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Directv vs AT&T Uverse quality wise? - Page 8

post #211 of 348
2/6/13 at 3:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregzoll View Post

Actually Steve S, it was announced through industry sources, that the feed CBS was sending out, was a very low bit-rate feed, and was low quality on all Pay to watch tv providers, along with OTA. Had nothing to do with what Pay to watch provider is better, CBS, dropped the ball.

45Mbps of MPEG-2 4:2:2 is very high, the MPEG-4 feed was at 27 Mbps. CBS as been known to have higher MPEG-2 4:2:2 feeds in the past but the quality loss was not on the main feed and or the one to the local stations.
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post #212 of 348
2/9/13 at 4:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisjmccord View Post

Oh story of the day here, I TRIED to give AT&T a chance today, called them and told them we were considering a switch to DirecTV because they offered a 5 tuner option DVR that held 1TB but might consider a stay if we could upgrade some equipment.

They (AT&T) have a newer DVR than our VIP1225 its a VIP2250, I guess the real difference is the 250GB vs. 500GB drives in them, not sure what else? Anyway that is laughable considering DirecTV offers the HR-34/44 monsters and can add to that with external drives. Its quite laughable they won't accomodate a customer wanting to go from 250 to 500 for whatever reason, the CSR just kept saying he didn't have a way to upgrade us. Ok well whatever, so I guess losing a customer over it is worth that? Sure I understand they all have protocol, and maybe no true way of getting it to us but I guess my final battle will be when I call to cancel the service and by that time it will be too late for them.

I also wanted to see if they had a residential gateway (router/modem) that had wireless-n built into it, but nope, nothing. I had the newest gateway for my service, so...my other option of going to Cox with their 55 Mbps DOCSIS 3 cable modem and adding my own wireless n router is what I'll do to get the fastest I can for my devices.

Anyways, its just sad that AT&T had a chance, but its all but over for them. I tried and tried to give them a reason to keep me as a customer but now its too late.

I had really considered canceling my DirecTV install on Sunday, with hopes that AT&T would do good with me and my loyalty, but they didn't and so its all but over for them now.

They'll have my wireless phone for a while, I'm going to try to find a way to drop their home phone, its tied to my house alarm, surely there is something I can do with cellular there so I can drop as many AT&T services as I can...we'll see.

Its ok, the way I see it is sometimes "change" is good...it was a good change for us when we left Cox and went with UVerse, and now it will be a good change to move from UVerse to DirecTV. (I hope...lol)

Spent a lot time reading this thread today, as I may be switching from Dish for TV and Time Warner for Internet. Not really unhappy with either, just the pricing for Uverse was attractive. I am in a neighborhood that was built about 25 yrs. ago, buried Coax by Time Warner and copper pairs for A T & T. Uverse now in the hood, although I observed no activity that indicated infrastructure being built.

Your post just confirmed what got me thinking today. I did an on line chat with ATT today and their wireless gateway still is only G wifi, not N. Also the DVR would be the same as yours, 250gb hard drive. Seriously? I asked about being able to connect a N wi fi router behind their gateway and they told me they don't support that but I could call their "fee based" support to see if it would work.. Also have a security cam system with DVR that allows remote monitoring and alarms on motion that works great through Time Warner internet but they had no answer if it would work with them.

Rescheduled my appt. to two weeks out so I have more time to gather more info.

My main concerns are HD quality, been happy with Dish, maybe Direct TV is better? Will I be very unhappy with Uverse quality, especially with sports, it's almost March Madness? Internet is another concern. only pay for 15 MB down 1 up with Time Warner but usually get 22 down and 1.5 to 2 up.

Any and all advice welcome!!
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post #213 of 348
2/9/13 at 6:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RonC54 View Post

Spent a lot time reading this thread today, as I may be switching from Dish for TV and Time Warner for Internet. Not really unhappy with either, just the pricing for Uverse was attractive. I am in a neighborhood that was built about 25 yrs. ago, buried Coax by Time Warner and copper pairs for A T & T. Uverse now in the hood, although I observed no activity that indicated infrastructure being built.

