Just received a card in the mail that states the monthly fee for additional receivers is going from $5 to $7 and the Movie & Espanol packages are going from $15 to $20 starting 2-1-2009. :eek:

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 :(

Interesting.

What do you think of the proposal to have a central large satellite dish in the neighborhood rather than one for every place?

Interesting.

What do you think of the proposal to have a central large satellite dish in the neighborhood rather than one for every place?

I wasn't aware... as long as it's not behind my unit. Many units aren't positioned for a "hidden" dish, mine isn't. They don't help property values.

In addition to Nashville, U-verse was also rolled out today in Birmingham, AL and Columbia, SC:

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6624409.html

(I am personally a bit surprised that Columbia got U-verse sooner than the much more densely populated Greenville/Spartanburg area.)

I wasn't aware... as long as it's not behind my unit. Many units aren't positioned for a "hidden" dish, mine isn't. They don't help property values.

I think they mean one dish for the whole place, not by unit. Its in the latest info from the association.

I know we aren't placed for it either. We have trees right in our back and I would not put one out front. We are right by the pool.

That said, the ATT techs installed a new box at the top of the hill at the main entrance, on the right. I think that may be a VRAD for the neighborhood, which hopefully means we will be close the get the 2 hd/2 sd package.

Don't mean to be a dark cloud or anything, but this seems to have gotten to the point of becoming a local discussion on the release of the service to maybe a specific area. Do you guys think you might be better off moving this to another thread specifically for your town/area/region? I am meaning sort of like the city specific HDTV threads, but in this case it could be a city specific U-Verse thread? Just might help the rest of us who aren't in your area and really could care less. This is more of a generalized discussion about the service, its issues, and its additions.


And, just to help you out, andydumi, if that new box at the top of the hill has an electric meter right next to it, then yes, that is a VRAD.

Don't mean to be a dark cloud or anything, but this seems to have gotten to the point of becoming a local discussion on the release of the service to maybe a specific area. Do you guys think you might be better off moving this to another thread specifically for your town/area/region? I am meaning sort of like the city specific HDTV threads, but in this case it could be a city specific U-Verse thread? Just might help the rest of us who aren't in your area and really could care less. This is more of a generalized discussion about the service, its issues, and its additions.


And, just to help you out, andydumi, if that new box at the top of the hill has an electric meter right next to it, then yes, that is a VRAD.

Thanks for the advice on the VRAD. A meter like a house meter with the spinning wheel?

I agree on needing a local thread. But we were already told to start an official Nashville Uverse thread as soon as one person on the forum has it. Until then we were told to use the main thread for Uverse...

Your typical vrad looks like this: (note vents and power meter)

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

Ouch, here's a painful article, keep in mind the vrads cost a quarter of a million each.

http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/triple-play/att-uverse-batteries-exploding.asp

On topic (I hope) questions.

How long does it take U-verse to get wide spread availability in a city once its announced? 3 months, 6 months, 1 year? I know there are variables, but an educated guess?

Does putting your name on a call back list and/or email list actually work? Will at&t acutally call me back when I can get service? I know better that to try it with Comcast...

If installation takes 4-6 hours, one crew might do 3 installs a day if they're lucky? How many crews are usually working? 10? 20? 30?

Does at&t start in denser neighborhoods and work out? Rich neighborhoods? Any method to deployment?

Thanks for any advice given.

I've got UVerse in Columbus, Ohio and I love it. There are some issues from time to time... but I've noticed that the system has had less and less upsets as time goes on.

Just received a card in the mail that states the monthly fee for additional receivers is going from $5 to $7 and the Movie & Espanol packages are going from $15 to $20 starting 2-1-2009. :eek:


This sucks, though, it's probably to help pay for the added cost of repairs.

I swear, its ridiculous that I'm going on 1 month of having issues and its still not 100% fixed. The Uverse employees (Tier 2 & Premise Techs) are helpful and for the most part always follow through. The guys that pick up the INR (or is it I&R?) tickets (which I believe are part of the "regular" AT&T) suck.

I'm almost willing to bet money that they are picking up tickets and not doing any work because if they were I wouldn't still be having issues.

Anyone else having problems getting repairs?

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.

Really glad to hear someone is doing something about the HDMI audio issue.

Does at&t start in denser neighborhoods and work out? Rich neighborhoods? Any method to deployment?Well, with us at least, the towns were in Comcast's back pocket and didn't want to let them in, until the state stepped in and mandated they let in competition. I think that was the issue a lot of places. Also, some "back room deals" had to be ironed out first between the providers and the towns (it's always about money, you know that).

So for one thing, I would check to see how your local government stands on the issue.

(No pattern as far as only being in "rich" neighborhoods first, a la FIOS.)

Well, with us at least, the towns were in Comcast's back pocket and didn't want to let them in, until the state stepped in and mandated they let in competition. I think that was the issue a lot of places. Also, some "back room deals" had to be ironed out first between the providers and the towns (it's always about money, you know that).

So for one thing, I would check to see how your local government stands on the issue.

(No pattern as far as only being in "rich" neighborhoods first, a la FIOS.)

True. And remember that ATT is not even publicizing which neighborhoods get it to prevent COmcast from offering better deals to select customers only.

FWIW, I'm in the Raleigh area and my local AT&T store told me the service area footprint expands by ~1500 feet per business day.

Some U-Verse questions from a current Comcast HSI/DirecTV customer.

1) Is it easy to cancel TV service after you sign up, so you keep only data and maybe VOIP? Do you have to call and make arrangements to have the DVR or set top box returned?

2) What domain does the data service use? DSL Reports have a bunch of speed test results for sbcglobal.net and att.net. These are their regular DSL products?

3) How solid is the 1 Mbps upstream speeds at all levels?

4) Do you have to get an SBC Yahoo account like their DSL service?

5) Do they have newsgroup feeds?

I talked to an ATT installer here in my town that is doing U-Verse installs. he said in my town, all they provide is one HD and 3 SD TV signals at a time.
He said he had heard that they would flip that to 2 HD and 2 SD in 2009.
Does that sound right? What's the best way to find out? I dont trust their ordering desk, they said I could get the 18MAX internet and the installer told me that was unlikely on my street.

I talked to an ATT installer here in my town that is doing U-Verse installs. he said in my town, all they provide is one HD and 3 SD TV signals at a time.
He said he had heard that they would flip that to 2 HD and 2 SD in 2009.
Does that sound right? What's the best way to find out? I dont trust their ordering desk, they said I could get the 18MAX internet and the installer told me that was unlikely on my street.

No, thats not correct at all. My parents live in Lincoln and have had 2 and 2 for a long time now. We only do the 1 and 3 when the distance exceeds 3000 feet, or the signal strength falls below a preset number, whichever comes first. As far as I know 95% of the U-Verse footprint now gets 2 and 2.

thanks, thats very helpful
How can I determine my distance? Can I assume that I am > 3000' based on the fact that when I try and order the 18Max Internet option, it tells me that speed is not available at my address? (If I select 10 it will accept that order)
thank you

Guys -

I spotted this newer looking box at the front of my sub. Does it look like a U-Verse box? Driving through the sub, it's about 8/10 of a mile (4,224') from it to our house. Does the wiring to the other boxes in the sub typically follow roads and sidewalks? Or do you think the length would be less? Finally (hopefully) a HSI alternative to Comcast!

Thanks,
Matt

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2416/20081228123810wj8.jpg

I spotted this newer looking box at the front of my sub. Does it look like a U-Verse box?

Yes, that looks like a U-Verse box. ATT installed one of those in our office park a few months ago. I'm still waiting for them to offer service though.

If you scroll up, theres another picture of a box, and they look the same. That looks like Uverse indeed.

Yes, that is a vrad, notice the cross box in the background, where there's a vrad there will always be a cross box.

Well ordered it with U-100 because fed up with Comcast.

But earliest install isn't available until 1/16 and I'm out the following week. So over a month from now.

We'll see what kind of hassles there are in canceling the TV service because I have a 2-year contract with D*.

Anyone know if the VOIP service will port your existing number or they only give you a new one?

Well ordered it with U-100 because fed up with Comcast.

But earliest install isn't available until 1/16 and I'm out the following week. So over a month from now.

We'll see what kind of hassles there are in canceling the TV service because I have a 2-year contract with D*.

Anyone know if the VOIP service will port your existing number or they only give you a new one?

Voip can port in your existing number if you request it. We also pay the D* etf if you ask nicely.

Thanks, but just in case it wasn't clear, my intent is to cancel the U-Verse TV service and keep the Internet and possibly the VOIP service.

Thanks, but just in case it wasn't clear, my intent is to cancel the U-Verse TV service and keep the Internet and possibly the VOIP service.

Oh, yes you can do that.

Yes, that looks like a U-Verse box. ATT installed one of those in our office park a few months ago. I'm still waiting for them to offer service though.

If you scroll up, theres another picture of a box, and they look the same. That looks like Uverse indeed.

Yes, that is a vrad, notice the cross box in the background, where there's a vrad there will always be a cross box.

Great, thanks guys. Is there typically just one VRAD per sub? Or does it depend on the size of the sub, distance, etc.? Like I said, following the roads I'm about 4,200' from the VRAD, but hopefully the cables take a different more direct path. Also, typically how long from when the box is up to when service is available?

Thanks,
Matt

Finally after a lot of deliberation, I cancelled UVerse TV, kept the internet. It has been 3 weeks with UVerse TV, the HD quality is not good (compared to Comcast HD). Im at about 3100feet from the VRAD. Some channels on comcast have very good quality (discovery, etc) and I can record 2 HD channels at the same time, yes comcast is atleast $15 / month more expensive than Uverse (for similar packages), will try back in a few months hoping the quality would have improved. Uverse - the concept is great, probably the future is IPTV. For whatever reason, a friend who got Uverse who is at 500feet from the VRAD gets great quality on HD programming.

Great, thanks guys. Is there typically just one VRAD per sub? Or does it depend on the size of the sub, distance, etc.? Like I said, following the roads I'm about 4,200' from the VRAD, but hopefully the cables take a different more direct path. Also, typically how long from when the box is up to when service is available?

Thanks,
Matt

they usually have multiple vrads in an area, the idea is to cover as many homes as they can within 3000 feet of each one (I can find a few within a mile of my house, some at 5000, 4000 and fortunuately one at 2000 :). The line to your house is the same as the telephone lines, so you could try and trace/measure it by following the line into your house and back across the poles to the VRAD.

they usually have multiple vrads in an area, the idea is to cover as many homes as they can within 3000 feet of each one (I can find a few within a mile of my house, some at 5000, 4000 and fortunuately one at 2000 :). The line to your house is the same as the telephone lines, so you could try and trace/measure it by following the line into your house and back across the poles to the VRAD.
Only problem with that theory is that in most areas lines are buried anymore, like around me.

And, the only problem with that is that just because you are close to a VRAD doesn't mean jack diddly. I am about 850' from one going in straight lines and right angles from a VRAD, but yet I am served by one that is right at the 3000' mark.

New Motorola VIP1225 dvr's rolled out today in limited areas. 250gb hard drive vs 160gb in the VIP1216, means increased storage capacity. No word on new Cisco boxes.

What else is different about them compared to what we all already have? Increased quality in the decoding of HD programming or anything like that??

What else is different about them compared to what we all already have? Increased quality in the decoding of HD programming or anything like that??

Nope, no changes to compression or decryption algorithms. Just a larger hard drive.

Nope, no changes to compression or decryption algorithms. Just a larger hard drive.
what a waste (in my opinion). they couldn't go in there and beef up the code a little bit to bring it up a little in quality? heaven knows they need it! :)

What gets me is that they are focussing on the wrong things, there are many issues that need to be fixed now, rather than working on storage space. Fix the optical out and hdmi issues!

This is a local question for folks in Northern California. I just finished watching House and Bones on 1002, KTVU HD. During the shows the audio just quit several times, this is not from the optical connection, I have rca's from the dvr straight to the tv. The audio was restored if I change the channel and then go back to 1002. Anyone else experience this?

New Motorola VIP1225 dvr's rolled out today in limited areas. 250gb hard drive vs 160gb in the VIP1216, means increased storage capacity. No word on new Cisco boxes.

The new Cisco boxes are out. I tried to get one, but in our area (Arkansas) the pallet with the new ones was shipped to the NW part of the state where they are rolling out new service. Our area still has the "old" ones. I'll give it a little more time, then I may start threatening cancellation. LOL. I mean it is not critical to run HDMI, just way more convenient given my setup. So I can be patient.

Guys -

I spotted this newer looking box at the front of my sub. Does it look like a U-Verse box? Driving through the sub, it's about 8/10 of a mile (4,224') from it to our house. Does the wiring to the other boxes in the sub typically follow roads and sidewalks? Or do you think the length would be less? Finally (hopefully) a HSI alternative to Comcast!

Thanks,
Matt

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2416/20081228123810wj8.jpg


WOW...that sux. In our area, all the equipment is hidden on side streets or in tucked away areas behind hedges or trees off the street. I have never seen a VRAD or DSLAM just stuck out in the open like that...I can't believe the city or county allows that crap.

I have never seen a VRAD or DSLAM just stuck out in the open like that...I can't believe the city or county allows that crap.
All of them in my area are out in the open.

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.

I'm a new U-Verse sub, and am wondering if you could explain that to me a little more. Are you saying, rewind on the main dvr box, then you can pause, etc on the other boxes if watching the same channel?

You can't pause, rewind, ffwd, etc on any remote box yet. That software update is supposed to be coming in the future some time.

Aurora, are we getting MLB Network HD when it goes live Jan 1? Or will we have to wait on it like we are Cartoon Network HD?

steveken, AT&T does not yet have an agreement to carry MLB Network at all, SD or HD. The fact that FIOS locked down a deal a few weeks ago means that it is somewhat likely to happen in the near future, but not yet. A deal would likely also bring the Extra Innings package to UVerse (since almost every other cable system bundled the two together in the deal).

http://mlb.mlb.com/network/ (use the channel locator to confirm)

I can pause, rewind, and FF my DVR via my other boxes. Just cannot erase.

I can pause, rewind, and FF my DVR via my other boxes. Just cannot erase.

But you cannot pause, rewind or fast forward LIVE television on the regular set top boxes, only on the dvr itself. You also cannot schedule recordings or erase recordings, yet.

Hello, I am located in the south part of Sunnyvale, CA and currently a Comcast customer. I have a 65" HDTV, Comcast HD-DVR, Comcast Digital Classic service level, anda 5.1-capable receiver using HDMI for video and optical for audio. I am evaluating switching to U-verse Advanced TV and have reviewed a large portion of this thread. U-verse is available on my street according to both the AT&T website and a few neighbors who have had it installed. I believe the VRAD is located about 500-700 feet away around the corner on the main boulevard.

A few questions....

- Any relevant local experience with U-verse Advanced TV in south Sunnyvale or nearby communities?

- I've read about audio issues with HDMI and 5.1. I assume I will not have these issues if am using optical audio, correct?

- I've been examining the channel lineup and U-verse does not seem to offer the local sport channel (Comcast SportNet Bay Area, sometimes called FSN Bay Area -- the channel that carries San Jose Sharks games) in HD, only in SD. Any advice or contrary experience on this?

- Last and most important, any relevant reports on picture and audio quality? I am used to generally excellent PQ and AQ with Comcast and this is my biggest concern in switching away from them.

Thanks for any inputs.

Currently there are audio dropouts on the optical connection, slight break in the sound every 30 seconds or so. No Sharks in HD at this time, no idea when (if ever) we will be adding Comcast Sports Net Bay Area HD to the lineup.

Thanks for the quick response, AuroraProject.

Is there a U-verse STB or DVR audio interface that supports 5.1 and does not have the drop-outs?

That's unfortunate news on lack of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area HD in the U-verse line-up -- might be a deal-breaker for me. (Can you guess that I am a huge Sharks fan? And there is nothing worse than watching hockey in low resolution on a big screen.) Other alternatives to U-verse such as DBS (and of course Comcast) offer this channel in HD. I assume U-verse at least broadcasts that channel in SD, correct?

Tell me about it, I hate watching sd Sharks hockey on the big screen. I've been asking the programming team about it for a few months, they always have the same response, "We're working on a deal". Something tells me Comcast wants a lot for the feed, as it would be a selling point for them.

Edit, yes we have the sd version of the channel.

Some more questions about voice.

It includes long distance so does that mean there are long-distance access fees like you get with your regular landline bills? Do you have to choose a long-distance provider or since they're using the Internet, there really is no LD provider?

How much more over the $25 or $30 are there in various fees and taxes?

Or is it the case that the data plans carry no additional taxes but if you have video and voice, there will be various taxes added to each of those services?

OK I am moving in two weeks and have an apt set for a U-verse install TV and internet. Right now I am using DirectTV/FIOS internet. I love DirecTV and after reading through this thread some, I am getting kind of nervous that I am in store for some serious letdowns when I get my service setup.

So their "Ultimate DVR" drops audio over optical every 30 secs? This will not work and is unacceptable.

What about picture? I thought U-verse was suppose to be good. It seems people here are snikkering like it is not good. My DirecTV MPEG-4 HD stations are wonderful.

Do they have analog stations to use with TVs without a box like basic cable or is it all digital?

What about Clear QAM?

