Review by DSLHeadaches 
UPDATED: 61 days ago
member for 8.9 years, 988 visits, last login: 5 days ago
 Woodland Hills,Los Angeles,CA
 $113 per month
 about 13 days
 "Fantastic Channel Switch Times, HD when TWC isn't, whole house DVR"
 "No Favorites Button/Crappy Music Channels/No Soundscapes or New Age Music choices/Long Install"
 "Involved Installation, Nice HD Picture, Multiple DVR recordings"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Ordered Sunday 6/14/09 and requested a Saturday install, which while they indicated several weeks happened on 6/27. I was very impressed with the professionalism of the pre-notification, two postal contacts, and two phone contacts to confirm installation. On the day of the install, the installer did call and indicate he would be late due to being on another client site, and subsequently credited me with $10 off for 6 months for his being late. It only took about 3 hours (they indicate 4-6 hours), but I only have 2 TVs and 2 Computers. I actually have a third TV that I'm going to hang off the 2nd STB using Coax between the rooms. These boxes have every port you can imagine.
Extremely professional installer, they work for AT&T and aren't contractors like TWC & Satellite seem to send out.
He did as I requested on ordering, installed Cat5/6 throughout the house rather than RG; mutiple threads in the forums here indicated that works best. So he was under the house in the crawl space doing lots of work (wouldn't want that job but he was very pleasant about it). They also made it clear they want to make everything work, he wasn't hesitant about handing me an ethernet switch since there aren't enough ports if the TVs use the Cat 5 ports. I have and old laptop without wireless and he handed me both a wireless card and USB wireless device.
So far I can't comment enough about how professional and courteous everyone has been with AT&T; very refreshing. I haven't had to contact Tech Support. All the contract language was provided, and they hand you a booklet with all the different numbers you need.
The internet speed works almost at the numbers promised, which is much better than TWC, where I was getting better upload speed than download, even though I was set for 6MB/1MB. We'll have to see what happens during weeknights in prime time, my guess is UVerse will win.
My #1 complaint is the lack of a favorites button similar to TWC that switches between your favorites channels without having to access a guide. Between this and the loss of the Music Choice channels including soundscapes (new age) could spell the end of UVerse in our household; that jury is still out. The music channels offered on UVerse sound kind of jinky/tinnie like they don't have enough bandwidth.
I noticed while having both TWC & UVerse that the channels on TWC are lighter, but the TV can adjust. TWC HD channels are definately not as good as the UVerse in one day of comparing services. CNN was extremely choppy on TWC, while simultaneously being clear on UVerse. Other times HD channels on UVerse were appearing as 1080i while the same HD Channel program on TWC the TV was indicating was only receiving as 780i.
The most noticable difference is the time between switching channels. With TWC with its latest software update, it was taking as much as 3-5 seconds to get a picture in HD for each channel. With UVerse, its instantaneous channels switching even on HD, even while recording 4 other programs. I was able to record 4 and watch a 5th channel last night, contrary to what has been mentioned in some other threads. Also, contrary to other threads, likely as a result of UVerse version 2 releasing last week, I can setup to record on other STBs, although its much slower than on the main unit.
The web based DVR programming is fantastic. My complaint there is that the descriptions don't include any actors or year of the films. That makes it next to impossible to guess which movie you're recording if there have been multiple remakes. If recording a series 'shown anytime', it doesn't seem to be possible to stop recording if the same episode shows multiple times throughout the day (seems it would recognize the same title & description).
Now to see if I get any of that cash back promised. So far I'm impressed, though I really had nothing much bad to say about TWC; they're doing an all out best attempt to compete with ATT.
I'm still having problems with my VOIP, Sunrocket Innomedia device with VoiceStick, even in the DMZ. I've read elsewhere that people haven't been able to make the Innomeda device work. Fortunately I have a regular ATT line with GoogleVoice for most of my voice traffic. I've got some other ATAs to try if Innomedia can't be made to work. First I have to get the rest of the household comfortable with the change.
I hope to investigate the potential for a 1.5TB drive once I get to where I'm reaching capacity on the one in the Motorola, and yes I know what the contract says. They need to allow external USB drives; hopefully they get that message. It is a much larger drive than what TWC offers with the HD technology option.
-- Update 8/8/09 --
Its been more than a month and still having issues attempting to receive the rebates promised. I called the rebate center over a week ago and they said they would post the remaining $200, but it would take a couple of days; no rebates posted.
I've received the 2nd bill today and the taxes and franchise fees are more than double my Time Warner Cable bill for almost equivalent TV services.
I am happy with the service (I want more Hard Disk capacity or alternatives), but if the rebates remain a problem, I'll be back with TWC, which was cheaper for my circumstances. I've adjusted the Value for Money review downward.
-- Update 9/26/09 --
Received most of the rebate credits they promised in various forms (credits, VISA Cash Cards, etc.). But it did take several phone calls, each indicating it would be handled and only partial rebates each time. I'm satisfied that I finally got what the rebate offer was on the web page. The chat session promised more, but I'm at least satisfied that I got what was offered on the web page after much hassle.
I'm happy with the service, even the lowest tier internet speed is quite fine and all most people need.
They seem to keep encouraging use of other features beyond the U200 I have for free trials. I'm happy to try them out and cancel for as long as they keep offering.
The black on blacks on the HDTV are a bit frustrating with the blurryness caused by the compaction of the signal, but other than this, its fine. I wish the pause of live TV worked in the other rooms... I wish it had more hard disc capability via USB or any other means.
Followup comments:  
Woody45459
@sbcglobal.net
| UVerse I'm a month plus after install. Technicians were excellent and did a great job installing the service. I had a pre-existing wireless network, which they dismantled, and left me to setup the Uverse version. (Not difficult, but "not my job" either.) I had 802.11.n and there's is G, but it's working. Our "issue" has been the voice service. I replaced two POTS with two VOIP lines and we've had issues twice now, no useable service issues. The first was resolved with a 15 minute phone call, (from a cell phone) and the second was an hours long issue "national outage". Of course when you look at their website, it says "No Known Issues with the Uverse Network"....when the entire voice side is not functioning. I guess it depends on your definition of "issue". I've told them one more chance and their service, or lack thereof, will be history. | |
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dockoonce
@sbcglobal.net
| ATT rebates I went through the same stuff with ATT on the rebates. I called and the rep told me that my rebate was the "discount" I was getting on my bill each month for getting a package deal. I said "hum...cash back and a discount on my bill don't sound like the same thing". He said ordering online is a little confusing. I said it was not that confusing because while I was ordering online I was on a chat with a Uverse rep who was walking me through the process. I happened to save the chat and the rep clearly said I would be getting a pre paid Visa card with $250 on it. I asked if he would like for me to send him a transcript of my chat and he put me on hold. When he came back he said all he could get me was $50 on a Visa. However, he gave me an additional $20 off my bill per month plus a one time $100 credit. ATT is facing a lawsuit over these kinds of tactics. Call them and complain until they at least give you a credit. | |
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