Some insider info for Uverse users.

The new Max 18 package is a $10 upgrade from those on Max 10 currently. As a promo you will receive a $10 a month credit for 12 months when going from Max 10 to Max 18, making it free for a year.

Vdsl2 is on the horizon, dual dedicated pairs to the prem, line speed of 100megs at 1500 feet, new profile to push the service to 5000 feet, talk of 8 streams.

iNid is coming, this is a combined network interface device and residential gateway, makes installs easier in certain situations. Wireless set top boxes are coming sometime next year.

THDVR will be getting an update that allows recordings to be scheduled from any box, and you'll be able to delete a program from any box also. Pausing live tv from any box will come in later update.

People seem to be confused about the 2 hd 2 sd feeds vs 1 hd and 3 sd feeds. It all comes down to wire feet. If you are within 3000 feet of the vrad, then you will most likely get 2/2, beyond 3000 feet the signal degrades and we drop the profile to 1/3. The 2/2 profile operates at 25megs, 10megs dedicated for internet, and 15megs for tv services, the 1/3 is a 19meg speed, with 10 for internet and 9 for tv services. Lately I have been seeing customers who only have 1 sd tv getting set to the 19meg profile regardless of their distance from the vrad.
With the VDSL2 that is on the horizon, does that mean that customers like me who are on the low profile 1/3 service will get up'd to the normal profile 2/2 service??

See my main problem with this whole low profile thing is that I have a pair of wires coming to my house that aren't used at all right now. Seems to me that if I don't have phone service to the house, and I am at 3000 or more ft from the VRAD, they can use the second pair coming to the premises to get me the 2/2 service I was promised by pushing one of the HD's to the second pair and then combining it at the RG.

I think thats what it sounds like when they talk about the VDSL2 and the dual dedicated pairs. Makes to most sense to me. It just seems like a rip-off to the customers that are farther away from the VRAD.

I mean, they should be able to put some kind of amplifier or another bridge of some sort in the line to extend the service a little more. I am like 300' or maybe 400' away from the farthest point that U-Verse can serve off that one VRAD and any sort of amplification of the system will only increase their customer base. That is since they refuse to run another set of lines from the VRAD that is only 900' at most from my premises. I even told them I would dig the trench myself to get my service from the really close VRAD.

Anyway, just thought I would ask about the VDSL2 because that might be the solution to my problem.

With the VDSL2 that is on the horizon, does that mean that customers like me who are on the low profile 1/3 service will get up'd to the normal profile 2/2 service??

See my main problem with this whole low profile thing is that I have a pair of wires coming to my house that aren't used at all right now. Seems to me that if I don't have phone service to the house, and I am at 3000 or more ft from the VRAD, they can use the second pair coming to the premises to get me the 2/2 service I was promised by pushing one of the HD's to the second pair and then combining it at the RG.

I think thats what it sounds like when they talk about the VDSL2 and the dual dedicated pairs. Makes to most sense to me. It just seems like a rip-off to the customers that are farther away from the VRAD.

I mean, they should be able to put some kind of amplifier or another bridge of some sort in the line to extend the service a little more. I am like 300' or maybe 400' away from the farthest point that U-Verse can serve off that one VRAD and any sort of amplification of the system will only increase their customer base. That is since they refuse to run another set of lines from the VRAD that is only 900' at most from my premises. I even told them I would dig the trench myself to get my service from the really close VRAD.

Anyway, just thought I would ask about the VDSL2 because that might be the solution to my problem.

Yes, the primary goal of vdsl2 is range, push the signal out farther and increase customer count. There are also some whispers about a box developed by Covad to amplify the signal, but I don't have enough info on that to say for sure. Vdsl2 has already rolled out in some areas, some customers are reporting max line speeds around 150megs per the line data page in the rg control panel. I would say stick with Uverse and give them a chance to get you the 2/2.

Yes, the primary goal of vdsl2 is range, push the signal out farther and increase customer count. There are also some whispers about a box developed by Covad to amplify the signal, but I don't have enough info on that to say for sure. Vdsl2 has already rolled out in some areas, some customers are reporting max line speeds around 150megs per the line data page in the rg control panel. I would say stick with Uverse and give them a chance to get you the 2/2.


Wait, so with VDSL2, and say 100 mbps, does that mean we could see an increase in HD signals to 6-8 per house? and if close and within range for 150, a dozen HDs?

If so, its fantastic. The only drawback I have with ATT internet now is the recently announced low data caps per month. I have been tracking my usage over the past few months, and I am afraid I would exceed the caps occasionally. Especially if Netflix HD streaming is good enough to where I start using it regularly.

Also, what does VDSL2 require as far as deployment and wiriing to the house? The reason I am asking is to get an idea of a timeline.

Yes, the primary goal of vdsl2 is range, push the signal out farther and increase customer count. There are also some whispers about a box developed by Covad to amplify the signal, but I don't have enough info on that to say for sure. Vdsl2 has already rolled out in some areas, some customers are reporting max line speeds around 150megs per the line data page in the rg control panel. I would say stick with Uverse and give them a chance to get you the 2/2.
Fantastic news. I hope it doesn't require that I do anything to be able to get it like have any rewiring done. Well, I don't suppose that would be an issue because the installer ran Cat-5e from the NID to feed the RG, so I am probably good. They might have to hook up the extra wires if they aren't already. Anyway, I hope they get it up'd in Little Rock soon. Would make my wife very happy.

I'm confused about something that I hope someone can clear up. We just got some new HD channels added, among them being Fox Sports-Dallas. Before that, obviously, there was also Fox Sports Southwest. Well I'm a big Dallas Stars fan and have their TV schedule printed out. Out of the games I've been able to catch, only ONE has been on FSSW-HD...everything else is only on the SD channel. So when they added FS-D I was excited b/c I figured every game listed on FS would be on this channel. Nope! I don't get it...why are these channels off the air so much. Announcers say (on the SD channel) "This game brought to you in HD by...." so I flipped over, but the actual HD channel shows off-the-air.

P.S. Something cool I did find out today was the 4 ESPN alternate channels (610-613). We had the Oklahoma game on normal ESPN but was hoping for Penn St. Went to check ESPN-U just in case and there they were! ESPN1a had the Penn game...albiet in SD.

Looked at the master thread but too long and can't find the info I need... I just want basic info.

1. Reliable?
2. Do I need a box for every television or can some lesser used TVs be used without a box?
3. Good HD picture?
4. DO you simply use coax (e.g. RG-6) to send signals?

Topics merged.

Looked at the master thread but too long and can't find the info I need... I just want basic info.

1. Reliable?
2. Do I need a box for every television or can some lesser used TVs be used without a box?
3. Good HD picture?
4. DO you simply use coax (e.g. RG-6) to send signals?

1. Relitivily so, although they do have a unique system, IPTV, occasional problems come up; e.g. see the recent posts about HDMI audio.

2. Must have a box for every display.

3. HD is OK. Right now the Detroit forum consensus is that DirecTV and local Comcast in Detroit is better, but Comcast has considerably less HD channels. For HD image quality, U-verse is on a par with Dish Network at this time.

4. IIRC, you can use coax or Cat5. This needs to be confirmed by others.

Thanks, Ken.. It is in my area now.

I suppose it is $5 a box. I have 7 TVs around the house.. but I could set up over my dist system..

Looked at the master thread but too long and can't find the info I need... I just want basic info.

1. Reliable?
2. Do I need a box for every television or can some lesser used TVs be used without a box?
3. Good HD picture?
4. DO you simply use coax (e.g. RG-6) to send signals?

1. It is reliable. I've had it since March, and some infrequent momentary freezing and pixelation issues I'd have every once in a while and pretty much non-existent right now. A bit of lag will show up every once in a while when using the DVR, but nothing too bad, and it's still a whole lot better in that area than my experience with Comcast.

2. Yes, you need a box for every TV you plan to use.

3. This is the only downside to Uverse. Personally speaking, in the Houston market, when Comcast upped their compression on their HD channels, Uverse beats that in terms of their current HD PQ. As you well know, there are different kinds of compression artifacts that result in different levels of viewer annoyance. Uverse HD signals are heavily compressed, but instead of their compression causing motion breakup, which is what Comcast's compression did, and which I personally find the most visually offending, Uverse seems to allocate the most bits to the important parts of the image, so that backgrounds, for instance the grass on the football field, have a blotchy look that "stutters" every fraction of a second or so. There's also a softness that will come through. That's not to say that some things can't look great, and be problem free, because they do, and they are. It's like with HDM, some stuff is easier to compress and so looks better. Personally, being an HD enthusiast, it's good enough for me to hold out for some of the supposed improvements in pair bonding etc that are supposed to be coming along in the future. It's worth noting that IMO the HD PQ has improved in the ~6 months I've had Uverse.

4. Yes, although when I was researching Uverse, and reading posts at uverseusers.com, the general sentiment I picked up was that in some vague was CAT-5 would/could give you better results. Don't know if that was based on anything other than other enthusiasts just naturally preferring the "new" tech - I connected my home theater room with CAT5, but my bedroom in connected via coax, I have projectors in both, and don't notice any real difference - but that was the feeling I picked up from reading numerous posts on the subject.

Thanks, Ken.. It is in my area now.

I suppose it is $5 a box. I have 7 TVs around the house.. but I could set up over my dist system..

Other info:

- U-verse now has 2 HD streams and HD VOD. Meaning you can only watch 2 HD programs in your home at once.

- First STB is free, additional STB are $5 per month. U100 includes a standard AT&T U-verse receiver. Upgrade to a DVR-capable receiver for an additional $15/month or consider our U200 package, or better, which includes a DVR-capable receiver and much more for that same $15 additional monthly charge. Additional DVR is $15 per month, but Total Home DVR makes that unnecessary.

- AT&T has launched U-verse Total Home DVR, giving customers the freedom to play back HD recorded programs on any connected TV in the home. U-verse Total Home DVR is now being introduced to customers at no additional charge and is planned for deployment to all U-verse TV customers by the end of 2008. Watch up to five HD programs simultaneously throughout the home, including two live HD programs and three recorded HD programs.

- On November 3rd, U-verse added 30 more HD channels, for a total of over 75 HD channels. The majority of new channels are local HD sports nets (like FSN Detroit HD) and premium movie channels.

- U-verse TV is also introducing more HD options on Nov. 10 with a new HD Premium package. Featuring Universal HD, MGM HD and Smithsonian Channel HD, the new tier can be added to an HD service subscription for an additional $5 a month. More channels will be added to the HD Premium package in the future.

Personally, being an HD enthusiast, it's good enough for me to hold out for some of the supposed improvements in pair bonding etc that are supposed to be coming along in the future.

Pair bonding is not the same things as VDSL2. They are different things.

4. Yes, although when I was researching Uverse, and reading posts at uverseusers.com, the general sentiment I picked up was that in some vague was CAT-5 would/could give you better results. Don't know if that was based on anything other than other enthusiasts just naturally preferring the "new" tech - I connected my home theater room with CAT5, but my bedroom in connected via coax, I have projectors in both, and don't notice any real difference - but that was the feeling I picked up from reading numerous posts on the subject.

Cat-5 WILL give better results because you are using twisted pairs of cables to deliver the content around instead of what is just essentially two straight wires on coax. Twisted pairs will always give you better results. Thats why they went with the twisted pair networking cable from the coax based token ring networks. The twisted pairs can send data faster. Its not just an enthusiast thing, theres a real reason to want Cat-5e cable or better for your install.

Cat-5 WILL give better results because you are using twisted pairs of cables to deliver the content around instead of what is just essentially two straight wires on coax.
Not in this situation. There is absolutely no difference.

Other info:

- U-verse now has 2 HD streams and HD VOD. Meaning you can only watch 2 HD programs in your home at once.



Depending on your distance from your serving VRAD. In my case, since I am around 3000' from the VRAD that serves me instead of the closer 800' one, I am limited to 1 HD/3 SD streams. YMMV


- On November 3rd, U-verse added 30 more HD channels, for a total of over 75 HD channels. The majority of new channels are local HD sports nets (like FSN Detroit HD) and premium movie channels.

Some of us aren't seeing all the sports networks like we should (like me), but that is easy to do without I guess as long as what you are wanting to see isn't on one of those that isn't on your line up for some reason.

- U-verse TV is also introducing more HD options on Nov. 10 with a new HD Premium package. Featuring Universal HD, MGM HD and Smithsonian Channel HD, the new tier can be added to an HD service subscription for an additional $5 a month. More channels will be added to the HD Premium package in the future.

This, in most people's opinion is a rip off and short of legalized extortion in that if you want to watch what is on it, you have to pay. This is just wrong. If we are already paying $10 a month for the HD package, ALL HD should be included. If some channels require a higher payment from AT&T to carry them, just raise the whole darned thing up to like $12 for those who don't care about the other channels and those that do don't have to pay as much.

Pair bonding is not the same things as VDSL2. They are different things.
Well, I will say this, as far as I know its different. I have read a few areas where it claims VDSL2 IS pair-bonding, but I am not really entirely sure.

Not in this situation. There is absolutely no difference.
I would love to argue this point, but I can't find my data to support my arguments. I do believe, however, that there IS a difference. Its always been my opinion that the other connectivity options would not be there if there wasn't a significant difference. All options are there in the off chance that other better connectivity options aren't available.

I suppose ultimately if there is no real big difference that the Cat-5 option is there possibly for older homes that do not have coax run throughout them for cable TV. Its far easier to drop Cat-5 than it is to route stiff, unruly coax all around the house.

Wait, so with VDSL2, and say 100 mbps, does that mean we could see an increase in HD signals to 6-8 per house? and if close and within range for 150, a dozen HDs?

If so, its fantastic. The only drawback I have with ATT internet now is the recently announced low data caps per month. I have been tracking my usage over the past few months, and I am afraid I would exceed the caps occasionally. Especially if Netflix HD streaming is good enough to where I start using it regularly.

Also, what does VDSL2 require as far as deployment and wiriing to the house? The reason I am asking is to get an idea of a timeline.

Difficult to say how many hd feeds they will add at this point, there are goals of more hd feeds, but no conclusive answer yet. As far as deployment it comes down to needing 2 dedicated pairs to the prem, which for the most part isn't a problem. Most houses will have more than 1 pair to the prem, only really old houses will have 1. If you're on aerial drop it's easy to upgrade to a 4, 5, or 6 pair drop. However if you are on buried plant and only have a 2 pair feed, then 1 of the pairs has to be free to utilize vdsl2, so if you had a 2 pair feed and 2 phone lines you're sol. No wiring inside the prem needs to change, an updated balun or splitter filter gets installed in the nid to handle the dual pair feed.

Also for those asking about how it's installed, there are 3 ways to get the signal around the house, coax, cat5, or single pair twisted wire. HPNA over single twisted pair is rare, most installers don't use this method. As far as reliability goes, it's my experience that we have more issues with coax based systems than cat5.

Some of us aren't seeing all the sports networks like we should (like me), but that is easy to do without I guess as long as what you are wanting to see isn't on one of those that isn't on your line up for some reason.

You'll only get the local sports nets for your area, not from around the country.

You'll only get the local sports nets for your area, not from around the country.

Would it be fair to say that if you get a sports network channel in SD and the HD version was added on Nov. 3 that you should get it in HD.

Because if that's the case, I'm not getting any of the new HD versions either. I had temporarily lost the SD channels at one point but whatever issue caused it was fixed without any intervention on my behalf.

I'm contemplating calling AT&T and asking them what the deal is with the HD versions of the channels. I understand the blackout aspect of programming, I just don't understand why I'm missing the channels in HD.

I am new to the thread, so I am not sure if this has been covered before, but is there a way yet to add on an external hard drive?

I am new to the thread, so I am not sure if this has been covered before, but is there a way yet to add on an external hard drive?

Not yet, but that capability is supposed to be added, however, I don't know when.

This is a deal breaker for me to switch over from Time Warner as I am able to have a sata drive attached to my 8300hd box.
Thanks

Would it be fair to say that if you get a sports network channel in SD and the HD version was added on Nov. 3 that you should get it in HD.Yes, that should be the case.

My guess is one of a few things; You need to reset your box(es), authorization for which areas get which channels hasn't been sent, or any number of other possibilities.

Call them.

Difficult to say how many hd feeds they will add at this point, there are goals of more hd feeds, but no conclusive answer yet. As far as deployment it comes down to needing 2 dedicated pairs to the prem, which for the most part isn't a problem. Most houses will have more than 1 pair to the prem, only really old houses will have 1. If you're on aerial drop it's easy to upgrade to a 4, 5, or 6 pair drop. However if you are on buried plant and only have a 2 pair feed, then 1 of the pairs has to be free to utilize vdsl2, so if you had a 2 pair feed and 2 phone lines you're sol. No wiring inside the prem needs to change, an updated balun or splitter filter gets installed in the nid to handle the dual pair feed.

Also for those asking about how it's installed, there are 3 ways to get the signal around the house, coax, cat5, or single pair twisted wire. HPNA over single twisted pair is rare, most installers don't use this method. As far as reliability goes, it's my experience that we have more issues with coax based systems than cat5.
I have a buried line and no telephone service, so as soon as they roll out VDSL2, I will be good to go. Since I just got installed the other day, I would assume that they installed the latest balun in my NID, so I should be good to go there as well.

