AT&T U-verse HDTV - Page 123

Why was U-verse Internet never an option? If anything, it is by far the highest rated component of the bundled offers (IPTV, HSI, VoIP) and offers speeds up to 24M so it's very competitive with Comcast. I can't help but think if you had gone Comcast for TV and U-verse for Internet that you would sleep better at night.

For me it's the $249 they want for installation (Gateway and install fee). I just switched from AT&T DSL ($25 - 6Mbps) to Comcast ($20 - 12-15Mbps) Internet only. Free Gateway and $10 for the install. If after six months they won't offer the same pricing I'll look around but rumor is they will want to keep you... we'll see.

I'm not sure when that was but for the past few months, the U-verse Max package (12M/1M) has been $29.95 for six months and then $43 afterward. Self installation is free and the gateway is $100 but if you go into a wireless store to place the order, you can usually talk the reps into giving you a credit for it as well.

I never tried the store (one isn't too far) but I tried numerous times (months ago and just recently) and could never get a free install... several managers tried. Something about my area which seems strange... as I get U-verse promos weekly. It was available free if you signed up for various bundles. Plus, at $20 (typically it's $30 for new customers) I was willing to bite. To get the above I did have to work with a Kiosk guy.

I don't have an objective reason, I just had no desire to use another Internet provider with Comcast being available. Especially not AT&T. Internet service is far more important to me than TV, so I was willing to take the gamble on the TV side.

I sleep just fine.

Take another look at your answer and then at Harley's. By any objective measure yours is far less helpful.

I'm sure you have your reasons, it's just that AT&T's U-verse Internet gets rave reviews even from people that do not like the PQ of the IPTV portion of the service. The only advantage that Comcast even has at all is the higher bitrate of their TV service for HD as SD does look better on U-verse.

So you went with arguably the lesser component of the service offering from two providers. Considering your frequent complaints registered in this thread regarding PQ, I will stand by my assessment that you should have gone with the opposite provider in each instance.

Arguably lesser? I am able to download at speeds beyond the advertised speeds at all times of the day, and my service is totally reliable. I would have had to settle for lower speeds from U-verse, and at best the service would have been just as reliable. I clearly picked the better ISP.

Mine was 100% correct and to the point. Harley's was fairy dust and PR.

You could also be seeing inflated results on your speed tests since Comcast gives you a 30-60 second temporary boost that isn't sustained for longer connections. What speeds are these that would have been lower? What if you go over 250GB and have your service cancelled? What if Comcast starts to block P2P traffic again? What if they have their network go down again like it did yesterday?

Maybe you did pick the better ISP based on your needs and availability. I don't think anyone second guesses that even though they would not agree with you. Why you need to second guess everyone in this forum for choosing what worked best for them remains a mystery.

Yeah, I know how to properly measure speeds.



What if AT&T shuts down their entire U-verse service tomorrow? Let's worry about these "what ifs" if they actually happen. And I'm not in a contract, so I can cancel my Comcast service tomorrow with absolutely no penalty.

I'm not second guessing anyone. U-verse has a place in the market. It's just not for people who care about HD PQ.

But all of my questions are actual occurrences. U-verse doesn't have a penalty to cancel either.


You are obviously one of those people are you would avail yourself of the no cancellation penalty and switch both of your services to Comcast.

That's wonderful. I'll let you know when any of them actually impact my service.

Well, that and the ability to watch or record more than 3 or 4 HD shows at a time, or the ability to get your own DVRs/STBs. If I had a Ceton PC tuner installed for U-Verse (impossible I know, but just saying), I'd never be able to watch anything live if it was busy recording.

Cablecard sucks in many ways, but this is a huge advantage over U-Verse - you can roll your own equipment and not have to worry about silly stream limitations.

To get a free Internet install all you need to do is get TV installed at the same time. So long as you get TV installed it's all free. You only need to keep the TV for 30 days then dump it if you don't want it. And you'll typically get $150-200 in cash back as well. So they'll pay *you* to get it installed.

Prior to U-Verse, I had Brighthouse. Not only was it more expensive service for less HD channels, but I also had to pay $5 for an STB + $10 for a DVR ($15) on each TV, compared to only $7 per STB on U-Verse. Also, each DVR could only watch or record 2 shows at a time, and there was no "Total Home DVR". They did not send any channels other than ABC, NBC, and CBS over QAM, so my TV tuner card was unable to record any other HD channels. I was paying substantially more for less service. They did not offer CableCards. I imagine this is similar to Comcast and TWC.

Your concerns are indicative of almost ALL pay-TV services, not just U-Verse.

