Posted on 12/30/2008 3:11:09 PM PST by GRRRRR
Thinking about dumping comcast and going to Att-Uverse. My sis-in-law has it on her analogue TV, with wireless to her laptop and she likes the DVR.
What to my fellow FReepers have to say about it?
I want the 400 channel lineup, max Internet and their Voice phone service...all for about $200/mo. saving me about $50/mo with Comcast. Would have it for three HD sets, desktop and two laptops.
Read lots of on line reviews, both pro and con, however, FReepers always have the best advice. Do they have to rewire with fiber-optic cable all over the house?
G
It took a few tries to get the phone service switched over but that was a strange situation.
The service itself is great. We use the DVR regularly, and we can watch the DVR from any TV in the house.
DSL is fast and speed is as advertised.
If you have a home alarm system make sure they are compatible with U-Verse.
The HD channels are great, and you can select programs to record via a web interface.
We had DirecTV before and like this a lot better.
I’ve got the Verizon version. Got the data and video, on fiber optics. LOVE IT. However, I’m using Vonage over the data line. Much cheaper and not subject to all the state and federal taxes that can be a third to half of the bill. Suggest going that way rather than the full bundle.
Check this out..
Home audio & video: AT&T’s U-verse HDTV & Interenet Service -User experience?
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7596_102-0.html?forumID=60&threadID=247130&messageID=2486001
U-Verse comes in over copper, no need to rewire.
The residential gateway handles all IP - TV, DSL, VOIP. It's also your wireless hub.
Mrs. Sooner noticed that the TV wouldn't come back on after she'd turned it off.
The tech said "Oh yeah, that's just a problem with the HDMI interface that we don't have all the bugs worked out with yet. You'll need to disconnect it and just use the regular cables."
That was the wrong thing for him to say. We use the cable service now and have no complaints - once the install was scheduled and finished, that is.
AT&T lost money that day.
Had the service for six months. Great, no problems to this point. After IKE the service was back up before power was restored. Internet is very stable. Would not go back to other service at this point.
From the link below.
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7596_102-0.html?forumID=60&threadID=247130&messageID=2486001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
U-Verse = REVERSE. Not ready for primetime.
by rmclean949 - 12/8/08 3:10 PM In reply to: AT&T’s U-verse HDTV & Interenet Service -User experience? by Prandy
I want to tell you how grossly disappointed I am in the Uverse offering.
First you need to know that I am Senior IT professional and have been in the industry for 18 years.
I have been dealing with networks before the IP protocol even existed. I was very excited to try the new U-verse product being in the advanced technology field supporting IP telephony and very large data centers for Fortune 500 companies.
I was very excited to find out that I had 78 Mbs of bandwidth available to my residence from the local SONET MUX. If you don’t know what this means then you should forward it to a supervisor who probably will.
I am very unhappy with the following issues that I’m having with the U-verse product:
1- Every 19 seconds I have an audio clip is very reproducible
2- I consistently have issues with the scheduling software not recording a scheduled program. This is not because of a conflict either I’m very aware of the conflicts and how to resolve them.
3- The fact that I cannot watch more than two HD channels in my entire residence is not acceptable. I understand that not all you U-verse clients will have the available bandwidth to their residence that I do but that should not limit my viewing ability.
4- The channel lineup and guide is TERRIBLE and has no rhyme or reason as to how it is laid out. There is no “category” search which is available on all other “modern” (and I use the term loosely) video delivery services such as cable and/or DirecTV.
5- The limitations imposed by a single “whole house” DVR is ridiculous when you have a paying customer who is willing to pay for an additional DVR but your corporate policy does not allow one home to have to DVR’s.
6- Your development team using the Windows CE as a platform for an enormous initiative for your organization? Who made that decision??
****Not being able to pause TV on a “non-whole home DVR” is a HUGE omission in your marketing material.
****Not being able to schedule a recording from anywhere other than the “whole home DVR”is another HUGE omission in your marketing material.
I have a Gigabit Ethernet network in my home. You could not have a better candidate for this product and I am very dissatisfied and look forward to hearing from you. I can provide valuable feedback to your organization from an end-user perspective that will help you gain market share.
I look forward to a response from a manager at some level you can give me some type of a warm and fuzzy and not just lip service like your customer service people on the phone. I know a lot of companies like yours are monitoring blogs.... personally I do not like blogging but if that’s what it takes to get some answers I guess I will be blogging away!
Sincerely,
Robert
AT&T RESPONSE - NONE. NADA. The TDM dinosaur can’t get out of it’s own way trying to deploy packet based tecnology. The product manager/marketing team should be fired!
Are you in a new house, with modern wiring?
Or an old house, with old or modified wiring?
It makes a difference, I’m told.
I’m confused. This guy has been in networking since before the IP protocol existed. I believe IP was specified in 1980 (not to be confused with TCP which came to be in the mid 70s).
So, 2008 - 18 = 1990. Did the author of this CNET post mean 28 years :-)!?
As for FTTH (Fiber to the Home), I currently use Verizon for internets and phone....I am getting TV soon. My home is wired much like the author of this post (gig-e wired for a lot of streaming video to my Xboxes and PS3, some wireless for the wife & stepson’s computers) and I have had zero complaints about anything. I only have a 5Mbps line for downloads (2Mbps for uploads), and I can access virtually every bps across the of that “internets” bandwidth at any time.
A friend has the FiosTV....it is fantastic. However, I do not know how it behaves with multiple TVs in use on different channels. I cannot comment on anything else since I have not played around with all of the TV features.
Also, I concur with the other Freeper regarding phone service...save yourself a few bucks and get Vonage or the like....you can save about $10/month easy....maybe more. I didn’t do that, but will be doing that once the 12 month special pricing got elapses this May.
Thanks, nice find. BTW, I have DSL (through AT&T, which was formerly SBC, which took over Ameritech, which was formerly Michigan Bell) and it works fine, also regular phone service, and that’s it. I’m not going to start back with a monthly TV bill from any provider.
If you can get DSL, I recommend Netflix. $10/month or so, free downloadable movies and 1 movie at a time via the mail.
OK gang, Thanks to all of you! I think I might go talk to the local store in person and see what they have to say. I can’t deal with ANY service interruptions and so forth and I have to say that the Comcast service her in NE IL has been very reliable and stable!
G
AT&T is not Fiber to the Home, but Fiber to the Remote Terminal (or as the Cable companies call it Fiber to the Node) and then using two copper pairs (instead of the usual one pair) to make a combined DSL line. It was the only way to increase DSL speed from 6MB to 26MB (or whatever the speed of ADSL+ is today). AT&T didn’t want to spend as much as Verizon who is not only replacing their trunk lines with fiber to the Remote Terminals, but also replacing the copper from the RT to the Home with fiber (or some cases with coax to save money).
Actually it’s a single pair. It uses VDSL. And the proper term is FTTN though it’s not a cable created term but rather an industry term (one that was first deployed by telcos and not cable). Though FTTC or FTTP can be done. It just needs an IP medium for transport. Verizon doesn’t use coax except for inside the house HPNA use AFAIK. Their FiOS product is 100% PON technology.
VDSL is range dependent for top speed as is all DSL. The upper range is <3.5 kft for a Uverse loop. ADSL2+ is and has always been a 25Mbps technology (<5kft) with bonding options.
Anyone have any questions about DSL tech just freepmail me.
What to do??
Who can provide all these telecom services: Security Connection, Cellular 5 phones, TV Cable, Computer Line and Land Line.. ???
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