You'll only get the local sports nets for your area, not from around the country.
If I am paying for the sports package, I had darned well better be seeing all of them from around the country, including the HD version of all the SD feeds I am seeing. Currently, I am not seeing anything but the regional one I am assigned to.

Would it be fair to say that if you get a sports network channel in SD and the HD version was added on Nov. 3 that you should get it in HD.

Because if that's the case, I'm not getting any of the new HD versions either. I had temporarily lost the SD channels at one point but whatever issue caused it was fixed without any intervention on my behalf.

I'm contemplating calling AT&T and asking them what the deal is with the HD versions of the channels. I understand the blackout aspect of programming, I just don't understand why I'm missing the channels in HD.
EXACTLY my problem. I should be seeing a lot more than I am, but I am only seeing 3 HD feeds from the regional network. I feel we both should be seeing all the channels if they really are available.

Yes, that should be the case.

My guess is one of a few things; You need to reset your box(es), authorization for which areas get which channels hasn't been sent, or any number of other possibilities.

Call them.
My install was done AFTER the new channels were added, so it isn't an issue of reauthorization or rebooting needed. I called them, they didn't have a clue why.

My install was done AFTER the new channels were added, so it isn't an issue of reauthorization or rebooting needed. I called them, they didn't have a clue why.

Escalate to a supervisor. Insist they have someone contact you to resolve the issue.

Well, I will say this, as far as I know its different. I have read a few areas where it claims VDSL2 IS pair-bonding, but I am not really entirely sure.

pair bonding is in the spec for both vdsl and vdsl2. The current 2wire device is vdsl with no support for pair bonding. The upcoming 2wire inid will be vlds2 with support for pair bonding.

Two quick questions:

1. I am already signed up with AT&T for Internet connection and home phone. If I switch over to u-verse HDTV, Internet and phone will I keep my current home phone number and email address?

2. I understand there is a 30-day money back guarantee but after 30 days can I cancel at any time with out penalty?

There is no contract, you can cancel at any time without worrying about any fees.

There is no contract, you can cancel at any time without worrying about any fees.

The only drawback is not getting rebates/sign up bonuses (which take a couple of months).

Two quick questions:

1. I am already signed up with AT&T for Internet connection and home phone. If I switch over to u-verse HDTV, Internet and phone will I keep my current home phone number and email address?

2. I understand there is a 30-day money back guarantee but after 30 days can I cancel at any time with out penalty?
1. I kept my regular ATT phone (not uverse VOIP) and after getting uverse hdtv and isp I qualified for a bundle package that reduced my regular ATT long-distance phone bill approx $30.00. And yes, I kept my tel#. I did have to call ATT to have them switch to that bundle price.
Not sure what about your email address. I would check with ATT as I believe they may have different domains depending on your region.

Worth switching from Time Warner in Austin Texas?
The best bundle I could work out was around $20.00 more than I pay for my Time Warner package now. Not sure what the benifits would be.

Anyone here have issues with HDMI crushing blacks?

If I use component cables I get much more shadow detail, however, I also see much more grain & compression artifacts (i.e. a worse picture). The picture also slightly washes out which I can fix by adjusting my TV.I just got the HDCP card for my Panasonic TV. There is almost NO difference between HDMI and Component on my TV. I have the HDNet test pattern recorded, and have verified that the 10 on the far right is visible through both interfaces. If blacks were being crushed I wouldn't be able to see it. Have you tried adjusting the brightness control?

Note that the higher the black level, the more visible compression artifacts are going to be. I suspect your HDMI output will look very similar to your component output when you set it to get proper blacks.

Two quick questions:

1. I am already signed up with AT&T for Internet connection and home phone. If I switch over to u-verse HDTV, Internet and phone will I keep my current home phone number and email address?

2. I understand there is a 30-day money back guarantee but after 30 days can I cancel at any time with out penalty?

There is no contract, you can cancel at any time without worrying about any fees.

The only drawback is not getting rebates/sign up bonuses (which take a couple of months).

So, you don't like what you get, and what is the problem with not getting rebates or bonuses when you cancel. Are you expecting something for nothing?

So, you don't like what you get, and what is the problem with not getting rebates or bonuses when you cancel. Are you expecting something for nothing?

I didnt say it was a problem. Just that the signup bonus may not materialize unless you hold onto the service for a little bit.
People like to have all info around here, and I didn't want him coming in two weeks saying I canceled and now they wont send me my 200 dollars.

I didnt say it was a problem. Just that the signup bonus may not materialize unless you hold onto the service for a little bit.
People like to have all info around here, and I didn't want him coming in two weeks saying I canceled and now they wont send me my 200 dollars.

Agreed, and I apologize for my tirade. Perhaps it would be better served when the "I want something even though I didn't follow through" person chimed in.

I just got the HDCP card for my Panasonic TV. There is almost NO difference between HDMI and Component on my TV. I have the HDNet test pattern recorded, and have verified that the 10 on the far right is visible through both interfaces. If blacks were being crushed I wouldn't be able to see it. Have you tried adjusting the brightness control?

Note that the higher the black level, the more visible compression artifacts are going to be. I suspect your HDMI output will look very similar to your component output when you set it to get proper blacks.

It's not my Panasonic Plasma (TH-42PZ80U, in case that helps). I have connected other devices (with Component and HDMI outputs) to the Component and HDMI inputs and have been able to tweak the settings to pretty much match black levels between the two inputs.

I can NOT do this with the AT&T DVR set top box (I haven't tried the non-dvr boxes yet, not that I expect any difference). Therefore, I can only logically conclude it's something with the box.

However, If you have a potential solution, I'm all ears...well, technically eyes :).

Edit 1:
What time does the HD test pattern air on HDNet? I would like to record it as well.

Edit 2:
Well I went home for lunch and I tried the non-dvr boxes and it does the same thing (crushes blacks). I even tried them on my projector and the HDMI output still crushes blacks. Therefore, I confident its the set top boxes not the plasma (or the projector for that matter).

Did you guys know that if you make a change on your account online, its not instantaneous? That surprised me. I pulled off the sports package on the 7th for the time being and it generated an order and said Nov 14 as the effective date. To me, thats just weird. DirecTV does anything you do online instantly. Maybe they just don't have their systems synced up like that yet. Anyway, just thought I would let you guys know in case it was news to you.

Well I am going to try it. Changing from Directv and for the price you can't beat it. My install is next Tuesday I will report back then.

It's not that bad of a change really. I have it and DirecTV both right now. Can't really see a whole lot of difference except on rare occasions like on sports or a high action shot (even on cartoons). I did get a bit nauseas watching that show on History HD today with Bre Pettis about hacking stuff. Dunno if that was anything related to the U-Verse or not, but thought it was odd.

BTW, still waiting on Times Media Services (the master people of all things guide data) to put the U-Verse listings to Microsoft so they can put it in Windows Media Center. Once that is done, I might try to see if there isn't some way I can get the U-Verse box going through that. We shall see.

Pair bonding is not the same things as VDSL2. They are different things.


Right.


Cat-5 WILL give better results because you are using twisted pairs of cables to deliver the content around instead of what is just essentially two straight wires on coax. Twisted pairs will always give you better results. Thats why they went with the twisted pair networking cable from the coax based token ring networks. The twisted pairs can send data faster. Its not just an enthusiast thing, theres a real reason to want Cat-5e cable or better for your install.

I've got to disagree.

First off, just to set the record straight, Token Ring was NOT coax. It was STP -- Shielded Twisted Pair. It was actually Ethernet that was originally coax, then they added UTP support (10baseT, then 100baseT) which is pretty much what everyone uses now. Not that that has anything to do with U-verse.

Second, it's certainly not a black and white "twisted pair can send data faster". It all depends. The real advantage twisted pair has for short-distance communication is that it works on DC voltages and thus the signaling logic is simpler. Coax requires RF signals and therefore requires more circuitry.

Finally, the HPNA support in the U-verse gateway and STBs is pretty good. A well-installed HPNA over Coax setup will work just fine, and there's plenty of bandwidth available. Where coax runs into trouble is typically in the wiring and connectors. It's a lot easier to mess up the jacks, plugs, and splitters and lose signal strength. The RJ45 jacks and plugs are pretty well designed and generally either make good contact or don't work at all, which is a good thing.

Bottom line advice: if you really have a choice, prefer Cat5e/cat6, just because it's simpler, easier, and more durable/reliable. But if installing new Cat5/6 is a bother, just use the coax. Just look at the stats now and again and make sure the line is working well.

Well I am going to try it. Changing from Directv and for the price you can't beat it. My install is next Tuesday I will report back then.

I'm in the same boat. Direct TV non-HD for the last 11 years. No incentive to upgrade with Direct. I've talked to them several times and they don't have anything to offer somebody who's been paying them $75 a month for the last 11 years. At least if Uverse doesn't work out for me after a couple months, I will be considered a new customer to Direct and then I can get in on their promo's! My install is this Monday for 5 rooms.

At least if Uverse doesn't work out for me after a couple months, I will be considered a new customer to Direct and then I can get in on their promo's!
I don't know the exact number, but I've heard that it takes anywhere from 6 to 24 months before DirecTV considers you a new customer.

I don't know the exact number, but I've heard that it takes anywhere from 6 to 24 months before DirecTV considers you a new customer.
Took a year of being gone for me, but thhey still didn't consider me a new customer. they simply gave me what I wanted to get me to come back.

It used to be 90 days, however I can't find anything on their website now. I'm hoping I don't have to go back to Direct anyway.Their upgrade equipment pricing is just too much since they started their lease program a couple years ago. $100-200 for each HD receiver upfront and then charge you a monthly lease fee? What the heck is that? If I'm leasing and I don't own it, why should I have to pay for it upfront? When I turn it back in after I stop service will I get my money back? No! And they lock you into 2 year contracts on top of that. I think what they are doing is just plain wrong.

It used to be 90 days, however I can't find anything on their website now. I'm hoping I don't have to go back to Direct anyway.Their upgrade equipment pricing is just too much since they started their lease program a couple years ago. $100-200 for each HD receiver upfront and then charge you a monthly lease fee? What the heck is that? If I'm leasing and I don't own it, why should I have to pay for it upfront? When I turn it back in after I stop service will I get my money back? No! And they lock you into 2 year contracts on top of that. I think what they are doing is just plain wrong.
if they want these receivers back, they are going to have to buy them from me or come get them themselves because I am not giving back something I paid good money for.

Does anyone know if when you suspend your service, do you get to keep the dvr part going if you still have recordings on it? I know you don't have to keep paying for it because its suspended, I just have quite a bit of content on there I want to watch.

if they want these receivers back, they are going to have to buy them from me or come get them themselves because I am not giving back something I paid good money for.
You paid to lease those receivers, you do not own them. If you try and keep them, you will have a mess on your hands, because DirecTV will come after you.

But this isn't a DirecTV thread, so this really shouldn't be discussed here.

I know that there is a wait for U-Verse, but this is ridiculous!!

http://dependablecomputer.com/images/uverse.jpg

That's pretty funny! What did they say when you called them?

That's pretty funny! What did they say when you called them?

July 12, 1898.

Actually that's when the installation will be done. They are starting next week.

Expanding out-- if it was like my installation, they'll ask that you or someone be home to greet the installer sometime between the hours of 8am January 1, 2036 and 12 noon December 31, 2036.

Ok, I think this horse has been beaten to just be a thin flat stain.

I think they tend to have issues if you try and schedule more than one month ahead of time.

in the hopes of gathering more information to make an informed decision, I'm cross-posting this from the Los Angeles TWC thread:

so, i'm in South Pasadena and have been with TWC for about 3 months now (ever since relocating down here from Seattle). I have to say i'm pretty disappointed with their HD channel selection, especially for the price. I haven't experienced any of the horrible PQ issues some of you have, but I did notice that South Pas/Pasadena aren't included in the list of cities expected to get new HD channels in the future.

So, is there any reason I shouldn't switch to AT&T U-verse? On their U200 plan, with HBO added, I'm only looking at about $10 more per month for about 30 more HD channels, plus $200 cash back right now. The U300 plan isn't much more expensive, and adds a few more HD channels, including Showtime. Has anybody had any experiences with AT&T that I should know about before switching over? Any information or advice that anybody can offer would be appreciated.

Another question, exclusive to this post, have the PQ issues that I read a bit about a few pages back been solved for the LA-area (I think the posts were from May 2008)?

Had my install today. Install tech ran an unused phone line pair to the RG and then used existing coax from the RG to a splitter that runs existing coax to the DVR and 3 other TV's. TV in the room with the RG is connected with cat 5from the RG. 3 TV's are HD so only 4 total and 2 HD feeds at the same time. Installer changed all cable ends and intalled new cables from the wall outlet to the boxes. My house is just under 3k feet from the main neighborhood switcher and my subdivision is 12.5 years old w/o fiber optics from the switcher to the houses. Quality check would not pass although the 5 TV's, DVR and internet seem to be working OK. Only problem so far is that I had a local HD channel recording and the system wouldn't let me watch another local HD channnel. We could watch a non-local HD channnel at the same time however. Anybody have this issue? I can work around this by hooking my OTA antenna back up using a secondary coax system that is in my house if I have to.:confused:

Had my install today. Install tech ran an unused phone line pair to the RG and then used existing coax from the RG to a splitter that runs existing coax to the DVR and 3 other TV's. TV in the room with the RG is connected with cat 5from the RG. 3 TV's are HD so only 4 total and 2 HD feeds at the same time. Installer changed all cable ends and intalled new cables from the wall outlet to the boxes. My house is just under 3k feet from the main neighborhood switcher and my subdivision is 12.5 years old w/o fiber optics from the switcher to the houses. Quality check would not pass although the 5 TV's, DVR and internet seem to be working OK. Only problem so far is that I had a local HD channel recording and the system wouldn't let me watch another local HD channnel. We could watch a non-local HD channnel at the same time however. Anybody have this issue? I can work around this by hooking my OTA antenna back up using a secondary coax system that is in my house if I have to.:confused:

One of two things: your area doesn't have the 2/2 stream yet or you are too far from the hub for you to get it. So sounds like you've got a 3/1 stream. 3k ft seems to be the magic number for that difference, so I'd give them a call.

One of two things: your area doesn't have the 2/2 stream yet or you are too far from the hub for you to get it. So sounds like you've got a 3/1 stream. 3k ft seems to be the magic number for that difference, so I'd give them a call.

Not if he could watch a non local HD and record a local HD at the same time. It seems to be something with the locals, rather than HD in general.

I had 2 TV's both on HGTV HD this morning without a problem. Not sure what the deal is. It was only while the DVR was recording a local HD and we tried to watch another local HD. We could watch another non-local HD while the DVR was recording. Pretty weird. I'll try recording a non-local HD channel tonight and see what happens with that situation.:confused:

I had 2 TV's both on HGTV HD this morning without a problem. Not sure what the deal is. It was only while the DVR was recording a local HD and we tried to watch another local HD. We could watch another non-local HD while the DVR was recording. Pretty weird. I'll try recording a non-local HD channel tonight and see what happens with that situation.:confused:

2 TVs with the same HD still only counts as one HD.

Try watching 2 different HD channels at once.

Get those remotes ready for the U400 Promo 11/27-11/30.

For those who don't have U400, you get free access of all U400 features, plus HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, and Encore.

I almost forgot about this promo, so if you forgot too, here's a reminder.

Question: If I DVR a few shows during the promo, will I still be able to watch them post promotion?

I had 2 TV's both on HGTV HD this morning without a problem. Not sure what the deal is. It was only while the DVR was recording a local HD and we tried to watch another local HD. We could watch another non-local HD while the DVR was recording. Pretty weird. I'll try recording a non-local HD channel tonight and see what happens with that situation.:confused:
Go to http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J03 and tell us what the numbers are there, please.

Specifically looking at:

DSL ....................... Down .........................Up
Current Rate:...........19200 kbs..................2048 kbs
Max Rate:................27968 kbs..................Not Available

Those numbers will tell us if you are getting enough bandwidth. Like for me, I am limited to a low profile connection since I am at 3k feet from the VRAD. I am willing to bet they might have left yours on the normal profile and its just not getting enough juice to go 2 full HD's.

Just wondering, does anyone know the minimum speeds that are needed to get the 2 HD streams at once is? I ask because once I got installed, I was sitting at 20Mbps (floating just above), but now, a little over a week later, I am seeing 28,488kbps (28.5Mbps) on my Max Rate Down.

If I am not mistaken, the HD streams us 5 or 6Mbps. So, since I have gone up 8Mbps in my Max Rate that my RG can get, I would assume that it would be enough to carry the extra HD stream and get me up to the 2/2 instead of the 1/3 that I have now. Does that sound right to you guys? Or am I missing something?

It just seems like it should be able to cover it no problem. I would at least like to give it a shot. A guy in my neighborhood is sitting at 61Mbps Max Rate Down on his box. That seems a bit overboard for just the 6Mbps Internet and the 2/2 TV. Anyway, just wanted to posit that question here to see what the consensus of the think tank is.

Go to http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J03 and tell us what the numbers are there, please.

Specifically looking at:

DSL ....................... Down .........................Up
Current Rate:...........19200 kbs..................2048 kbs
Max Rate:................27968 kbs..................Not Available

Those numbers will tell us if you are getting enough bandwidth. Like for me, I am limited to a low profile connection since I am at 3k feet from the VRAD. I am willing to bet they might have left yours on the normal profile and its just not getting enough juice to go 2 full HD's.

