider? Good question—let’s look at the installation process and customer service you’ll get with these TV titans.

Cox and DISH each ranked well in our annual customer satisfaction survey, though Cox does sit a few spots above DISH.

Both Cox and DISH offer useful support sites and online chat options, and they have good reputations for customer service. No matter which you choose, you shouldn’t have many problems with your service, but if you do, we think you’re in good hands.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Cox and DISH

Time to break down the pros and cons of Cox and DISH.

Don’t Forget to Bundle with Internet

You can usually save a good bit of money getting your internet and TV service from the same provider.

For Cox, we recommend the Gold Triple Play package. This package will get you 250+ channels, 300 Mbps internet, and unlimited calling for $129.99 per month.

View Cox Bundles

DISH doesn’t directly offer its own internet service, but it does partner with local providers to offer bundles to customers. Which providers and plans are available depends on location, but common choices include Frontier and HughesNet.

View DISH Bundles

Frequently Asked Questions

Does satellite TV still suffer from interference?

Interference is technically possible in very heavy rain or snow. Most of the time, though, you shouldn’t see any problems. DISH advertises 99% signal reliability, and we think that’s about what you can expect.

Does Cox or DISH offer the cheaper price?

If the lowest price possible is your concern, DISH is the provider for you. The America’s Top 120™ package, at $64.99 per month, is cheaper than anything Cox offers, if only by a few dollars.

Is DISH really available nationwide?

If you have a clear view of the sky, you can get DISH service. The only hiccup is that you may not have many bundling options for internet in remote areas. Satellite internet is an option, but it tends to be slower and more expensive than other types of internet service.