Your post just confirmed what got me thinking today. I did an on line chat with ATT today and their wireless gateway still is only G wifi, not N. Also the DVR would be the same as yours, 250gb hard drive. Seriously? I asked about being able to connect a N wi fi router behind their gateway and they told me they don't support that but I could call their "fee based" support to see if it would work.. Also have a security cam system with DVR that allows remote monitoring and alarms on motion that works great through Time Warner internet but they had no answer if it would work with them.

Rescheduled my appt. to two weeks out so I have more time to gather more info.

My main concerns are HD quality, been happy with Dish, maybe Direct TV is better? Will I be very unhappy with Uverse quality, especially with sports, it's almost March Madness? Internet is another concern. only pay for 15 MB down 1 up with Time Warner but usually get 22 down and 1.5 to 2 up.

Any and all advice welcome!!

A U-Verse DVR with 250GB is about the same as a 500GB cable DVR, when you consider MPEG-2 vs. MPEG-4, and then take MPEG-4 and compress the snot out of it until it looks like you're watching TV underwater, and you'll be able to record plenty of blurry, pixelated TV.

DISH is pretty hit or miss. From what I saw briefly during the Superbowl, their locals are mediocre (could vary by market), but their CONUS HD is pretty good. DirecTV is king, other than FIOS of course. If you are happy with U-Verse's picture quality, you should seriously consider seeing an optometrist or getting a TV larger than 22". Heck, I could probably tell how bad it is on my 22" TV. Comcast has a lot of quality issues, but U-Verse is by far the worst. If anything, I would say that U-Verse's compression artifacts are really obnoxious, while on the locals where DISH struggles, they are doing something to make the compression artifacts a lot less annoying. That was in Hartford-New Haven on the EA, so YMMV there in a different market or on WA for CONUS.
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post #214 of 348
2/10/13 at 6:46am
Interesting, I assume I am in the WA (western arc?) as I am in the Kansas City area and my Dish antenna is pointing south west, mostly west. We had a Super Bowl party at the house with a 50 inch Plasma HD in the family room and a 46 inch LCD in the kitchen/dining area. Seemed like excellent quality watching on the local CBS affiliate. Here are my major concerns:

1. HD quality, as I said we have been happy with DISH quality and I am concerned that Uverse would be a downgrade as I learn more about the technology. On the order they have me with one SD/three HD streams but I ordered four boxes, one whole house DVR, one wireless and two wired, assumed all could be HD. As I said, no new cable has been pulled on the utility easements and I know that only Time Warner coax and the original SW Bell (ATT) twisted pair cable are out there so sure I would not be getting FTTH (fiber to the home?)

Not sure where the VRAD is, will have to take a drive around the neighborhood, what do they look like?

2. I am under no contracts for anything but been very pleased with internet from Time Warner cable, I am paying about $55 per month for 15mb down but usually get a much higher rate. If I try to price Uverse internet only they will give me 18gb for $44 a month for one year with a contract but then charge an install fee of $99 plus a $100 fee for purchase of the gateway (with wi fi G) so that is a no go. Interesting that they will sell me the gateway with internet only but with the bundle I can only "rent" it for $6 a month. I asked in a chat if I could buy it but was told no (in the bundle).

3. What is the best deal that Direct TV is offering right now? If I could get a 2 yr deal with the same or better programming I may give them a shot. Just don't want to be switching back and forth every year. If their quality is that much better than Dish, might be the way for me to go.

4. Find it odd that Uverese gateway still is G wi fi only, is easy to place a N router behind it? Also the VIP1225 they are giving me with the bundle seems like older equipment, especially with a 250 gb drive, seems they would give new customers the latest equipment. Anyone receive the newer DVR recently?

