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Chicago, IL - AT&T

post #1 of 219
1/5/07 at 7:34pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys, Welcome to the world of AT&T U-Verse. I one am excited to get this service once it comes online in the chicago area. Right now im more than willing to dump the dish for U-Verse. So lets open up the discussion with who has it and what areas and channels are you getting. What is the quality of the HD channels. Anyone have a time frame for chicago area launches? I know according to http://www.uverseusers.com/ there are many nodes in the chicago area but none are live yet. Mind you this is Unoffical. The map is attached below. My personal thoughts is Att isnt working fast enough to get uverse down here and in the chicago area. If its the citys, i know that there are plenty of citys wanting uverse and mine is one of them.
LL
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post #2 of 219
1/8/07 at 7:59am
Hey there, goaliebob. Nice to see you from the OTA thread.

My big concern about U-Verse is bandwidth. I'm very excited about the technology, but less so about the bandwidth limitations. I'm spoiled by having 4 DVRs and being able to record 8 streams at once. I'm also spoiled by the OTA DVR capabilities I have now.

Having said that, I firmly believe IPTV is the future, and anything that competes with cable is good in my book.

And heck, at least I see they've got a VRAD installed in the Waukegan CO (I'm in Gurnee and that's my CO)...here's hoping we get implementations started soon!
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post #3 of 219
1/10/07 at 6:30am
If someone tries it let us know how it is. I too am curious about bandwidth.
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post #4 of 219
1/10/07 at 8:36am
Based on what I've read over at uverseusers.com, folks are getting between 25mbps-30mbps total. Of that, it seems around 6mb is for data/internet (at least, you can get internet access up to that speed).

Now I know they are using either MPEG4 or VC-1 (haven't found a definitive answer as to which) compression, but even so they are currently limited to 4 streams total, 1 of which can be HD.

Even if they use pair bonding to double their bandwidth, it's going to be a hard sell for anyone with more than one HDTV at this point.
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post #5 of 219
1/11/07 at 12:24am
I just checked their website today, and for my area, they only offer a couple of handful of channels or so. And most of them I have no interest in.
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post #6 of 219
1/11/07 at 11:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rammitinski View Post

I just checked their website today, and for my area, they only offer a couple of handful of channels or so. And most of them I have no interest in.

They're saying it's available in your area?? I am very surprised -- to my knowledge they haven't announced any Illinois availability...

Channel-selection-wise I thought they were pretty good, though I have no idea what their local-channel availability will be yet.
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post #7 of 219
1/11/07 at 12:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheer View Post

They're saying it's available in your area?? I am very surprised -- to my knowledge they haven't announced any Illinois availability...

Channel-selection-wise I thought they were pretty good, though I have no idea what their local-channel availability will be yet.

I just checked again and it appears you're right. I was all over the net yesterday, and I must've confused it with something else (wish I could actually remember what it was!).
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post #8 of 219
1/12/07 at 9:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rammitinski View Post

I just checked again and it appears you're right. I was all over the net yesterday, and I must've confused it with something else (wish I could actually remember what it was!).

Been there.

Note for all that AT&T is offering (and heavily pushing) their "HomeZone" product, which is DSL combined with Dish Network and a residential gateway box for sharing photos and whatnot. I got two fliers in one day for that. Not nearly as sexy as IPTV, but AT&T wants to reach areas beyond its LEC footprint.

Anything that brings more competition is okay by me.
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post #9 of 219
1/15/07 at 6:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rammitinski View Post

I just checked again and it appears you're right. I was all over the net yesterday, and I must've confused it with something else (wish I could actually remember what it was!).

They've been laying Fiber on my end of town lately.
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post #10 of 219
1/15/07 at 6:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheer View Post

Based on what I've read over at uverseusers.com, folks are getting between 25mbps-30mbps total. Of that, it seems around 6mb is for data/internet (at least, you can get internet access up to that speed).

Now I know they are using either MPEG4 or VC-1 (haven't found a definitive answer as to which) compression, but even so they are currently limited to 4 streams total, 1 of which can be HD.

Even if they use pair bonding to double their bandwidth, it's going to be a hard sell for anyone with more than one HDTV at this point.

We played with Mpeg-4 encoders/decoders here in the office and a 2mb stream looks as good as a 5mb Mpeg-2 stream. Its a promising technology.
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post #11 of 219
1/17/07 at 7:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hvs10trk View Post

They've been laying Fiber on my end of town lately.

What is your end of town? I am on the south side Beverly area.

I knew this was too good to be true. I currently have 4 HD tvs....2-3 are nearly always in use. So you guys are telling me if i switch from Comcast, we can't all watch HD at the same time, it will only work on one of those 4 tv's @ a time... That could be a deal breaker for some...namely me, I do like the channel line up. I would never get around to watching all that tv, but atleast they are offering.
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post #12 of 219
1/25/07 at 11:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hvs10trk View Post

We played with Mpeg-4 encoders/decoders here in the office and a 2mb stream looks as good as a 5mb Mpeg-2 stream. Its a promising technology.