There is no way I am going with Time Warner and FIOS is not available so I was really hoping this U-verse thing could work. Please help because I am considering canceling my install and staying with DirecTV

OK I am moving in two weeks and have an apt set for a U-verse install TV and internet. Right now I am using DirectTV/FIOS internet. I love DirecTV and after reading through this thread some, I am getting kind of nervous that I am in store for some serious letdowns when I get my service setup.

So their "Ultimate DVR" drops audio over optical every 30 secs? This will not work and is unacceptable.

What about picture? I thought U-verse was suppose to be good. It seems people here are snikkering like it is not good. My DirecTV MPEG-4 HD stations are wonderful.

Do they have analog stations to use with TVs without a box like basic cable or is it all digital?

What about Clear QAM?

There is no way I am going with Time Warner and FIOS is not available so I was really hoping this U-verse thing could work. Please help because I am considering canceling my install and staying with DirecTV

The audio seems to drop over HDMI not optical. Hence the waiting for a firmware fix...

Also, the image quality seems to vary. And it all depends on what quality you have now. Some say its better, some worse than Comcast, Directv and so forth, but those vary as well. For us Comcast is pretty poor, for my parents in Atlanta its miles better, so a U-verse comparison would be different here and there.

There is nothing without the box, its all digital, and no QAM.

Uverse is now available in Lansing MI

The audio seems to drop over HDMI not optical. Hence the waiting for a firmware fix...

Also, the image quality seems to vary. And it all depends on what quality you have now. Some say its better, some worse than Comcast, Directv and so forth, but those vary as well. For us Comcast is pretty poor, for my parents in Atlanta its miles better, so a U-verse comparison would be different here and there.

There is nothing without the box, its all digital, and no QAM.

Thank you for your response!

TW in my area is horrendous and the HD lineup is a joke as well as being expensive. My DirecTV is wonderful. PQ is superb, great HD DVR, most HD stations, no issues at all.

It seems there is definitely an issue with optical audio dropout with U-verse but I guess not all are affected. Who here is using Toslink for 5.1 on HD stations and not getting any dropouts? Here is a thread on the U-verse forum discussing it.

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Equipment&thread.id=3228&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

So no analog channels and no clear QAM?? Bummer. What about cable card? Anyone tried doing an HD Tivo with U-verse??

Thank you for your response!

TW in my area is horrendous and the HD lineup is a joke as well as being expensive. My DirecTV is wonderful. PQ is superb, great HD DVR, most HD stations, no issues at all.

It seems there is definitely an issue with optical audio dropout with U-verse but I guess not all are affected. Who here is using Toslink for 5.1 on HD stations and not getting any dropouts? Here is a thread on the U-verse forum discussing it.

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Equipment&thread.id=3228&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

So no analog channels and no clear QAM?? Bummer. What about cable card? Anyone tried doing an HD Tivo with U-verse??

There are audio dropouts with optical also, I get it all the time on hd channels only. U-Verse isn't like cable, the rg sends an encrypted h.264 stream to the set top boxes, and they decode it and display it on the screen, so a box on each tv is required. We don't offer a cable card. Currently HD Tivo is not supported, only gen 1 Tivo and the support is unofficial (meaning it works but AT&T wont help you with it), we are currently working on HD Tivo compatibility.

There are audio dropouts with optical also, I get it all the time on hd channels only. U-Verse isn't like cable, the rg sends an encrypted h.264 stream to the set top boxes, and they decode it and display it on the screen, so a box on each tv is required. We don't offer a cable card. Currently HD Tivo is not supported, only gen 1 Tivo and the support is unofficial (meaning it works but AT&T wont help you with it), we are currently working on HD Tivo compatibility.

You keep saying "we" in a lot of your posts but it is unclear who you are referring to. Do you work for AT&T or what?

You keep saying "we" in a lot of your posts but it is unclear who you are referring to. Do you work for AT&T or what?

Yup.

You keep saying "we" in a lot of your posts but it is unclear who you are referring to. Do you work for AT&T or what?

?

If you had read the topic, this would be a redundant question.

Hi there. I'm in Frisco Texas, a northern suberb of Dallas. We had some AT&T reps in our neighborhood over the past month going door to door to get people to convert to uverse.

My wife and I were already considering changing over our internet & phone service to a cheaper solution. so we were very interested. We have been very very happy with our DirecTV service and our HD-DVR. I find the HD quality from DirecTV to be really good, this with the latest dish & HD-DVR boxes. However, as we find ourselves in tighter times these days, saving a buck by consolidating services seems like a nice idea.

The Uverse package seemed to offer a lot, and looks to save us $100 a month (whoa!) by signing up for the U200 and ditching our DirecTV, local/long distance phone service, and timewarner internet (all 3 different bills to 3 different companies). the shared DVR feature seems nice, as we only have the DVR in our living room now, nothing in our media room.

All this sounded great, until I started researching on the internet, and I have read absolutely nothing positive about this! I am reading that the HD picture quality is not good at all...that it is not something I want at all! picture quality is very important to me! I'm hearing about stuttering picture, drop in signal kind of stuff. I'm hearing of crashing boxes....and also times where the boxes that tell you "TV service is not available right now, check back later". the HDMI "no audio" issue isn't good....I'm only running HDMI to my TV right now with DirecTV...would I need to run a red/white RCA connection as well to avoid this (more often than not, we only use the TV sound in the living room).

Anyhow, all of this has me really re-considering. My install date is January 14th. I'm going to call to find out how much it would be for just internet & phone (to see what savings we would get there...if any). Possibly, I might cancel the install if I can't find anything positive about the service. I'm all for saving a buck, but not at the expense of quality.

I'm curious if anyone in Dallas (and possibly...Plano or Frisco) can comment on the HD picture quality (which is without a question, my biggest concern)...and how it might compare to DirecTVs latest MPEG4 compression technique. Or has anyone been in my boat, reconsidering before it arrives, only to be pleasantly suprised! I'm just looking for something...anything...positive!

Thanks in advance, I'm getting a lot out of this thread, amongst the other internet reviews.

Hi there. I'm in Frisco Texas, a northern suberb of Dallas. We had some AT&T reps in our neighborhood over the past month going door to door to get people to convert to uverse.

My wife and I were already considering changing over our internet & phone service to a cheaper solution. so we were very interested. We have been very very happy with our DirecTV service and our HD-DVR. I find the HD quality from DirecTV to be really good, this with the latest dish & HD-DVR boxes. However, as we find ourselves in tighter times these days, saving a buck by consolidating services seems like a nice idea.

The Uverse package seemed to offer a lot, and looks to save us $100 a month (whoa!) by signing up for the U200 and ditching our DirecTV, local/long distance phone service, and timewarner internet (all 3 different bills to 3 different companies). the shared DVR feature seems nice, as we only have the DVR in our living room now, nothing in our media room.

All this sounded great, until I started researching on the internet, and I have read absolutely nothing positive about this! I am reading that the HD picture quality is not good at all...that it is not something I want at all! picture quality is very important to me! I'm hearing about stuttering picture, drop in signal kind of stuff. I'm hearing of crashing boxes....and also times where the boxes that tell you "TV service is not available right now, check back later". the HDMI "no audio" issue isn't good....I'm only running HDMI to my TV right now with DirecTV...would I need to run a red/white RCA connection as well to avoid this (more often than not, we only use the TV sound in the living room).

Anyhow, all of this has me really re-considering. My install date is January 14th. I'm going to call to find out how much it would be for just internet & phone (to see what savings we would get there...if any). Possibly, I might cancel the install if I can't find anything positive about the service. I'm all for saving a buck, but not at the expense of quality.

I'm curious if anyone in Dallas (and possibly...Plano or Frisco) can comment on the HD picture quality (which is without a question, my biggest concern)...and how it might compare to DirecTVs latest MPEG4 compression technique. Or has anyone been in my boat, reconsidering before it arrives, only to be pleasantly suprised! I'm just looking for something...anything...positive!

Thanks in advance, I'm getting a lot out of this thread, amongst the other internet reviews.
I don't live in Dallas, but I just wanted to respond to offer a few ideas to help you out.

I came from DirecTV too and am a little disappointed with the quality of the pic. It could be a lot better. But, I would offer this advice to you, let them install it all, look at how it looks to you, if you don't like it cancel just the TV part. DON'T kill the DirecTV service until you know if you are going to like U-Verse or not.

You can NOT just get Internet and Voice installed without TV right now. They have it set up where you get the TV and whatever else you want, or nothing at all. You have 30 days to decide if you like the service or not, so you might as well give it all a shot.

I have also found that apples to apples cost wise between U-Verse and DirecTV, there really is no cost savings. In fact, U-Verse costs more by a little bit once the credits on my account expire in 6 months.

My package on DirecTV was the "Plus HD DVR" bit thats just under Premier $72.99. I had Sports Pack ($12/month I think) and the HD Extra package ($5/month) on the account. I also had another HD receiver ($5/month) that I was leased besides my main HD DVR. (I think thats all) I was paying like $95.75 after taxes.

On U-Verse, I have the U300 package ($79/month) that gives me the movie channels along with it. Of course I have the HD part added on to it too for $10. I have 2 other receivers on it as well for another $10 a month. With those things on it, after my credits expire in a few months, I will be paying $99 a month. Thats without the sports pack too (which also prevents me from seeing the Cardinals play because DirecTV gave me FSN Midwest cause I am in a tweener area for those "home markets").

So, you see, I think its far overpriced for what you get. I will admit that the movie channels are a nice added bonus, but I have a hell of a lot of Netflix movies I haven't watched yet, so I have no business watching Starz, Encore, SHOWTIME, The Movie Channel, or FLIX. :)

Anyway, its up to you to decide. You WILL see that the quality of the HD is not near as good as on DirecTV, but its up to you to decide if you think its bad enough to justify the change. Again, you have 30 days to decide, so get it going, look at it and see for yourself. If nothing else, drop the TV and keep the Internet and Voice if you like (btw, Vonage is really cheap and, depending on how much you talk on the phone, you can get it for as low as $14.95 a month for 500 minutes. I used to have it too until I realized I didn't hardly use the home phone and now I am cell only).


EDIT: Forgot to mention, the main reason I got U-Verse was for the savings on the Internet. I was paying something in the area of $58/month for Comcast Internet. I am getting U-Verse Internet at the same up/down speeds for $35. THAT in itself was worth the install, plus they did a whole house Ethernet network for me and gave me a free 8 port hub. :)

Thanks for the information!

ughhh, I hate hearing that though....that the picture quality is less than that of DirecTV. Currently watching Saturday night live while doing this research, and the picture quality is sensational! I would hate to see it degrade. I understand the degradation is dependent on the TVs being used, but I think I'll see it way to easily, as I have a 71" 1080p TV in the living room, and a 110" 720p projector in the media room.

Cost is the primary and only driving force behind this move (or potential move). This move will save us $100 -even- a month! thats considerable...no thats huge! This from ditching DirecTV, AT&T local/long distance, and Timewarner cable internet service...3 seperate bills that total up to $100 more a month than the Uverse package we were quoted.

The move certainly buys us the convenience of the multi-room DVR, that will be nice versus only having it in the living room right now. From what I understand, the internet service will be better too (the rep was giving numbers that indicate it will be twice as fast...we'll see).

However, I really value my HD quality, and if its substantially worse, I might need to look at other alternatives to save some change...including Vonage like you mentioned.

Thanks for the information!

ughhh, I hate hearing that though....that the picture quality is less than that of DirecTV. Currently watching Saturday night live while doing this research, and the picture quality is sensational! I would hate to see it degrade. I understand the degradation is dependent on the TVs being used, but I think I'll see it way to easily, as I have a 71" 1080p TV in the living room, and a 110" 720p projector in the media room.

Cost is the primary and only driving force behind this move (or potential move). This move will save us $100 -even- a month! thats considerable...no thats huge! This from ditching DirecTV, AT&T local/long distance, and Timewarner cable internet service...3 seperate bills that total up to $100 more a month than the Uverse package we were quoted.

The move certainly buys us the convenience of the multi-room DVR, that will be nice versus only having it in the living room right now. From what I understand, the internet service will be better too (the rep was giving numbers that indicate it will be twice as fast...we'll see).

However, I really value my HD quality, and if its substantially worse, I might need to look at other alternatives to save some change...including Vonage like you mentioned.
Now, again, keep in mind that this is not an all or nothing type of situation. If you don't like the TV part, you CAN keep the other two and switch back to DirecTV. That will surely save you money still by switching phone and Internet.

The multi-room DVR is VERY nice. That is the ONE thing I actually like about U-Verse. I don't know what you are getting from TW as far as Internet goes, but, like I said, the speeds for the 3Mbps connection from U-Verse are right about the same as Comcrap was giving me. You will have to do your own speed tests to see. I just know that for ~$20 less a month, its perfect to me. Plus, it doesn't go down near as often as Comcrap was doing to me (read that as going down damn near every day between 9 and 11 for no reason and those idiots not knowing why).

Just remember, its not like you have to give up the savings the other two services give you if you don't like the TV. You just HAVE to get them all installed at the same time (or Internet and Phone later, just not TV at a later date, its required up front). So, it won't hurt anything to get it all put in, then 2 weeks or whatever later telling them to take off the TV. It will be an easy thing to do.

another question...

I have to HOPE and assume that I will get the 2 HD & 2 SD feed scenario. Anything less (1 HD & 3 SD) will be an absolute deal breaker...I'll cancel on the spot before the installers leave!

With that assumption, can I be recording 2 HD shows, and then watching something (anything...SD or HD) that was previously recorded on the hard drive? i.e. recording 2 HD shows, but playing a 3rd show off the hard drive (HD or not)?

We do that today on our DirecTV HD-DVR....I can think of many instances where we are recording two different shows, most of which are HD these days...yet we are playing a cartoon or something for our 3 year old from that same DVR that was recorded days / weeks earlier (which in some cases are in HD too).

Can Uverse do this too?

another question...

I have to HOPE and assume that I will get the 2 HD & 2 SD feed scenario. Anything less (1 HD & 3 SD) will be an absolute deal breaker...I'll cancel on the spot before the installers leave!

With that assumption, can I be recording 2 HD shows, and then watching something (anything...SD or HD) that was previously recorded on the hard drive? i.e. recording 2 HD shows, but playing a 3rd show off the hard drive (HD or not)?

We do that today on our DirecTV HD-DVR....I can think of many instances where we are recording two different shows, most of which are HD these days...yet we are playing a cartoon or something for our 3 year old from that same DVR that was recorded days / weeks earlier (which in some cases are in HD too).

Can Uverse do this too?
2 HD/2 SD depends on how far from the VRAD you are. I am around 3000' myself. They only gave me 1/3 at first. I was pissed and damned near cancelled right then too. After looking at the specs on my speeds on the gateway itself later on, I determined myself that I could get 2/2, so I had AuroraProject kick me up to the normal profile. Since then, I have had maybe a handful of resets and getting the 2/2 just fine. Resets take about 30 to 50 seconds to complete, so its not a big deal and usually happen when I am not recording something.

Now, to answer your question, you can be recording 2 HD and 2 SD all at once while still watching pre-recorded content off the DVR. In that respect it works like one would assume it would. You could even go so far as be recording all 4 streams like that and watching a single HD recording on TWO different boxes at the same time as well as watching a second pre-recorded HD program on yet another box. I think thats right, I might be stretching it a bit, but I am absolutely certain on everything up until the 2nd HD recording streaming to a TV.

The only limitations you run in to are how many live streams you are recording. Everything else is just like a computer and only depends on the number of boxes you have hooked up and the speed of your network and its ability to handle all the HD traffic across it locally.

Great! Thanks Steve...good news!

I'm not sure how far I'm from the VRad, but if I recall, I believe I saw a bunch of AT&T trucks parked up on the grass working on something hidden by some bushes very very close to our house...I'll have to do a drive by and see if the "thing" looks like some of the pictures I have seen in this thread. But, hopefully I'm pretty close. The service just hit my area, so the presence of those trucks 3-4 weeks ago might go hand in hand with that.

Regarding internet speeds, I just went to DSLreports to do a speed test. 3 different tests yielded 3 different results via my current timewarner (tx.rr.com) cable internet service...

1) 1799 Kb/s down.....920 Kb/s up - believe that translates to 1.756 Mb down
2) 4308 Kb/s down.....947 Kb/s up - believe that translates to 4.207 Mb down
3) 6786 Kb/s down....1004 Kb/s up - believe that translates to 6.626 Mb down

Granted those 3 tests (to 3 different test servers) were done a little after midnight local time. The best results were to a server in Canada I believe...funny.

Anyhow, the internet plan they quoted me was called "max", which they claim is 10 down, and 1.5 up. This was some kind of special in my area where that was given at the price for a lower package. If that speed is truly realized, then my internet will be roughly twice is fast, that would be nice!

Thanks, but just in case it wasn't clear, my intent is to cancel the U-Verse TV service and keep the Internet and possibly the VOIP service.

Oh, yes you can do that.

Do the rates increase for voice and internet if you do this?

Unless you are receiving a three-pack discount, they shouldn't. In my case, when I canceled the TV portion, my Internet cost stayed the same. When I later added VOIP, the cost was the same as they were advertising - as far as I know, I'm not paying any more then people with all three.

Unless you are receiving a three-pack discount, they shouldn't. In my case, when I canceled the TV portion, my Internet cost stayed the same. When I later added VOIP, the cost was the same as they were advertising - as far as I know, I'm not paying any more then people with all three.