Thanks, very informative thread.
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post #215 of 348
2/10/13 at 8:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RonC54 View Post

Interesting, I assume I am in the WA (western arc?) as I am in the Kansas City area and my Dish antenna is pointing south west, mostly west. We had a Super Bowl party at the house with a 50 inch Plasma HD in the family room and a 46 inch LCD in the kitchen/dining area. Seemed like excellent quality watching on the local CBS affiliate. Here are my major concerns:

1. HD quality, as I said we have been happy with DISH quality and I am concerned that Uverse would be a downgrade as I learn more about the technology. On the order they have me with one SD/three HD streams but I ordered four boxes, one whole house DVR, one wireless and two wired, assumed all could be HD. As I said, no new cable has been pulled on the utility easements and I know that only Time Warner coax and the original SW Bell (ATT) twisted pair cable are out there so sure I would not be getting FTTH (fiber to the home?)

Not sure where the VRAD is, will have to take a drive around the neighborhood, what do they look like?

2. I am under no contracts for anything but been very pleased with internet from Time Warner cable, I am paying about $55 per month for 15mb down but usually get a much higher rate. If I try to price Uverse internet only they will give me 18gb for $44 a month for one year with a contract but then charge an install fee of $99 plus a $100 fee for purchase of the gateway (with wi fi G) so that is a no go. Interesting that they will sell me the gateway with internet only but with the bundle I can only "rent" it for $6 a month. I asked in a chat if I could buy it but was told no (in the bundle).

3. What is the best deal that Direct TV is offering right now? If I could get a 2 yr deal with the same or better programming I may give them a shot. Just don't want to be switching back and forth every year. If their quality is that much better than Dish, might be the way for me to go.

4. Find it odd that Uverese gateway still is G wi fi only, is easy to place a N router behind it? Also the VIP1225 they are giving me with the bundle seems like older equipment, especially with a 250 gb drive, seems they would give new customers the latest equipment. Anyone receive the newer DVR recently?

Thanks, very informative thread.

Probably WA. WA is 110/119/129. I don't think EA goes quite that far west, and if you're not right on the east coast with EA, you've got a hard left tilt, just like traditionally, everyone had a hard right tilt in New England, which DirecTV's 119 pretty far over, and fairly low on the horizon.

It's about HD streams, not boxes. If you try to watch more than three HD channels at once you will get an error. High tech right? rolleyes.gif You can probably Google Image search for it, but VRADs are called "lawn fridges", because that's exactly what they look like. They are usually mounted one pole away from a small cross-box with big bundles of copper going between them. We have thousands of there here in CT.

DirecTV's best deal is $$$$$$$, at least after the intro period. They are considered to be the best, but they also are the most expensive.

Yeah, you could set one up as an AP. It's a little trickier, but possible to use your own router as a router.
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post #216 of 348
2/10/13 at 10:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RonC54 View Post

Interesting, I assume I am in the WA (western arc?) as I am in the Kansas City area and my Dish antenna is pointing south west, mostly west. We had a Super Bowl party at the house with a 50 inch Plasma HD in the family room and a 46 inch LCD in the kitchen/dining area. Seemed like excellent quality watching on the local CBS affiliate. Here are my major concerns:

1. HD quality, as I said we have been happy with DISH quality and I am concerned that Uverse would be a downgrade as I learn more about the technology. On the order they have me with one SD/three HD streams but I ordered four boxes, one whole house DVR, one wireless and two wired, assumed all could be HD. As I said, no new cable has been pulled on the utility easements and I know that only Time Warner coax and the original SW Bell (ATT) twisted pair cable are out there so sure I would not be getting FTTH (fiber to the home?)

Not sure where the VRAD is, will have to take a drive around the neighborhood, what do they look like?

2. I am under no contracts for anything but been very pleased with internet from Time Warner cable, I am paying about $55 per month for 15mb down but usually get a much higher rate. If I try to price Uverse internet only they will give me 18gb for $44 a month for one year with a contract but then charge an install fee of $99 plus a $100 fee for purchase of the gateway (with wi fi G) so that is a no go. Interesting that they will sell me the gateway with internet only but with the bundle I can only "rent" it for $6 a month. I asked in a chat if I could buy it but was told no (in the bundle).

3. What is the best deal that Direct TV is offering right now? If I could get a 2 yr deal with the same or better programming I may give them a shot. Just don't want to be switching back and forth every year. If their quality is that much better than Dish, might be the way for me to go.