It won't work without a password. How did you get this link? Is it for the techs to test your signal?

It won't work without a password. How did you get this link? Is it for the techs to test your signal?
The pass is on your RG.

Clarification: On the same sticker that gives you the IP address of the RG and the WPA key for the wireless.

The pass is on your RG.

Clarification: On the same sticker that gives you the IP address of the RG and the WPA key for the wireless.

DSL Down Up
Current Rate: 25216 kbs 2048 kbs
Max Rate: 33540 kbs Not Available

DSL Down Up
Current Rate: 25216 kbs 2048 kbs
Max Rate: 33540 kbs Not Available
I haven't been able to figure out how much 2 HD streams really needs (see my post prior to your one asking about the password), but I am wondering if 25Mbps isn't enough for 2 and that you probably should have been put on the low profile settings.

You said something about being 3000 feet from the VRAD, I am the same which is why they put me on the low profile which limits your Current to 19200 down. If you are having that much trouble while yours is set to 25Mbps down and my Max is 28.5Mbps down, then I don't think I will have much more luck if I try to get them to bump it up. You might need a minimum of 30Mbps down to get 2 HD's well.

I haven't been able to figure out how much 2 HD streams really needs (see my post prior to your one asking about the password), but I am wondering if 25Mbps isn't enough for 2 and that you probably should have been put on the low profile settings.

You said something about being 3000 feet from the VRAD, I am the same which is why they put me on the low profile which limits your Current to 19200 down. If you are having that much trouble while yours is set to 25Mbps down and my Max is 28.5Mbps down, then I don't think I will have much more luck if I try to get them to bump it up. You might need a minimum of 30Mbps down to get 2 HD's well.

The installer told me I was right at 2900 feet from the VRAD. I just tried and it's working tonight. I'm recording Dancing With The Stars HD and my wife is watching the Mentalist HD and the same time. Not sure what the deal was last night.

How do you connect a PC with Windows Media Center from a receiver?

It's very hard and not worth the effort. I thought about that as well. Then I realized, I have 4 streams, I have a DVR that can record all 4 streams at once. If I set up my VMC to record off the non-DVR box next to the computer, its going to be using a stream anyway, so I might as well use the DVR to record it.

It's very hard and not worth the effort. I thought about that as well. Then I realized, I have 4 streams, I have a DVR that can record all 4 streams at once. If I set up my VMC to record off the non-DVR box next to the computer, its going to be using a stream anyway, so I might as well use the DVR to record it.

How about just hooking the receiver up to a PC instead of a TV?

Ok, some clarification on the profiles. The standard U-Verse profile is 25216kbs, with 2048kbs up, your max line speed may be significantly higher than this, my max line is 65064kbs, but that really means nothing. The standard profile is 2 hd streams and 2 sd streams, plus up to 10megs reserved for internet. Each hd stream is roughly 6 megs. The low profile is 19200kbs, and is made up of 1 hd stream, and 3 sd streams, with up to 10 megs reserved for internet use.
When you start to get away from the vrad the max line goes down, and gets closer to the 25216 profile amount, we call the difference relative capacity. So if you have a max line of 28000 you would have a relcap of 90%. I can tell you from experience that the rg will have many issues trying to run at 90% cap and above. Any good installer knows that if the cap is over 70% at the nid you have to go in on twisted pair, coax is not an option at that point. I don't have exact figures, but coax drops something like 5 megs every 100 feet or so, which is why we avoid it in high cap situations. There are many things that come into play in the U-Verse install, but good installers know the capacity is a critical number, that generally dictates how the install goes. High cap and coax are a bad combo.

Ok, some clarification on the profiles. The standard U-Verse profile is 25216kbs, with 2048kbs up, your max line speed may be significantly higher than this, my max line is 65064kbs, but that really means nothing. The standard profile is 2 hd streams and 2 sd streams, plus up to 10megs reserved for internet. Each hd stream is roughly 6 megs. The low profile is 19200kbs, and is made up of 1 hd stream, and 3 sd streams, with up to 10 megs reserved for internet use.
When you start to get away from the vrad the max line goes down, and gets closer to the 25216 profile amount, we call the difference relative capacity. So if you have a max line of 28000 you would have a relcap of 90%. I can tell you from experience that the rg will have many issues trying to run at 90% cap and above. Any good installer knows that if the cap is over 70% at the nid you have to go in on twisted pair, coax is not an option at that point. I don't have exact figures, but coax drops something like 5 megs every 100 feet or so, which is why we avoid it in high cap situations. There are many things that come into play in the U-Verse install, but good installers know the capacity is a critical number, that generally dictates how the install goes. High cap and coax are a bad combo.

My installer mentioned 65%, so I'm pretty sure that was my system cap.

Ok, some clarification on the profiles. The standard U-Verse profile is 25216kbs, with 2048kbs up, your max line speed may be significantly higher than this, my max line is 65064kbs, but that really means nothing. The standard profile is 2 hd streams and 2 sd streams, plus up to 10megs reserved for internet. Each hd stream is roughly 6 megs. The low profile is 19200kbs, and is made up of 1 hd stream, and 3 sd streams, with up to 10 megs reserved for internet use.
When you start to get away from the vrad the max line goes down, and gets closer to the 25216 profile amount, we call the difference relative capacity. So if you have a max line of 28000 you would have a relcap of 90%. I can tell you from experience that the rg will have many issues trying to run at 90% cap and above. Any good installer knows that if the cap is over 70% at the nid you have to go in on twisted pair, coax is not an option at that point. I don't have exact figures, but coax drops something like 5 megs every 100 feet or so, which is why we avoid it in high cap situations. There are many things that come into play in the U-Verse install, but good installers know the capacity is a critical number, that generally dictates how the install goes. High cap and coax are a bad combo.
Okay, but is it normal to see the max line speed go up after an install? (mine went up 8Mbps) Does weather have any affect on the max line? Will it continue to rise on its own as tweaks are made to the system? And, if it ever reaches 36000, then I can call up and ask for it to be put to standard profile as at that point we are seeing the magic 70% rel cap? Or would it take a pretty hefty thing like the introduction of VDSL2 to make it go up significantly enough to get up to standard?

My installer mentioned 65%, so I'm pretty sure that was my system cap.
If I am interpreting the numbers right, you are not at 65%. 25216/33540 = 75% rel cap. I would be 25216/28500 = 88.477% rel cap on my line. I understand now why I can't get the 2 HD yet.

This means that if the tech did use coax like you eluded to earlier for all your TV's, then, according to AuroraProject's information, that might be why you were having issues. The coax might have been losing packets along the way or something. I am so very glad the tech did all Cat-5e drops for me. So much nicer and easier to deal with than stupid coax. :) Anyway, just thought that your coax might have been the issue in your odd happening the other night. How long are your coax runs anyway? If they are pretty long, then that would be even more of an "oh boy" factor.

Ok, some clarification on the profiles. The standard U-Verse profile is 25216kbs, with 2048kbs up, your max line speed may be significantly higher than this, my max line is 65064kbs, but that really means nothing. The standard profile is 2 hd streams and 2 sd streams, plus up to 10megs reserved for internet. Each hd stream is roughly 6 megs. The low profile is 19200kbs, and is made up of 1 hd stream, and 3 sd streams, with up to 10 megs reserved for internet use.
When you start to get away from the vrad the max line goes down, and gets closer to the 25216 profile amount, we call the difference relative capacity. So if you have a max line of 28000 you would have a relcap of 90%. I can tell you from experience that the rg will have many issues trying to run at 90% cap and above. Any good installer knows that if the cap is over 70% at the nid you have to go in on twisted pair, coax is not an option at that point. I don't have exact figures, but coax drops something like 5 megs every 100 feet or so, which is why we avoid it in high cap situations. There are many things that come into play in the U-Verse install, but good installers know the capacity is a critical number, that generally dictates how the install goes. High cap and coax are a bad combo.

Good explanation and I can correlate with my line numbers. I'm at 42% and 1500 dr from the VRAD.

Had my install yesterday and couldn't be any happier. Pic quality is a tiny bit softer than directv. I highly recommend u-verse to anyone. I am canceling Directv today.

If I am interpreting the numbers right, you are not at 65%. 25216/33540 = 75% rel cap. I would be 25216/28500 = 88.477% rel cap on my line. I understand now why I can't get the 2 HD yet.

This means that if the tech did use coax like you eluded to earlier for all your TV's, then, according to AuroraProject's information, that might be why you were having issues. The coax might have been losing packets along the way or something. I am so very glad the tech did all Cat-5e drops for me. So much nicer and easier to deal with than stupid coax. :) Anyway, just thought that your coax might have been the issue in your odd happening the other night. How long are your coax runs anyway? If they are pretty long, then that would be even more of an "oh boy" factor.

The installer ran from my service wall to the RG with an unused phone line pair. He then used existing RG6 from the RG back to the service wall and used a 4 way splitter to the DVR and 3 other receivers. The receiver in the room with the RG is connected with cat 5 for a total of 5 receivers including the DVR. Other than the 1 glitch the first night everything is working fine. My internet is faster than the DSL I had prior, the TV picture is very good, and my wife is in heaven having a DVR. The installer told me they would be doing system upgrades in the near future to increase the signal/service. I see no need to have an installer fumbling around in my attic smashing my insulation and the possibility of drilling holes in the wrong location on accident or whatever that whole situation might bring. If I had no existing wiring I could understand running Cat 5 over coax. I just see no reason to complicate things as long as everything is working OK.

I had Uverse installed today. What can I say. I am amazed! The picture quality is great and it has tons more HD channels than Comcast. I have the U400 package. The installers were here for roughly more than 4 hours as they had to wait for 2 hours until they changed the line over from Comcast to ATT. Overall, I am very, very pleased. Picture quality is a tad bit better, but most of all it has a ton more features.

Chris

Anyone else having issues with Universal HD? The channel is listed in the guide, and shows info, but there's nothing there.

Anyone else having issues with Universal HD? The channel is listed in the guide, and shows info, but there's nothing there.

It's one of the newly added channels. I don't recall it ever being up yet. Mine is also blank at this time. I'm in Oakland over the hill from you.

Anyone else having issues with Universal HD? The channel is listed in the guide, and shows info, but there's nothing there.
Universal HD is part of their extra HD tier. Part of their trying to milk $5 more out of you for 3 channels. If you don't pay for that, you won't get it. I, for one, will not be paying $5 more for 3 channels. Now, if it was 10 channels, maybe.

It's one of the newly added channels. I don't recall it ever being up yet. Mine is also blank at this time. I'm in Oakland over the hill from you.

I got a postcard about a month ago saying that Universal HD is moving to the Premium tier and that I would be losing it. It is now part of that $5 extra package that includes MGM, Smithsonian, and....Universal!

Do I have an abnormal amount of corrected and uncorrected blocks?

Broadband Link – Detailed DSL Statistics

Collected for 28 days 2:46:24
DSL Since Reset Current 24-Hour Interval Current15-Minute Interval Time Since Last Event
Link Retrains: 50 0 0 1 day 22:53:48
DSL Training Errors: 2 0 0 26 days 0:21:59
Training Timeouts: 3 0 0 26 days 0:22:47
Loss of Framing Failures: 0 0 0 0:00:00
Loss of Signal Failures: 47 0 0 9 days 3:12:22
Loss of Margin Failures: 0 0 0 0:00:00
Cumulative Seconds w/Errors: 131092 10 0 0:06:24
Cumulative Sec. w/Severe Errors: 2719 0 0 1 day 22:53:48
Corrected Blocks: 2286879915 170019411 1685411 0:00:00
Uncorrectable Blocks: 484416 24 0 0:06:24
DSL Unavailable Seconds: 1301 0 0 1 day 22:53:24

One of my new receivers stopped working. The green link and red recording lights flash fast together. I tried to reset and unplugged the power 15-20 minutes with the same results. I swapped receivers with another room and the problem followed the receiver. Has anybody else had this happen?:(

Do I have an abnormal amount of corrected and uncorrected blocks?

Broadband Link – Detailed DSL Statistics

Collected for 28 days 2:46:24
DSL Since Reset Current 24-Hour Interval Current15-Minute Interval Time Since Last Event
Link Retrains: 50 0 0 1 day 22:53:48
DSL Training Errors: 2 0 0 26 days 0:21:59
Training Timeouts: 3 0 0 26 days 0:22:47
Loss of Framing Failures: 0 0 0 0:00:00
Loss of Signal Failures: 47 0 0 9 days 3:12:22
Loss of Margin Failures: 0 0 0 0:00:00
Cumulative Seconds w/Errors: 131092 10 0 0:06:24
Cumulative Sec. w/Severe Errors: 2719 0 0 1 day 22:53:48
Corrected Blocks: 2286879915 170019411 1685411 0:00:00
Uncorrectable Blocks: 484416 24 0 0:06:24
DSL Unavailable Seconds: 1301 0 0 1 day 22:53:24


If I'm reading this correctly your numbers look terrible, can you post a screen shot of the page you got the stats from please? It should look more like this: (corrected blocks are ok)

http://dependablecomputer.com/images/uverse2.png

One of my new receivers stopped working. The green link and red recording lights flash fast together. I tried to reset and unplugged the power 15-20 minutes with the same results. I swapped receivers with another room and the problem followed the receiver. Has anybody else had this happen?:(

The box has died, red x on the screen right? Call in for a tech to come out and do a box swap. 800-288-2020

The box has died, red x on the screen right? Call in for a tech to come out and do a box swap. 800-288-2020

Yes on the red X. I called last night at 7:00 PM and they are sending out a tech to swap out boxes between 10 and 12 this morning. That's pretty fast service!:)

Well I've attached an image of my Broadband Stats since I can't quite figure out how to insert an image.

If any one can give me any tips on how to insert/paste an image it'll be appreciated.

AT&T announced launch of service for Charlotte NC area today. :)

Anybody figure out a way to do this yet? I have a receiver in the room with My Dell PC/2709 monitor and I was hoping I could use to PC monitor to watch TV. I can use the coax or S-video out to my PC's TV tuner, however that's standard def and 4/3 not 16/9. Anybody?:confused:

Just an FYI about the rebate/gift cards.

You'll probably need the last 4 digits of you Uverse account number to activate them as the last 4 digits of my phone number didn't work. (The home phone number doesn't seem to work for anything Uverse but that's beside the point.)

Make sure you read the sheet that comes with the card (I didn't, figuring it's just a gift card).

The card will be declined if the amount you have to pay is larger than the value of the card. Therefore pay the difference FIRST (e.g. $139.99 pay the $39.99 first then use the $100 card).

I was at the store trying to use it and it kept getting declined. When I went back home I read the sheet and I found out why.

Also the sheet says to keep track of your balances just in case your accidentally charged more then the actual amount (??). I recommend you use it for whole dollar values (e.g. $5, $37, etc.) to make things easier.

I hope this saves someone some grief.

I called tech support and they are going to call me back.

Apparently the issue is in the house. It must be a hardware thing as I've started to get pixelation and DVR recording freezes (where the show doesn't continue unless you forward).

This only started within the last 2 days. It's not bad but it is annoying when it happens. Changing the channel and back again seems to help.

FYI, I'm at about 60% of my cap.

I called tech support and they are going to call me back.

Apparently the issue is in the house. It must be a hardware thing as I've started to get pixelation and DVR recording freezes (where the show doesn't continue unless you forward).

This only started within the last 2 days. It's not bad but it is annoying when it happens. Changing the channel and back again seems to help.

FYI, I'm at about 60% of my cap.

If you pm me your billing account number (9 digits, starts with 10 usually) I can run some remote tests on the line and give you a better idea of whats happening.

Anybody figure out a way to do this yet? I have a receiver in the room with My Dell PC/2709 monitor and I was hoping I could use to PC monitor to watch TV. I can use the coax or S-video out to my PC's TV tuner, however that's standard def and 4/3 not 16/9. Anybody?:confused:The only potential way that I know to do what you are asking is with a Hauppauge HD-PVR device. One can use the component output from the UVerse box to interface with the HD-PVR, which can convert the analog signal to digital on-the-fly. Many reports suggest that live TV viewing with this method is not problem free (and you need a third party program like SageTV, BeyondTV, or GBPVR to do it), but AFAIK it is the only method available for HD playback from devices without Firewire outputs. Don't have one myself, but will probably get one once I become a UVerse customer.

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1015617&highlight=hd+pvr

Anybody figure out a way to do this yet? I have a receiver in the room with My Dell PC/2709 monitor and I was hoping I could use to PC monitor to watch TV. I can use the coax or S-video out to my PC's TV tuner, however that's standard def and 4/3 not 16/9. Anybody?:confused:
Do you not have a TV in that room as is? Do you not have any other way to watch TV from that U-Verse box other than putting it into your PC? You will just get much better viewing from a TV.

I'm sorry, but I am still trying to figure out why you are wanting to hook your U-Verse into your computer. If its only to watch TV content, you would be far better off just plugging it into a TV and having it sit near or beside you. Hooking a U-Verse box to your computer just is a really crappy way to watch content.

For one, you can't use an internal device as of yet, just like Qixoti said, as there are no tuner cards that are inexpensive enough for a regular person to buy. All cards that exist that do component input are just prohibitively expensive. Only the HD-PVR will do it and they aren't exactly cheap either (in my opinion).