Thanks!

I've been living with Uverse for just over a month now, coming from TWC. A few impressions:

HD picture quality for me is roughly the same as it was with TW. Not great, certainly not as good as OTA, but reasonable and about on par to what I had before. I can not do an A/B comparision but I am not disappointed in the difference.

I do miss the single wire connection, having to go from HDMI to component and optical cables is frustrating. I have also noticed a significant amount of audio synching issues. It only seems to be on a few channels. No amount of channel changing seems to resolve it. Any idea on how to fix/get around this issue? The Fiesta Bowl last night had the problem. During a commercial I'd switch to another channel and the audio was properly synched to the video. Then back to FOX and the audio was off again ( easily seen when a sideline reporter was being shown).

I've had a few other audio hiccups, just a quick fraction of a second loss of audio, but no major losses.

The GUI is much better than the TW offering, though it is taking some getting used to after having been with TW for many years.

The whole house DVR is a very nice feature and each box being able to be used as a wired network hub has been great for getting my PS3 a wired connection to the net.

We had issues with the Fiesta Bowl OTA. I think FOX was just over taxed.

Mentioned elsewhere but just adding my experience with Uverse - which I am cancelling after a couple months or so.
The audio drop outs over optical just don't cut it. I have called ATT many times just to see if different techs/support have different responses. Pretty much no solution in sight.
Great SD picture but other providers have better HD.
I also miss how Dish remembers the picture format per channel.
Uverse GUI feels peppy but the remotes/boxes IR does not. Thats using their remotes and a couple of universals - it just doesn't pick up well (at least on the boxes I have).
Up to 18m internet speeds, thats cool!
Listening to vmail via computer and checking call logs (ATT VoIP) - easy.
No contract and over two hundred bucks cash back - nice!

I so wanted to like Uverse but have come to miss Dish and will likely switch back, I'll take a peek at what Directv has going too, previously had them as well.

A second opinion, my wife even likes it less.

Just had my install last week. I am in S. Fl and coming from a private cable company Advanced Cable. I have a 2/2 service with 6/1 internet, my max synch is about 60,286. I have the Cisco STBs. Overall my satisfaction with the system is very good.

Installation - good customer service showed up right on time was professional and finshed as expected

Channels - I am up a tier at the same price I was on cable so I have more channels and get the West Palm Beach locals as well as Miami which is a big plus.

HD Quality - In my view the HD quality is on par with my cable and I have a lot more channels. Really not seeing some of the problems others report as far as picture quality. It is not as perfect as OTA but neither was the cable.

PVR - I had the Motorola pvr with cable and find the Cisco 430 to be similar but I do like the total home feature but it needs more control from the remote boxes.

Internet - I have faster speeds but about double the latency I had with ADSL from AT&T. I think this is the norm, so far it has not really caused me any issues.

Voice - not offered yet in my area. I am thinking about dropping local landline completely and just going cell in any case.

stonecrd, can you report if there are any issues with your setup using the optical connection for 5.1 on HD stations?

stonecrd, can you report if there are any issues with your setup using the optical connection for 5.1 on HD stations?

In my case, HDMI to my TV, Optical to the AVR, I have not experienced any audio dropouts on any HD channels. I also have not seen any synching problems between the STB and my TV using HDMI. All working as before except with my old Motorola box I ran HDMI for both the audio and video. Using all mid price Monoproce cables.

Is it possible for the HD to look better in the morning than in the evening? At night I seem to notice the background shifting a lot more than I do in the mornings. When I'm watching in the evenings I can't stand the background shifting so i start to think I want to switch to DirecTV and then in the morning I say to myself. The HD looks pretty darn good. No shifting.

In my case, HDMI to my TV, Optical to the AVR, I have not experienced any audio dropouts on any HD channels. I also have not seen any synching problems between the STB and my TV using HDMI. All working as before except with my old Motorola box I ran HDMI for both the audio and video. Using all mid price Monoproce cables.

Thank you. So there is a glimmer of hope for my upcoming install next week.

Wish me luck!

Is it possible for the HD to look better in the morning than in the evening? At night I seem to notice the background shifting a lot more than I do in the mornings. When I'm watching in the evenings I can't stand the background shifting so i start to think I want to switch to DirecTV and then in the morning I say to myself. The HD looks pretty darn good. No shifting.

Are you watching live HD in the morning but recorded HD at night?

If so, then its because the DVR makes the recorded HD look worse than if you watched live HD.

If not, I don't know.

Are you watching live HD in the morning but recorded HD at night?

If so, then its because the DVR makes the recorded HD look worse than if you watched live HD.

If not, I don't know.

I've compared live with live. Also when I noticed the "POSSIBLE" improvement in PQ, i've tried watching recorded shows and i see the shifting. I'm guessing it's bandwidth issues but that shouldn't be the case right? U-verse should have plenty of bandwidth to my unit.

Its weird but I see the same shifting on Comcast. Like the background moves. I think the encoding algorithms focus on the moving characters and only update the background every 1-2 seconds, resulting in the shifting... Its easily and reliably apparent in NBC primetime shows such as Heroes. I can reliably see it and show it to anyone during that show for some reason. Its apparent on both recorded and live HD. I never tried OTA to see if its an NBC issue though, I guess I will have to.

Its weird but I see the same shifting on Comcast. Like the background moves. I think the encoding algorithms focus on the moving characters and only update the background every 1-2 seconds, resulting in the shifting... Its easily and reliably apparent in NBC primetime shows such as Heroes. I can reliably see it and show it to anyone during that show for some reason. Its apparent on both recorded and live HD. I never tried OTA to see if its an NBC issue though, I guess I will have to.
Now, when you guys say shifting, you mean where, for instance, you are watching a scene that is a little bit dark and every couple of seconds you see the blacker parts look like they get updated all the sudden? Where they kinda refresh all the sudden every couple of seconds? If that is what it is, then ALL services have that. DirecTV most certainly did, especially on SD channels. My wife would notice it on her soaps whether it was on local affiliates or on SoapNet. It is entirely on the uplink side.

Now, when you guys say shifting, you mean where, for instance, you are watching a scene that is a little bit dark and every couple of seconds you see the blacker parts look like they get updated all the sudden? Where they kinda refresh all the sudden every couple of seconds? If that is what it is, then ALL services have that. DirecTV most certainly did, especially on SD channels. My wife would notice it on her soaps whether it was on local affiliates or on SoapNet. It is entirely on the uplink side.

It's most apparent in dark scenes but you can also see it with colored and bright backgrounds. I've watched DirecTV on a friends TV and I haven't seen it or noticed it on the HD streams compared to U-verse. I figured it was because my TV is so big that I see the flaws but I watched DirecTV on a 61" Samsung and it's not there or even nearly as evident.

When I first got U-verse it was all over the place but the last couple of days so far the HD has been really pristine relative to what it has been.

Well, yeah, it might not be on the HD feeds from DirecTV from what I remember. I came from there to U-Verse (and about to go back I think), so I am pretty familiar with what is up on their stuff. It definitely was there on the SD feeds like I said. I have seen it way too many times for there to be any doubt. I think I do remember it on the HD DirecTV channels every now and then. Really depended on the channel I think. I seem to remember it happening on the movie channels I think. Might have been just before they switched them over to MPEG-4 too. MPEG-2 could really have that problem if their encoders aren't set right.

Well, yeah, it might not be on the HD feeds from DirecTV from what I remember. I came from there to U-Verse (and about to go back I think), so I am pretty familiar with what is up on their stuff. It definitely was there on the SD feeds like I said. I have seen it way too many times for there to be any doubt. I think I do remember it on the HD DirecTV channels every now and then. Really depended on the channel I think. I seem to remember it happening on the movie channels I think. Might have been just before they switched them over to MPEG-4 too. MPEG-2 could really have that problem if their encoders aren't set right.

I definitely can't speak for the SD channels since I don't didn't compare them but i was ready to make the switch from U-verse to DirecTV just for the PQ on the HD streams and then these events happened. I must say the difference in PQ for u-verse lately is enough to keep me a customer. I like all the features of the STB for u-verse from the channel preview browsing to the ability to watch DVR on all the TV boxes in the house. I was just wondering if it was just me getting used to the quality of U-verse's HD or has there been some improvement in my area. I'm from Houston by the way. I just want to make sure I'm not taking crazy pills. I enjoyed it so much I sat through a whole movie last night on showtime w/o griping to my g/f about the shifting.

Reading about the optical toslink drop out issue is news to me.

I have STB connected via component/optical due to the HDMI issue and am not experiencing any drop out issues on HD channels.

I've compared live with live. Also when I noticed the "POSSIBLE" improvement in PQ, i've tried watching recorded shows and i see the shifting. I'm guessing it's bandwidth issues but that shouldn't be the case right? U-verse should have plenty of bandwidth to my unit.

The shifting your seeing is due to compression. The higher the level of compression the worse it is/gets.

As far as I know the amount of compression used in Uverse HD signals does not change dynamically, either for the number of viewers or programming material. If there is some sort of dynamic compression (specifically one that is dependent on the number of users per Vrad) then there's your answer.

I don't know enough about the Uverse systems to say one or the other though.

Its possible you might be getting some errors on your line either at night or during the day and that could be affecting your HD PQ. You can call Tech Support and tell them what your seeing. I believe they can look at your line and see when most of the errors (if your getting any) occur.

Let us know what you find out.

The shifting your seeing is due to compression. The higher the level of compression the worse it is/gets.

As far as I know the amount of compression used in Uverse HD signals does not change dynamically, either for the number of viewers or programming material. If there is some sort of dynamic compression (specifically one that is dependent on the number of users per Vrad) then there's your answer.

I don't know enough about the Uverse systems to say one or the other though.

Its possible you might be getting some errors on your line either at night or during the day and that could be affecting your HD PQ. You can call Tech Support and tell them what your seeing. I believe they can look at your line and see when most of the errors (if your getting any) occur.

Let us know what you find out.

IF and when it goes back to the horrible shifting I noticed when I first got U-verse then I'll call tech support. right now the PQ is great. I don't want to jinx it :)

The shifting was really visible when watching 24 on Fox the past 2 nights. I was watching the dvr recording to avoid the commercials so I could not compare to the OTA version but with all the dimly lit interiors with plain dark backgrounds the shifting was very apparent. I seem to recall a similar look with my previous Time Warner service so I am not exactly concerned about it, I just think they could do better.

Not exactly an HDTV/U-verse issue but hopefully the right forum to see if someone here can answer the question....

I heard from someone that traditional fax machines do not work properly for inbound faxes when connected to a U-verse digital phone line.

True or false? If true, is there any workaround?

Anyone here watch Bulls games on WGN America HD (Ch. 1180)? If so, have you noticed that the game constantly goes in and out of focus. I've noticed it only when the main camera is showing the game. I'm not sure if the sideline cameras exhibit the same issue as they are usually used sparingly compared to the main game camera.

I'm assuming that it's the feed so it should be present in all shots. It happens roughly every 3-5 seconds and lasts about a .5 a second. It's annoying as hell. I don't know if this happens on any of 1180's regular programming as I don't watch the channel other than when there is a game.

Also, I know its only on WGN America because I watched the Nets vs. Bulls game a few weeks back and the game was on both 1180 & 1702 (YES HD). YES HD did NOT have this issue.

This has been happening since the first time I watched a Bulls game on 1180 back in Nov 08. I was hoping it would go away (i.e. others would complain and it would get fixed) but it's not happening so I might as well stop waiting and complain myself.

I'll start by complaining to AT&T but I'm really not sure to whom I should be complaining. Any suggestions?!

This past fall AT&T changed out all of the switches in my neighborhood to bring U-Verse in for the spring as the VRAD is already inplace down the street. Here in Southern CT the market is dominated by COMCAST. My HD channel selection is terrible (10-12 channels two of which are local weather and traffic). My combined monthly (w/ internet access (medium speeds) and w/digital silver pkg (including 1 HD DVR, 1 non-HD STB, HBO and HD package) is now over $180 per month. ouch !!!!

I am thinking of switching to U-Verse for the following
1. More Live HD channels (I do not wnat HD on Demand)
2. Cost savings on a value basis, I just want more for my money.
3. Whole house DVR as I will be replacing the non-HD set with a new one this year.

I must admit the Comcat HD picture is nice on my pioneer plasma but I am willing to sacrafice some quality for better quantity and greater value.

Are all of the lesser picture quality arguements minor? Would switching be more like like trading a BMW for Lexus or trading it for a ford Focus?:confused:

This past fall AT&T changed out all of the switches in my neighborhood to bring U-Verse in for the spring as the VRAD is already inplace down the street. Here in Southern CT the market is dominated by COMCAST. My HD channel selection is terrible (10-12 channels two of which are local weather and traffic). My combined monthly (w/ internet access (medium speeds) and w/digital silver pkg (including 1 HD DVR, 1 non-HD STB, HBO and HD package) is now over $180 per month. ouch !!!!

I am thinking of switching to U-Verse for the following
1. More Live HD channels (I do not wnat HD on Demand)
2. Cost savings on a value basis, I just want more for my money.
3. Whole house DVR as I will be replacing the non-HD set with a new one this year.

I must admit the Comcat HD picture is nice on my pioneer plasma but I am willing to sacrafice some quality for better quantity and greater value.

Are all of the lesser picture quality arguements minor? Would switching be more like like trading a BMW for Lexus or trading it for a ford Focus?:confused:
If you're going from Comcast to U-Verse, you shouldn't notice much of a change at all. Currently, both are leaning pretty heavy on the ol' "compression button"...

I keep coming to this thread just hoping to hear that the quality has somewhat improved, so I can give Uverse a try instead of Comcast. But it's always the same - lackluster HD PQ, and STB audio issues and other bugs.

The HD PQ is most important to me with a 100" screen that we watch many network shows and live sports on. I was pretty ticked with Comcast but now they've added like 20 HD channels in the last month, so my selection will be equal if not a little less with Uverse. Cost will be about the same.

I think the main advantage/reason I would want to try Uverse is for the Whole Home DVR. I just got a flyer in the mail about it, and it says they're giving 3 STBs (all HD of course) for no charge again, so that's almost got me ready to make the switch. Ahh, decisions decisions...

I suppose it's probably worth trying for a couple months, getting the $200 rebate, and deciding what to do from there.

This past fall AT&T changed out all of the switches in my neighborhood to bring U-Verse in for the spring as the VRAD is already inplace down the street. Here in Southern CT the market is dominated by COMCAST. My HD channel selection is terrible (10-12 channels two of which are local weather and traffic). My combined monthly (w/ internet access (medium speeds) and w/digital silver pkg (including 1 HD DVR, 1 non-HD STB, HBO and HD package) is now over $180 per month. ouch !!!!

I am thinking of switching to U-Verse for the following
1. More Live HD channels (I do not wnat HD on Demand)
2. Cost savings on a value basis, I just want more for my money.
3. Whole house DVR as I will be replacing the non-HD set with a new one this year.

I must admit the Comcat HD picture is nice on my pioneer plasma but I am willing to sacrafice some quality for better quantity and greater value.

Are all of the lesser picture quality arguements minor? Would switching be more like like trading a BMW for Lexus or trading it for a ford Focus?:confused:
Frankly, you are getting raped by Comcrap (as usual and I am not surprised). The small selection of HD channels is further not surprising. AT&T has a lot, while not all that I would like to see, of HD channels to choose from. I think the list of channels is the same nationwide just like DirecTV or Dish, and not dependent on the area like Comcraps is.

You will save a lot of money in my opinion. I am assuming you get 6Mbps down/1Mbps up from Comcrap for probably the same $42.95 as I could in my area if I had TV from them. Well, you can get the same exact speeds for $35 from AT&T. And it is a lot more stable and consistent than Comcrap. On the TV side, you will more than likely save quite a chunk of change there as well. You could get U300 with HD and two other receivers for ~$99/month. That will give you Showtime, TMC, Starz, and Encore with that package, so you could do without HBO unless there is just something on there that you HAVE to see. :) If you do without the HBO and do the two prices I mentioned, you will be at $134/month instead of your $180. Sounds pretty good, huh? :)

Whole house DVR is pretty fricken awesome! It will be even better when you can schedule recordings and actually delete them while using a remote box, but for now, its still great! Oh, and, as of right now, I have 6 hours of SD kids stuff, 4 hours of 24, 3 Dirty Jobs, a Mythbusters, a Knight Rider, an Old Christine, and like 4 other shows all in HD on my DVR and I still have 70% remaining on the hard drive! That is AMAZING in my opinion and they all still look pretty darned good when played back. I am thinking they changed their encoding to the hard drive or something. That just seems like way too much content to have on the box with the usage being that low.

As far as the PQ is concerned, I don't think it is as bad as some people on here let on. Unless there is something in their area that is just killing the PQ, all qualities should be equal. It is definitely lower than DirecTV that I had before, but it is still definitely watchable.

Now, as far as the complaints, they are missing a few channels that I think they should have in HD like NASA TV HD, Cartoon Network HD, and a couple of others that I can't remember right now. On my system, for some reason I am not seeing ALL the FSN's in HD that I should be seeing. From the big list I am seeing of HD regional sports channels, I should be seeing the HD version of quite a number of channels like FSN Midwest HD, but for some reason I am not seeing them. That is a big thing to me as when baseball season comes around I am going to want to watch FSN Midwest in HD for the Cardinals games.