4. Find it odd that Uverese gateway still is G wi fi only, is easy to place a N router behind it? Also the VIP1225 they are giving me with the bundle seems like older equipment, especially with a 250 gb drive, seems they would give new customers the latest equipment. Anyone receive the newer DVR recently?

Thanks, very informative thread.

 

 
1) If you have an install already scheduled then one is close.  It's just a big old utility looking box with the AT&T logo on it.  Usually there will be a power meter attached to it.  It should be within 2-3 blocks at most.
 
2) Never heard of the ability to actually buy the Uvesre gateway. 
 
4)  And yes, it's pretty easy to bridge your own router behind the Gateway, just check the Uverse forums or Broadband reports forums.  AT&T does *not* support this, you're on your own.  Thing you have to ask yourself though, do you *really* need N speed?  I've got at least half a dozen wireless devices and I sure don't.  G is plenty fast enough unless you really need extra file transfer speed.
As for the DVR...just sign up initially for the U350 or U450 packages.  You'll then get the latest and largest DVR they have.  After a month then you just move down to whatever lower package you want.
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post #217 of 348
2/10/13 at 2:33pm
I guess I just think it is strange that the ATT router is G wi fi, when N has been out for years, I don't think you can even buy a G router anymore at retailers. Also seems odd that you would have to play the silly game of ordering the more expensive package to get the latest DVR. They definitely would sell me the gateway if I sign up for internet only albeit at the price of $100 plus $99 for installation, and a one year rate of $45 a month. Would not use them just for internet as my Time Warner is better for the same price.

Any thoughts on the quality that Time Warner cable TV provides vs Satellite.

Also unless ATT will give me a 30 day trial period to get out of the contract my be taking a pass on this. Seems they only give you three days.
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post #218 of 348
2/10/13 at 2:38pm
Also I think I have spotted the VRAD, in a neighbors back yard, three houses down. Recall now some digging up there a few months ago but thought they were having more sewer problems as they had before. Also have not received any promo mailings, calls, etc.
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post #219 of 348
2/10/13 at 5:59pm
Spent some time pricing out my options today, Direct really has a pretty good deal right now that covers two years, with a contract of course. Beats what Dish is offering me to stay with them and also compares well with Uverse. Still plan to give Time Warner a look again but I don't think they have upgraded any infrastructure in the area which was the reason I dumped them three years ago, just too many problems although it seemed OK when it worked. On the other hand their internet is great.

Only issue I may have with direct is antenna direction. My neighborhood and lot has many trees, but there is an open spot to the southwest which is where the Dish antenna points. If anyone knows would the direct TV antenna point in the same general direction? If it would need to point to the southeast or east will be a no go, too many tall trees.
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post #220 of 348
2/10/13 at 6:23pm
You can outright buy the internet-only U-Verse router for maybe $100-$150, but the one that also handles TV is a rent-only deal.

DirecTV is 99c/101/93c/110/119, DISH WA is 110/119/129, so it's pretty similar. Dish EA is 61.5/72/77 (I missed a decimal in there somewhere), so here on the East coast, they are radically different, with DISH much higher in the sky.
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post #221 of 348
2/10/13 at 6:57pm
That should work then, my Dish antenna has a clear shot in that direction and a lot of space to go further left or right if needed. Makes sense on the router, different for internet only. Pricing a basic piece of gear like that tells me they really don't want to sell you internet only. Thanks for the info.
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post #222 of 348
2/11/13 at 4:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RonC54 View Post

That should work then, my Dish antenna has a clear shot in that direction and a lot of space to go further left or right if needed. Makes sense on the router, different for internet only. Pricing a basic piece of gear like that tells me they really don't want to sell you internet only. Thanks for the info.

