 Review by Alakar 
UPDATED: 139 days ago
member for 8.6 years, 2717 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Milwaukee,Milwaukee,WI
 $105 per month
 about 5 days
 "Picture Quality, Whole House DVR, Internet Speed, Combined Billing"
 "Interleaved Internet Connection (Higher Pings)"
 "Better TV and price competitive."
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Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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DISCLAIMER: I am an AT&T employee (at least until July 20th when I get laid off) and work on Project Lightspeed/Uverse.
In March, Uverse became available in my area (53207). I ordered it right away, as I wanted to see what the product I worked on for the previous 2+ years was like, my employee discount price would save me money, and I wanted to see how it compared to the Time Warner service I had.
I ordered on March 10th over the phone. Because I'm an employee, I couldn't use the web ordering process. I ordered the U450 HD TV package with 1 DVR and 3 converter boxes, two VOIP lines and the 18/2 internet package. The customer service rep took the order without any issues and said the disconnection of my AT&T DSL line and phone lines would take place during installation and that my phone numbers would be ported at that time. Installation was set up for March 17th at 10:00am.
On March 17th the installer called 15 mins early to tell me he was at the cross box and that my existing service would be cut off. He showed at the house about 10mins later and got started right away. After looking at the existing wiring he informed me that the install would be easy (I had rewired the phone lines and coax throughout the house two years earlier). He got to work right away only needing to back feed the phone lines and coax to the RG. The DVR and two boxes were connected by coax and the remaining box hooked up by CAT5. Internet service was up and running 30 mins after the install started and the whole install was completed in 2 hours.
DVR Box is a Motorola VIP1225, the other three are Motorola VIP1200's. The RG is a 2Wire. Don't know the brand of the remotes but I assume they are standard for Uverse and have alot of funtions. They work for all of my TV's and my DVD player. The equipment has been trouble free.
TV service has been great. Standard Def picture is way better then anything from TW Cable or any of the sat providers I've seen. Even on my HD set the SD picture is excellent. HD quality is good and is better then the TW HD in my area. I can't say whether other providers have better HD quality, but I'm very satisfied with Uverse's HD quality. The onscreen guide is okay and gives alot of information but seems a little cramped to me. The whole house DVR works flawlessly and is a great feature. Another feature that I really like is the Web Remote. Lets you manage your recordings from the web; schedule, erase, stop, start, etc.
The VOIP service has been very good and I haven't noticed any difference from my old POTS lines. The installer provided a UPS for the RG that will keep the VOIP going for several hours. The nicest thing about the VOIP is the online call management. You can listen to voice mails, set your call forwarding, check missed calls, look at call history, etc. It also integrates with your cell phone if you have AT&T Wireless.
Internet service has been good and reliable. I get the full 18/2 Mb speed and even with all four TV's on and one playing a HD stream, my speeds have dropped no lower then 17 Mb speeds. The only issue with the internet is I am an online gamer and pings can make a big difference, especially with player vs player. Uverse internet uses a interleaved setup that increases pings. My pings have doubled from my old DSL service and in World of Warcraft my pings average 150ms. In America's Army my pings have about doubled from my old line (about 65ms). If you game online and lag, or lack of it is important to you, this is something to consider.
Overall I am very satisfied with my AT&T Uverse service. It's been reliable and the TV picture quality has been great; internet is fast and reliable. As I mentioned earlier, I am an employee and get an employee discount, so this service is a great deal for me. Non-employee pricing for the same services would run me about $240 a month. I don't know if I will keep all the services at that price after I leave the company in July, but after comparing prices, I will keep some type of Uverse service. Prices are comparable to TW in this area and I know the picture quality is better.
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