Speaking of watching those games, thats another downer. You pay for the "Sports Package", but you don't really get anything other than the same shows played at different times on the other channels it appears. DirecTV, for my zip code, will give me everything on FSN Midwest as my home market as well as the normal FSN Southwest. AT&T doesn't seem to do this and, even though you pay the extra money for the "Sports Package", AT&T will blackout any pro sports team on all the other channels like FSN Midwest that I should be able to get anyway. I understand blacking out games on all the other FSN's, but since DirecTV recognizes my zip code as sort of a tweener area and gives me FSN Midwest as another home market channel to go with FSN Southwest, AT&T should as well. NO ONE at AT&T seems to know if that will actually happen or not. They all seem to be completely clueless as far as sports stuff seems to go. If I can't get FSN Midwest in the clear for Cardinals games, I will be going back to DirecTV.

Anyway, theres some answers and a short rant from me. Hope it helps! :)

I keep coming to this thread just hoping to hear that the quality has somewhat improved, so I can give Uverse a try instead of Comcast. But it's always the same - lackluster HD PQ, and STB audio issues and other bugs.

The HD PQ is most important to me with a 100" screen that we watch many network shows and live sports on. I was pretty ticked with Comcast but now they've added like 20 HD channels in the last month, so my selection will be equal if not a little less with Uverse. Cost will be about the same.

I think the main advantage/reason I would want to try Uverse is for the Whole Home DVR. I just got a flyer in the mail about it, and it says they're giving 3 STBs (all HD of course) for no charge again, so that's almost got me ready to make the switch. Ahh, decisions decisions...

I suppose it's probably worth trying for a couple months, getting the $200 rebate, and deciding what to do from there.
You know, you can't believe everything you read. Just call them up and give them a shot. The worst case scenario is that you get rid of it after a little while and go back to Com-rape-the-customer-cast. It won't hurt anything and you shouldn't have to pay a dime for install.

Plus, you could probably get them to wire your whole house with Cat-5e for free. Just keep it a couple of months so they don't try to come back and charge you for all that work. :) The whole home dvr is awesome. Its way better than Comcrap's garbage (imho).

Anyway, give it a shot, you aren't under a contract or anything. Hell, you might find even more reasons to keep it or whatever. A person should never be tied down to one company and should always be able to try other services like U-Verse in the off chance it would be better for them. Dunno your Internet situation, but you might like U-Verses Internet better too (price and connectivity).

I keep coming to this thread just hoping to hear that the quality has somewhat improved, so I can give Uverse a try instead of Comcast. But it's always the same - lackluster HD PQ, and STB audio issues and other bugs.

The HD PQ is most important to me with a 100" screen that we watch many network shows and live sports on. I was pretty ticked with Comcast but now they've added like 20 HD channels in the last month, so my selection will be equal if not a little less with Uverse. Cost will be about the same.

I think the main advantage/reason I would want to try Uverse is for the Whole Home DVR. I just got a flyer in the mail about it, and it says they're giving 3 STBs (all HD of course) for no charge again, so that's almost got me ready to make the switch. Ahh, decisions decisions...

I suppose it's probably worth trying for a couple months, getting the $200 rebate, and deciding what to do from there.

I think it really is very location/infrastructure dependent. In my case my PQ is as good as I had with cable, I get 3x the HD stations a THDVR and have zero audio problems. Just give it a try and make up your own mind, for me I have no regrets switching.

AT&T Signs New Carriage Deal With Viacom

Spans HD networks, mobile content from MTV and BET

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/15/2009 3:01:00 PM

Telco AT&T announced a new distribution deal with Viacom units MTV Networks and BET Networks which covers new high-definition and international channels, renewal for existing channels, advertising expenditures, and content for AT&T CruiseCast, a satellite-based in-car entertainment service that AT&T plans to launch this spring.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. As per the deal, seven new HD networks will be added to the AT&T’s U-verse TV Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) service later this year, including MTV HD, VH1 HD, CMT HD, BET HD, Nickelodeon HD, Comedy Central HD and Spike HD. The deal also renews carriage of the MTVN and BETN channels and VOD content featured on AT&T U-verse TV, and provides for carriage of new international channels, including MTV India, later this year.

In addition, five MTVN and BETN channels will be part of the AT&T CruiseCast in-car entertainment service when it launches later this spring. The Ku-band-satellite based AT&T CruiseCast service, which was shown at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show, transmits video programming to a compact, low-profile antenna for use on cars, trucks and SUVs. The CruiseCast system, including antenna and receiver, is expected to cost $1299, with monthly service for 22 video channels and 20 radio channels costing $27.95 a month.

“This strategic deal brings more content to our customers in new and better ways, while supporting Viacom with increased distribution and advertising revenue,” said Dan York, executive vice president of content, AT&T Services Inc, in a statement.

“This deal reaffirms our companies’ long-standing relationship, expanding the reach of our services to bring more content to more consumers across AT&T services,” added Denise Denson, Executive Vice President, Content Distribution & Marketing, MTVN.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6630020.html

They need to hurry up and get Tennis Channel! :(

I think the top tier HD package went away. I now have Universal HD, Smithsonian HD, and MGM HD and I haven't made any changes to my package.

I think the top tier HD package went away. I now have Universal HD, Smithsonian HD, and MGM HD and I haven't made any changes to my package.
LOL, guess they didn't even tell the employees whats going on. And you never got the message on your screen saying that everyone gets all the HD channels up until the 18th. Including the movie channels.

Still looking for an answer to my question back on page 53......

"I heard from someone that traditional fax machines do not work properly for inbound faxes when connected to a U-verse digital phone line. True or false? If true, is there any workaround?"

It seems to me there is no technical reason a fax machine should not work with U-verse's voice service, but I'd just like to make sure as this would be a non-starter for me if it were true.

Still looking for an answer to my question back on page 53......

"I heard from someone that traditional fax machines do not work properly for inbound faxes when connected to a U-verse digital phone line. True or false? If true, is there any workaround?"

It seems to me there is no technical reason a fax machine should not work with U-verse's voice service, but I'd just like to make sure as this would be a non-starter for me if it were true.

You may have better luck finding an answer at AT&Ts Uverse forum for voice

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/?category.id=voice

I'm able to send and receive faxes (with a Brother all-in-one inkjet), even though I'm not using an in-line digital filter that AT&T recommends (this link (http://ask.att.com/esh/main/chainAction.do?session={8c3da5c0-e4ca-11dd-6431-000000000000}&action=case&caseRef=c_9e3ff850) indicates one can be provided with a self-install kit). In case the above link doesn't work, search 'fax' in the search field here (http://ask.att.com/esh/main/chainAction.do?search=home+phone). I remember seeing another page that had a list of fax machines that were incompatible, but can't find it right now.

I just order U-Verse since I am tired of TW and the problems I've been having with the Internet for the past three months. I'm also interested to see how much better (hopefully) the HD channels look.

One of the things I found strange is that the in the literature the rep gave me, the regional FSN channels appear to only be available by ordering the Sport Tier. However, when I look online at the https://uma.att.com/uma/RetrieveChannelLineup?ZIP=91356&packgeList_select=U200&channelList_select=&APPID=UMA&actionType=GETCHANNELSBYPACKAGE&FORMAT=POPUPchannel lineup, the regional FSN channels appear in each of the packages.

Service will be installed on 1/30/09!

Just got it installed today. He drilled in Cat 5 line. TV looks crappy, overscanned on my HDTV. I didn't ask for HD service because I plan to cancel the TV portion.

Elite speeds are 5700/930. Not bad. I'm paying over double for Comcast for 5000/320 from the same speed test sites.

As soon as I hooked up, it took me to a AT&T/Yahoo page where I created my att.net account.

Is that my main page for billing, services and support info?

For instance, I searched for additional services that I thought came with Uverse:

1) Newsgroups. I got some hits back but I have to see if there's info about their newgroup feeds info.

2) Don't they include free access to AT&T hotspots? How do you log in?

Just got it installed today. He drilled in Cat 5 line. TV looks crappy, overscanned on my HDTV. I didn't ask for HD service because I plan to cancel the TV portion.

If you don't mind me asking, what does overscanning mean? So, the HD pq is not good?

Image doesn't fit the screen. It cuts off the bottom scrawl.

TBH, I haven't really played with it that much so there might be some zooming options.

Just got it installed today. He drilled in Cat 5 line. TV looks crappy, overscanned on my HDTV. I didn't ask for HD service because I plan to cancel the TV portion.

Elite speeds are 5700/930. Not bad. I'm paying over double for Comcast for 5000/320 from the same speed test sites.

As soon as I hooked up, it took me to a AT&T/Yahoo page where I created my att.net account.

Is that my main page for billing, services and support info?

For instance, I searched for additional services that I thought came with Uverse:

1) Newsgroups. I got some hits back but I have to see if there's info about their newgroup feeds info.

2) Don't they include free access to AT&T hotspots? How do you log in?

The site for billing and service info is www.uversecentral.att.com

Not sure about newsgroups. To use the free wifi hotspots simply go to one, and open a browser, when it asks for a user name and password use your att email address and password that was setup when you had the service installed.

LOL, guess they didn't even tell the employees whats going on. And you never got the message on your screen saying that everyone gets all the HD channels up until the 18th. Including the movie channels.

Yeah, they never tell us anything, for a communications company we are sorely lacking in that department.

Image doesn't fit the screen. It cuts off the bottom scrawl.

TBH, I haven't really played with it that much so there might be some zooming options.
You are the ONLY person I have ever heard of to complain about that problem. On the bottom right corner of your remote you will find a zoom/enter button. Push that a few times to put it back to normal. And I can't see not getting the HD portion regardless or whether you are keeping it or not. Its like renting a Corvette but never taking the thing out of 1st gear. *shakes head*

I switched from Comcast to at&t U-verse about six months ago. I would never go back. U-verse is the best service I have had. A few of my friends and neighbors who have Dish and Direct TV have tested out my U-verse and are switching over as well. I live in Vacaville, CA; west of Sacramento and East of San Francisco. This was installed in a condo.

Here is my personal opinion on the service:

Pros:

Quick channel changing; very short if any delay between channels.
PIP when surfing for a channel.
Tells you how long a program has been on, and how long is left.
Great picture quality; The HD looks great. SD is SD, so you are not going to get anything amazing out of that.
Wireless internet is built into the box, so if you do not have a special type of network set up then you can use just use the one built in. If you want a N series router or want to use your currnet router you can, just plug it in like you would cable or DSL.
Access to you DVR from the internet. You can schedule, delete, record, cancel any thing you would from the box itself. This comes in handy if you are at work or on vacation and forgot to set something to record.
Whole house DVR. You can watch anything that is on the DVR from any TV in your house.
The box comes with a HDMI port, unlike Comcast. I have not used it yet, so I have no comment on the quality of the picture through HDMI.
Free professional installation.
I have the second fastest internet connection that was avail in my area, I believe it is somewhere around 6mps. My Comcast was running around 10mps and I cannot notice a distance after switching. I do quite a bit of Xbox Live gaming and have not noticed any lag after switching.
Cheaper than Comcast, who had a monopoly for quite a while in my area until at&t came around.
Free use of at&t hotspots, just log in with your mail e-mail and password.
No contract.


Cons:

Only two HD steams at one time, I was told that this is supposed to increase in the future. And I believe them, they told me about the whole house DVR and that happened a month after the install.
If you reset or unplug the system it takes about 2-4 minutes to boot back up.
On demand movie selection is not that great, but this is a pretty new service so hopefully they will increase their selection in the future.


Something to consider:

There are multiple ways for them to install the service. It can be set up through the houses Cat-5 cable, phone line, and cable line. So just there are many options as to where you can have it installed in your house. I also believe that this means some installs will have a better connection than others; depending on the age and quality of your houses or condos installed wiring. So talk to the installer when he comes so you get the best install and quality connection possible.
I have never had a problem with my service. But my friends who live in the same condo complex had a lot of problems. Their box kept freezing up and they would have to be reset. at&t came out and replaced thier box twice and the problem was still there. This could be a problem with the wiring in the condo complex though.

Hope this info helps anyone out that wants info about U-verse!

Just got it installed today. He drilled in Cat 5 line. TV looks crappy, overscanned on my HDTV. I didn't ask for HD service because I plan to cancel the TV portion.


If you don't mind me asking, what does overscanning mean? So, the HD pq is not good?


Notice he did not get HD.

Anyone else with a Mac able to use ESPN360?

My Safari browser hangs trying to download their plugin.

That is one benefit of Uverse over Comcast, access to ESPN360.

HD picture quality for me is roughly the same as it was with TW. Not great, certainly not as good as OTA, but reasonable and about on par to what I had before.
I switched from Comcast in the Bay Area (CA) and noticed a significant improvement in artifacting, macroblocking, and picture quality over Comcast's horrible triple-packed HD channels. The HD quality is on par with the few channels that Comcast still carries double-packed, but to me is still an improvement because of picture/audio dropouts and artifacting that I was experiencing with Comcast.

At first, I found the picture a little "softer" than Comcast on my 720p LCD as opposed to my 1080p plasma, but switching the Uverse box to 1080i from 720p made a noticeable difference.

The only thing that is actually worse is that Uverse lacks HD on Demand for its subscription and movie services (except for paid rentals). This is somewhat disappointing, but I've been told that AT&T is working on getting content rights for HD on Demand.
I have also noticed a significant amount of audio synching issues. It only seems to be on a few channels. No amount of channel changing seems to resolve it.
Have you checked your receiver's audio delay options? I have had no problem with audio syncing on any program. You might have a slow component somewhere that is causing the misalignment. Checking this thread and others, this does not appear to be a common complaint (except for some specific programs that appear to have been messed up at the source).

That is one benefit of Uverse over Comcast, access to ESPN360.

Agreed. Huge advantage locally over TWC too.

Im looking at the uverse online signup-- i see the promos they have are the 303030 which now gives $19 off per month and a $50 cash back OR a $200 cash back PLUS a $25 gift card with a code-- It says the code is either emailed or mailed to prospective customers-- I didnt get it... Does anyone have the code that they can PM me or post? Im looking at getting the u200 with hd, elite internet, and unlimited voice...

Anyone else with a Mac able to use ESPN360?

My Safari browser hangs trying to download their plugin.

That is one benefit of Uverse over Comcast, access to ESPN360.

Works fine for me on my MacBook Pro, OS X 10.5.6 with Safari 3.2.1.

Works fine for me on my MacBook Pro, OS X 10.5.6 with Safari 3.2.1.

Hmm, maybe I have too many tabs open or need a reboot. It wouldn't work with Firefox either except it was a different error.

I wanted to check out soccer games. But guess what, I'm getting FSC even though I'm only suppose to have U100. In fact, looks like all the premium channels are on too.

I better double-check my package, even though the installer pointed out on the channel list card that the U100 package I have only goes up to half way down the second column.

Hmm, maybe I have too many tabs open or need a reboot. It wouldn't work with Firefox either except it was a different error.

I wanted to check out soccer games. But guess what, I'm getting FSC even though I'm only suppose to have U100. In fact, looks like all the premium channels are on too.

I better double-check my package, even though the installer pointed out on the channel list card that the U100 package I have only goes up to half way down the second column.

There is currently a free preview of all channels, ending today.

im not that impressed. the channel lineup is good, but the hd quality isnt the greatest.

also, where im at i can only get 1 hd feed and 3 sd feeds. fortunately, at&t is giving me a discount to accommodate for this, but it still sucks.

on that note, im also not a big fan of the dvr. no one-button access to my 'favorites' channel guide, and lack of configuration options for recording programs. in particular, 'lie to me' is scheduled to be recorded from 9:03 to 10:06 tonight, but bc i cant specify recording to stop at 10pm instead, i cant also record 'damages' on fx from 10-11. not sure if tivo or other dvrs have a work-around for this, but it still sucks.

also, the local hd stations look to be heavily compressed. just got the service on friday, so l'll have to wait and see how prime time network hd content looks. *crosses fingers*

Image doesn't fit the screen. It cuts off the bottom scrawl.

TBH, I haven't really played with it that much so there might be some zooming options.

Either your STB resolution is not configured correctly and make sure the zoom feature is on Normal (press the # key on your Uverse remote until it says Normal.) Also make sure your TV isn't zooming either.

Hi all,
I am a long time Saint Louis (actually St. Charles) Charter customer with all they have to offer. I have the great Moxi DVR that has excellent software and s****y hardware.
I have been contemplating a move to U-verse. I would appreciate any feedback especially in terms of (1) HD picture, (2)The wholehouse availability of programs from the DVR. I have this capability now but for just two TV's. I have heard differing accounts of how many HD programs can be recorded and viewed at the same time. I can right now record two HD and watch one HD and one SD all at the same time. (3) What is the current status in St. Charles?
(4) How does this connect to your other TV's? Is there a box for each TV? How big are they?
Thanks,
Wayne

Hi.... I'm seriously considering UVerse...

My biggest worry is the inability to pause/rewind live TV in other rooms.


From your experience, is this tough to get used to? The wife is having a hard time buying into this....