I don't disagree, but trying to squeeze multiple 1080i streams (which in theory can be as high as 19mbps apiece in MPEG2-land) into ~18mbps is going to be awfully difficult even then.
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post #13 of 219
1/25/07 at 11:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by will_blueprint View Post

What is your end of town? I am on the south side Beverly area.

I knew this was too good to be true. I currently have 4 HD tvs....2-3 are nearly always in use. So you guys are telling me if i switch from Comcast, we can't all watch HD at the same time, it will only work on one of those 4 tv's @ a time... That could be a deal breaker for some...namely me, I do like the channel line up. I would never get around to watching all that tv, but atleast they are offering.

Right now, they are only able to deliver a single HD stream at a time. They plan on upping that number, but I fear they may be a ways away from supplying all four of your HDTVs.
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post #14 of 219
1/26/07 at 10:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheer View Post

I don't disagree, but trying to squeeze multiple 1080i streams (which in theory can be as high as 19mbps apiece in MPEG2-land) into ~18mbps is going to be awfully difficult even then.

My thoughts exactly. I can't wait to see their demo. And in true engineer fashion I will get the specs from them.
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post #15 of 219
2/5/07 at 10:25am
Any news on this?
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post #16 of 219
2/5/07 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by vasanda View Post

Any news on this?

None yet. A little bird whispered to me that new market areas would be announced "soon."

Which really doesn't tell us anything at all.
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post #17 of 219
4/18/07 at 5:58am
After talking with an AT&T tech, it looks like the city will be a while on the roll out. They are still deciding where to put their somewhat large peds. From what I have read and what Ive been told, this is a promising technology and should be pretty cool as long as they don't go "cheap".
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post #18 of 219
6/22/07 at 8:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hvs10trk View Post

After talking with an AT&T tech, it looks like the city will be a while on the roll out. They are still deciding where to put their somewhat large peds. From what I have read and what Ive been told, this is a promising technology and should be pretty cool as long as they don't go "cheap".

Widespread rollout in IL probably won't happen until Blagojevich signs the statewide franchise bill (assuming he does).

"Cheap" is how some have described the HD stream (singular). The SD feeds are reportedly as good or better than cable, but the HD feed is very noticeably worse.
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post #19 of 219
7/5/07 at 6:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheer View Post

Widespread rollout in IL probably won't happen until Blagojevich signs the statewide franchise bill (assuming he does).

Signed, sealed, and delivered on June 30.
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post #20 of 219
7/5/07 at 10:05am
Good, now for AT&T to make their announcement soon I hope.
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post #21 of 219
7/5/07 at 1:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hvs10trk View Post

Good, now for AT&T to make their announcement soon I hope.

Woodstock has already commited to it.
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post #22 of 219
7/9/07 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rammitinski View Post

Woodstock has already commited to it.

Sweet. Now if only they'll announce us soon. I have enough Pods going up on my end of town.
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post #23 of 219
9/12/07 at 1:16pm
Any further information from anyone on rollout? Seems like it could be anytime between now and 10 am next summer.

How would I locate a VRAD?
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post #24 of 219
9/24/07 at 5:49am
Well their website is finally acknowleding the fact that U-Verse exists. Still no news that I hear of. I'll try to catch the AT&T tech the next time he's in the office.
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post #25 of 219
12/3/07 at 6:28pm
Any update on AT&T U-verse in Chicago?
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post #26 of 219
12/6/07 at 10:07am
It's rolling along rapidly. In October AT&T was granted a state-wide video franchise, and they're moving ahead with the buildout.

Here in Gurnee I've suddenly got a VRAD sitting at the corner by the entrance to our subdivision.

A little birdie whispered to me that the initial availability will begin on January 28. We shall see.
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post #27 of 219
12/20/07 at 10:18am
I've had several VRAD's in the vicinity of my house in Crystal Lake for 4 months now. I think I pass 4 on the way home from the train.
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post #28 of 219
12/26/07 at 9:22am
How do you identify a VRAD?

I see a new box ~ a block away from me in Oakwood Hills on Silver Lake & Woodland.
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post #29 of 219
12/26/07 at 9:37am
I can confirm a hard launch date of 1/28 across metro Chicago on the Illinois side, even though some areas won't be fully upgraded. They hope that those areas won't have reception problems, but those that do will be upgraded. It will be as far west as Aurora/Lake in the Hills...almost everyone east of route 47.
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post #30 of 219
12/26/07 at 2:26pm
So, what is the expected U-verse conversion offer for Comcast users?

HDTV/Internet/Phone for $??/mo?
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