Dish is getting into smartphone repairs. The satellite provider has announced that beginning today, anyone in the United States can request an on-site screen fix or battery replacement, and Dish will send one of its technicians out to handle the job. For now, Dish is only repairing iPhones ranging from the 5 through the 6 Plus; older phones (and newer…

One look around YouTube reveals setups touting The Beast,Genesis and others that promise access to current movies, cable TV and more without the issue of actually paying for any of them. Sales of these boxes on places like eBay or by resellers who load the software have become so popular that some believe it was behind Amazon s UK shortage of Fire…

A black market for satellite TV is booming in China as the middle class grows there, bringing foreign channels like CNN and MTV to a much wider audience than allowed by the government. Satellite TV is legal only for select viewers in China. Content deemed pornographic, violent or threatening to state interests is also banned, a potential roadblock for…

1. Online Network Channels (free) Most major networks are now posting recently aired episodes to their websites for a limited amount of time. CBS even offers online viewers an additional paid subscription option ($6 per month) to unlock more than 6, 500 episodes of everything from The Brady Bunch to The Good Wife. 2. YouTube/Vimeo (free) YouTube is…

If you’ll recall, and nobody will, that my first ever Frugal Hack was about a secret Dish Network programming plan that they don’t advertise which gets you 50+ channels for only $19.99 a month. Pretty darn good deal, right? I know many of my frugal readers have already cut the cable cord, but if you’re a sports fan, like me, your options are pretty…

DSL provides you with high speed Internet through any existing analog telephone line. As a result, lots of traditional telephone companies provide DSL high speed Internet service. Analog telephone lines are made up of copper wires. A DSL modem makes use of the extra bandwidth on your telephone line to connect you to the Internet. Bandwidth is the frequency range that enables you to transmit signals to make telephone calls. It doesn’t take very much bandwidth to transmit a phone call, so there is a lot of extra space on a telephone wire for a DSL…

When it comes to satellite wiring, the wires must be run without other extensions piggy-backing off the original wire. Thus, no splitters should be used throughout the entire length of the single cable, and should not exceed 100’ from the satellite dish or attic distribution point to the wall plate. All cables must be “home-run” (all terminate at one location) from the wall plate all the way to where the satellite dish or distribution center (attic or computer room) will be located. Bring at least five (yes, 5) cables from a central location in…

Thank you for choosing DIRECTV! This Equipment Lease Agreement (ELA) has important terms and conditions regarding your lease of equipment from DIRECTV. By “Equipment, ” we mean the DIRECTV® Receiver(s), Genie® Mini(s), access card(s) and/or remote control(s) (not the dish and/or cabling). You received the DIRECTV Customer Agreement with your DIRECTV Order Confirmation. The Customer Agreement, together with this ELA, comprise the terms of your service agreement with DIRECTV. You accept this ELA by doing any of the following: (i) providing your written…