US Telco Support > AT&T > AT&T U-verse > Static Phone and Terrible HD...Zero Customer Service

Static Phone and Terrible HD...Zero Customer Service

+ 95 HD Channels

You have 2 issues.

1. You were misled by a door 2 door agent, who is a contractor more than likely, about the HD pricing. the U300 does not come with HD, only "included" in the U450, other than that, its $10 a month.

2. Your installer did you no favors. If the picture is that bad, and the phone is static, he did not install it properly. I have the service, and my HD as well as SD are phenomenal. I have no static on my VOIP either. Contact Matt or one of the other Tier 2 reps on this forum and get a repair ticket in. Most of the time if you call in you get a repair that day.

We have a number of Tier-2 Technical Support Agents roam these very forums. I will message one of them and let them know about this thread. It may not be until Monday or Tuesday that you receive a response from them.
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Tom

I messaged Matt ( mmay149q , one of the Tier-2 Technicians) about this thread. Once he sees it and takes ownership of your issue, he will get them solved; it's what he does best. I asked him to make some magic happen for you.

Check his site profile out. He's had a lot of people say that he's solved their problems including my own problems.
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Tom

In the mean time, can you check out this thread...
»U-Verse Realtime v1.3.0.0

Download the utility and post some screenshots of the program's interface. That will allow us fellow forum users to see what's going on in your line.
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Tom

Two of your coax connections are bad, I can see that from the screenshots you provided. If you are dropping data on the coax connections due to a bad connector somewhere that can cause issues with freezing picture, bad picture, dropped sound, etc. Be sure to mention this to Matt.
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Tom

reply to F15Loader
I agree with the bamboozled by the door-2-door seller. I don't know whats going on, but my installer who was here told me a couple of horror stories about promises that are being made to customers that have absolutely NO basis in reality.

The $50 gift card is whats available on the website promo, at least in my area. She didn't throw it on to cover anything, she just said that to shut you up. It could be useful as a sales point, but it should be specifically mentioned, like: "There is a $29 activation fee for xxx (even my install had that same fee), but you will also be receiving a $50 gift card as a promotion to help offset that fee."

I heard that there was actually a customer promised a new XBox 360 if he signed up. wtf? There needs to be some accountability for these sellers.

I also agree with the tech did you no favors. Again, from talking with my tech, there are two kinds of installs. Those done properly, which means the tech knows what they are doing, and actually make sure the install is done correctly, and the ones who don't care and will get you "installed" to the point of operational enough to be considered installed, and will move on in the grind of the day. One thing my tech did say is its company policy to replace all coax connector ends on an install, even if they are new. Did your installer do it? If not, they broke policy and if that is the cause of your problem I'd be demanding some credit to the account for an improper install.
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I miss my dial-up modem... It was an error correcting modem... I seem to have so many typo's lately.....

Yea. She told me that policy (possibly local by the sounds of it) is to re-terminate all coax; Be it cable or wall plates. Said that it is something that is checked by QA and they look for the company colors/types.
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I miss my dial-up modem... It was an error correcting modem... I seem to have so many typo's lately.....

reply to F15Loader
Let me ask you about the phone porting issue, who was your original phone provider? The only reason why I asked is because sometimes without manual interaction from yourself talking to your original provider can cause U-Verse not to port the number. Also, the reason for multiple phone calls is because when there's an issue with the order someone calls, if no one picks up, they leave a message and notes it into the system and someone will call back again the next day or so (could be annoying when you already called back and informed them that it's already being handled since they're using 2 different systems to track what's going on).

Also, each garage has different policies set in place in terms of how a install should be done. I've seen policies where they have to replace the ends even if it looks really good and terminated correctly, they still gotta do it and I've seen them where it makes no mention about replacing the ends but making sure they're using the company provided splitters (the splitters you get from Radio Shack and from your Dish Network provider doesn't work with U-Verse).

And yes, going off the screen shot, you have HPNA issues so the installer didn't actually taken the time to check to make sure everything is correct.