If you are wanting to use your computer to record content, I will restate my reasons why that is a very bad idea. For one, you already have the ability to record 4 streams (which is all you get) on the U-Verse DVR, so using another device to record content will do nothing for you other than save space on the DVR itself. Also, you will play hell getting Windows Media Center to control the U-Verse box because it doesn't have the remote codes in it for it and is insanely difficult to program the codes in it. And lastly, the program guide data for U-Verse in most areas is not extremely complete or accurate yet because Times Media Services is just getting information about it.

Anyway, just sitting here trying to rack my brains on why anyone would prefer to use their computer to watch TV when it would be far easier to watch on a real TV. The quality just won't be as good.

Do you not have a TV in that room as is? Do you not have any other way to watch TV from that U-Verse box other than putting it into your PC? You will just get much better viewing from a TV.

I'm sorry, but I am still trying to figure out why you are wanting to hook your U-Verse into your computer. If its only to watch TV content, you would be far better off just plugging it into a TV and having it sit near or beside you. Hooking a U-Verse box to your computer just is a really crappy way to watch content.

For one, you can't use an internal device as of yet, just like Qixoti said, as there are no tuner cards that are inexpensive enough for a regular person to buy. All cards that exist that do component input are just prohibitively expensive. Only the HD-PVR will do it and they aren't exactly cheap either (in my opinion).

If you are wanting to use your computer to record content, I will restate my reasons why that is a very bad idea. For one, you already have the ability to record 4 streams (which is all you get) on the U-Verse DVR, so using another device to record content will do nothing for you other than save space on the DVR itself. Also, you will play hell getting Windows Media Center to control the U-Verse box because it doesn't have the remote codes in it for it and is insanely difficult to program the codes in it. And lastly, the program guide data for U-Verse in most areas is not extremely complete or accurate yet because Times Media Services is just getting information about it.

Anyway, just sitting here trying to rack my brains on why anyone would prefer to use their computer to watch TV when it would be far easier to watch on a real TV. The quality just won't be as good.

I'm not wanting to record. I just want to be able to watch TV and swap between TV shows or have PIP while I surf on my PC. And no, I don't have a TV in the same room with the PC. It's a 27" monitor so it's plenty big for TV viewing.

I'm not wanting to record. I just want to be able to watch TV and swap between TV shows or have PIP while I surf on my PC. And no, I don't have a TV in the same room with the PC. It's a 27" monitor so it's plenty big for TV viewing.

This. I also have no TV in the office, and I like to use a PC card to just get the basic cable. News, stocks, weather in a PIP on my monitor as I work on other stuff.

I'm not wanting to record. I just want to be able to watch TV and swap between TV shows or have PIP while I surf on my PC. And no, I don't have a TV in the same room with the PC. It's a 27" monitor so it's plenty big for TV viewing.
If its that big a monitor, it should have two inputs on it. If that is the case, go buy a cable for this purpose (www.monoprice.com or ebay for searches), you will need a component-to-VGA or component-to-DVI cable (unless that monitor has an HDMI port on it, if it does, get a component-to-HDMI). You won't have PIP or anything like that (unless that monitor supports it), but you will have the ability to use that monitor as a display for the box.

I just don't think you are going to find a solution for doing this that will be suitable to you in the long run. I still contend you will be better off just getting a cheap TV or something for the long run.

hi,

i've had u-verse since August. I have to say that I'm not really happy with the HD picture quality. Whenever there's fast moving objects the picture breaks up pretty badly. Also, it appears that the black level is set to dark or something because it certainly doesn't match the lever of my previous cable provider. I'm currently hooked up via hdmi. I've tried with component as well. The black lever is ligther (better) but the picture is a bit softer and again, anything fast and it just doesn't look too good. The only channels that look good no matter what are espn, big ten network. I'm contemplating going back to Cox. Also, I was looking at the rear of the dvr stb and for some reason, the installer hooked up both coax and ethernet connections. the coax is from the wall, the ethernet goes to the RG. My other stb on the bedroom is only hooked up via coax. Does this sound right?

This. I also have no TV in the office, and I like to use a PC card to just get the basic cable. News, stocks, weather in a PIP on my monitor as I work on other stuff.

I couldn't understand how I was the only person with U-verse that had a desire for this.:p I would think quite a few of us are in the same boat.

Just get a slingbox and hook it up to your ATT DVR and you will be able to watch on any computer.

i've had u-verse since August. I have to say that I'm not really happy with the HD picture quality. Whenever there's fast moving objects the picture breaks up pretty badly. So what's everyone's opinion of the SD? Any noticable blocking on fast movement or other artifacts? Is the picture detailed and sharp?

Don't mean to get into a big discussion, since this is really an HD forum, but I'm just curious to know.

Others have said it's pretty good, but I'd just like to hear as many recent opinions as possible.

Thanks.

If you pm me your billing account number (9 digits, starts with 10 usually) I can run some remote tests on the line and give you a better idea of whats happening.

Would you like my SSN and credit number too? j/k :)

Thanks for the offer but I have a tech coming out to the house today to fix the issue. Apparently after further testing the issue is outside my house. The tech said it's a grounding issue. We'll see.

The only thing I don't get is that the pixelation and freezing seems to happen almost exclusively on the bedroom set top box now and not as much on the DVR anymore. I still have to test my other box some more and see if it happens there.

I'll report back after its fixed.

hi,

i've had u-verse since August. I have to say that I'm not really happy with the HD picture quality. Whenever there's fast moving objects the picture breaks up pretty badly. Also, it appears that the black level is set to dark or something because it certainly doesn't match the lever of my previous cable provider. I'm currently hooked up via hdmi. I've tried with component as well. The black lever is ligther (better) but the picture is a bit softer and again, anything fast and it just doesn't look too good. The only channels that look good no matter what are espn, big ten network. I'm contemplating going back to Cox. Also, I was looking at the rear of the dvr stb and for some reason, the installer hooked up both coax and ethernet connections. the coax is from the wall, the ethernet goes to the RG. My other stb on the bedroom is only hooked up via coax. Does this sound right?

I have the same issue with the HDMI being much darker than component. According to another user here the HDMI is considered FUBAR all around and should be avoided until its fixed.

As far as the HD quality goes, I've started to get used to it. I can definitely see the flaws when I look for them but at this point I'm sitting far enough back that it's hard to notice the flaws. The only thing that stands out to me right now is the heavy compression during fast moving scenes, however, I've noticed this is program dependent. Some programs exhibit far less compression artifacts than others during fast motion.

I would recommend you give it a little while and you might start noticing it less (I did say MIGHT). I think the subpar HD quality will really stick out if you are viewing a lot of HD-DVD/Blu-Ray material.

Therefore, if you are watching a lot of HD-DVD/Blu-ray material the only real solution would be to give up watching HD-DVD/Blu-Ray material :)

So what's everyone's opinion of the SD? Any noticable blocking on fast movement or other artifacts? Is the picture detailed and sharp?

Don't mean to get into a big discussion, since this is really an HD forum, but I'm just curious to know.

Others have said it's pretty good, but I'd just like to hear as many recent opinions as possible.

Thanks.

I haven't noticed any blocking and/or artifcats on SD when viewing it on a SD TV. The SD is detailed and sharp and it's a whole hell of a lot better than Cablevision SD (on the same TV).

I generally don't tend to watch SD on HDTVs because it always looks like crap to me. So I have no useful info in that regard.

I haven't noticed any blocking and/or artifcats on SD when viewing it on a SD TV. The SD is detailed and sharp and it's a whole hell of a lot better than Cablevision SD (on the same TV).Good enough. Thanks.

I got a postcard about a month ago saying that Universal HD is moving to the Premium tier and that I would be losing it. It is now part of that $5 extra package that includes MGM, Smithsonian, and....Universal!

oic, i never got the postcard. but i did notice a bunch of new hd channels added last month.

Had a tech out this morning b/c I was growing weary of the ongoing issues I was having, which are the pretty standard ones most users have.

1. HDMI doesn't pass surround sound.
2. Components don't always render video correctly.
3. Optical audio comes in and out.

I showed him how I was getting Dolby surround on shows through the optical, but when I switch to HDMI, it is only 2.0. My receiver fakes the surround sound--which I had to explain--but it is not true Dolby. I have my box set to 1080i and for some reason when the screen is white (like an Apple commercial or certain scenes in a show--the image goes black and flickers real bad. That does not happen on HDMI. Well, I'm taking the lesser of the evils here and running component and optical, because the surround sound is more important to me and the loss of image is annoying, but not cancel-worthy.

He called in and discovered that Cisco is aware of these issues. My version is 1.6.5868.1 or something close to that. He was told that Cisco is releasing new hardware with version 2.x software mid-December. In the meantime, Cisco posted a recommendation to change settings from 1080i to 720p to stop the image rendering problem. No actual date for the new box, but it is suppose to fix some port issues, like I listed here.

.,..
He called in and discovered that Cisco is aware of these issues. My version is 1.6.5868.1 or something close to that. He was told that Cisco is releasing new hardware with version 2.x software mid-December. In the meantime, Cisco posted a recommendation to change settings from 1080i to 720p to stop the image rendering problem. No actual date for the new box, but it is suppose to fix some port issues, like I listed here.

So their is an advantage of not having Uverse available yet in my area (neighboring towns have partial availability of Uverse and I know it's "coming").

Time to make an important mental note: When Uverse is installed (don't even have VRads in the town yet) make sure it's a Cisco box w/ >= 2.0 software!!

Anyone else think the hd picture on macy's thanksgiving parade on NBC and detroit, tennesse NFL game on CBS was atrocious?

Anyone else think the hd picture on macy's thanksgiving parade on NBC and detroit, tennesse NFL game on CBS was atrocious?

I don't believe the parade was in HD.

I watched the 2nd half of the game @ my parents who have AT&T, and I thought it looked pretty good.

Anyone else think the hd picture on macy's thanksgiving parade on NBC and detroit, tennesse NFL game on CBS was atrocious?
The parade on NBC looked fine to me. A little bit of pixelation now and then, but nothing too bad. The CBS parade was not HD, at least here. Didn't watch the game.

Anyone else think the hd picture on macy's thanksgiving parade on NBC and detroit, tennesse NFL game on CBS was atrocious?

Not me, watching OTA in Detroit. Must be a provider or local issue.

i know this isn't a programming question, but I thought this would be the best place to put it where it would get answered the quickest:

Does the non-DVR U-verse tuner have an event timer, or any way to change channels on it's own? Does it use a common enough code to control it, such as with a remote control or an IR blaster?

i know this isn't a programming question, but I thought this would be the best place to put it where it would get answered the quickest:

Does the non-DVR U-verse tuner have an event timer, or any way to change channels on it's own? Does it use a common enough code to control it, such as with a remote control or an IR blaster?

This feature has been requested but is not yet available.

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=DVR&thread.id=6599

Thanks. Whenever they get that, I'm there.

Has anybody else had a chat agent offer additional rebate $$ to sign up? If so, how and when was that rebate processed in relationship to the normal rebates?

Has anybody else had a chat agent offer additional rebate $$ to sign up? If so, how and when was that rebate processed in relationship to the normal rebates?

Yes, I did.

All of my rebates were processed around the same time and the same way (through the reward center site). Well, I redeemed one through the phone ONLY because I misunderstood something and I didn't realize I qualified for it. Th agent offered to redeem it for me when she saw I hadn't yet initiated the process.

Also, you may have better luck negotiating with a phone agent as I was luckily placed on TWO promotional programs at the same time.

I have no update on my repair status yet as the issue hasn't been fixed. While the freezing and pixelation has essentially disappeared it was not due to any repair as my RG still reports large numbers of uncorrected errors.

I was told my issue would be fixed within 24 hours because a Line Tech needed to fix the issue. However, given it was a short week I figured they were mistaken and it will be taken care of this week. I'll call again today to verify.

I have my U-Verse box in my computer room connected via HDMI to my Vizio TV. Why is it that when my TV is turned off, the HD light on the U-Verse box flashes? Its a little bit annoying, especially when the lights are out. It doesn't do that when connected via component cables.

HDMI seems to act differently on each tv, some will turn the hd light off completely when the set is off, others stay on, haven't seen one flash yet though, that's odd.

HDMI seems to act differently on each tv, some will turn the hd light off completely when the set is off, others stay on, haven't seen one flash yet though, that's odd.
Its a slow flash, so, its just a little annoying. I think it has something to do with messing up the box's ability to determine if it can do the HDCP encryption stuff.

I say that because I noticed when I had both component and HDMI hooked up at the same time and was switching back and forth to see if I could see a difference, it would flash like that (the slow flash) and I would see a banner across the top of the screen saying something like the TV couldn't do the HDCP stuff, but then it would go away. So, it very well could have something to do with that encryption checking thing and when the Vizio is turned off, it does something with the communications across the HDMI cable to confuse the receiver. When I turn the TV back on, its fine.

EDIT: Strike that, its NOT fine. The TV now shows "No Signal!" on the screen. I have to switch over to HDMI 2, then back to HDMI 1 to get it to work again. When I came back to HDMI 1, I saw just very briefly across the top of the screen the HDCP message. This could be a very big problem.

I agree with AuroraProject. HDMI acts differently with whatever device to which you connect it.

If you have Component and HDMI connected at the same time and you disconnect the HDMI cable the box will automatically default to 4:3 SD (i.e. 480i). Even though you are still connected through Component.

So if your Vizio loses (i.e. disconnects) HDMI communication when your switching back and forth it's probably changing resolution and doing some other funky stuff. Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised to see HDCP error messages (or any other error message) pop up.

Also, if I'm not mistaken some TVs will not accept 480i through HDMI (unless this is a limitation of HDMI of which I'm not aware). I think that would explain your NO SIGNAL message.

Had a tech out this morning b/c I was growing weary of the ongoing issues I was having, which are the pretty standard ones most users have.

1. HDMI doesn't pass surround sound.
2. Components don't always render video correctly.
3. Optical audio comes in and out.

I showed him how I was getting Dolby surround on shows through the optical, but when I switch to HDMI, it is only 2.0. My receiver fakes the surround sound--which I had to explain--but it is not true Dolby. I have my box set to 1080i and for some reason when the screen is white (like an Apple commercial or certain scenes in a show--the image goes black and flickers real bad. That does not happen on HDMI. Well, I'm taking the lesser of the evils here and running component and optical, because the surround sound is more important to me and the loss of image is annoying, but not cancel-worthy.

He called in and discovered that Cisco is aware of these issues. My version is 1.6.5868.1 or something close to that. He was told that Cisco is releasing new hardware with version 2.x software mid-December. In the meantime, Cisco posted a recommendation to change settings from 1080i to 720p to stop the image rendering problem. No actual date for the new box, but it is suppose to fix some port issues, like I listed here.

Amen to all of the above. I just hope that ATT can increase the HD quality soon. I don't care about faster internet speeds. I prefer better HD quality.

Chris

Its a slow flash, so, its just a little annoying. I think it has something to do with messing up the box's ability to determine if it can do the HDCP encryption stuff.

I say that because I noticed when I had both component and HDMI hooked up at the same time and was switching back and forth to see if I could see a difference, it would flash like that (the slow flash) and I would see a banner across the top of the screen saying something like the TV couldn't do the HDCP stuff, but then it would go away. So, it very well could have something to do with that encryption checking thing and when the Vizio is turned off, it does something with the communications across the HDMI cable to confuse the receiver. When I turn the TV back on, its fine.

EDIT: Strike that, its NOT fine. The TV now shows "No Signal!" on the screen. I have to switch over to HDMI 2, then back to HDMI 1 to get it to work again. When I came back to HDMI 1, I saw just very briefly across the top of the screen the HDCP message. This could be a very big problem.

Steve, I think the general advice is to not hook up via HDMI at this time. Aside from the no-surround issue, when I would turn on the box, it sometimes had issues with the picture freezing on the start up screen. It was a sporadic occurrence, but could only be fixed by the 10-minute restart of the box. When the tech came out to observe, that's when we decided it was best to go component/optical until HDMI is fixed. Besides, there's nothing in 1080p on TV, so you won't be losing anything. That port is FUBAR.

Steve, I think the general advice is to not hook up via HDMI at this time. Aside from the no-surround issue, when I would turn on the box, it sometimes had issues with the picture freezing on the start up screen. It was a sporadic occurrence, but could only be fixed by the 10-minute restart of the box. When the tech came out to observe, that's when we decided it was best to go component/optical until HDMI is fixed. Besides, there's nothing in 1080p on TV, so you won't be losing anything. That port is FUBAR.
It seems to work okay for me aside from the issue of it not connecting with my TV properly sometimes. In this room, I don't have surround sound or anything, just the TV's speakers, so for the most part it works okay, just a mild irritant with having to switch between HDMI inputs for it to show up.

I only have it hooked up that way as a convenience for me when I want to switch it to the bedroom, but then again I have to do the whole change resolution thing for it to work on that old 480i TV anyway. Since I am not moving it between HD TV's, I guess I will just hook it back up component even though running those wires properly will be a humongous pain in the ass. :) I just thought it might be easier to have both TV sources in here on HDMI, but its really not that much to have u-verse component and windows media center HDMI. Maybe one day I will really need the HDMI and it will actually be ready to go. :)

I just signed up for Uverse and have a couple questions. First off, is it possible to use an HDMI cable to connect to the TV and then use an optical cable to connect audio to my surround sound? Second, does AT&T recommend you keep the DVR on when you aren't watching it or turn it off? Does it mess anything up if you have it off, it starts recording and then you turn the DVR on?