Of course they want to sell double or triple-play, as it amortizes their investment a lot faster. You can rent the regular TV/internet route and just subscribe to internet, but the only one you can own in the internet-only one. I think they both do voice as well.
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post #223 of 348
2/13/13 at 12:12pm
I don't know what the difference is on your system, or where you live, BiggAW, but I just had Uverse installed, and my picture and sound quality, on my 73" Mits, via my Yammy AVR on ALL my HD channels (ie, ShowtimeHD, and locals) during HD offerings, is FAN-funking-tastic. It blows away TW, and looks, and sounds, to my eye, just as good as my blurays.

Maybe I am wrong but perhaps service in different areas differs....
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post #224 of 348
2/13/13 at 12:48pm
I agree. In my experience, static images look just as good as any other provider, and probably better than a lot of cable systems. But where you start seeing a difference is when there is a lot of motion. If you were to compare say, DirecTV with it side-by-side, they would look pretty much identical while the scene isn't changing. But when things start moving, you'll see more macro-blocking on Uverse than DirecTV. Not a big deal to me but it makes some folks really, really angry. That and the limited number of HD streams. Not a problem in my house, but if you have a half dozen TVs, Uverse won't cut it.
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post #225 of 348
2/13/13 at 1:00pm
I had Uverse and Charter is extremely superior in video quality and internet speed. Uverse sports severe blocking especially in the background of a scene. It was nasty. What about their internet speeds? Charter now starts where Uverse leaves off and goes from there. There's only so much you can squeeze out over half a mile on a pair of 22 gauge copper wires. I haven't had DirectTV so I cannot offer a direct comparison.
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post #226 of 348
2/13/13 at 1:51pm
mdavej and Sammy2 are spot on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John dhein View Post

I don't know what the difference is on your system, or where you live, BiggAW, but I just had Uverse installed, and my picture and sound quality, on my 73" Mits, via my Yammy AVR on ALL my HD channels (ie, ShowtimeHD, and locals) during HD offerings, is FAN-funking-tastic. It blows away TW, and looks, and sounds, to my eye, just as good as my blurays.

Maybe I am wrong but perhaps service in different areas differs....

Either you're blind, have really low standards, or your cable company has set a new record for bad picture quality among cable providers.
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post #227 of 348
2/13/13 at 4:53pm
Whoa, I didn't fully read that before.. Just as good as Blu-ray? You've go to be funking kidding me.
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post #228 of 348
2/13/13 at 6:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Whoa, I didn't fully read that before.. Just as good as Blu-ray? You've go to be funking kidding me.

WHOA, I didn't see that either. That guy is either blind, or has a really crappy TV, in which case they might look the same.
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post #229 of 348
2/19/13 at 7:13am
Well, I keep moving my Uverse install date back to give me time to explore other options. We do watch a lot of sports especially basketball this time of year so the problems with "fast moving scenes" is an issue for me. I can't get Dish to give me a deal other than upgrade to the Hopper system but need to sign another 24 month contract for that. ATT only gives me three days to walk away from the one year contract so If I have issues after that I am stuck. Also viewed my son's HDTV/ with U verse in Louisville, KY this past weekend and looked OK but kind of flat. He has been mostly happy with the TV but would prefer Direct however his view of the sky is totally blocked by huge trees. He did drop Uverse internet because of long ping times, went back to cable for that.

Another concern is that Uverse will unlikely be able to get Cat 6 cable to my 4 TV locations, existing is all RG 6 coax, so that may be an issue. Still don't get why coax should be a problem for Uverse as my Dish and I assume Direct will use the coax. Any reason then Uverse "prefers" Cat 6 over coax, my understanding is the bandwidth on coax is as good or better than cat 6, is that wrong?
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post #230 of 348
2/19/13 at 2:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RonC54 View Post

Well, I keep moving my Uverse install date back to give me time to explore other options. We do watch a lot of sports especially basketball this time of year so the problems with "fast moving scenes" is an issue for me. I can't get Dish to give me a deal other than upgrade to the Hopper system but need to sign another 24 month contract for that. ATT only gives me three days to walk away from the one year contract so If I have issues after that I am stuck. Also viewed my son's HDTV/ with U verse in Louisville, KY this past weekend and looked OK but kind of flat. He has been mostly happy with the TV but would prefer Direct however his view of the sky is totally blocked by huge trees. He did drop Uverse internet because of long ping times, went back to cable for that.