Hi all,
I am a long time Saint Louis (actually St. Charles) Charter customer with all they have to offer. I have the great Moxi DVR that has excellent software and s****y hardware.
I have been contemplating a move to U-verse. I would appreciate any feedback especially in terms of (1) HD picture, (2)The wholehouse availability of programs from the DVR. I have this capability now but for just two TV's. I have heard differing accounts of how many HD programs can be recorded and viewed at the same time. I can right now record two HD and watch one HD and one SD all at the same time. (3) What is the current status in St. Charles?
(4) How does this connect to your other TV's? Is there a box for each TV? How big are they?
Thanks,
Wayne
Most of your questions are basic questions that have been covered many, many times here. The answers are also readily available in a number of other places across the Internet. Remember, Google is your friend.

As far as what is going on in your area in regards to this, you should go look up the local HD forum on here for the St. Louis area. There are certainly many, many, many people on there that have AT&T U-Verse.

Hi.... I'm seriously considering UVerse...

My biggest worry is the inability to pause/rewind live TV in other rooms.


From your experience, is this tough to get used to? The wife is having a hard time buying into this....

Currently...no. But it will be enabled when they complete the upgrade of Total Home DVR. Once completed all STB will be able to manage recordings and be able to trick play live tv.

Just chiming in, I switched today and in my neck of the woods there is a considerable PQ difference between Cox cable and Uverse. BUT.. aside from a couple channels I'm missing that a post here indicated were on the way (NickHD/SpikeHD) there's a much larger selection and the DVR and utility of the whole she-bang are superior thus far. Consider that for 45 bucks more than I was shucking for cable I'm also getting unlimited phone and internet.

I think I'll get used to the lower quality HDTV.. and will probably hook an over the air antenna up anyway for the local channels.

Most of your questions are basic questions that have been covered many, many times here. The answers are also readily available in a number of other places across the Internet. Remember, Google is your friend.

As far as what is going on in your area in regards to this, you should go look up the local HD forum on here for the St. Louis area. There are certainly many, many, many people on there that have AT&T U-Verse.

Yeah, I tried that but maybe I'm just not doing it right. I have contributed to the only St. Louis forums that I know of for years. The OVA and the Charter forum...that's it. Sorry to have bothered you cause I know how it feels. I have answered the same basic questions on the MOXI forum for people for years and it does indeed get tiring.

If the answers are out there they sure are hidden cause I have spent hours reading ATT FAQ's and googling and the details I want to know are hidden somewhere. I realize that questions may have been answered in this forum but as I was reading the last few years it became quickly apparent that things were changing very rapidly and therefore useless to what is going on today. Thanks anyway.
Wayne

Yeah, I tried that but maybe I'm just not doing it right. I have contributed to the only St. Louis forums that I know of for years. The OVA and the Charter forum...that's it. Sorry to have bothered you cause I know how it feels. I have answered the same basic questions on the MOXI forum for people for years and it does indeed get tiring.

If the answers are out there they sure are hidden cause I have spent hours reading ATT FAQ's and googling and the details I want to know are hidden somewhere. I realize that questions may have been answered in this forum but as I was reading the last few years it became quickly apparent that things were changing very rapidly and therefore useless to what is going on today. Thanks anyway.
Wayne
In looking back at all your posts, I only see one post in the last year in the St. Louis area OTA forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=793006&page=285). I know that OTA or Charter or any other non-AT&T branded forum is really not the best place to talk about stuff AT&T related, but people with all types of setups read through the OTA forums usually. I know for a fact we do in the Little Rock HDTV forum. That is where I would suggest you try to make attempts to find out local AT&T U-Verse information because we just cannot answer city specific questions for you here as 99.999% of us don't live there.

Now, to go back to your previous post that I didn't answer you in (sorry about that, I will take the time to now).....

Hi all,
I am a long time Saint Louis (actually St. Charles) Charter customer with all they have to offer. I have the great Moxi DVR that has excellent software and s****y hardware.
I have been contemplating a move to U-verse. I would appreciate any feedback especially in terms of (1) HD picture, (2)The wholehouse availability of programs from the DVR. I have this capability now but for just two TV's. I have heard differing accounts of how many HD programs can be recorded and viewed at the same time. I can right now record two HD and watch one HD and one SD all at the same time. (3) What is the current status in St. Charles?
(4) How does this connect to your other TV's? Is there a box for each TV? How big are they?
Thanks,
Wayne

1) HD picture quality, we can't answer
2) Every single box on the network in the house will be able to play back DVR content and pause, rewind, ffwd, etc. If you are within 3000' of the VRAD, you can record 2 HD and 2 SD streams at one time while watching anything off of the DVR on any number of TV's in the house. I believe you can be recording the 2HD and 2SD streams while watching 1 HD recorded show in the living room and watching another HD recorded show in the master bedroom. I don't think there is a limit to how many previously recorded shows you can watch at any given time, but I am not completely sure as I haven't pushed it that hard. I usually only watch 1 HD while I am taking all the live streams up on the DVR itself.
3) Again, you have to go to the local forum I linked above. We have no way of knowing that here. AuroraProject might, but I wouldn't count on it.
4) You get a different receiver for each independent TV in the house. They are about the size of a Eepc I would say. They are not big at all. Very very tiny compared to cable company garbage. As far as the connection, it can vary. The residential gateway (RG) can be fed via coax from the NID, via phone cord from the NID (using existing phone wiring), or via Cat-5e straight from the NID. You can have everything from the RG to the TV boxes in the house run off of existing coax throughout the house or (my personal favorite) via Cat-5e throughout the house that AT&T will run for you for no additional charge for each box that you are ordering. The no additional charge has been up for debate for quite a while as some people take extreme advantage of that and cancel the service shortly after the install. In some cases, they may charge you for any network jack over 3.

Now, with all that said, I hope that your questions have finally been answered. In all honesty, for the PQ, you have to see it for yourself in your area to decide how good it is. For availability, you have to call AT&T to find out.

Also please note the free install ends 1/31/09 according to all of our paperwork. No word yet on if this will be extended or what the install will cost after the expiration date.

Does anyone have pics to share on their Uverse HD quality?

Chris

Thanks very much, yeah, the local OTA don't care much for off topic queries (Tha's why we split into 2 separate groups, but maybe I should try. Or maybe it's time to start a local U-verse vs Charter! Things are changing so fast it's really hard to keep up.
Again thanks, that answers my main questions and educates me enough that I can ask the right questions when I talk to ATT.

DIRECTV just added Comedy Central HD (ch 249) for those Daily Show, Cobert Report and Southpark fans. No stretch-o-vision so far. But for those of us on U-Verse, we are screwed again. Maybe they will get it eventually, but then again I keep saying that about Cartoon Network HD and that hasn't happened yet. The lack of selection is making me mad.

Does anyone have pics to share on their Uverse HD quality?

Chris
I don't think a picture would do very well to convey quality.

Thanks very much, yeah, the local OTA don't care much for off topic queries (Tha's why we split into 2 separate groups, but maybe I should try. Or maybe it's time to start a local U-verse vs Charter! Things are changing so fast it's really hard to keep up.
Again thanks, that answers my main questions and educates me enough that I can ask the right questions when I talk to ATT.
If they don't want to answer HDTV questions, tell them to pull the sticks out of their asses. There is no reason not to be able to ask questions on there. There really needs to be just an HDTV forum like Little Rock has. Its about HD in general and not a specific carrier.

DIRECTV just added Comedy Central HD (ch 249) for those Daily Show, Cobert Report and Southpark fans. No stretch-o-vision so far. But for those of us on U-Verse, we are screwed again. Maybe they will get it eventually, but then again I keep saying that about Cartoon Network HD and that hasn't happened yet. The lack of selection is making me mad.
How exactly does another provider getting a new channel mean "we are screwed again"?

Because it is yet another HD channel that damn near everyone wants, but will not be getting for quite a while still. THAT is how we are screwed.

EVERY carrier should have agreements in place BEFORE HD versions of channels come online to ensure that their customers get the most value for their dollar. DirecTV has no problems doing this, so other companies should be able to do the same. Instead, companies like Comcrap and AT&T wait until after the channel goes live and people start complaining about not having it to do anything about it. Even complaining about not having a channel in HD when it is available doesn't really do any good.

DirecTV has an installed base of 20 million. When networks want to launch new networks, they actually go to DirecTV to talk about carriage because carriage on DirecTV alone creates a viable television channel. When a new channel goes live on DirecTV, every subscriber on that tier gets it instantly.

While Comcast has more providers, they don't have the bandwidth to roll out new HD channels to everyone (they didn't even roll out their own Comcast-owned networks to everyone), so nobody goes to them. Besides, Comcast's infrastructure requires that technology be installed regionally/locally, which is a slow process for a patchwork of old systems like Comcast has.

Verizon and AT&T do have the capability to launch channels on a nationwide scale, but their installed base is less than three million combined, so it's not surprising no one comes to them. But they probably will in time as the installed base grows. Like DirecTV, they each have an infrastructure capable of launching a new channel on a national scale across all eligible subscribers.

Every provider has its advantages and disadvantages. It's not like DirecTV launches every channel promptly. They just happened to win out in the Comedy Central case.

HD feeds of mostly SD content don't qualify as must haves in my book. This is especially true on Uverse which passes very nice looking SD.

Meh, I'd rather have AMC or the Travel Channel in HD before Comedy Central.

And my understanding is that Daily Show and Colbert Report are not yet in HD.

Meh, I'd rather have AMC or the Travel Channel in HD before Comedy Central.

And my understanding is that Daily Show and Colbert Report are not yet in HD.

Correct. They said they are going to redo the studios in the spring sometime for a summer change to HD.

.....true on Uverse which passes very nice looking SD.
Not sure where you get that from. A vast majority of the SD channels around here don't look very good. Well, except for animation and thats hard to screw up.

Meh, I'd rather have AMC or the Travel Channel in HD before Comedy Central.

And my understanding is that Daily Show and Colbert Report are not yet in HD.
We already have Travel Channel HD.

The new South Park season will be HD.

Steve I understand you get upset one one provider gets an HD channel and we don't get it right then. But saying we're getting screwed is a little melodramatic don't you think? Are the directv people screwed because they don't have WHDVR yet?

The new South Park season will be HD.

Steve I understand you get upset one one provider gets an HD channel and we don't get it right then. But saying we're getting screwed is a little melodramatic don't you think? Are the directv people screwed because they don't have WHDVR yet?
Well, I am just saying that based on the fact that there are several HD channels out that we aren't getting or aren't getting all the time.

For instance, I will site again the lack of Cartoon Network HD. It's been around for a very long time now and they still haven't gotten it. I would have thought that at minimum 6 months would have been long enough, but I guess not. There are a few channels like this, but thats my favorite channel to site because I get to miss Clone Wars in HD every week.

As far as the getting all the time ones, I am referring to the FSN's that are out there. Granted, they don't have HD content on them all the time, but at least DirecTV has something on them 24/7 so its not just a black screen saying off the air like AT&T does. It is my opinion that they should do like DirecTV does and port the content from the SD version of the channel so there is actually some kind of content on them all the time.

Also, how many HD FSN's are you seeing in your list (whether you get them or not)? It is my understanding that they have a lot of them in HD online now, but I still only show the 3 "local" ones (which aren't anywhere close to being local, but dems da rules) for some reason. I don't have any others blocked and I see all other HD channels regardless of whether I subscribe to them or not. I don't understand why I am not seeing them. It makes me question whether or not I will be able to see FSN Midwest HD. That is if I can successfully get them to realize that DirecTV would give it to me as well as FSN Southwest and turn it on for me when/if I purchase "Sports Pak".

Anyway, some DirecTV people have a form of WHDVR now with the H21's and the HR20's that are out there. So, no, those people aren't getting screwed, but the rest of the subscriber base is because its been something that has been talked about for a very long time with no real results for the majority of the install base. Once they get enough stuff worked out for it, then, no, the rest of the subscriber base won't be getting screwed.

Not sure where you get that from. A vast majority of the SD channels around here don't look very good. Well, except for animation and thats hard to screw up.

I think this really depends on what type of display your watching SD. On an SDTV Uverse SD looks great. Watching Uverse SD on an HDTV though, not so good. Although it looks better than Cablevision did (at least in my area anyway).

Watching SD on any HDTV, in my experience/opinion, always looks like crap.

Can someone tell me what a VRAD looks like? I live in a townhome complex and there is a ATT green piece of equipment 10 feet from my house. Can someone post a pic?


How will that effect the quality of service when I get Uverse?

Theres a picture on page 52 I think. Its the size of a couple of fridges.

Another UVerse update: got rid of it :( Actually I kept the phone and internet connection which are very good, but the poor HD quality in my area was just too much. I'm pretty sure I'm at the farther end of the range from the VRAD(?) and that has a lot to do with.

If you do not have HD (or if you happen to get good HD where you are) the actual service is fantastic. I had no drops in those few days and SD reception was without a doubt the best I've ever seen. Whole home DVR was rocking, too.:cool:

My U-verse installation is scheduled in about two weeks from now, and I am looking for some advice from current customers on wiring issues. Specifically, I would like to have some confidence that the installers will indeed offer to put in new Cat5e wiring given the current wiring situation in my house, which is as follows:

- Existing phone wiring is 30 years old, not rated for high-speed data, and wired in "loop" (not home-run) fashion with many outlets and/or wire junctions along the loop.

- Existing CATV wiring needs to stay in place because I will be keeping a separate Comcast cable modem network active for my home office -- it's paid for by my company and needs to stay in place. I also intend to use the in-place CATV wiring to carry OTA signals for TV backup.

I have three HDTV locations and one wireless router/telephone location that will need to be wired for U-verse. This is a two-story house -- most of the cable routing will be simple but one route (to the upstairs rear of house) will be a little complex.

In a situation like this, can I reasonably expect AT&T to offer to install new Cat5e to all needed locations without extra installation fees? My reading of other entries in this forum suggests the answer is "yes", but I would like advice and/or "war stories" from others.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Another UVerse update: got rid of it :( Actually I kept the phone and internet connection which are very good, but the poor HD quality in my area was just too much. I'm pretty sure I'm at the farther end of the range from the VRAD(?) and that has a lot to do with.

You say you just dropped the TV, but kept internet and phone. I assume one would have to go through what you did; ie install all three, then drop TV to get just the phone/internet? I have tried to just get those two, as I am satisfied with my D* TV, but AT&T tells me it's all or nothing. :mad:

I just got uverse last week.

I am still evaluating how I feel about it. I like some things but first negative thing is that you have to make sure and point the remote right at the dvr or it wont work. basically the ir sensor on the box is really weak.

I am in the process now of talking my wife into letting us go back to DirecTV. We like the whole home DVR bit and thats about it really. We both have seen PQ problems. We are just too used to DirecTV and OTA HD, its hard to stomach AT&T (well, for me anyway). I just miss the stuff I used to have like a few HD channels that AT&T is taking a while to get and the stuff I will have to probably fight for with AT&T in the future (namely including FSN Midwest in my Sports Pak). I think in the end I will win, but will have to wait and see.

I just got uverse last week.

I am still evaluating how I feel about it. I like some things but first negative thing is that you have to make sure and point the remote right at the dvr or it wont work. basically the ir sensor on the box is really weak.

My remote works like a charm from just about anywhere. I have a great room and when I'm at the dining room table feeding my son in his hi-chair I can change chanels without a problem, I can even adjust the volume on my receiver which kind of hides behind both a couch and a coffee table.

Maybe the batteries are low in your remote? Mine works better than both my receiver remote and tv remote to control all 3 devices.

My remote works like a charm from just about anywhere. I have a great room and when I'm at the dining room table feeding my son in his hi-chair I can change chanels without a problem, I can even adjust the volume on my receiver which kind of hides behind both a couch and a coffee table.

Maybe the batteries are low in your remote? Mine works better than both my receiver remote and tv remote to control all 3 devices.

Agreed. Mine hits from almost any angle using the standard remote or a universal.

I just got uverse last week.

I am still evaluating how I feel about it. I like some things but first negative thing is that you have to make sure and point the remote right at the dvr or it wont work. basically the ir sensor on the box is really weak.

What kind of tv do you have? Plasmas and a lot of lcd's put out ir which interferes with ir based remotes. I have 2 dlp sets and a regular tube tv, and the U-Verse remotes all work fine no matter where I point them.

What kind of tv do you have? Plasmas and a lot of lcd's put out ir which interferes with ir based remotes. I have 2 dlp sets and a regular tube tv, and the U-Verse remotes all work fine no matter where I point them.

What? If this were the case, wouldn't infrared interference from the display device be a commonly reported problem with over the air reception, cable, satellite, Tivo and Moxie boxes, etc.?:rolleyes: It seems odd that this would be a problem that only strikes those same AT&T set top boxes that also have trouble transmitting audio over HDMI and cannot support external hard drive expanders.

What kind of tv do you have? Plasmas and a lot of lcd's put out ir which interferes with ir based remotes. I have 2 dlp sets and a regular tube tv, and the U-Verse remotes all work fine no matter where I point them.
Thats just silly. Like JimboG said, if this were a true problem, it would affect more people than just the people here. Plus, it would be a wide enough issue that we wouldn't use IR anymore for remote controls. Sorry, Aurora, but that sounds like something AT&T might have told you to tell stupid customers who call and complain. :) No offense, buddy.

Read through a couple of Samsung or Phillips lcd threads here, or google lcd ir interference, it's a common problem. Nothing to do with at&t.

I know this is quite old. Has this happened for most people. I have had mine since Nov. Picture quality seems a tad bit better than when I first had it.