As for the static on the phones, are you using a cordless or corded phone? And is it connected separately from where the gateway is located? If it's connected separately from where the gateway is located, try connecting it directly to the back of the gateway into the Phone Line 1/2 port (if the gateway is standing upright, it'll be second from the top, it's highlighted in White) and see if you're still getting static. It's preferred to use a corded phone but using a cordless phone is fine if that's all you have, just make sure you connect the wireless base up (this is probably a no brainier though). If you still get static on your phone after connecting directly to the gateway, then look at the white label on your gateway, on that white label it'll give you the model number, serial number, etc. Next to the model number you should see the letters RV next to it. If you don't, then you might want to look into getting your gateway replaced as those without the RV "flag" next to it is known to cause static on the phone line, even more so if the lines themselves (the last mile copper running from the DSLAM to your house) is perfectly clean (or within reason). If the gateway does have the RV flag then a tech would need to do a few more troubleshooting then, only then, he would get to contact Tier 2 for a ticket place to disable something within the gateway which should solve the static issue (then again, most of the time, I like to point the blame on the lines somewhere as that would be your determining factor).

Now, if you're getting crystal clear sound on your phone when plugged directly to the gateway but very poor quality at the original location, then it's something to do with your inside phone lines that needs to be resolved (and please make sure you're not using any DSL filters as that's normally your number 1 problems for voice quality on the U-Verse phone service).

Welp, I think I've provided with enough information for right now.

The phone porting wasnt that big of an issue for me. It was the incessant, late night phone calls from ATT that were just a PITA. It seems that they'd try to port the number and if it didnt work they'd call me. I mean, why else would they call in the AM, speak with someone and then call back in the PM? They left one message out of 4 or 5 calls.

As for the static on the phone lines...I did as you suggested and the phone didnt work at all. As a matter of fact I got a "check Line" error on my phone. It is a cordless but I assume it should have worked?

I did look on the gateway and I dont see the RV you refer to. However, by the looks of the gateway, its pretty old. It's obviously been around the block a few times...LOL. Its a 2-Wire 3800HGV-B.

Ya know, the more I discuss this, the more I'm amazed at how really bad this whole situation is. Lets a take a look...LOL.

-Sales rep lied to get us to sign up
-Installer jacked up the install
-Customer service rep refuses to adhere to deal laid out by lying sales rep
-Customer service rep tells the wife that she cannot speak to a supervisor. Pack up the equipment and send it back if she is not satisfied with the service.

The lies the sales rep told alone are enough to send me over the top...I still hear her saying..."Do you have a high definition TV? Well with this you'll get all of these channels plus 95 HD channels. Youre only gettin [such and such] with your current provider." and writing it on that paper.

It kills me...LOL..you'd think as an LEO you'd be hip to the scams out there...but I guess not, I really feel like I've been scammed.

Eh well...A lot of people at work are waiting for this to hit their area. I guess I'll just let em know how it worked out for me and let them decide.

reply to ILpt4U

reply to F15Loader
F15,

Give the customer service reps here a chance to work on this. They'll take good care of you.

No, I don't work for them..
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see my SBC Review @ »Review of AT&T Midwest by chris123

reply to F15Loader
Stop calling AT&T. Work through all these problems with the tierII guys on here. They WILL get your problems fixed. I've seen so many people with problems similar to yours actually get fixed thanks to them.

Just be patient and you will be very well taken care of.

And as far as the door2door sales guy, I'm sorry not much can be done about those idiots. I'm not sure but I don't even think they get training. Personally I slam the door in their face because of all the horror stories I've heard about the liars.

reply to F15Loader
Yeah, doesn't matter if it's a cordless phone as long as we're connecting it to the correct port. I've seen it where sometimes you'll have to reboot the gateway just to get it to working sometimes, though. Or it's also possible that the inner pairs (Line 1) is reversed (meaning it's the outer pairs (Line 2)) and so the tech did something different. In either case, sounds like a bad install.

Also, pro tip, take a look at the first 4 numbers of the gateway's serial number. First 2 number tells you the week it was built and the last 2 numbers is the year. For an example, if the serial number starts with 3208, then the gateway was built in the 32nd week of the year 2008. That will give you a good ideal how old the gateway is.

reply to F15Loader

reply to F15Loader
Just to put in my word for Matt, I can say that he has been nothing but exceptional for me. Our installer came and was unsure if we could even get service because of the lines in the area and our distance, yet after a fair amount of tweaking and calls to line techs, we have cleaned up our service so well that at around 3000 ft from the VRAD we get clean, excellent quality, 2HD/SD streams (which is relatively unheard of for U-verse at this distance).