Another concern is that Uverse will unlikely be able to get Cat 6 cable to my 4 TV locations, existing is all RG 6 coax, so that may be an issue. Still don't get why coax should be a problem for Uverse as my Dish and I assume Direct will use the coax. Any reason then Uverse "prefers" Cat 6 over coax, my understanding is the bandwidth on coax is as good or better than cat 6, is that wrong?

U-Verse uses coax 99% of the time. They are running HPNA over the coax, so you're still using IP. They can install on CAT-6 if you really want them to. With either connection, you will get the exact same picture. The same breakouts of macro blocking, the same horrendous compression artifacts around the network logos, the same everything. Sports will be a mess on U-Verse, as is basically everything.
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post #231 of 348
2/19/13 at 4:09pm
Another question for anyone who has Uverse or familiar with the gateway/router. Does it allow port forwarding, absolutely need this function at the first router which would be theirs I assume? My Time Warner internet now is just a modem, my router is the first one and I port forward from it now. Thanks.
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post #232 of 348
2/19/13 at 7:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RonC54 View Post

Another question for anyone who has Uverse or familiar with the gateway/router. Does it allow port forwarding, absolutely need this function at the first router which would be theirs I assume? My Time Warner internet now is just a modem, my router is the first one and I port forward from it now. Thanks.

There's answers somewhere online, but there is a way to make it sort-of pass through to your own router. There must be a users manual out there too for how to port forward. You have to physically have the hardware there no matter what, as it has the VDSL modem built in.
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post #233 of 348
2/19/13 at 8:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

I agree. In my experience, static images look just as good as any other provider, and probably better than a lot of cable systems. But where you start seeing a difference is when there is a lot of motion. If you were to compare say, DirecTV with it side-by-side, they would look pretty much identical while the scene isn't changing. But when things start moving, you'll see more macro-blocking on Uverse than DirecTV. Not a big deal to me but it makes some folks really, really angry. That and the limited number of HD streams. Not a problem in my house, but if you have a half dozen TVs, Uverse won't cut it.

It drove me absolutely crazy for the year and a half we had U-Verse TV. I couldn't watch movies because every dark or fast moving scene looked positively atrocious.

Some of the HD channels were close to the DirecTV we have now, but some were painful to watch. I had to resort to watching some shows in SD because the HD version of the same channel had such severe pixelation and constant audio drops that made shows unwatchable.

Now that we have DirecTV, I can't see going back to cable or U-Verse in the foreseeable future.
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post #234 of 348
2/25/13 at 8:54am
I am still on AT&T UVerse TV as of right now, ditched the internet for Cox Communications and I'm 100% happy with that move.

I decided not to go with DirecTV for the time being, as we are hoping to move very soon, and didn't want to mess with having D* installed the moved etc...so thats why I'm still on AT&T.
My thought is though, for right now, have Cox come back out and setup the TVs with their service, the line is already in the house from a previous stent with them. They have that new "whole home DVR", which they have right now but only allow 2 shows to record in HD at same time, however on March 15th a new box comes out and they will offer 4 shows at once. A new "DirecTV" ish menu is part of this new box etc...

So I figured, for the time being, to get rid of AT&T, and move to Cox, no contracts I think, and hopefully a better menu and picture, will do me well, till time to move and setup D* in the new home.
What are your thoughts on Cox and their TV? I've hated their STB and remotes and menu's in the past, but this new stuff seems like they have moved up in the technology realm, so why not give it a shot?
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post #235 of 348
2/25/13 at 10:41am
Do you have any links to that new cable DVR? I wonder if other cable systems will be getting something similar.
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post #236 of 348
2/25/13 at 10:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

Do you have any links to that new cable DVR? I wonder if other cable systems will be getting something similar.