I just signed up for Uverse and have a couple questions. First off, is it possible to use an HDMI cable to connect to the TV and then use an optical cable to connect audio to my surround sound? Second, does AT&T recommend you keep the DVR on when you aren't watching it or turn it off? Does it mess anything up if you have it off, it starts recording and then you turn the DVR on?
Yeah, you can use optical cable with HDMI, but as many others have noticed, there are problems with HDMI right now, so use Component cables for the time being. New firmware will be out soon.

The DVR is always on. It's just like a DirecTV or Dish DVR as when you turn off the "power", its not off. It's just in standby mode. It is always on in reality.

It seems to work okay for me aside from the issue of it not connecting with my TV properly sometimes...

Steveken does your picture get a lot darker with HDMI than it is with Component? This happens to me. I get a large amount of black crush which can not be tweaked out. This is why I've stuck to component.

I haven't had any other issues with HDMI other than the darker picture (and the surround issue of course).

I've read a good portion of the thread and did a search but have not seen anyone with this issue.

I had Uverse installed on Monday, 1 DVR box and 3 standard. I have 2 HD TVs. The one in the living room is a KDS-60A3000 and is hooked to the DVR box via component cables. The image was fine when the install guys left and was ok throughout the evening. However, yesterday the picture took a turn for the worse. It seems like a lack of sharpness. The Guide and menu text has shadows behind it, programming looks kind of foggy. I took my receiver out of the loop to confirm that was not the issue.

The upstairs TV a Sony KD-34XBR tube tv with 1080i resolution looks just fine.

They are sending a teck out this evening but was wondering if anyone had heard of something similar and if there is a fix. Any help would be appreciated.

On another note, after the install was half done on Monday I found out I am too far from the VRAD to get 2 HD channels. This is almost a deal breaker. If they get the sharpness issue resolved, I'll try to live with the 1 stream for a couple of months and then re-evaluate. They did say they are trying to add bandwidth all the time and might be able to upgrade me "in a few months."

Steveken does your picture get a lot darker with HDMI than it is with Component? This happens to me. I get a large amount of black crush which can not be tweaked out. This is why I've stuck to component.

I haven't had any other issues with HDMI other than the darker picture (and the surround issue of course).
Actually, yeah, it does. I just thought it was this crappy Vizio, but I really wasn't sure if it was that dark with the components too. Was going to do a test with it at some point this week, but haven't gotten to it yet.

On another note, after the install was half done on Monday I found out I am too far from the VRAD to get 2 HD channels. This is almost a deal breaker. If they get the sharpness issue resolved, I'll try to live with the 1 stream for a couple of months and then re-evaluate. They did say they are trying to add bandwidth all the time and might be able to upgrade me "in a few months."
As far as your 1 HD stream is concerned, they told me that same thing when I got mine installed.

I watched this one particular screen on the RG that told me my max line speed and saw that it was in the 28Mbps area. That is enough to get the 2 HD and 2 SD streams because the max for that is 25216.

I contacted a source at AT&T to see if they would bump it up for me just to see if it would work and they did. That was yesterday. I can now watch 2 HD streams at once and haven't seen any side effects of it as of yet. The RG hasn't tried to resync on me or anything.

So, if you are getting over, say, 27Mbps to your RG, then you should try to get them to bump you up temporarily to the normal profile connection to see if you are still solid with that. Look at http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J03 and see what it says for Max Rate. You will find the password for the RG on the RG itself. It will be a bunch of numbers.

I will keep watching mine, but if mine starts going south I will get them to bump it back down to low profile. It only takes like 2 minutes for it to do it.

Steveken does your picture get a lot darker with HDMI than it is with Component? This happens to me. I get a large amount of black crush which can not be tweaked out. This is why I've stuck to component.

I haven't had any other issues with HDMI other than the darker picture (and the surround issue of course).

I have this issue as well. I suspect that for some unknown reason, the hdmi level on the att set top box has the incorrect black level. It's too bad that there's no option available on the box to change it. the Component balck level appears to be correct.

Hello,
I can't seem to find a real consensus on this one. I have heard back and forth from local sources on if HD is needed when ordering U-Verse. I don't have it installed yet so I cannot compare, but I heard that the HD version looks no better than the SD counterpart through U-Verse. Further, the only stations I am really concerned with would be my local channels, which I should be able to get anyway, correct?

My TV is the Samsung 56" LED DLP (HLT5687S I believe). I run HDMI + optical out audio. Would the TV be able to pick up the HD locals, or would I have to switch sources every time for that? Basically, is the HD worth the $10 for pretty much the locals?

Thank you so very much for all your input!

Mike

I have this issue as well. I suspect that for some unknown reason, the hdmi level on the att set top box has the incorrect black level. It's too bad that there's no option available on the box to change it. the Component balck level appears to be correct.
Yeah, hooked it back up via component. Things are not as dark as they appeared with HDMI. Another -1 for HDMI on U-Verse.

Topics merged.

Hello,
I can't seem to find a real consensus on this one. I have heard back and forth from local sources on if HD is needed when ordering U-Verse. I don't have it installed yet so I cannot compare, but I heard that the HD version looks no better than the SD counterpart through U-Verse.This is incorrect. U-verse HD is substantially better than any SD.

Further, the only stations I am really concerned with would be my local channels, which I should be able to get anyway, correct?Do you mean from AT&T? I don't know if you can get them without the HD package, perhaps others will chime in. If you mean with an antenna, that depends on where you live. See the local topic for your area, in the HDTV Locals Forum.

My TV is the Samsung 56" LED DLP (HLT5687S I believe). I run HDMI + optical out audio. Would the TV be able to pick up the HD locals, or would I have to switch sources every time for that?If you're not using the U-verse box, and use an antenna for local HD, yes.

Basically, is the HD worth the $10 for pretty much the locals?Without question.

I've read a good portion of the thread and did a search but have not seen anyone with this issue.

I had Uverse installed on Monday, 1 DVR box and 3 standard. I have 2 HD TVs. The one in the living room is a KDS-60A3000 and is hooked to the DVR box via component cables. The image was fine when the install guys left and was ok throughout the evening. However, yesterday the picture took a turn for the worse. It seems like a lack of sharpness. The Guide and menu text has shadows behind it, programming looks kind of foggy. I took my receiver out of the loop to confirm that was not the issue.

The upstairs TV a Sony KD-34XBR tube tv with 1080i resolution looks just fine.

They are sending a teck out this evening but was wondering if anyone had heard of something similar and if there is a fix. Any help would be appreciated.

On another note, after the install was half done on Monday I found out I am too far from the VRAD to get 2 HD channels. This is almost a deal breaker. If they get the sharpness issue resolved, I'll try to live with the 1 stream for a couple of months and then re-evaluate. They did say they are trying to add bandwidth all the time and might be able to upgrade me "in a few months."

By foggy, do you mean it is ghosting? Not trying to insult anyone's intelligence when I say this, but make sure all 3 component cables are securely plugged in on both ends.

Distance from the VRAD: 2800' ft or so is when they have to bump down to 19/1 (I think it is). Just a little past that, and you can't get service. Steveken saw his bandwidth increase soon after he got service and they were able to bump him up to the 2/2 stream. The magic "down number" you want (which you can check on your RG) is 26-28k.

Hello,
I can't seem to find a real consensus on this one. I have heard back and forth from local sources on if HD is needed when ordering U-Verse. I don't have it installed yet so I cannot compare, but I heard that the HD version looks no better than the SD counterpart through U-Verse. Further, the only stations I am really concerned with would be my local channels, which I should be able to get anyway, correct?

My TV is the Samsung 56" LED DLP (HLT5687S I believe). I run HDMI + optical out audio. Would the TV be able to pick up the HD locals, or would I have to switch sources every time for that? Basically, is the HD worth the $10 for pretty much the locals?

Thank you so very much for all your input!

Mike

On a 56" TV, you couldn't find a consensus if HD would look better? Oh wow...um YES, YES, and YES!!!! You can get your locals OTA, I suppose, but once you view HD, you won't want to view SD and will want the cable channels U-Verse offers in HD. Well worth $10. Wouldn't give it a 2nd thought.

By foggy, do you mean it is ghosting? Not trying to insult anyone's intelligence when I say this, but make sure all 3 component cables are securely plugged in on both ends.

Distance from the VRAD: 2800' ft or so is when they have to bump down to 19/1 (I think it is). Just a little past that, and you can't get service. Steveken saw his bandwidth increase soon after he got service and they were able to bump him up to the 2/2 stream. The magic "down number" you want (which you can check on your RG) is 26-28k.

You're not insulting my intelligence and a bad cable is was it turned out to be. I was quite surprised. I did check all the connections but did not swap out cables as I did not have another 12' run of component cables lying around. The Uverse tech had a set in his truck, we swapped them out and bingo, clear picture.

They checked my bandwidth again and are not able to bump me up. I'll keep an eye on it, thanks for that link and your other diagnosis. Much appreciated.

That's what I thought, but I read some interesting things and had some people try to tell me I didn't need it.

Thanks so much for your help!

You're not insulting my intelligence and a bad cable is was it turned out to be. I was quite surprised. I did check all the connections but did not swap out cables as I did not have another 12' run of component cables lying around. The Uverse tech had a set in his truck, we swapped them out and bingo, clear picture.

They checked my bandwidth again and are not able to bump me up. I'll keep an eye on it, thanks for that link and your other diagnosis. Much appreciated.
Do NOT depend on them to check your bandwidth. They are told a certain set of numbers, and, by golly, that is what they go by. Check your Max Rate on that screen that I put a link to and see what it says. I was told they couldn't bump me when I basically begged for it, but yet when I saw the numbers for myself and determined that the speeds support it, I managed to get it (albeit through back channels that shouldn't have been done probably, hehehehehehe).

Go to that page on your RG I referenced and copy and paste the numbers into here please. We can all probably tell you if you should be able to get them or not. Again, do NOT go by what they say when they measure your line. I have been on the 2/2 service for a day and a half now and it is working fine.

Granted, I see quite a bit of FEC's at times, but I think that could be attributable to the weather possibly. All day yesterday and the night before I had maybe 4million FEC's, but didn't see it hurt the connection at all. Was still able to record 2 HD's at the same time (which is all I really wanted the 2nd HD stream for, I rarely watch 2 HD's simultaneously) and didn't see any messing up of the image or anything. Last night was a bit stormy here and I saw those FEC numbers jump up a LOT, but, again, I think that very well could have something to do with the weather. It still didn't affect my TV or Internet experiences.

Anyway, my $0.02 worth.

That's what I thought, but I read some interesting things and had some people try to tell me I didn't need it.

Thanks so much for your help!
Dude, there are quite a lot of..........well, lets just call them idiots that wouldn't know a good HD picture if it came over to their house, played video games with them, ate dinner with them, and then had nasty, freaky monkey sex with them that night. I really have no idea how these people manage to influence so many people and spread generally bad information about HD.

To put it bluntly (even more so than I already have), if HD wasn't all that, and you really didn't need it, why in the hell would they have it out there and be promoting it as hard as they do??????? If the cassette wasn't any better than an 8-track and you didn't need it, why did you upgrade? If your new 3.0GHz Dual Core computer is the same thing as your 800MHz Pentium-3 and it lets you do the same exact stuff, then why upgrade it???? See? :)

Dude, there are quite a lot of..........well, lets just call them idiots that wouldn't know a good HD picture if it came over to their house, played video games with them, ate dinner with them, and then had nasty, freaky monkey sex with them that night. I really have no idea how these people manage to influence so many people and spread generally bad information about HD.

To put it bluntly (even more so than I already have), if HD wasn't all that, and you really didn't need it, why in the hell would they have it out there and be promoting it as hard as they do??????? If the cassette wasn't any better than an 8-track and you didn't need it, why did you upgrade? If your new 3.0GHz Dual Core computer is the same thing as your 800MHz Pentium-3 and it lets you do the same exact stuff, then why upgrade it???? See? :)

Very true... but I think what also happens is that people get digital mixed up with HD. Keep spreadin' the good word!

I've read a good portion of the thread and did a search but have not seen anyone with this issue.

I had Uverse installed on Monday, 1 DVR box and 3 standard. I have 2 HD TVs. The one in the living room is a KDS-60A3000 and is hooked to the DVR box via component cables. The image was fine when the install guys left and was ok throughout the evening. However, yesterday the picture took a turn for the worse. It seems like a lack of sharpness. The Guide and menu text has shadows behind it, programming looks kind of foggy. I took my receiver out of the loop to confirm that was not the issue.

The upstairs TV a Sony KD-34XBR tube tv with 1080i resolution looks just fine.

They are sending a teck out this evening but was wondering if anyone had heard of something similar and if there is a fix. Any help would be appreciated.

On another note, after the install was half done on Monday I found out I am too far from the VRAD to get 2 HD channels. This is almost a deal breaker. If they get the sharpness issue resolved, I'll try to live with the 1 stream for a couple of months and then re-evaluate. They did say they are trying to add bandwidth all the time and might be able to upgrade me "in a few months."

PM me with your rg serial number or billing account number (9 digits, starts with 10) and I'll see what your line looks like.

Dude, there are quite a lot of..........well, lets just call them idiots that wouldn't know a good HD picture if it came over to their house, played video games with them, ate dinner with them, and then had nasty, freaky monkey sex with them that night.

Just be really careful, you don't want any VD from your HD :eek:

I can imagine that marketing campaign now. Don't know if you want HD? Well, our HD is sooo good it'll have nasty, freaky monkey sex with YOU, TONIGHT!!!

Disclaimer: Sex will be only as good as your HDTV.

(Bad joke?...probably:))

But funny none the less. :)

I am switching from DTV Dec 26th to AT&T U-verse HDTV after 10 years with Dtv . am I making a mistake ...... I will be saving about $40 a month doing this . for all three service's TV , Internet , Phone

I am switching from DTV Dec 26th to AT&T U-verse HDTV after 10 years with Dtv . am I making a mistake ...... I will be saving about $40 a month doing this . for all three service's TV , Internet , Phone
Not really, I switched because the prices DirecTV charges is just a bit too high. AT&T's HD selection isn't as extensive as DirecTV, but I am hoping that will change soon. Also, AT&T's crap about the distance from the VRAD is a pain in the ass. They really need to get on the ball and fix this crap which I hope they are working on now. And the HD quality isn't as good, but its tolerable because of the money you save in my opinion. Besides, you can kill AT&T any time without fear of retribution unlike with DirecTV. So, I would say suspend DirecTV until you know for sure. Don't just cancel it. You won't have to pay during the suspension, but you won't have to kill it completely either in case you change your mind. Thats what I would do. Also, you can get AT&T to install Cat-5e in your house for free, its awesome. :)

am I making a mistake
If you care about picture quality, yes. If not, you'll be fine.

The picture is not that bad. Granted, its not as sharp and spectacular as DirecTV, but there are times I don't notice much of a difference at all. Really on football so far have I noticed a difference and I am not so sure its not the fault of the local stations.

That's what I thought, but I read some interesting things and had some people try to tell me I didn't need it.

Thanks so much for your help!

Most people unfortunately think they are getting HD shows just because they buy an HD-ready television. One, they aren't unless they get that additional service from their provider or get it OTA. Two, not every channel broadcasts 24 hours a day in HD. Some shows just still aren't produced that way even though you may be watching the channel on CBS-HD instead of CBS.

I am switching from DTV Dec 26th to AT&T U-verse HDTV after 10 years with Dtv . am I making a mistake ...... I will be saving about $40 a month doing this . for all three service's TV , Internet , Phone

If you care about picture quality, yes. If not, you'll be fine.

The picture quality isn't THAT bad, but it is noticably different. Now, whether I've gotten used to it or it has, in fact, gotten better, I don't know. But AT&T's HD is fully adequate for my viewing experience. And I'm pretty damn picky.

I am switching from DTV Dec 26th to AT&T U-verse HDTV after 10 years with Dtv . am I making a mistake ...... I will be saving about $40 a month doing this . for all three service's TV , Internet , PhoneDTV = Digital TV, as in over-the-air
D* = DirecTV

I am switching from DTV Dec 26th to AT&T U-verse HDTV after 10 years with Dtv . am I making a mistake ...... I will be saving about $40 a month doing this . for all three service's TV , Internet , Phone

I switched from Direct after 11+ years. No regrets here!;)

As far as your 1 HD stream is concerned, they told me that same thing when I got mine installed.

I watched this one particular screen on the RG that told me my max line speed and saw that it was in the 28Mbps area. That is enough to get the 2 HD and 2 SD streams because the max for that is 25216.

I contacted a source at AT&T to see if they would bump it up for me just to see if it would work and they did. That was yesterday. I can now watch 2 HD streams at once and haven't seen any side effects of it as of yet. The RG hasn't tried to resync on me or anything.

So, if you are getting over, say, 27Mbps to your RG, then you should try to get them to bump you up temporarily to the normal profile connection to see if you are still solid with that. Look at http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J03 and see what it says for Max Rate. You will find the password for the RG on the RG itself. It will be a bunch of numbers.

