Good luck with resolving your problem. I had Direct TV for a little over two years and let’s just say I went back to cable (Comcast).
For one thing anytime it rained or snowed heavily, I completely lost my signal. I had the volume problem too.
But the real kicker was after the dish had just gone out of its two year warrantee (I’m talking about a month or so) I started seeing pixilation (scrambling) of some channels but not all (and it really ticked me off that it was mostly on the premium channels).
I spent several hours on the phone with Direct TV and several times I got unexpectedly and unexplainably disconnected and had to call back only to have to explain the problem all over again to a new technician.
Finally a technician had me go through all sorts of setting and diagnostic tests; had me check all the cable connections and the site line of the dish and he determined my dish was going bad.
So I asked what next?
He said I’d have to call Best Buys where I bought the dish and schedule a service call. I did that and was told by Best Buy that I’d have to pay a $50 minimum service call fee up front just to have someone come out and that I couldn’t do that by phone but had to physically come into the store to schedule the service call.
I’ve had a few minor issues with Comcast – more so with the internet service than the cable TV but nothing nearly as aggravating as what I went through with Direct TV.
It’s a crapshoot alright. But I’ve heard many a horror story about cable companies screwing their customers. Yes, I’ve suffered rain fade, but it’s not happened often enough, or lasted long enough to become truly irritating to me. Especially, with being able to track the storm front with Weatherbug radar, and still having the internet, DVDs, and grainy local Broadcast TV.
I’ve had major pixelation happen for me, but after a little deduction, and some help from friends, it turned out that some plants had grown up during heavy spring rains, to block my dish.
Yours is the first i’ve heard of a dish (LNB?) going bad.
Fortunatly, my dish is mounted near ground level, and not even a ladder is needed to get to it.