There is not a lot of information out there yet, that I am able to read about it.
http://ww2.cox.com/residential/oklahomacity/tv/plus-package.cox?campcode=xl_tv_whdvr_011212

Googled some stuff too:
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2010/prod_051010c.html

http://www.ntca.org/new-edge/video/cox-launches-whole-home-dvr
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post #237 of 348
2/25/13 at 12:57pm
Thanks for the links. It looks like they've had that interface for about 3 years now. So nothing new on the horizon for other providers just yet. Looks good though. A lot better than the motorola DVRs on my cable system.

Uverse finally made it to my neighborhood just last week, and the VRAD is really close, probably under a thousand feet. I'll probably give it a try in the next several months.
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post #238 of 348
3/9/13 at 12:56pm
I stumbled upon this site. You all sound much more educated than I could ever be on the topic so I thought I would ask you.

We currently have Time Warner Cable for TV, Internet and phone. The phone and internet seem to be fine but we hate the TV. It stutters almost all the time. It is almost impossible to view anything that has been recorded because it holds the stuttering (and seems to add to it). The On Demand programing loses audio every 20 mins or so (on a good day) and lately it loses the picture as well, so you will have one or the other but rarely both at the same time. UGH! They have switched the box and refreshed it more time than I can count. The last time I spoke on the phone with them, he "fixed" it again and promised it would not happen again. Before I even hung up, it was stuttering. A change is overdue. mad.gif

My choices for TV are AT&T Uverse or Direct TV. Fios is not in our area. I want the BEST internet speed I can get, long distance US/local calling and TV with HBO, Showtime, AMC and basic cable channels (Nick, Discovery, those types). We have only one TV so I don't care so much about multiple receivers. Lots of memory would be great. HD isn't even important. Reliability and intuitive controls are really important. We do not watch sports either.

We are in Southern CA so I don't THINK that rain/snow would be issues. It does get windy sometimes.

I was thinking that we would get Uverse 300 TV with HBO and internet with 24 Mbsp (we currently have 15 I think) and then use Obihai for phone. Does that sound like a smart idea? I have no idea how to get faster speeds for the internet in our area... but the idea of 24 over 15 sounds good to me. If there is a provider that provides more, I would love to hear about it.

The VRAD is around a corner - about 600 - 700ft away. If that makes a difference, I am not sure what that means.

Also, re: internet - most of our toys are wireless. Is it worth our while to get really fast internet if we are using our wireless network?

Thanks so much for any help you can provide!!!
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post #239 of 348
3/9/13 at 2:26pm
If you are getting stuttering with TWC, you need to file a trouble ticket and have a tech look into it. Could be a hardware issue, could be internal wiring, or external on the plant to your house. Time Warner has a direct forum that is manned by upper level techs, at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/timewarnerdirect

As for the best Internet Speed, what package do you have now, what do you do with the Internet service you have now (watch Netflix streaming, download a lot of files, watch youtube videos, work from home, move files between home and a cloud server)? Another thing, depending on how far you are from the VRad, which cannot be determined until a tech comes on site and tests the loop from your house to the VRad, can they tell how good the quality may be. Also it will tell them how much headroom you will have, which matters when it comes down to having 4 set tops running at the same time, someone watching Netflix, someone doing online gaming, or downloading files.

We normally get 19meg down, which is in line, due to the 24 meg package is rated from 18-24 meg for Internet. If you head over to the ATT forums at forums.att.com, you can send a Private Message to ATTCustomerCare regarding any further questions, and someone from Customer Support can answer any other questions you have.
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post #240 of 348
3/9/13 at 9:19pm
Thanks so much for the quick reply!

I will check out the time warner support forum. I have had techs out and switched boxes. I am not sure about the wiring - no one has ever mentioned it as being a possible cause of the problem. A new provider would put in new wiring, right? Or, would they used the existing wiring that may be faulty?

With the internet package we have now, we are supposed to be getting 15 Mbsp. It is "OK". Now that I see what else is available, I definitely want to go faster. We watch a lot of movies on Netflix, videos, online games and my husband works from home occasionally. So I should get the new provider to give me the VRad/headroom info before deciding? That info would be the same for any service provider I used?

Thanks again for your time.
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