Must have been quite a while ago, because all cable providers are required to offer CableCARDs.

I'll keep this in mind in six months. However, if it was like my DSL Gateway rebate (prepaid credit card) they probably wait until you are past the point of no return before you get the credit/cash.

You can also choose to do a customer self install for free as well. The gift cards are not sent out until after a customer is beyond the 30 day window and prior to the 60 day window. Not saying that gaming the system might not work if you want to do it that way but the likelihood of seeing those Visa gift cards isn't that good if you do it that way.

I wish you would disclaimer this... as I tried on roughly a half dozen occasions to sign-up as a self-install (involving various department managers along the way) and every time I was informed it was not an option for my location.

I'm not sure what exception at your address drove that but self install is the lead offer right now for Internet only orders. It's odd that you were not offered free install if they said you didn't qualify for self install. That's what they are supposed to be doing anyway.

Here's an online order via right now... as stated I tried via telephone on several occasions.

You just gotta wait until the gift cards process before cancelling the TV part. So when I got my Internet installed I got TV installed as well. Got $250 in gift cards. On day 31 I went to the AT&T reward center to request my gift cards. About 10 days later I had them in my hand and activated. Next day I cancelled the TV service so I had it a total of 45 days or so. Not bad for a free install and $250 bucks.

Oh, I had DirecTV back then so I didn't want the TV service. A few months later I cancelled DirecTV and went OTA and IPTV only and just a month ago got the Uverse TV service (and got $200 cash card by the way). All totally AT&T has paid me $450 to sign up for their stuff. I'll take it.

OK like I said in a previous post I am a current Charter customer and I am thinking of trying Uverse. I'm not a videophile but I do care about HD picture quality. Is Uverse's system just not capable of offering a higher/better bitrate for HD? I was so excited when I heard Uverse was coming to my area. Then after doing some research that excitement diminished. What is Uverse doing to improve PQ? Please feel free to answer Harley. Charter doesn't offer enough HD channels and Uverse lacks quality. What is a man to do?

If you're not a videophile, then I recommend going to your local AT&T store and taking a look at the HD quality for yourself. If you're satisfied with the picture quality, then sign up! If it doesn't meet your criteria, then move along. We've gone back and forth on this forum as far as what people find acceptable, but the best judge is yourself.

Good advice, the only thing I would add is to make sure you look at the type of programming that you usually watch. Especially if you're a sports fan.

Careful, not all stores may have live demo's. Some may only have a canned demo. YMMV.

Vern

Best thing about Uverse is no commitment so feel free to have it installed, give it a test run for 30 days, if you don't like it then cancel it at no cost other then then 30 days of service.

I had HD service with Charter for five years before moving to a new house and getting U-Verse early this year. Charter's relative lack of HD channels was always a frustration, so I was very happy with the number of HD channels available with U-Verse.

However, at least for me, U-Verse's HD picture quality was not nearly as good as I had grown accustomed to with Charter. Again, as others have mentioned, the weakness is primarily with sports because of all the fast motion on screen. But it is often apparent in other content as well. At best, it's hardly noticeable. At worst, it's like watching a low-res video on YouTube.

If U-Verse had been my first experience with HD - or if I had no points of comparison with my own experience with Charter, or from seeing HD from other providers when visiting family and friends - then I probably would have thought U-Verse was good enough. But knowing what HD should look like, I was frustrated every time I noticed the problems... especially the first weekend of college football. That's why I dropped tv service with U-Verse and switched to DirecTV last week.

So of course it's all subjective, but especially if you're a heavy sports watcher, be wary. As others have mentioned, at least you can pretty much try U-Verse for free or cheap and see for yourself in your own home, on your own equipment.

Uh no, as Jeremy said the concerns are indicative of U-Verse and satellite, primarily - all of the major cable MSOs offer Cablecards so you can roll your own, including Brighthouse, Comcast, TWC, Cablevision, Cox, RCN, etc. Until recently this was still somewhat of a limitation as the only viable options were Tivo and Moxi, but now that multi-tuner Cablecard devices are available from a few vendors for PCs it's much more open. You can even roll your own Myth HTPC if you like (Linux system) which is a very powerful and flexible option for multiple TV households. Or just spool up a simple WMC system with a couple of Xboxes. A lot cheaper than renting multiple boxes from a provider, too, because you only need one Cablecard.

Must have been a long time since you've had cable. And I guess you never record/watch more than a couple of HD shows at a time, so you never hit AT&T's stream limits. Happens all the time in my house, but since I'm on Comcast I don't care.