I will keep watching mine, but if mine starts going south I will get them to bump it back down to low profile. It only takes like 2 minutes for it to do it.

here are the stats:

DSL Down Up
Current Rate: 19200 kbs 2048 kbs
Max Rate: 29012 kbs Not Available
Current Connection:
Current Noise Margin: 17.5 dB Not Available
Current Attenuation: 31.5 dB Not Available
Current Output Power: 12.3 dBm 6.7 dBm
IP Bytes Packets Errors %
Transmit: 0 0 0 0
Receive: 0 0 0 0



Looks like I have what they told me I had but that at times I've gotten 29mbps.

I came to this thread because I can get U Verse in my area. I was intrigued by what they offer, and by combining my phone (land line), cell phone, television, and cable service, I could save about $50 a month vs Charter Cable.

Looks like it may be too good to be true, as there seems to be a consensus that the HD quality isn't that great.

I refuse to switch if it means lesser HD quality. I'm not that thrilled with Charter's quality as it is.

I came to this thread because I can get U Verse in my area. I was intrigued by what they offer, and by combining my phone (land line), cell phone, television, and cable service, I could save about $50 a month vs Charter Cable.

Looks like it may be too good to be true, as there seems to be a consensus that the HD quality isn't that great.

I refuse to switch if it means lesser HD quality. I'm not that thrilled with Charter's quality as it is.I'd suggest checking the local topic for your area, in the HDTV Locals Forum, because cable HD quality varies from location to location, even from the same company.

Thanks Ken.

I came to this thread because I can get U Verse in my area. I was intrigued by what they offer, and by combining my phone (land line), cell phone, television, and cable service, I could save about $50 a month vs Charter Cable.

Looks like it may be too good to be true, as there seems to be a consensus that the HD quality isn't that great.

I refuse to switch if it means lesser HD quality. I'm not that thrilled with Charter's quality as it is.

As Ken said, the local HD quality varies, even among providers. The consensus seems to be that U-Verse is not that bad, although not the best.

For example, here in Nashville, Comcast has dropped in quality over the past 2-3 months, both in HD (a lot more artifacting, motion judder and background pixelation, even on the big networks) and also SD (which is abominable now). So I would imagine U-verse may be actually better.

I came to this thread because I can get U Verse in my area. I was intrigued by what they offer, and by combining my phone (land line), cell phone, television, and cable service, I could save about $50 a month vs Charter Cable.

Looks like it may be too good to be true, as there seems to be a consensus that the HD quality isn't that great.

I refuse to switch if it means lesser HD quality. I'm not that thrilled with Charter's quality as it is.
If you don't want to save $50 a month (which to me is a hell of a lot), then don't. There is NOT a consensus that the HD quality isn't that great. The consensus is that it's not perfect and that it's a little soft at times. It is very very subjective depending on how picky you are.

More than likely it will be just as good, if not better, than Charter given what I have seen out of them in the past in both their analog tier and their digital tier. You can not simply go by what other people say about a service such as this. HD quality is purely subjective to every person out there and what is sh*t to one person is fairly decent to another.

For instance, I am pretty picky about my HD and can tell most of the time when something is softer than it should be, but after like 3 days of service, I can't hardly see a difference. Our local OTA HD channels are pretty comparable to what AT&T is offering. It really depends quite a bit on what content is on the channel at the given time.

Above all, you MUST remember one key important fact, you have 30 days to decide whether you want the service or not. The install is FREE and that includes wiring your house with Cat-5e everywhere (which is what I would suggest instead of using the coax connections). This is something that most people pay hundreds of dollars to get done and AT&T is willing to do it for free in every room you want or think you will want to use a U-Verse box.

That, above anything else, is reason enough to take advantage of their 30-day trial period of the service. Do NOT go purely on what you read no matter how reliable the source. If it costs nothing to try, then what is the harm???????

If you don't want to save $50 a month (which to me is a hell of a lot), then don't. There is NOT a consensus that the HD quality isn't that great. The consensus is that it's not perfect and that it's a little soft at times. It is very very subjective depending on how picky you are.

More than likely it will be just as good, if not better, than Charter given what I have seen out of them in the past in both their analog tier and their digital tier. You can not simply go by what other people say about a service such as this. HD quality is purely subjective to every person out there and what is sh*t to one person is fairly decent to another.

For instance, I am pretty picky about my HD and can tell most of the time when something is softer than it should be, but after like 3 days of service, I can't hardly see a difference. Our local OTA HD channels are pretty comparable to what AT&T is offering. It really depends quite a bit on what content is on the channel at the given time.

Above all, you MUST remember one key important fact, you have 30 days to decide whether you want the service or not. The install is FREE and that includes wiring your house with Cat-5e everywhere (which is what I would suggest instead of using the coax connections). This is something that most people pay hundreds of dollars to get done and AT&T is willing to do it for free in every room you want or think you will want to use a U-Verse box.

That, above anything else, is reason enough to take advantage of their 30-day trial period of the service. Do NOT go purely on what you read no matter how reliable the source. If it costs nothing to try, then what is the harm???????

Keep in mind there have been changes to the free install due to customer abuse. We will still install it for free, but if you cancel within 30 days we will charge you for 1 month of service, plus a hefty installation fee. Also installers are not supposed to wire locations that you may want to put a tv in at some point, only locations that actually have tv sets. The first 4 wire runs are free, after that they are $75 each.

If you don't want to save $50 a month (which to me is a hell of a lot), then don't.

Huh?

Where did I say I didn't want to save $50? Did you read my post? If you did, then you would realize that the only reason that I came to this thread was because I was intrigued by what U-Verse offers and the fact that I could save $50 a month!

What I am not willing to do, however, is give up HD picture quality in order to save $50. If you interpret that as I "don't want to save $50 a month" then that is your interpretation, and not at all what I said.

Hell, if I wanted to save even more than $50 I could just do without HD altogether. :rolleyes:

There is NOT a consensus that the HD quality isn't that great. The consensus is that it's not perfect and that it's a little soft at times. It is very very subjective depending on how picky you are.

You are just playing semantics.

If the consensus is that it's "not perfect and that it's a little soft at times", that is close enough to "it isn't great" to me to not matter.

As far as "how picky you are", well, I have a 123" front projection system, so I can see differences in HD PQ rather easily, so I would say I am very picky.

More than likely it will be just as good, if not better, than Charter given what I have seen out of them in the past in both their analog tier and their digital tier. You can not simply go by what other people say about a service such as this. HD quality is purely subjective to every person out there and what is sh*t to one person is fairly decent to another.

Like I said, I am not particularly happy with what I get from Charter, so it may very well be just as good or better. This is why Ken correctly recommended that I check out the local area to get a better idea of PQ from people who have had both in my area.

For instance, I am pretty picky about my HD and can tell most of the time when something is softer than it should be, but after like 3 days of service, I can't hardly see a difference. Our local OTA HD channels are pretty comparable to what AT&T is offering. It really depends quite a bit on what content is on the channel at the given time.

What do you mean by "after like 3 days of service, I can't hardly see a difference"?

Above all, you MUST remember one key important fact, you have 30 days to decide whether you want the service or not. The install is FREE and that includes wiring your house with Cat-5e everywhere (which is what I would suggest instead of using the coax connections). This is something that most people pay hundreds of dollars to get done and AT&T is willing to do it for free in every room you want or think you will want to use a U-Verse box.

That, above anything else, is reason enough to take advantage of their 30-day trial period of the service. Do NOT go purely on what you read no matter how reliable the source. If it costs nothing to try, then what is the harm???????

My house was pre-wired with Cat5 so that isn't a big deal. In fact, I would think it would be a real easy install if I go with U-Verse.

I do agree, though, that the idea of not having a contract and being able to try the service while keeping Charter is a great advantage. I could actually do direct comparisons of the two, even recording the same HD content on the DVR's. That could be interesting!

Keep in mind there have been changes to the free install due to customer abuse. We will still install it for free, but if you cancel within 30 days we will charge you for 1 month of service, plus a hefty installation fee. Also installers are not supposed to wire locations that you may want to put a tv in at some point, only locations that actually have tv sets. The first 4 wire runs are free, after that they are $75 each.

I have read all the fine print in the flyer that I received. I did not see anything about having to pay an installation fee if service is canceled within 30 days. :confused:

I have read all the fine print in the flyer that I received. I did not see anything about having to pay an installation fee if service is canceled within 30 days. :confused:

Went into effect a week or so ago, mailers are old and haven't been updated. AT&T just got tired of shifty customers taking advantage of a good deal.

What do you mean by "after like 3 days of service, I can't hardly see a difference"?
He means that he got acclimated to the decreased PQ after watching it for a few days. Sort of like how some people think HD isn't all that great until they see a side-by-side comparison with SD.

Here is a job posting for here in Nashville, or at least the important part.

Come join one of the fastest growing marketing companies in business today. XXXXXX, an authorized representative for the new AT&T, we have opened a BRAND NEW office that needs to be fully staffed! We have several positions available including:

· SALES REPRESENTATIVES FOR AT&T’S UVERSE
....


They say they need to fill it up within 1 week so they can start work.

I was hoping to get Uverse before Xmas, but it looks like it may be here right after the new year or so. Either way, its definitely coming to Nashville very soon.

Keep in mind there have been changes to the free install due to customer abuse. We will still install it for free, but if you cancel within 30 days we will charge you for 1 month of service, plus a hefty installation fee. Also installers are not supposed to wire locations that you may want to put a tv in at some point, only locations that actually have tv sets. The first 4 wire runs are free, after that they are $75 each.
Well, yeah, the guy told me he would only do 3 for free for me, but thats about all the rooms I have in the house. I told him the receiver next to the RG didn't count because it didn't have a run at all, its just a cable to it. I asked him to put a run in my bedroom because I would most likely be taking a receiver from my sons room and putting it in there to watch TV in bed sometimes. He was more than happy to do it for me.

Went into effect a week or so ago, mailers are old and haven't been updated. AT&T just got tired of shifty customers taking advantage of a good deal.

This is ridiculous. Seriously.

If you are going to charge a "hefty installation fee" for canceling within 30 days, then they are guilty of false advertising. My flyer says "professional installation included, No Contract Term, and 30 day money back guarantee".

Having to pay a "hefty installation fee" for canceling in 30 days is completely contrary to their advertising and makes no sense.

He means that he got acclimated to the decreased PQ after watching it for a few days. Sort of like how some people think HD isn't all that great until they see a side-by-side comparison with SD.

That's exactly how I interpreted it. I think this is pretty bad justification, so I thought I would ask for clarification/confirmation.

If you want to get a sample of PQ, see if one of your local AT&T mobile phone stores has a demo set up. In my area the show a side-by-side of U-Verse, and DishHD. I was somewhat surprised to see that the U-Verse was softer than the DishHD feed. YMMV

I've just learned that we'll be getting U-verse in my area next year. I'm considering switching from TWC when U-verse becomes available.

Question: My TWC box has a feature called "Copy to VCR" which allows one to copy any recording to your VCR (or DVD-R in my case) in the background, so you can watch other live or recorded shows at the same time. Does the U-verse box have such a function?

Thanks much!

If you want to get a sample of PQ, see if one of your local AT&T mobile phone stores has a demo set up. In my area the show a side-by-side of U-Verse, and DishHD. I was somewhat surprised to see that the U-Verse was softer than the DishHD feed. YMMV

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

He means that he got acclimated to the decreased PQ after watching it for a few days. Sort of like how some people think HD isn't all that great until they see a side-by-side comparison with SD.
No, that is NOT what I meant. If I meant that the picture quality was decreased, then I would have said so.

I merely meant that the occasional softness I experienced when I watched football was what I quit noticing. THAT picture quality is decreased, but I do not believe it has anything to do with AT&T. I switched between DirecTV HD service, OTA HD signals, AND AT&T for local channels and saw little to no difference in overall picture quality. Our local providers do not put out a great HD signal in the first place as on sporting events there is a real lack of quality.

Every other channel I went to and compared the content between AT&T and DirecTV I could not see much of a difference if there was one. Now, if you have money enough to buy a screen as big as 123", then hell yeah you are going to see problems with the picture. Its not fair at all for someone with that big of a screen to try to compare apples to apples with people who's screens more than likely do not exceed 50". When you spread pixels out, there is going to be a difference.

Anyway, I am done on this subject. I am no longer going to offer my opinion on this to either JeremyW or to Rob Tomlin as they appear to know more about everything than I could possibly know. All I was attempting to do was to provide information on a subject that was asked or commented about.

If you want to get a sample of PQ, see if one of your local AT&T mobile phone stores has a demo set up. In my area the show a side-by-side of U-Verse, and DishHD. I was somewhat surprised to see that the U-Verse was softer than the DishHD feed. YMMV
That in itself is not a good demo of U-Verse. My local AT&T store is where I saw the setup demonstrated before I even thought about getting it. Their setup was so bad and looked like such complete crap that I swore I would never get U-Verse. My install doesn't look anything like theirs.

As far as your 1 HD stream is concerned, they told me that same thing when I got mine installed.

I watched this one particular screen on the RG that told me my max line speed and saw that it was in the 28Mbps area. That is enough to get the 2 HD and 2 SD streams because the max for that is 25216.

I contacted a source at AT&T to see if they would bump it up for me just to see if it would work and they did. That was yesterday. I can now watch 2 HD streams at once and haven't seen any side effects of it as of yet. The RG hasn't tried to resync on me or anything.

So, if you are getting over, say, 27Mbps to your RG, then you should try to get them to bump you up temporarily to the normal profile connection to see if you are still solid with that. Look at http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J03 and see what it says for Max Rate. You will find the password for the RG on the RG itself. It will be a bunch of numbers.

I will keep watching mine, but if mine starts going south I will get them to bump it back down to low profile. It only takes like 2 minutes for it to do it.

Steve I live in Little Rock too (area code 72211) and got ATT uverse yesterday. The max line speed on RG is 28000s and I called them to give me 2 HD streams, which they said shouldnt be a problem (however by tuesday). But tell me this : does that improve HD quality.
My main gripe is quality of HD. Firstly its not like bluray quality (i know ..shouldnt compare)..and second...comcast on demand had better quality on HD, so does OTA.

Steve I live in Little Rock too (area code 72211) and got ATT uverse yesterday. The max line speed on RG is 28000s and I called them to give me 2 HD streams, which they said shouldnt be a problem (however by tuesday). But tell me this : does that improve HD quality.
My main gripe is quality of HD. Firstly its not like bluray quality (i know ..shouldnt compare)..and second...comcast on demand had better quality on HD, so does OTA.
You are in the same zip as me. Probably around the corner like bpeacock22 is. :)

You are seeing the same max as mine. While it most likely doesn't improve HD quality, it does give you the 2nd stream which is all I was wanting to get bumped up for. I got real used to having the ability to record 2 HD streams at the same time with DirecTV.

My HD quality is pretty decent. I really can't see a difference between DirecTV's HD and AT&T's. I spent the better part of a week constantly flipping back and forth comparing the two and couldn't come up with a solid "yeah, this one is better" decision. I had my wife look too and we just can't see it. Now, on really fast motion programs or especially sports, yeah. The extremely fast motion does produce macroblocking, but then again, so did DirecTV's HD. And on sports that I have watched, I blame the way the field doesn't look as crisp as it should on 4, 7, 11, and 16 because it looks exactly the same on the OTA feeds I get.

I don't think you are ever going to see blu-ray quality video on HD broadcasts. There is still a marked level of difference in the bps of the two qualities I believe. I believe that blu-ray has a lot more bandwidth that HD does. I never paid for comcast on demand HD, so I have no clue what it looks like. So, I don't know why your HD quality doesn't look very good. I guess it might help for someone that knows more about the numbers to look at a couple of logs for you or something.

I don't think you are ever going to see blu-ray quality video on HD broadcasts. There is still a marked level of difference in the bps of the two qualities I believe. I believe that blu-ray has a lot more bandwidth that HD does. I never paid for comcast on demand HD, so I have no clue what it looks like. So, I don't know why your HD quality doesn't look very good. I guess it might help for someone that knows more about the numbers to look at a couple of logs for you or something.

This is very true. Not even Fios compares to Bluray in quality and bitrate, so expecting Bluray quality out of any HD TV service is unreasonable.

Now, if you have money enough to buy a screen as big as 123", then hell yeah you are going to see problems with the picture. Its not fair at all for someone with that big of a screen to try to compare apples to apples with people who's screens more than likely do not exceed 50".
I have witnessed U-verse on a screen as small as 40", and I was able to see the issues as clear as day. I'm not trying to tell you not to enjoy your service. If you have no problem with it, that's awesome, enjoy the money you're saving. I'm trying to inform the people who might be more discerning than you are that U-verse HD PQ isn't going to be acceptable for anyone who really cares about PQ.

I'll put my 2 cents in on the hd picture quality. I had Comcast before I had U-Verse, where I live the Comcast signal is terrible, so bad they wanted me to pay $80 for a line amplifier to boost their poor signal, I passed and came across an amp on my own, the signal was still poor, and all their programming looked like crap. The picture quality of U-Verse blows Comcast away for me in my location, so I'm more than happy with it. I have not had Directv or Dish, so the pq is fine with me.

Edit: I watch on a 50" set now, and I'll be picking up a 73" later this week.

I'll put my 2 cents in on the hd picture quality
You work for AT&T though. You should be upfront about that.

You work for AT&T though. You should be upfront about that.

That has no effect on what I see on my tv screen.

That has no effect on what I see on my tv screen.
It's highly unethical to review a service without mentioning you work for the company that provides the service. Period. The same can be said about working for a competitor.