AT&T will increase HD compression on U-verse (http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/09/22/atandt-will-increase-hd-compression-on-u-verse/)

AT&T CTO Banks On Better HD Compression
Telco Sees Improved MPEG-4 Compression Letting It Boost HDTV Capacity
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 9/18/2008 9:44:00 AM MT

New York—AT&T chief technology officer John Donovan stayed the course on the telco’s video-over-copper strategy, telling attendees at an investment conference here that more efficient MPEG-4 compression will allow it to boost the number of high-definition channels it can pipe into customers’ homes.

Donovan, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference Thursday, said improvements in video-encoding equipment will allow AT&T to deliver three live HD streams in 2009.

The telco’s U-verse TV service currently delivers MPEG-4 video in the range of 6 to 8 Megabits per second. In the first quarter of next year, Donovan said, AT&T expects to squeeze that down to 5 Mbps and added: “In the labs we’re looking at technologies that take the compression further.”

Last week AT&T launched Total Home DVR, initially in San Francisco, which lets U-verse TV deliver five simultaneous HD streams: two live and three from the DVR.

Next year, with the compression enhancements, Donovan expects that to move to seven total: three live and four recorded. Cable operators use the less-efficient MPEG-2 standard to deliver video.

AT&T’s decision to launch Internet protocol TV—which predated Donovan’s arrival in April—was “aggressive, he said, and it was based on a series of underlying technology bets. For example, when the IPTV strategy was announced in 2004, there weren’t MPEG-4 hardware encoders on the market and the VDSL (very high bitrate DSL) standard wasn’t complete yet.

Donovan defended the video-over-DSL strategy, which AT&T executives have contrasted with the more expensive path picked by Verizon Communications’ fiber-to-the-premises FiOS buildout. AT&T delivers U-verse TV over 25-Mbps VDSL connections.

“If you’re late [to market] and wrong, customers punish you,” he said. “If you’re early, you’re punished in a different way” by not attaining a return on investment.

Later, commenting about expanding the number of viewable HD streams, Donovan said, “To try to win an arms race about something customers don’t care about—I’m sure it’s not economical to do that… We feel pretty good about the flexibility we have with the IP network.”

He added that AT&T “feels comfortable” with its guidance on capital spending and said it’s focused in three areas: wireless, video and IP. “The explosive growth in mobility and video really drives us toward more IP techniques, not only for efficiencies but for integration,” he said.

Speaking about the dramatic growth of Internet traffic, Donovan noted that video now exceeds 40% of AT&T’s total IP backbone traffic whereas three years ago it was negligible.

“If you download one HD video movie, it’s the equivalent of 35,000 rich-content web pages, or 2,000 songs,” Donovan said. “So it’s very, very dramatic.”

AT&T operates a 30-Gigabit-per-second IP backbone today, which handles 15 petabytes of traffic daily, Donovan said. He added that AT&T has tested out 100-Gbps networking equipment in trials in 2006.

The growth in broadband data is driving the telco’s content-distribution network services, which replicate Internet content. AT&T will invest $70 million this year tripling CDN storage and server capacity, according to Donovan.

The CDN is “the foundation of trying to keep busy-hour video off our network,” he said. “Now we’ve got to get out there and get the customer-facing side done.”

Donovan oversees the telco’s global technology strategy and development road maps, including network and engineering operations, AT&T Labs and the security and intellectual property organizations. Previously he was executive vice president of product, sales, marketing and operations at VeriSign, a provider of Internet infrastructure services.

I know this is quite old. Has this happened for most people. I have had mine since Nov. Picture quality seems a tad bit better than when I first had it.

AT&T will increase HD compression on U-verse (http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/09/22/atandt-will-increase-hd-compression-on-u-verse/)

I don't know if i like this. I'd rather have less streams with better PQ than more streams with degradation of the PQ. If PQ gets slightly worse than I'm moving to DirecTV. I'm already leaning that way as it is.

I don't know if i like this. I'd rather have less streams with better PQ than more streams with degradation of the PQ. If PQ gets slightly worse than I'm moving to DirecTV. I'm already leaning that way as it is.
Agreed. If per-channel bandwidth drops below 6Mbps, I'm out. 6 is just barely adequate.

I'm glad I didn't make the move from D*. I'd sign up for the Uverse internet/phone pieces, (phone only because I can't get my wife off the idea that a landline is necessary), but not the whole enchilada.

It will be interesting to see if they can maintain PQ. They are right on the edge now and while they may be competitive with carriers other than OTA their picture will still be compared to Blu-ray which is the current HD definition. I find most of these big carrier managers are only interested in volume and $, they will erode things as much as they can to increase the $ if it does not affect their volume.

Hi, all. Still looking for any feedback on my post from a few days ago....

My U-verse installation is scheduled in about two weeks from now, and I am looking for some advice from current customers on wiring issues. Specifically, I would like to have some confidence that the installers will indeed offer to put in new Cat5e wiring given the current wiring situation in my house, which is as follows:

- Existing phone wiring is 30 years old, not rated for high-speed data, and wired in "loop" (not home-run) fashion with many outlets and/or wire junctions along the loop.

- Existing CATV wiring needs to stay in place because I will be keeping a separate Comcast cable modem network active for my home office -- it's paid for by my company and needs to stay in place. I also intend to use the in-place CATV wiring to carry OTA signals for TV backup.

I have three HDTV locations and one wireless router/telephone location that will need to be wired for U-verse. This is a two-story house -- most of the cable routing will be simple but one route (to the upstairs rear of house) will be a little complex.

In a situation like this, can I reasonably expect AT&T to offer to install new Cat5e to all needed locations without extra installation fees? My reading of other entries in this forum suggests the answer is "yes", but I would like advice and/or "war stories" from others.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Hi, all. Still looking for any feedback on my post from a few days ago....

My U-verse installation is scheduled in about two weeks from now, and I am looking for some advice from current customers on wiring issues. Specifically, I would like to have some confidence that the installers will indeed offer to put in new Cat5e wiring given the current wiring situation in my house, which is as follows:

- Existing phone wiring is 30 years old, not rated for high-speed data, and wired in "loop" (not home-run) fashion with many outlets and/or wire junctions along the loop.

- Existing CATV wiring needs to stay in place because I will be keeping a separate Comcast cable modem network active for my home office -- it's paid for by my company and needs to stay in place. I also intend to use the in-place CATV wiring to carry OTA signals for TV backup.

I have three HDTV locations and one wireless router/telephone location that will need to be wired for U-verse. This is a two-story house -- most of the cable routing will be simple but one route (to the upstairs rear of house) will be a little complex.

In a situation like this, can I reasonably expect AT&T to offer to install new Cat5e to all needed locations without extra installation fees? My reading of other entries in this forum suggests the answer is "yes", but I would like advice and/or "war stories" from others.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.
Well, the reason we didn't answer your question yet is that it has already been answered at least 4 other times. Hell, I even asked it way back in like October when I got it.

All you really need to do is read through the posts on here and you will probably find what you are looking for. I understand 56 pages is a lot, but you don't even have to read through half of them. There is this handy little thing at the top of this page that will search through the forums as well. Just look through the simple posts, please. It will save you a lot of trouble.

In fact, if you really want to find out stuff like this, just look here for your answers: http://www.letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=Will+AT%26T+install+Cat-5+cable+during+my+install

steveken, I already read though many pages in this forum and didn't find any really cogent and more importanty recent advice. If anyone is willing to take a little time to post some recent experience/advice with being able to get good rewiring (Cat5e) does as part of an install -- hopefully free given my current wiring -- I would very much appreciate it. BTW, I failed to mention in my question that we will have the Whole House DVR if that makes any difference. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to post some advice.

steveken, I already read though many pages in this forum and didn't find any really cogent and more importanty recent advice.
Nothing has changed from the earlier discussions on the topic. The bottom line is that if you want it done to your specifications, you have to do it yourself or hire someone to wire your house.

Since you cannot use your coax, they will install Cat5. If the runs are simple and you've got sheetrock, they'll put them in the walls. For your complicated run, it may be stapled to the ceiling or baseboard and run inside along the walls. They are not here to rewire your house for free, but if it can reasonably be done in an hour's work or less, they will try for the number of receivers you ordered. If it involves anything substantially more complicated than dropping it in from above or fishing below, then most techs won't do it. It's not their job, and with such heavy install booking, most simply don't have time or tools.

Part of the reason these threads get so long is because people post the same questions, and then repost them when they're ignored, think that they were overlooked. They weren't. If you don't get a response, it's because it's already been answered or because there is no answer.

Something that needs to be understood is a lot of techs wont use cat5, they seem to think that coax is a better way to go. The tech may opt to install a secondary coax system in your home since you are choosing to keep Comcast. Many techs fear cat5 because they aren't any good with it, while coax is simple to work with. If you really want cat5 ask for it, and offer to help with the install, odds are you wont actually do any work but just communicating with the tech goes a long way. Looks like you want 4 runs, we do the first 3 for free, and each additional run comes with a charge. But again, be friendly and he my not charge you anything. Install charges are not strict and are left up to the tech.

Something that needs to be understood is a lot of techs wont use cat5, they seem to think that coax is a better way to go. The tech may opt to install a secondary coax system in your home since you are choosing to keep Comcast. Many techs fear cat5 because they aren't any good with it, while coax is simple to work with. If you really want cat5 ask for it, and offer to help with the install, odds are you wont actually do any work but just communicating with the tech goes a long way. Looks like you want 4 runs, we do the first 3 for free, and each additional run comes with a charge. But again, be friendly and he my not charge you anything. Install charges are not strict and are left up to the tech.
Yeah, a lot of techs might not be good with it, but there are some who are. Hell, my guy said I was his first full Cat-5 install. It went pretty easy.

In regards to the first 3 for free, I have 4 positions in my house for viewing and I didn't pay a dime for the Cat-5 install. The catch? I have a box in my computer room that is 4 feet (the long way around) from the RG. I convinced him that since that was just a wire run from the RG to the box, and not an actual installed outlet, that he could still run another wire for me in my master bedroom where I might occasionally use a box. :)

Semantics, but it worked. :)

I've had UVerse for several months now. I was wondering, I'm looking at the System Information, under Network Info-- Bps says, 3145728, that calculates to 3.2 mbps? How does this speed play a role in HDTV programs. I guess my question is, should it be higher or normal?

Thanks for any replies.

I've had UVerse for several months now. I was wondering, I'm looking at the System Information, under Network Info-- Bps says, 3145728, that calculates to 3.2 mbps? How does this speed play a role in HDTV programs. I guess my question is, should it be higher or normal?

Thanks for any replies.
That is the bandwidth for THAT box I believe. The bandwidth you should be looking at or concerned with is under system resources. There is where you will see it telling you that you have 2 SD/2 HD streams. It should also have right next to that "Max Bandwidth: 25800000". That alone, however, will not tell you anything other than what you are currently provisioned at. The ULTIMATE source to tell you what your speed is would be on your RG itself. The password is a string of numbers on the bottom of your RG for the links below.

Go to this address: http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J42&THISPAGE=A02_POST&NEXTPAGE=J42 and you will see how many times the RG has reset.

On this page: http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J03&THISPAGE=J02&NEXTPAGE=J03 you will see basically the same information as on the first link, but in a little easier to read manner.

That will tell you what you want to know. I would say anything above, say, 28Mbps is good and you will be fine with the 2/2 streams. Thats what I have and haven't had a RG reset (other than a power outage) in over a month.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

I had U-Verse installed a few days ago. Everything went smoothly. I told the tech I wanted to keep my Comcast, so he ran a new cat5 to my tv. He actually said he prefers cat5.

I'm very happy with the internet so far, I'm getting 16.4 Mb down / 1.4 Mb up, and consistent low latency (ping time around 23 ms). I got the highest possible score on testyourvoip.com

The HDTV quality is a bit lower than Comcast, so I may end up keeping the Comcast for TV.

Thanks to all for the recent posts on U-verse wiring and what to expect. I have a better idea now of what may be possible and how to work with the tech to hopefully get what I would like in my particular situation. In response to a couple of the posts:

- I think I actually have three, not four, cable runs to be done as I only am getting three STB's for three HDTV's. The fourth connection is a computer -- that doesn't actually count as a fourth TV connection, does it? (Even if it does, one of the TV's is only a few feet from my computer anyway.)

- wiese, your post was particularly useful as you are in the same situation as me (needing to keep Comcast) and you also also nearby my location (I'm in Sunnyvale).

So, my install is on Feb. 9 and hopefully will go well! Thanks again -- I'll report back on how the install went after it is done.

I have read all 56 pages keep in mine from a blackberry.my landlord is switching to U-Verse in march can someone tell what channels that d** have that U-Verse doesn't.if she switches I'm FORCED to move.cause I'm a FAN of d** for 13yrs and with the switch I lose march and april NBA league pass not to mention MLB season.thanks in advance for the help.

Goto the Television section of the Uverse website and you can find the list of available channels they have and you can compare to what you have now
https://uverse1.att.com/un/launchAMSS.do

if she switches I'm FORCED to move.cause I'm a FAN of d** for 13yrs and with the switch I lose march and april NBA league pass not to mention MLB season.thanks in advance for the help.
Why don't you just get your own "d**" account if you love it that much (I'm assuming you mean DirecTV) and don't want to switch?

Even if you're renting a room in someone else's house, I doubt your landlord would have a huge problem with leaving your dish and outlet connected and you paying your own TV bill.

I rent an apt.and I would get by myself but she having d** take the dish off the side of building.so that's why if I move ahh DIRECTV .
So call DirecTV and have them install one at your apartment. If it's an apartment building, you're permitted by federal law to have a consumer-sized dish mounted at your unit to receive television service, even if your lease denies you that option.

Goto the Television section of the Uverse website and you can find the list of available channels they have and you can compare to what you have now
https://uverse1.att.com/un/launchAMSS.do

There is a much better resource to compare providers:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1058081

I just realize I have the power not except this(u-verse)I'm just going to MOVE u-verse is not better then directv.so I'm not even go to see what channels they cause I'm NEVER going to have u-verse....I'm not a kid where my mom says this is what is and that's it.
Okay, so why are you continuing to post? Either get DirecTV on your own or move. There's nothing any of us can do about it.

I had U-Verse installed on Friday and have had nothing but problems so far.

Yesterday, the service would drop, then start again, probably thirty times. No exaggeration. The problem was that the Service light on the Gateway will sometimes blink, which causes the TV picture to freeze and the internet to go down until the light turns solid. At other times, the Broadband light will turn red, which also causes similar disruptions in service.

I called ATT three times yesterday and they had a tech come out this morning. He said the install tech didn't ground the system properly, that he shouldn't have installed the Gateway on the tile floor in my den and that he didn't setup the wireless network properly for the two desktop computers they connected wirelessly.

About 1/2 hour after he left today, the Service light started blinking and I had the same problem. I don't think it's happened again though. However, I called ATT and told them that if they don't get this fixed today, I'm going to dump the service. I'm also upset because I have people coming over the Super Bowl today.

Would any of you know what may be causing this? Also, the tech told me that they don't connect the desktop computers with Cat 5 for free, but I thought I've read here that this is included in the free installation. Finally, can I see how frequently the system is dropping service? Thanks.

Would any of you know what may be causing this? Also, the tech told me that they don't connect the desktop computers with Cat 5 for free, but I thought I've read here that this is included in the free installation. Finally, can I see how frequently the system is dropping service? Thanks.
There could be any number of causes for the poor connection, but none that you can really control or fix, so AT&T will just have to work it out.

They do not wire your home for free. They will run Cat5e cabling to each U-verse box you ordered, and that's it. If you have computers in rooms with no U-verse, or on walls other than where the U-verse box is installed, you have to wire them yourself. You can add your own wiring runs and install hubs or switches at the U-verse connection if you want to add to what the installer did.

You can check your error logs at your router's web interface by going to http://192.168.1.254/mdc (assuming you have not changed your setup). The password is on the label on the bottom of the gateway.

Anyone here watch Bulls games on WGN America HD (Ch. 1180)? If so, have you noticed that the game constantly goes in and out of focus. I've noticed it only when the main camera is showing the game. I'm not sure if the sideline cameras exhibit the same issue as they are usually used sparingly compared to the main game camera.

I'm assuming that it's the feed so it should be present in all shots. It happens roughly every 3-5 seconds and lasts about a .5 a second. It's annoying as hell. I don't know if this happens on any of 1180's regular programming as I don't watch the channel other than when there is a game.

Also, I know its only on WGN America because I watched the Nets vs. Bulls game a few weeks back and the game was on both 1180 & 1702 (YES HD). YES HD did NOT have this issue.

This has been happening since the first time I watched a Bulls game on 1180 back in Nov 08. I was hoping it would go away (i.e. others would complain and it would get fixed) but it's not happening so I might as well stop waiting and complain myself.

I'll start by complaining to AT&T but I'm really not sure to whom I should be complaining. Any suggestions?!

I don't know if anyone here had a chance (or if anyone cared) to check out the game on Sat. (1/31/09 Bulls @ Suns) and look for the issue but the game did NOT exhibit the phenomenon I described in my earlier post.

I'm now wondering if it's only Bulls home games that have the issue (or if hopefully it's been fixed). Looks like I'll have to wait and see.

