I've had DirecTV since about 1995 at two different locations. I've never had a problem with dish alignment or anything else that I can think of. I did the installation myself in both cases. It's pretty painless but if they'll install for free, I'd have them do it. I'd advise reviewing the installation with them first though. An installation at a neighbors house was a real hack job. Make absolutely sure they ground the dish properly. Check with your local city to find out what they require. Another neighbors house did not have the dish properly grounded. The dish was hit by lightning resulting in about 8K in damage to the wiring and appliances in the house. The only real downside to satellite (and a very annoying one) is that the service is often disrupted by heavy storms. You won't have this problem with cable or Fios. Having said all this, if I had to do it over again at this point in time, I'd go with Fios from Verizon. You didn't mention this as one of your choices. Check to see if it's available. In addition to amazing internet speed, you can bundle television and phone which may save you some money. Cable has gotten a lot better over the years thanks mostly to brutal competition from Satellite and now Fios. Because competition is high, you have options. Check prices, bundling, incentives,hardware, programming and installation charges. I'd also check with neighbors to see what their opinions are of the local choices.