It's highly unethical to review a service without mentioning you work for the company that provides the service. Period. The same can be said about working for a competitor.

Highly unethical? :rolleyes:

I can see you just like to argue, whatever looks good to you, stick with it.

Highly unethical?
Yep.

Highly unethical? :rolleyes:

I can see you just like to argue, whatever looks good to you, stick with it.
I agree, this guy likes to do nothing but argue. That is why he is dangerously close to going on my ignore function like another user named Harsh had to be done. There are some people who come into a forum with no other intention than to cause trouble, argue, and spread general disinformation because they seem to think they know better than everyone else.

Question: My TWC box has a feature called "Copy to VCR" which allows one to copy any recording to your VCR (or DVD-R in my case) in the background, so you can watch other live or recorded shows at the same time. Does the U-verse box have such a function?

Thanks much!Yo! It's a simple question, guys. Can anybody help me out here?

Yo! It's a simple question, guys. Can anybody help me out here?

No, it does not have that capability at this time.

No, you can't do it. This is not a feature that is seen in any menu anyway.

This is ridiculous. Seriously.

If you are going to charge a "hefty installation fee" for canceling within 30 days, then they are guilty of false advertising. My flyer says "professional installation included, No Contract Term, and 30 day money back guarantee".

Having to pay a "hefty installation fee" for canceling in 30 days is completely contrary to their advertising and makes no sense.


I respectively disagree. I can easily see how people see they could get what would amount to a free CAT5 installation for their house, then turn around and cancel the service. AT&T has to protect itself. However, if customers signed up under the old contract, they should honor it. But those who have signed up since the change are obviously bound to those charges should they cancel. Or maybe it is based on date of install? I don't know. I phone call can probably clarify the issue. If they insist on the new contract, then the worst case for the customer...pay one month's of service...look at it as: you still got a cheap CAT5 install out of it.

Steve I live in Little Rock too (area code 72211) and got ATT uverse yesterday. The max line speed on RG is 28000s and I called them to give me 2 HD streams, which they said shouldnt be a problem (however by tuesday). But tell me this : does that improve HD quality.
My main gripe is quality of HD. Firstly its not like bluray quality (i know ..shouldnt compare)..and second...comcast on demand had better quality on HD, so does OTA.

The 28k will get you the 2/2 but out of that, they have it pre-divided out (if you will) for what goes to TV, internet, and phone. I asked. Heh...didn't get phone so I asked if I could have that for TV. Wasn't getting the (at the time) full 9k internet tier either. But whether you get 3k, 6k, or 9k, they allot a portion of that 28k to each service. All that to say...you won't see a quality difference. :(

This is very true. Not even Fios compares to Bluray in quality and bitrate, so expecting Bluray quality out of any HD TV service is unreasonable.

That's what makes me mad at providers like Dish who say they have 1080p on demand. That's BS. I remember seeing the numbers crunched somewhere on this forum and it was pretty much impossible for Dish to do it in the true sense of 1080p. It's deceptive.

I'd also like to chime in on the PQ debate on the previous page. I don't know why people have to be so terse with each other. Simply stated: picture quality depends on two things...the provider's compression technique and the user's subjective opinion. We on this forum can answer our opinion when people come on here and ask "how is AT&T's PQ, I heard it sucks..." all day. The facts are in the numbers; the rest YOU have to decide for yourself. For me, as a videographer, I am very, very, VERY picky. You just have to take my word on that, not knowing me IRL. But AT&T's PQ is adequate for me and I believe they are striving to make even more improvements. A dozen (at least) of my contacts IRL have switched to AT&T based on my feedback to them and them seeing it in person at my house. I'm excited about that. I enjoy the service and appreciate the money savings (over Comcast).

That's what makes me mad at providers like Dish who say they have 1080p on demand. That's BS. I remember seeing the numbers crunched somewhere on this forum and it was pretty much impossible for Dish to do it in the true sense of 1080p. It's deceptive.
1080p refers to a specific display format, and nothing more. It would be deceptive if they said "Blu-Ray quality 1080p" or something to that effect. But all they say is 1080p, and they are delivering 1080p. So they are doing nothing wrong.

1080p refers to a specific display format, and nothing more. It would be deceptive if they said "Blu-Ray quality 1080p" or something to that effect. But all they say is 1080p, and they are delivering 1080p. So they are doing nothing wrong.

Actually they say "1080p just like Bluray" or something along those lines. The commercial I saw clearly compared directly to Bluray. Twice. The second mention was something like "If you enjoy Bluray... something something... this offers the same resolution... unprecedented VOD... something something."

So while they are technically correct in that its the same resolution, it is grossly misrepresentative of the quality to compare it to Bluray directly. Not to even mention audio differences.

Actually they say "1080p just like Bluray" or something along those lines.
I don't recall seeing anything like that, but that would be borderline deceptive.

I don't recall seeing anything like that, but that would be borderline deceptive.

I dont have a link to the commercial, but on their website right now:
Watch your movies with stunning clarity, unsurpassed detail and the same resoution as Blu-Ray Disc!


So while technically correct, quite misleading in the comparison.

It looks like the Uverse folks have ageed to up my bandwidth to enable 2 HD channels. However, I've called 3 times now to do this and have not been able to get it done due to a problem with their sales entry system. Called in on Saturday and was told it would be fixed by Monday and to call back. Called in this morning and got transfered from Tier I support to a sales person and that person could not hear me talking so disconnected the call. Called back just now and the Tier I person said they are still having trouble and that I should call back tomorrow. Oh well, I more day of 1 stream. I won't be able to record Terminator and watch MNF live in HD for 1 more week.

But, the good news is that no one has said that they couldn't upgrade me. Very strange since the 2 install techs and the service tech that were out last Monday and Wednesday respectively all said that I couldn't get 2 HD streams.

Thanks to Steveken and AuroraProject for your help with this.

Keep in mind there have been changes to the free install due to customer abuse. We will still install it for free, but if you cancel within 30 days we will charge you for 1 month of service, plus a hefty installation fee. Also installers are not supposed to wire locations that you may want to put a tv in at some point, only locations that actually have tv sets. The first 4 wire runs are free, after that they are $75 each.


Hi, since folks on here seem knowledgeable about the install process, I'd like to pick your brains.
I'm considering U-verse and my impression of the whole free professional install seems too good to be true (I've never paid anyone to do wiring in my house, but it seems expensive). A couple specific questions:

1. My house currently has coax and cat5e running throughout most of it. I'm not currently using the cat5e, but at some point I plan on using it for a landline and for gigabit networking, which wouldn't leave any spare capacity fo Uverse. Once I dump Comcast (hallelujah!) I won't be using the coax, but I have the impression cat5e is better for Uverse.
Would the Uverse installer run more ethernet (so I don't have to give up my phone line/networking plans) if I requested it?

2. I've got one area in my house with no coax or cat5e (don't ask me why -- the house is only 4 years old but I didn't build it), and I'd like a new jack in one wall in that area. Would the installer run the cables through the walls and install it for me? I have the impression that this would be a non-trivial exercise.

Thanks!

Hi, since folks on here seem knowledgeable about the install process, I'd like to pick your brains.
I'm considering U-verse and my impression of the whole free professional install seems too good to be true (I've never paid anyone to do wiring in my house, but it seems expensive). A couple specific questions:

1. My house currently has coax and cat5e running throughout most of it. I'm not currently using the cat5e, but at some point I plan on using it for a landline and for gigabit networking, which wouldn't leave any spare capacity fo Uverse. Once I dump Comcast (hallelujah!) I won't be using the coax, but I have the impression cat5e is better for Uverse.
Would the Uverse installer run more ethernet (so I don't have to give up my phone line/networking plans) if I requested it?

2. I've got one area in my house with no coax or cat5e (don't ask me why -- the house is only 4 years old but I didn't build it), and I'd like a new jack in one wall in that area. Would the installer run the cables through the walls and install it for me? I have the impression that this would be a non-trivial exercise.

Thanks!

1. Depends on how difficult it would be, if it's a straight shot through no fire break walls then it's pretty easy to run a new cat5 line. You can run U-Verse on coax, it's just that we see more problems with coax based systems than we do cat5. It really all comes down to the quality of the coax and the connectors, which the tech would evaluate before proceeding with the install.
2. Yes, we will run a wire to rooms that are not currently wired, so long as they have a tv in them.

I want to expand upon the new terms of the "free install", currently the rules are not strictly enforced, and the burden of billing charges for installs falls on the tech, as such most don't even bother with the extra paperwork. I have only ever charged one customer for running a line, and it was only because it was agreed upon ahead of time, and it wasn't related to the U-Verse service, he just wanted an extra cat5 run for some ip related projects he wanted to try.

It looks like the Uverse folks have ageed to up my bandwidth to enable 2 HD channels. However, I've called 3 times now to do this and have not been able to get it done due to a problem with their sales entry system. Called in on Saturday and was told it would be fixed by Monday and to call back. Called in this morning and got transfered from Tier I support to a sales person and that person could not hear me talking so disconnected the call. Called back just now and the Tier I person said they are still having trouble and that I should call back tomorrow. Oh well, I more day of 1 stream. I won't be able to record Terminator and watch MNF live in HD for 1 more week.

But, the good news is that no one has said that they couldn't upgrade me. Very strange since the 2 install techs and the service tech that were out last Monday and Wednesday respectively all said that I couldn't get 2 HD streams.

Thanks to Steveken and AuroraProject for your help with this.


We had a major data center go down over the weekend, and as of today it's still not back online, so it may be a few more days. Apparently a water main blew and flooded a room full of our servers, now you would think a multi billion dollar company would have backup servers right? yeah, not so much.

I too would like to ask an install question. I'm going to be putting a STB in my bedroom. When AT&T runs the Cat5, will they run it in the wall or will they cheat and just drill a hole in the floor?

I too would like to ask an install question. I'm going to be putting a STB in my bedroom. When AT&T runs the Cat5, will they run it in the wall or will they cheat and just drill a hole in the floor?

I dont know if it is cheating. If there is no other way but to drill through floor (a tiny hole in the corner). I think it depends on ease of access. But 'Mike' (install tech) was very nice and obliging. I helps to talk to them, stay with the tech during install, give your ideas and get wired as you want it. They are very courteous and even wear shoe covers each time they enter the house, 'Mike' probably wore and took out shoe covers like 50 times (so that they dont make the floor dirty). Hadnt seen this with either DISH or comcast. I believe ATT is trying hard to do everything to customers, ofcourse there are problems with everything new till things get going and an year or two from now...depends - if they are in demand, they may get 'lax' and 'tardy' or keep up the service.

I dont know if it is cheating. If there is no other way but to drill through floor (a tiny hole in the corner). I think it depends on ease of access. But 'Mike' (install tech) was very nice and obliging. I helps to talk to them, stay with the tech during install, give your ideas and get wired as you want it. They are very courteous and even wear shoe covers each time they enter the house, 'Mike' probably wore and took out shoe covers like 50 times (so that they dont make the floor dirty). Hadnt seen this with either DISH or comcast. I believe ATT is trying hard to do everything to customers, ofcourse there are problems with everything new till things get going and an year or two from now...depends - if they are in demand, they may get 'lax' and 'tardy' or keep up the service.

Actually it is now common practice for most cable/sat companies (at least in ATL.) to wear shoe covers etc. The industry is changing for the better in this sense b/c of the competition.

Actually it is now common practice for most cable/sat companies (at least in ATL.) to wear shoe covers etc. The industry is changing for the better in this sense b/c of the competition.
Agreed.

My D* installer when I went High Def wore boot covers. He also left his tool bag by the door instead of lugging it into my living room and risking knocking stuff over.

It's the same with automive service places: pretty much all of them lay down paper floor mats and cover the seat with plastic when they need to operate the vehicle.

I've got some questions about AT&T.
First off, we've got Comcast. We have 2 HD DVR boxes, high speed internet, and a landline. I've been thinking about switching to AT&T for a while.

I've read that two TV's can't watch the same channel in HD. Is the correct? Say both TV's are used to watch Heroes in HD at the same time.

And I guess that the other question is a matter of opinion. If anyone has had Comcast and AT&T in Indianapolis. Is there anything that stands out between the two?

You can watch the same channel on up to 4 TVs I think, or is it unlimited? I forget.

I just had U-verse installed this morning. The features sound great with the ability to watch DVR'ed programming on any TV in the house. My picture quality is great, but I have a question about the audio. My Denon 988 receiver shows the audio signal coming in as 2 channel and not 5.1. I called customer service to ask if this was normal and they said yes, but in reading through some of the posts in this forum, it reads like it should be 5.1. Can anyone tell me which is correct? If it is 2 channel, then I can stop trying to figure out what changed in my settings. If it is supposed to be coming in at 5.1 then I need to keep trying. Thanks for the help.

yep, as many boxes as you have hooked up as long as the format is right (i.e. SD instead of HD).

I just had U-verse installed this morning. The features sound great with the ability to watch DVR'ed programming on any TV in the house. My picture quality is great, but I have a question about the audio. My Denon 988 receiver shows the audio signal coming in as 2 channel and not 5.1. I called customer service to ask if this was normal and they said yes, but in reading through some of the posts in this forum, it reads like it should be 5.1. Can anyone tell me which is correct? If it is 2 channel, then I can stop trying to figure out what changed in my settings. If it is supposed to be coming in at 5.1 then I need to keep trying. Thanks for the help.
You got it hooked up via HDMI? I am betting yes. If so, change it to Optical or to another audio source.

You got it hooked up via HDMI? I am betting yes. If so, change it to Optical or to another audio source.

Sorry, I just got this receiver and I am not very-well educated in the HD area. I thought the HDMI cables were supposed to deliver the best audio signal. I had my TimeWarner box hooked up with HDMI and it showed 5.1 as the input. I couldn't really tell from your response if the audio from U-verse should be showing as 2 channel or if it should be showing as 5.1. Sorry to be slow on this and I appreciate your help.

Sorry, I just got this receiver and I am not very-well educated in the HD area. I thought the HDMI cables were supposed to deliver the best audio signal. I had my TimeWarner box hooked up with HDMI and it showed 5.1 as the input. I couldn't really tell from your response if the audio from U-verse should be showing as 2 channel or if it should be showing as 5.1. Sorry to be slow on this and I appreciate your help.
Sorry, I just assumed you had already read through this forum and did a little search before talking about this. I say that because we have already discussed the HDMI not outputting 5.1 many many times before. I think it was only 2 or maybe 3 pages ago (depending really on how many posts you see on the page).

So, to more directly answer your question, and to rehash a little bit of what has already been discussed to death, HDMI on the receivers is screwed up. It will only put out 2 channel audio right now. Its a fault with the firmware. There is a new firmware coming out in the near future that will fix this problem.

Until then, you have to use a different connection source, like Component video. The HDMI also has a problem with "crushing blacks" on the video. Component is just the best way to go now.

Sorry, I just assumed you had already read through this forum and did a little search before talking about this. I say that because we have already discussed the HDMI not outputting 5.1 many many times before. I think it was only 2 or maybe 3 pages ago (depending really on how many posts you see on the page).

So, to more directly answer your question, and to rehash a little bit of what has already been discussed to death, HDMI on the receivers is screwed up. It will only put out 2 channel audio right now. Its a fault with the firmware. There is a new firmware coming out in the near future that will fix this problem.

Until then, you have to use a different connection source, like Component video. The HDMI also has a problem with "crushing blacks" on the video. Component is just the best way to go now.

I did a search for 5.1 and for 2-channel but didn't get any pertinent matches, so I posted the question. Sorry for asking it again and I appreciate the direction to the previous pages. I read the posts over the past several pages and will change from HDMI to composite tonight. Will coax be as good as optical for the audio? I have to figure this wiring out now because I like to run a connection from the box to the TV so that we can watch TV after the kids go to bed and have the volume go through the TV speakers, and I have to run an analog connection to my receiver for zone 2 audio. My TV only has one HDMI input and I am using that for the receiver. Whew! Did I read correctly that a firmware update is expected in mid-December? If so, how will I know that has happened? Thanks!

I did a search for 5.1 and for 2-channel but didn't get any pertinent matches, so I posted the question. Sorry for asking it again and I appreciate the direction to the previous pages. I read the posts over the past several pages and will change from HDMI to composite tonight. Will coax be as good as optical for the audio? I have to figure this wiring out now because I like to run a connection from the box to the TV so that we can watch TV after the kids go to bed and have the volume go through the TV speakers, and I have to run an analog connection to my receiver for zone 2 audio. My TV only has one HDMI input and I am using that for the receiver. Whew! Did I read correctly that a firmware update is expected in mid-December? If so, how will I know that has happened? Thanks!
Sorry if I sounded brash, just always want new members to read over previous posts because 99% of the time their question has been answered.

I am like you, I have a Philips Plasma 42" TV with one HDMI input, and thats going to my PS3 (when the HDMI works on it). I have all the other component ports hooked up and have a RCA cable run from the Digital Coax port on my TV to my Digital Coax port on my stereo. I *think* it's doing 5.1 because I hear surround stuff quite often and it sounds good to me.

I know nothing about the firmware update other than what Ben told me. (bpeacock22)

Sorry if I sounded brash, just always want new members to read over previous posts because 99% of the time their question has been answered.