Anyone know if this is going to be re-aired? DVR let me down. Not sure what happened.

That is the bandwidth for THAT box I believe. The bandwidth you should be looking at or concerned with is under system resources. There is where you will see it telling you that you have 2 SD/2 HD streams. It should also have right next to that "Max Bandwidth: 25800000". That alone, however, will not tell you anything other than what you are currently provisioned at. The ULTIMATE source to tell you what your speed is would be on your RG itself. The password is a string of numbers on the bottom of your RG for the links below.

Go to this address: http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J42&THISPAGE=A02_POST&NEXTPAGE=J42 and you will see how many times the RG has reset.

On this page: http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=J03&THISPAGE=J02&NEXTPAGE=J03 you will see basically the same information as on the first link, but in a little easier to read manner.

That will tell you what you want to know. I would say anything above, say, 28Mbps is good and you will be fine with the 2/2 streams. Thats what I have and haven't had a RG reset (other than a power outage) in over a month.

Let me know if you have any other questions.


steveken thanks for this.. this is exactly what i'm looking for.:)

Edit: Here's what i got:

Current rate 25216 kbs(d) 2048 kbs(u)
Max rate 37556 kbs(d)

If the above numbers true then it comes out as 24.62500 Mbps. Should I be concerned? You mentioned the RG resetting, and now that you mentioned it... I've had to redo my aspect ratio setting at least once a week. I'm thinking the box itslef somehow resets and updates itself-- is this normal?

Thanks again for all your help.

U-verse service area is rumored to expand within 2 weeks.

off topic fyi press release:

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T California today announced the availability of AT&T U-verse(SM) Voice in parts of the Greater Los Angeles area, bringing consumers a next-generation digital voice service delivered over the company's U-verse Internet Protocol (IP) network.

U-verse Voice brings together your home phone, wireless, broadband and TV services -- all on one bill -- with unique features that provide a new level of integration, convenience and control, including: a single, combined voice mailbox for AT&T U-verse Voice and AT&T wireless messages; an online portal to manage your call preferences and settings from any PC; an online Address Book; Click to Call and Call History on your PC and TV screens; and several other integrated features.

All U-verse Voice customers will have 911 service, and customers can choose from two flexible U-verse Voice calling plans: AT&T U-verse Voice Unlimited for $30 a month and AT&T U-verse Voice 1000 for $25 a month.

For additional information on AT&T U-verse, visit http://uverse.att.com. To view the full announcement, please go to http://www.att.com/uverse_news

There could be any number of causes for the poor connection, but none that you can really control or fix, so AT&T will just have to work it out.

They do not wire your home for free. They will run Cat5e cabling to each U-verse box you ordered, and that's it. If you have computers in rooms with no U-verse, or on walls other than where the U-verse box is installed, you have to wire them yourself. You can add your own wiring runs and install hubs or switches at the U-verse connection if you want to add to what the installer did.

You can check your error logs at your router's web interface by going to http://192.168.1.254/mdc (assuming you have not changed your setup). The password is on the label on the bottom of the gateway.

Thanks. It's under Troubleshooting – Event Log, correct? If it is, I can't tell what's going on since it is pretty technical.

steveken thanks for this.. this is exactly what i'm looking for.:)

Edit: Here's what i got:

Current rate 25216 kbs(d) 2048 kbs(u)
Max rate 37556 kbs(d)

If the above numbers true then it comes out as 24.62500 Mbps. Should I be concerned? You mentioned the RG resetting, and now that you mentioned it... I've had to redo my aspect ratio setting at least once a week. I'm thinking the box itslef somehow resets and updates itself-- is this normal?

Thanks again for all your help.

Why would you be concerned? Read through this thread a bit, the U-Verse profiles are explained in detail. You are on the 25meg profile with a max line of 37556. The max line doesn't mean much unless it's close to 25200, then you can start to run into high cap related problems.

I have read through most of this thread and my local thread (detroit). My question is very simple: would you change from Cable (brighthouse) to Uverse? Specifically for HDTV. I'm not concerned about the money, just quality of the HD signal. I'm really nervous after reading through these threads about the quality of the Uverse HD signal. I have an Uverse install scheduled for Feb 20th but I am seriously considering canceling it. Can anyone give me some advice please. Thanks.

steveken thanks for this.. this is exactly what i'm looking for.:)

Edit: Here's what i got:

Current rate 25216 kbs(d) 2048 kbs(u)
Max rate 37556 kbs(d)

If the above numbers true then it comes out as 24.62500 Mbps. Should I be concerned? You mentioned the RG resetting, and now that you mentioned it... I've had to redo my aspect ratio setting at least once a week. I'm thinking the box itslef somehow resets and updates itself-- is this normal?

Thanks again for all your help.
If you are having to redo your aspect ratio every so often, then I would venture a guess and say that your box is the center of your problem. Even if the RG resets itself 6 times a day, the set top box itself should never have to be reconfigured for the right ratio. Your box is probably crapping out. Call them, tell them exactly what is going on, get a tech over there, tell them exactly what is going on, and get it fixed. Do not leave ANYTHING out no matter how trivial you think it is when you talk to those people.

I have read through most of this thread and my local thread (detroit). My question is very simple: would you change from Cable (brighthouse) to Uverse? Specifically for HDTV. I'm not concerned about the money, just quality of the HD signal. I'm really nervous after reading through these threads about the quality of the Uverse HD signal. I have an Uverse install scheduled for Feb 20th but I am seriously considering canceling it. Can anyone give me some advice please. Thanks.

You're not giving any insight into why you are unhappy with Brightside (poor HD quality, lack of HD channels?) and want to leave them, or what you think you are gaining from going to Uverse?

You're not giving any insight into why you are unhappy with Brightside (poor HD quality, lack of HD channels?) and want to leave them, or what you think you are gaining from going to Uverse?

UVerse offers more HD channels, better Internet service, more advanced options, all at at cheaper price. But none of this matters if the PQ is not as good. I am very happy with BrightHouse HD picture quality. They just do not have many HD channels compared to Uverse.

UVerse offers more HD channels, better Internet service, more advanced options, all at at cheaper price. But none of this matters if the PQ is not as good. I am very happy with BrightHouse HD picture quality. They just do not have many HD channels compared to Uverse.
I can't speak for Brighthouse, but I think the picture is better than I was getting with Time Warner in North Carolina. U-verse has been great for me.

Hi, I've been reading through this thread a bit, and was wondering if anyone could offer some advice. I just had U-Verse install on Tuesday (Feb 3rd), and as you can see I was put on the 19200kbs profile. The install techs said my line capacity was to high for the 25mbs profile. But based on what I have read here it seems like perhaps I could go up to that profile? Only having 1HD stream is kind of annoying, especially since I can't even record in HD and watch at the same time.
I have put some info from my RG below, does this indicate that I could switch, would it be worth my while to call and try and get them to do that? Thanks for any advice, and if more info is needed I could provide it.

Broadband Link – Statistics
IP Statistics

DSL Down Up
Current Rate: 19200 kbs 1920 kbs
Max Rate: 31456 kbs Not Available

Current Connection:
Current Noise Margin: 18.5 dB Not Available
Current Attenuation: 28.3 dB Not Available
Current Output Power: 12.3 dBm 4.7 dBm

IP Bytes Packets Errors %
Transmit: 141013824 133225 0 0
Receive: 2631103674 2404167 0 0

I can't speak for Brighthouse, but I think the picture is better than I was getting with Time Warner in North Carolina. U-verse has been great for me.

That's good to know. You are talking about the HD PQ correct? I know the SD PQ is much better than cable. Thanks.

Sorn1808
DSL Down Up
Current Rate: 19200 kbs 1920 kbs
Max Rate: 31456 kbs Not AvailableYour max rate is higher than mine and I am on the normal profile. Just pm AuroraProject about bumping you up and he can help you out.

Thanks, I'll do that.

Sorry if this question has been answered before, but I was wondering if you subscribe to the sports package with u-verse, are NBA games blacked out or available FSN channels?

I live in Cleveland, so I am wondering if I am watching FSN Detroit, could I catch a Pistons game or will that be blacked out?

Thanks

Sorry if this question has been answered before, but I was wondering if you subscribe to the sports package with u-verse, are NBA games blacked out or available FSN channels?

I live in Cleveland, so I am wondering if I am watching FSN Detroit, could I catch a Pistons game or will that be blacked out?

Thanks
If you get FSN Detroit as your home market FSN, you might be able to see it. I believe you are in the FSN Ohio area, however, so, no, you won't be able to watch it. That's why they sell NBA League Pass. They always black it out. They want you to pay out the ass.

If you get FSN Detroit as your home market FSN, you might be able to see it. I believe you are in the FSN Ohio area, however, so, no, you won't be able to watch it. That's why they sell NBA League Pass. They always black it out. They want you to pay out the ass.

Yeah I figured as much. But U-Verse doesn't offer league pass (or NBA TV for that matter), correct?

I was just curious what the benefit of buying the sports package is if you, you know, can't watch sports. LOL

I was just curious what the benefit of buying the sports package is if you, you know, can't watch sports. LOL
No one has been able to figure that one out yet. I asked the same thing. With DirecTV, not only do I get my "home market" of FSN Southwest with the Sports Pack, but I also get FSN Midwest because I am in between both markets. I have yet to figure out if U-Verse will do the same, but I am highly doubtful they will without arguing and bitching.

I have Uverse DSL Elite package for $35/month and get 6mbps down and 1 mbps up. I switched from Time Warner's Road Runner Standard package for $47/month and got 7mbps down and 512kbps down because of the price.

Well, Time Warner and my employeer have partnered up now to offer me Road Runner Business Class at home for $38/month and has 8mbps down with 1.5mbps up. For $10 more I could get 15mbps down with 2mbps up (not important at this moment though).

When I had Road Runner before I wan't displeased with the service, just the price. I have had Uverse DSL now for about 3 months and think it's ok. Not nearly as fast but, was saving money every month. My questions are this:

1. Is it likely that at&t will compete for my business by giving me the Max package 10mbps down with 1.5mbps up for $35/month that I am paying now to keep me as a customer?

2. Should I jump on this deal from Time Warner? There are no commitments, equipment to buy, and this is not a promotional rate. My price decreases as more people sign up. I also get 5gb of online storage.

3. Why the hell is at&t customer service closed at 6:00 pm on a weeknight? How is this good service? Anyone who works during the day is sol dealing with at&t or what? This is almost enought to not even bother with at&t any more.

Any help is greatly appriciated. I'd like to move on a solution by weekend.

It's $3/month, or $0.10/day. Is it really that big of a decision? Either way? :confused:

Yeah I figured as much. But U-Verse doesn't offer league pass (or NBA TV for that matter), correct?

I was just curious what the benefit of buying the sports package is if you, you know, can't watch sports. LOL

Well they do block NBA, MLB, and NHL games, but that's it. So you still get college games (hmmm, I believe at least?) and then basically all of the other BS programming various FSN's have on. Soooo....I guess not that great. ;)

It's $3/month, or $0.10/day. Is it really that big of a decision? Either way? :confused:

It's not the cost that I'm concerned with. It's speed consistency and level of service. ;)

It's not the cost that I'm concerned with. It's speed consistency and level of service. ;)
So what exactly is it you need to know? You've had both U-verse and cable, so you're already in a position to know what the speed and service attributes are for both services in your area better than anyone here. Geography matters.

The difference between 6Mbps and 8Mbps is not really that significant. DSL is slower but provisioned, cable is faster but as-available. Both are fast enough to stream video and download speeds will differ by a few seconds for most files. The price difference is not significant. Frankly, the service from both companies is equally mediocre.

The only thing that changes is that you're going to have to plug in a cable modem and a router (more power, more cables, more occupied outlets) in addition to your U-verse box and you're going to have one more bill to pay. You'd also be missing out on any bundle discounts now or in the future, and there's always the hassle of having to clear your schedule for the install. I don't really see the point in bothering to switch.

It's not the cost that I'm concerned with. It's speed consistency and level of service. ;) You have a funny way of writing, then, as the cost seems to be what you mention over and over.

Alright, thanks all for the input.

AT&T finally got the service working properly, and I like it so far. However, I've been noticing a lot lately that the voices are not matching the lip movements of the actors/news anchors. It is slightly off, which is annoying, and it's happening on nearly every channel.

Is this due to AT&T, or something beyond their control?

Ok, so, what is the deal with the AT&T 2Wire router? Specifically, I am trying to get my web server on my iMac to go out to the Net. I enabled the "web server" setting for the right IP address in the router, but nothing gets out. Tried two different IP's on the same machine (one wired, one wireless) and with the same server enabled on my Mini all with the same results.

Anyone else run into this problem?? The only way it works is if I put the machine in the DMZ.

Ok, so, what is the deal with the AT&T 2Wire router?
It sucks, especially its firewall.
I enabled the "web server" setting for the right IP address in the router, but nothing gets out.
It's not properly forwarding port 80 to your iMac, then, or you haven't opened the ports on your Mac's firewall in System Preferences. To test that, try to access the internal IP (192.x.x.x) of the server from another computer on the network. If that works, your computer firewall is okay.

Then, try changing your iMac's web server port to something different (e.g. 8080), and then add a user rule on the 2wire that takes TCP 80 mapped to host port 8080.

If that does not work, then you'll just have to put your web server in DMZ mode and use your computer's firewall.

:mad: I just got a 67" Sammy and I have COX cable and HATE IT!!! The HD is looks blocky. U-Verse is available in my development. The utility pole is in my back yard. 2 houses to my east can get U-Verse: My neighbor to my west can't, but the 2 houses to his west can. The person directly behind me can get U-Verse: The 2 houses to their east and the 3 houses to their west can get it, but I can't??? That sucks:( I'm gonna call AT&T every day and I'm gonna check availability 10 times a day and put in my info for them to contact me until I can get it.


End of rant

It sucks, especially its firewall.

It's not properly forwarding port 80 to your iMac, then, or you haven't opened the ports on your Mac's firewall in System Preferences. To test that, try to access the internal IP (192.x.x.x) of the server from another computer on the network. If that works, your computer firewall is okay.

Then, try changing your iMac's web server port to something different (e.g. 8080), and then add a user rule on the 2wire that takes TCP 80 mapped to host port 8080.

If that does not work, then you'll just have to put your web server in DMZ mode and use your computer's firewall.
The firewall is shut off.

Can get to it from the Mini just fine.

I am not real familiar with how to change the server port in 10.5.6, can you walk me through it? Not real sure about the second part of that sentence. I already tried putting in a user defined rule telling 80 to go to my IP.

The firewall is shut off.
Do not leave your firewall off when your computer is in the DMZ. Ever.
I am not real familiar with how to change the server port in 10.5.6, can you walk me through it?
The file you need to edit is /private/etc/httpd/httpd.conf (it's not visible from the Finder, so it's easiest to use pico). If you're not familiar with Apache and the Mac Terminal, there's a step-by-step tutorial here:

http://homepage.mac.com/car1son/change_apache_port.html

The above isn't the easiest way to do it, but it is the most user-friendly way for novices.

Creating the user rule for port 80 isn't any different from selecting "Web server" from the application list, so if one doesn't work, neither will the other. You have to make sure that only one computer is set to host on port 80--if you've got too many computers configured to do it, or you've added user rules, you need to clear it all out, because that alone could be your problem. By changing the port on your webserver, you're avoiding these conflicts. If you're using DynDNS, all you have to do is set your domain to your AT&T IP with the modified port (e.g. 123.456.789.0:8080), and then you can use and give out your regular http://yourname.host.com without needing any special instructions.

A quick update on today's (attempted) U-verse install at our place in Sunnyvale, CA, with some interesting news items.....

The good news – the installer did show up roughly on-time and we went through the house wiring issues (which I had asked about on an earlier forum page -- thanks again for everyone's advice). Looks like he will do the install with all new Cat5 and without using any of my existing CATV cabling, which is as desired in my particular situation. Also, the guy confirmed that we should get good U-verse speeds because we will be wired to a VRAD only 700 feet away.

The bad news – despite the fact that I clearly requested U-verse to be installed on my home business line, AT&T “conditioned” our second home phone line for it instead. As you might guess, the U-verse installer isn’t allowed to do that work; AT&T’s “outside plant” guys have to do it and they are stacked up with work orders for at least 2 days. So.....it'll be a few days before the U-verse install starts in earnest. The installer said he runs into this issue fairly frequently with so many people now having home offices, and has complained about the recurring problem but to no avail.

A couple interesting pieces of info mentioned by the U-verse install tech:

- AT&T is currently not approving overtime for techs in our area, so no more working into the evening to get the jobs done if needed.

- One of the reasons the tech said he decided to use new Cat5 instead of trying to use my home CATV cable is that they are "no longer allowed to use CATV to twisted pair converters". Not sure what the reason is, but since it is to my benefit in our particular install I'm not complaining. :-)

More later after the install is actually completed.

I don't get why people request U-Verse come on on a certain line over another, it has ZERO effect on the existing phone line, and you can cancel the phone line at anytime and still keep the U-Verse service.
The overtime line was bs, there is plenty of overtime available, I make more in ot than I do in normal pay. Coax to twisted pair is for installs only utilizing the existing twisted pair phone wiring, which is very rarely done.

AuroraProject, I requested it that way for several reasons: (1) Part of the service is being paid for by my company and that is a line they installed for a home office. (2) The other line needs to remain analog due to a centrally monitored alarm system. My alarm company strongly recommends against putting a monitored alarm on a digital/VOIP line -- their policy. On top of those reasons, what I don't appreciate is that everything I did in the online sign-up process was done with one phone number/line -- the other main line phone number was never even asked for and I didn't enter it anywhere in the sign-up screens. But somehow in AT&T's infinite wisdom, they selected and conditioned the other line anyway. The tech was just as frustrated as me. Hopefully they will correct the issue quickly -- it can't be that complex as is supposedly only involves something that is done inside the local wiring junction pedestal next to the VRAD.

Did you order voip? The U-Verse service can exist along side a standard pots line (pots means plain old telephone service). There is no need to convert a line to voip for the U-Verse install. I understand the company provided part though. Plant conditioning was done awhile ago, and I can't find any good pattern for how it was done. 90% of the time the houses primary line receives the conditioning, but in other cases it can be a secondary line or an unused pair, for whatever reason.

Aurora, I'm a good (though still potential until they actually install!) customer and ordered the full-on 30/30/30 U-verse bundle. :cool: VOIP voice line and DSL will be used for home office, TV for family. Sorry if that wasn't clear in my original post.

It's funny that they conditioned the primary line because I actually originally ordered the second line many years ago with DSL, which at the time ended up as an unsuccessful install due to my distance at that time from the CO. Fortunately I now have a VRAD 700 feet away. :)

P.S. I worked in telco and CATV early in my career (hence my "Ex-EE" monikor) , so I do know what POTS and many other arcane telco terms mean -- like "tip and ring". ;)

Just so you know, if you are talking about ADT as your alarm carrier (or a vast majority of other alarm companies), it really doesn't matter if you are on VoIP or whatever with their service. If the alarm goes off, it dials the number, and then proceeds to send DTMF tones across to the connected system. That is unless they have somehow changed all the stuff to work with an actual modem type connection or digital system. I would think that they wouldn't because all it really needs to do is interpret keypresses to convey the necessary information to the monitoring facility.

There is no real reason why you can't use a VoIP line to do it. I had ADT hooked up through Vonage before (they didn't know I was on VoIP) and it worked just fine. :) Never had an instance where it didn't do right. I would say that all you have to do is tell the alarm company that you are on a regular landline and you will be fine regardless of what you are really hooked up with.

steveken, thanks for the info. I'm aware of the way alarm system dialers work using DTMF, however there are actually other factors in addition to just requiring a line that will allow DTMF to be sent. Most alarm systems also want a line that can be "seized" by the alarm system on a priority basis regardless of whether other phones on the inside wiring are off-hook. This can be challenging to do with a VOIP line. In any case, my alarm company will currently not support a line that is dialing over VOIP. Their policy may be arcane, but that's the way it is currently and I'm not going to risk them blaming a non-responded alarm on my phone line. ;)

I have read through most of this thread and my local thread (detroit). My question is very simple: would you change from Cable (brighthouse) to Uverse? Specifically for HDTV. I'm not concerned about the money, just quality of the HD signal. I'm really nervous after reading through these threads about the quality of the Uverse HD signal. I have an Uverse install scheduled for Feb 20th but I am seriously considering canceling it. Can anyone give me some advice please. Thanks.

I just switched from Comcast to U-verse this past week. I can't speak for Brighthouse either, but the picture quality for HD is not quite as good as it was with Comcast in my opinion. The SD quality seems to be better to me. The features and price are what sold me though. I have 1 more TV with a box, 4 tuners (instead of 2), whole home DVR, less clutter with the Residential Gateway running pretty much everything, it's cheaper than Comcast was, and I couldn't be happier. I'll take a nominal decrease in HD picture quality for all of the other benefits any day. That's just my 2 cents.

I just switched from Comcast to U-verse this past week. I can't speak for Brighthouse either, but the picture quality for HD is not quite as good as it was with Comcast in my opinion. The SD quality seems to be better to me. The features and price are what sold me though. I have 1 more TV with a box, 4 tuners (instead of 2), whole home DVR, less clutter with the Residential Gateway running pretty much everything, it's cheaper than Comcast was, and I couldn't be happier. I'll take a nominal decrease in HD picture quality for all of the other benefits any day. That's just my 2 cents.

Awesome. Thanks for your input.

steveken, thanks for the info. I'm aware of the way alarm system dialers work using DTMF, however there are actually other factors in addition to just requiring a line that will allow DTMF to be sent. Most alarm systems also want a line that can be "seized" by the alarm system on a priority basis regardless of whether other phones on the inside wiring are off-hook. This can be challenging to do with a VOIP line. In any case, my alarm company will currently not support a line that is dialing over VOIP. Their policy may be arcane, but that's the way it is currently and I'm not going to risk them blaming a non-responded alarm on my phone line. ;)
Yeah, they are "supposed" to be able to be seized regardless of other phones being off the hook around the house, but that doesn't always happen.

In the case of my alarm system when it was installed, the tech didn't run a line out to the NID for the panel. Instead, he just spliced it into the nearest phone jack and took it from there. With that in place, there is NO way for the line to be seized if the alarm goes off and a phone is off the hook.

In fact, when I worked for a short time doing alarm installs in houses (was way too nervous drilling holes in peoples houses, plus I didn't like working under houses or in attics), we never ran a line to the NID, just used the closest jack. So, IF your system is installed properly, then I can understand how the company doesn't want it to be done over VoIP, but with how most are installed, I don't think it makes a bit of difference.

Anyway, I understand what you are saying and agree. :)

Understand, steveken....my alarm system is definitely wired "properly" to the NID to that it can seize the line, not just to the nearest jack. Our alarm installers really did a exceptional job of wiring our system a few years ago, which I know is uncommon these days.

By way of further update on my U-verse install -- The AT&T outside plant guy is here now testing lines. He claims that if we want U-verse we will *have* to install it on our other (main) voice number. He says that AT&T already invested a couple years ago in conditioning that line by ensuring it is on a clean pair with no bridge taps between my house and the VRAD, and they are unwilling to repeat the process for the other line on which I ordered U-verse. He says it is standard policy that when someone has multiple lines running to their house, AT&T only conditions one.

I will probably see what I can reconfigure and go ahead with the U-verse install anyway. Would sure be nice if AT&T's ordering system picked up this issue when one signs up to avoid surprises like this.

Hey all,

I was watching my U-verse TV on Sunday and a Severe Thunderstorm Watch and Severe Thunderstorm Warning had popped up on my tv from the National Weather Service. Does anyone know anything about this service or what other weather warning products come through the U-verse TV?

Understand, steveken....my alarm system is definitely wired "properly" to the NID to that it can seize the line, not just to the nearest jack. Our alarm installers really did a exceptional job of wiring our system a few years ago, which I know is uncommon these days.

By way of further update on my U-verse install -- The AT&T outside plant guy is here now testing lines. He claims that if we want U-verse we will *have* to install it on our other (main) voice number. He says that AT&T already invested a couple years ago in conditioning that line by ensuring it is on a clean pair with no bridge taps between my house and the VRAD, and they are unwilling to repeat the process for the other line on which I ordered U-verse. He says it is standard policy that when someone has multiple lines running to their house, AT&T only conditions one.

I will probably see what I can reconfigure and go ahead with the U-verse install anyway. Would sure be nice if AT&T's ordering system picked up this issue when one signs up to avoid surprises like this.
I think I'd tell em where to stick it. If they can't do it the way you want it done, then you can go to one of the other providers in your area. It's quite evident that "the customer is always right" is no where near accurate these days.

Most of these companies realize they have enough people out there that they don't have to do right by the customer. They could care less if you go somewhere else.

Some good news :) After calling every day for a couple days I finally got someone who went the extra step and sent a trouble ticket to engineering... and bam I'm gettin U-Verse on Sunday March 8th. Since Sunday is my only day I can get it installed, I have to wait almost a month, but there's only 28 days in February. I can't wait to get rid of COX. I need to find a VP or something and email them and praise the work Lisa did:D

Aargh...earliest mutually agreeable rescheduled install that AT&T can offer for our situation is now Monday, February 23. Time to move all the furniture and other stuff back into place. :mad: The install tech who was here yesterday implied it would be much sooner, but of course they don't set their own schedules. I hope that at least the same install tech is assigned so I don't have to go over all the wiring routing with a new person again. :eek:

Ok. I have been reading diligently, but I have one question. I have read in this forum that a set top box is required at every tv. This contradicts the Uverse literature that I've read that says only that a set top box is required to receive the full house dvr functionality.

I have 5 tvs in the house currently. 3 are on a Time Warner set top box (terrible!!!) and the other two are just plugged directly into the cable (don't care about premium channels or even hd on those tvs). I want to replicate that with the new Uverse setup. If I can't, the extra $14 bucks a month to put boxes on the other tvs eats the majority of the savings I'll get by switching.

Can I get channels directly at the tvs or do I absolutely need a box to receive anything?

Thanks!

https://ask.att.com/esh/uverse/request.do?session={13667b70-f86d-11dd-f0b4-000000000000}&event=3&view(52b0)=c{368d52b0-a1ef-11dd-f94c-000000000000}
Question:

How does U-verse TV connect to my house?

Answer: Answer last updated: 01-22-09

AT&T U-verse is Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and works by plugging your high speed Internet connection into a set-top box that's connected to your television. Once the connection is made, the set-top box assembles the code from your phone line into video and audio. AT&T U-verse broadcasts in both standard definition and high definition. Each TV in the home must be hooked up to a set-top box in order to receive the signal.

Ok. I have been reading diligently, but I have one question. I have read in this forum that a set top box is required at every tv. This contradicts the Uverse literature that I've read that says only that a set top box is required to receive the full house dvr functionality.

I have 5 tvs in the house currently. 3 are on a Time Warner set top box (terrible!!!) and the other two are just plugged directly into the cable (don't care about premium channels or even hd on those tvs). I want to replicate that with the new Uverse setup. If I can't, the extra $14 bucks a month to put boxes on the other tvs eats the majority of the savings I'll get by switching.

Can I get channels directly at the tvs or do I absolutely need a box to receive anything?

Thanks!

Each tv must have it's own set top box.

Aurora, do you know anything about the rollout that was supposed to have occured back in December here up the road from you in Martinez? I see the cables have been strung but no ads promoting it yet.

Ok. I have been reading diligently, but I have one question. I have read in this forum that a set top box is required at every tv. This contradicts the Uverse literature that I've read that says only that a set top box is required to receive the full house dvr functionality.

I have 5 tvs in the house currently. 3 are on a Time Warner set top box (terrible!!!) and the other two are just plugged directly into the cable (don't care about premium channels or even hd on those tvs). I want to replicate that with the new Uverse setup. If I can't, the extra $14 bucks a month to put boxes on the other tvs eats the majority of the savings I'll get by switching.

Can I get channels directly at the tvs or do I absolutely need a box to receive anything?

Thanks!

Absolutely need a box at each. But you only need one DVR box for all.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

THOUSAND OAKS — AT&T is expanding its U-verse television service into Thousand Oaks, the company announced Monday.

Simi Valley and Moorpark residents already had access to the service, which provides television using Internet Protocol, allowing functions such as being able to pause a show in one room and start it again in another, more than 85 high-definition channels and personalized, on-screen weather, sports, traffic and stock information.

AT&T recently announced its U-verse customers can add voice services to their plan for their home telephone service. Customers can bundle television, high-speed Internet and voice.

Besides Thousand Oaks, the company is extending its area coverage into Culver City and San Bernardino.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/feb/10/na14fcrail_web10/?printer=1/

Question: Where the hell does AT&T get their guide data??????

I ask because more often than not their damn guide data is really screwed up. For instance, on The Office, they list the British cast instead of the United States cast. When Stargate: Atlantis was on they listed cast members that hadn't been on the show in years. None of the other services I have ever used has ever had this kind of problems with guide data. AT&T is getting their data from the least accurate source in the country it looks like. This is one thing I am getting very tired of.

For instance, on The Office, they list the British cast instead of the United States cast.

The British version of the Office makes the US version look like child's play....

Hey guys, we're starting to get U-verse in my area. Anyone here who switched from TWC to U-verse and if so, what were the advantages/disadvantages? Thanks!

The British version of the Office makes the US version look like child's play.... :D I was just gonna say - maybe it's wishful thinking on the part of some programmer - that he had that to show instead of this. :D

We're switching to Uverse after many years with DirecTV. I've loved the guide on DirecTV but noticed that my DVR has issues with recording the Daily Show and Colbert because of the data submitted by Comedy Central. Instead of just recording first run shows, it records all of them.

We're switching to Uverse after many years with DirecTV. I've loved the guide on DirecTV but noticed that my DVR has issues with recording the Daily Show and Colbert because of the data submitted by Comedy Central. Instead of just recording first run shows, it records all of them.
If it didn't do that with D*, then it's not the data submitted by Comedy Central. It's the guide provider U-Verse uses.

No, this is not a Uverse issue, it's a "D*" issue. We haven't switched yet.

No, this is not a Uverse issue, it's a "D*" issue. We haven't switched yet.
In that case, it may very well be a D* issue, not a Comedy Central issue. The data on the new D* receivers is, to put it midly, lacking...

I get a lot more "no information available" messages in the program descriptions than I do with my older UTV DVR. I also see many fewer programs listing the original air or production date, which makes filtering recordings by year pretty much useless.

I'm not sure who the guide provider is for U-Verse, though. Unless it's the same, it can only be better.

We're switching to Uverse after many years with DirecTV. I've loved the guide on DirecTV but noticed that my DVR has issues with recording the Daily Show and Colbert because of the data submitted by Comedy Central. Instead of just recording first run shows, it records all of them.
Very few things in the Program Guide have the right labeling as re-run or new. That is another major complaint about the guide data. All the time getting re-runs that just aren't labeled as such. Major pain!

And I don't think Rachel Dratch is one of the main players on 30 rock despite her billing on the guide.

Well I called to cancel the TV service and sent back the receiver on 2/5. It's suppose to be delivered today.

It's been almost a month since the install. It still doesn't have my bill online though.

Well I called to cancel the TV service and sent back the receiver on 2/5. It's suppose to be delivered today.

It's been almost a month since the install. It still doesn't have my bill online though.

When I had Uverse installed it took a very long time too for my first bill to appear online. It then took another week to get an email from at&t telling it was available online.

Trust me... You will get billed. at&t doesn't give free service to anyone.

Hi. all, I am new to this thread, i just switched from dishnetwork to uverse on 2-13-09. I thought i would give my thoughts. Here is what i had with dish: 1 hd. dvr vip receiver with 2 tuners,1 211 hd recvr. 1 511 older dvr recvr. Bill was roughly around 135$
Now with U-verse i have 5 recvrs. the whole house dvr and 4 others. I have the phone and internet for $170 amonth Give or takea few bones there is a special promo code 303030 that takes 20$ a month off your bill for a year.
My impressions: I think the hd is about the same,dish maybe a little better. The sd on u-verse looks better to me. I like the look of the guide on u-verse but the dvr does not compare to Dish networks..Here are my issues, My wife absolutely hates u-verse(I am hoping she will give it some time).She wants her dish back.We can't watch 2 hd streams at the same time!!!!!!!!!!! This is unacceptable as we have 3 hd tv's. I swear i read that we could watch 2 hd streams at the same time. all 5 tvs cant even watch tv at the same time because i have 1HD stream and 3SD streams. so much for the DVR being able to record 4 streams at once 2HD & 2SD.So I think I will be going back to dish network in about a month. I really like my new internet speed of 6mb's a second compared to my 1.3 mb DSL. And I like saving about 40$ bucks a month..I just don't think this service is ready for primetime, at least not in my area, which is Monroe, Mi.Just south of Detroit and North of toledo,Oh. Is there any way to get more HD streams from them???????????Any advice to make this service better?????

My current rate is 19200 down,2048 up, max down 58528 kbs. if that matters. I do love that the channel changes instantly when you change channels. on dish there would be a 3 to 4 second delay....

My current rate is 19200 down,2048 up, max down 58528 kbs. if that matters. I do love that the channel changes instantly when you change channels. on dish there would be a 3 to 4 second delay....
With that kinda max down speed, there is absolutely NO reason why you shouldn't have 2 HD and 2 SD streams!!! Someone screwed up somewhere. AuroraProject, can you PM this guy and help him out, please? He is getting screwed.

Here are my issues, My wife absolutely hates u-verse(I am hoping she will give it some time).She wants her dish back.We can't watch 2 hd streams at the same time!!!!!!!!!!! This is unacceptable as we have 3 hd tv's. I swear i read that we could watch 2 hd streams at the same time. all 5 tvs cant even watch tv at the same time because i have 1HD stream and 3SD streams. so much for the DVR being able to record 4 streams at once 2HD & 2SD.

I had to call ATT to get them to activate the recording of 2hd and 2sd channels at the same time. For some reason they didn't do this automatically. It may be worth calling them and asking them to do this if you haven't already.

well, i just spoke to u-verse tech support and they are awful. He said that my order shows i should have gotten 2 hd and 2 sd but that the allocated streams were not available. I told him i would give them a week and then i would cancel.Not a great experience so far. He also said something about an update might be coming to allow me what i should have. It sounded like BS. to me

Also, i dont know if this matters or not but he ran everything through my existing dish network cable instead of using ethernet, i asked him and he said there was no difference in quality.