I am like you, I have a Philips Plasma 42" TV with one HDMI input, and thats going to my PS3 (when the HDMI works on it). I have all the other component ports hooked up and have a RCA cable run from the Digital Coax port on my TV to my Digital Coax port on my stereo. I *think* it's doing 5.1 because I hear surround stuff quite often and it sounds good to me.

I know nothing about the firmware update other than what Ben told me. (bpeacock22)

Not brash at all - in fact you are dead on. I spend some time on the receiver and speaker forums and I should have searched a little harder before posting. I am excited about the AT&T service and all the things they will offer. They made my computers wireless and really went the extra mile to get me fixed up right since I am the first subscriber in my neighborhood.

I did a search for 5.1 and for 2-channel but didn't get any pertinent matches, so I posted the question. Sorry for asking it again and I appreciate the direction to the previous pages. I read the posts over the past several pages and will change from HDMI to composite tonight.

Just make sure you use component NOT composite.

Will coax be as good as optical for the audio?

I have all the other component ports hooked up and have a RCA cable run from the Digital Coax port on my TV to my Digital Coax port on my stereo. I *think* it's doing 5.1 because I hear surround stuff quite often and it sounds good to me.


There should no difference between Optical & Digital Coax. If you are going to use the Digital Coax (Orange port) you can use the video (Yellow) wire from the composite cables to make the connection. Make sure you use the Yellow wire and NOT the Red or the White wire. The yellow wire has a 75 ohm impedance which matches the impedance of the Digital Coax (Orange) port.

Did I read correctly that a firmware update is expected in mid-December? If so, how will I know that has happened? Thanks!

I believe you can see a message about an update on the Uverse update channels.

Just make sure you use component NOT composite.



Red, blue, green - is that component? I got the audio to 5.1 with the optical cable, but I can't get any video now. Color me frustrated!

Red blue green is component for video. THen optical for audio and you are set.

Red, yellow, white is composite.

Red blue green is component for video. THen optical for audio and you are set.

Red, yellow, white is composite.

I meant component - I am using RBG. In a cable box, how much loss in quality is there in going from HDMI audio and video to component video and optical audio?

I never could get the hook-up figured out for connecting the component video cable into the receiver, so I just went straight to the TV with the component. That will work until AT&T figures out how to get the 5.1 through the HDMI port. Thanks for the help!

No loss from HDMI all to component/optical in this situation. The only loss in general would be that optical cannot carry 7.1 audio, but the U-verse box does not produce any 7.1.

I meant component - I am using RBG. In a cable box, how much loss in quality is there in going from HDMI audio and video to component video and optical audio?

I never could get the hook-up figured out for connecting the component video cable into the receiver, so I just went straight to the TV with the component. That will work until AT&T figures out how to get the 5.1 through the HDMI port. Thanks for the help!

No broadcast TV carries a 1080p signal, which is what HDMI can do that component cables cannot. Audio-wise, optical cannot carry TrueHD or HD-MA, but again, no one does that. Those are still limited to Blu-Ray. So...no loss of quality by going component video and optical audio.

One note when you switch to component: you will probably have to go to setting and re-adjust the image quality to whatever your TV is rated for (720p, 1080i, etc). Otherwise it'll look terrible.

As far as the firmware update, it should automatically be pushed to you, if understood the tech support guy correctly. But I'll be calling in for the new box too...

Just logged into my account and went to change some of my programming options and noticed that they now have additional add-on options. They are the Subscription OnDemand channels. Here is the listing that I pulled right from the ordering screen:

Disney Family Movies $7/month
Kids Now $5/month
Kids Unlimited $5/month
Union on Demand $7/month
The Karaoke Channel $7/month
Anime Network on Demand $7/month
Full Moon $10/month
here! $7/month
Playboy TV $15/month

When I placed my order for one of these, it says that the activation date is 12/15/2008. All you have to do to see these is log into your online account and go to account and services then the modify for U-Verse TV. They are listed until the second heading.

Just logged into my account and went to change some of my programming options and noticed that they now have additional add-on options. They are the Subscription OnDemand channels. Here is the listing that I pulled right from the ordering screen:

Disney Family Movies $7/month
Kids Now $5/month
Kids Unlimited $5/month
Union on Demand $7/month
The Karaoke Channel $7/month
Anime Network on Demand $7/month
Full Moon $10/month
here! $7/month
Playboy TV $15/month

When I placed my order for one of these, it says that the activation date is 12/15/2008. All you have to do to see these is log into your online account and go to account and services then the modify for U-Verse TV. They are listed until the second heading.
That's awesome! I am going to look at mine real quick. Does it give any idea what is on these channels?

Yeah, looks like its on mine too. Wonder what shows they have on the kids stuff. Wonder if its anything my son would watch.

Arrgh, wheres the HD on demand?

Just logged into my account and went to change some of my programming options and noticed that they now have additional add-on options. They are the Subscription OnDemand channels. Here is the listing that I pulled right from the ordering screen:


Does that mean that for say $7 a month you can watch all the On demand you want, or does it mean for $7 you get access to order it for even more money?
Hopefully the first.

I found this over at AT&T Utalk today:

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Equipment&thread.id=18758

This may help some of you with HDMI crushing blacks. I'll have to look up the Black Level setting on my Panasonic Plasma to see if indeed it functions as two different 8-bit color interpretations (0-255 or 16-235). If so then maybe this will make the difference disappear for me.

I found this over at AT&T Utalk today:

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Equipment&thread.id=18758

This may help some of you with HDMI crushing blacks. I'll have to look up the Black Level setting on my Panasonic Plasma to see if indeed it functions as two different 8-bit color interpretations (0-255 or 16-235). If so then maybe this will make the difference disappear for me.

This won't work with the Pannys (i've got two of them). You only get one black level setting "light or dark" and I already have mine set to "light". Black level is still crushed. What a horrible implementation by ATT. Anyways, I'm switching back to Cox. The tech is scheduled to come tomorrow.

Apparently the Triangle area of NC got itself some U-Verse today but it's hard to tell. AT&T are worried that TWC might actually do something useful to provide competition so they won't announce which neighborhoods.

Can't see that happening myself. I've seen glaciers move faster than TWC to improve services. ;)

More here:

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1334275.html

Apparently the Triangle area of NC got itself some U-Verse today but it's hard to tell. AT&T are worried that TWC might actually do something useful to provide competition so they won't announce which neighborhoods.
U-verse is also now being rolled out in central Florida, and AT&T is also secretive about which neighborhoods there are live for the same reason (competition from Bright House):

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/orl-tv1508dec15,0,1667204.story

Has anyone swicthed from DISH DVR to u-verse.
I am considering a switch but after a quick read through here I have a few concerns:
No Dolby Digital Out from the receiver HDMI
PQ not as good as DISH potentially
Cant FF RR on the DVRs other than the "main" DVR

can anyone that has made the switch offer their opinion?
thx

AT&T U-verse TV Reaches 1 Million Subscriber Milestone

Strong Customer Demand, Industry Accolades for Quality Service Affirm Company's IP Technology Strategy

Dallas, Texas, December 16, 2008

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced that AT&T U-verseSM TV has reached its 1 millionth customer. The subscriber milestone comes less than two and a half years after AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets introduced the only 100-percent Internet Protocol (IP) TV service offered by a national service provider.

IP technology enables state of the art features and functionality, and integration across TV, broadband, wireless and home phone services. Since its market introduction, U-verse TV has received industry acclaim for customer satisfaction, service excellence and innovation. AT&T U-verse TV ranked "Highest in Residential Television Service Satisfaction in the North Central, South, and West Regions," according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction StudySM. Industry analyst group Frost & Sullivan named AT&T U-verse the 2009 North American Consumer Communications Service Product of the Year, and U-verse Total Home DVR was recognized with a 2008 TelcoTV Vision Award for Service Provider Innovation.

AT&T U-verse TV has been deployed in 79 major markets across 16 states, where policy makers have enacted forward-looking policy through legislation, municipal support and other decisions to encourage investment and competition by streamlining the process for providers to enter the video marketplace. The deployment of AT&T U-verse is rapidly introducing competitive choice and next-generation services to more consumers.

"Reaching this milestone, in this short time period, further validates our video strategy and shows that we're providing customers with a better choice and a better experience than cable," said Ralph de la Vega, chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "We're using our all-IP U-verse platform and our wireless assets to give customers what they want, in a way that no one else can."

AT&T U-verse customers enjoy quadruple-play integration, enhanced features and greater value, all made possible by IP technology. IP technology allows AT&T U-verse to easily and constantly evolve with new features and services to match consumer needs. In 2008, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets introduced several U-verse TV enhancements to its subscriber base that helped customer growth and satisfaction. The list of differentiating U-verse TV features includes:

Total Home DVR, which lets you watch recorded High Definition (HD) and Standard Definition shows from a single DVR on any connected TV in the home.
An extensive lineup, including more than 85 HD channels and several international channels.
The ability to record up to four programs at once and schedule recordings from a PC or wireless device.
YELLOWPAGES.COM TV, for fast and easy searches to find local businesses and other information via your TV screen.
AT&T U-bar, which brings customizable weather, stock, sports and traffic information to the U-verse TV screen, without interrupting the current program.
AT&T Online Photos from Flickr, which allows AT&T High Speed Internet customers to browse the photos you've uploaded to flickr.com and watch slide shows on your U-verse TV screen from the comfort of your couch.
Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football, which allows you to track the progress of your fantasy team — including current team matchups and league standings — directly from your TV screen through the AT&T U-bar.
AT&T Yahoo! Games, so you can play your favorite online games — including Sudoku, Solitaire, JT's Blocks, Mah-jongg Tiles and Chess — on the TV screen.
Built-in Picture-in-Picture, which lets you channel-surf on any television without leaving the program you're watching.
Fast channel changing, reducing the delay experienced with other digital video services.
An expanded Video On Demand (VOD) library, including HD VOD titles and more than 1,000 full-length movies.
The ability to watch and record up to two HD programs at once.
AT&T U-verse bundles also expanded in 2008 with the introduction and ongoing rollout of AT&T U-verse Voice, bringing consumers a next-generation digital voice service with unique integrated features, and with the launch of two higher speed Internet packages, AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet Max (downstream speeds up to 10 Mbps) and Max 18 (downstream speeds up to 18 Mbps).

"We will continue evolving AT&T U-verse, expanding availability and adding more applications and integrated features that improve what our customers can do not only with their TV, but across the three screens," said de la Vega.

For additional information on AT&T U-verse — or to find out if it's available in your area — visit http://uverse.att.com, call 800-ATT-2020 or visit a local AT&T retail location.

Has anyone swicthed from DISH DVR to u-verse.
I am considering a switch but after a quick read through here I have a few concerns:
No Dolby Digital Out from the receiver HDMI
PQ not as good as DISH potentially
Cant FF RR on the DVRs other than the "main" DVR

can anyone that has made the switch offer their opinion?
thx

I switched from Dish to U-verse. Sounds like you know the major issues. I don't miss the rain fade and the U-verse STB interface is actually quite good. The PQ is certainly worse for HD but better for SD. Just to note the DVR will FF and REW recorded programs but not live ones.

I have ATT uverse, VRAD is 3100 feet away, HD quality is tolerable (currently 1HD/3SD stream capacity). Another friend had this question, he is 500feet from VRAD (we had talked our installer tech about the location of the VRAD). Would my friend get a much better HD picture if he got Uverse since he is only 500feet away (actually across the street)?

I switched from Dish to U-verse. Sounds like you know the major issues. I don't miss the rain fade and the U-verse STB interface is actually quite good. The PQ is certainly worse for HD but better for SD. Just to note the DVR will FF and REW recorded programs but not live ones.
It will rew and ff live programs if you first rewind first for something in the 90 minute buffer you have already watched.

And I would most certainly say that the PQ is NOT certainly worse for HD. We have already established many times that the PQ varies from place to place. Mine, for example, is on par or better than the PQ my dad gets on his Dish HD.

Posty-McPost: Yes you can rewind live TV, as long as it is in the buffer. i.e. you stay on the same channel for a while and want to back up. Then you can go forward to live.

Keep in mind that they are working on the HDMI-surround sound issue.

Embolism: The distance introduces what level of service you can get; not the quality of the service. At 3100 ft I'm kinda surprised they were able to install period. Certainly only the 1 HD/3 SD level can be obtained... Access the RG and see what the line rate is. 19k is preferred for the 1/3 level; 28k for the 2/2.

Hi, sorry for the nube question.

Can you watch one channel on the the main DVR and a seperate channel on the other TV's?

Hi, sorry for the nube question.

Can you watch one channel on the the main DVR and a seperate channel on the other TV's?

Yes, each box is independent so you can watch a different channel on every TV.

Would my friend get a much better HD picture if he got Uverse since he is only 500feet away (actually across the street)?
No. His picture quality will be the same as everyone else's around the country.

That's what makes me mad at providers like Dish who say they have 1080p on demand. That's BS. I remember seeing the numbers crunched somewhere on this forum and it was pretty much impossible for Dish to do it in the true sense of 1080p. It's deceptive.



Dish actually does provide true 1080p. The files are downloaded for certain PPV movies overnight so the files are already on the hard disk when you decide to pay to watch them. In other words, broadcast bandwidth is not a concern. However, you must have the newest DVR in order for this to work.

Dish actually does provide true 1080p. The files are downloaded for certain PPV movies overnight so the files are already on the hard disk when you decide to pay to watch them. In other words, broadcast bandwidth is not a concern. However, you must have the newest DVR in order for this to work.

Do you ask for it to be downloaded? And does it use your landline or via the satellite? And what is the file size (on your DVR I assume).

Anyone having issues with vod? I try and watch Road Trip on Cinemax on demand and it plays the first 3 seconds and then stops, no matter what I do it wont play the movie. Any ideas? Other vod works fine.

A story in the Nashville paper, The Tennessean, states that U-verse will begin limited roll out here this week. Maybe we will see an announcement from AT&T tomorrow. :)
http://www.tennessean.com/section/BUSINESS

Anyone having issues with vod? I try and watch Road Trip on Cinemax on demand and it plays the first 3 seconds and then stops, no matter what I do it wont play the movie. Any ideas? Other vod works fine.
Its because it has Tom Greene in it. It just knows its crap because of that and won't be forced to subject you to his crap. :) Other than him, its a decent movie in areas *wink wink*.

Sorry, to be serious, no, I don't know what the deal is. I don't have Cinemax, so I can't try it.

A story in the Nashville paper, The Tennessean, states that U-verse will begin limited roll out here this week. Maybe we will see an announcement from AT&T tomorrow. :)
http://www.tennessean.com/section/BUSINESS

I called on Friday and got on the "call me" list. She said she could not tell me which neighborhoods got it first (competition prevention) but that I should call Monday... so she knew something. She also said every Monday is expansion day and they are starting in Downtown area and also highway areas and working their way out.

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned its available already in Hendersonville. We live in Bellevue off Old Hickory.

We should start some sort of a local map to get an idea who has it and who does not.

I called on Friday and got on the "call me" list. She said she could not tell me which neighborhoods got it first (competition prevention) but that I should call Monday... so she knew something. She also said every Monday is expansion day and they are starting in Downtown area and also highway areas and working their way out.

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned its available already in Hendersonville. We live in Bellevue off Old Hickory.

We should start some sort of a local map to get an idea who has it and who does not.

As I also live in Bellevue off Old Hickory, If you're able to get U-verse, then I better be getting it too!

As I also live in Bellevue off Old Hickory, If you're able to get U-verse, then I better be getting it too!

I live in the Maplewood subdivision in Franklin and I can get it evidently. My jealous friends in McCabe's Mills and Green Hills cannot however.

Well, if you remember my last post, the new Cisco STBs should be rolling out any time. I called to request a swap. He said I can't be guaranteed one, which I understand. He also could not find any documentation to see if the upgrade fixes the HDMI audio and black color issues and/or the optical issues.

So basically there's a chance I may not get the new box and a chance that it may not even fix the problems. /sigh Will let y'all know tomorrow.

Well, if you remember my last post, the new Cisco STBs should be rolling out any time. I called to request a swap. He said I can't be guaranteed one, which I understand. He also could not find any documentation to see if the upgrade fixes the HDMI audio and black color issues and/or the optical issues.

So basically there's a chance I may not get the new box and a chance that it may not even fix the problems. /sigh Will let y'all know tomorrow.
that's great. i look forward to the heads up. my cruddy audio is the only issue i've had with uverse and it has not been resolved by their changing out the same motorolla stb 3x.
,r

anyone have the link to the nashvile vrad map? that should give us an idea of whos getting it when.

we are in eagle ridge off old hickory blvd in bellevue. from the map I remember there was a vrad both at 40/old hickory and also at old hickory/70. They also installed a big box at the entrance to our neighborhood, near the other boxes.

anyone have the link to the nashvile vrad map? that should give us an idea of whos getting it when.

we are in eagle ridge off old hickory blvd in bellevue. from the map I remember there was a vrad both at 40/old hickory and also at old hickory/70. They also installed a big box at the entrance to our neighborhood, near the other boxes.
Small world - We are also in Eagle Ridge. I got on the call back list today.

I tried various addresses in Bellevue, West Meade, Hillwood, Green Hills, Belmont, West End, Antioch, Inglewood, East Nashville. Only 2 hits Oak Hill (Hogan Rd) and an addresss in Madison. Not at all scientific, but this appears to be very limited roll out, at least in Nashville :(