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rgsalinger
join:2006-11-02
Vista, CA

rgsalinger

Member

Dont fall for their trap

After 18 months of experience with Uverse I'd say that it's a trap. Clearly ATT has rolled out something which is simply not a reliable service. As a very longstanding DSL customer I have been shocked at the number of different and mostly transient problems that have occurred. The only good thing I can report is that the tech support line is easy to reach late at night. Beyond that, frankly, not so good.
I've had multiple boxes fail, multiple internet outages - three in the past month - all sorts of TV issues, etc etc. I think that they should just stick to DSL, at least around here in Southern California.

Sebehk
USN Retired, 1993-2013, yvan eht nioj
Premium Member
join:2002-02-09
Pueblo, CO

Sebehk

Premium Member

Since (forcefully) switching in September 2011, I've had no problems with the 2 TV boxes and the gateway installed in my apartment. Although the Uverse technician had no idea how to connect the gateway to my Airport Extreme (I was underway), I was able to do it after doing some research.

My only complaint is the price for the speed. I was paying less for higher speeds with Cox than with AT&T for pricier and slower Internet. At least the 18 megabits that I am paying for has been very consistent anytime of the day.

--->Robert
8-)

Darknessfall
Premium Member
join:2012-08-17
Motorola MG8725
Asus RT-N66

1 edit

Darknessfall

Premium Member

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We've had U-verse for 4 years now without any major issues. Only issues we had were on one summer back then where the gateway should began to restart every couple days but that was fixed by itself after a little bit. The only other time was when our gateway was failing a couple months ago.

Ignore those errors that occurred 17 hours ago as they were probably maintenance as my line stats improved slightly.Before 17 hours ago I only had corrected blocks without any uncorrectables,errors, failures, or link retrains.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

1 recommendation

NormanS to rgsalinger

MVM

to rgsalinger
said by rgsalinger:

After 18 months of experience with Uverse I'd say that it's a trap. Clearly ATT has rolled out something which is simply not a reliable service.

There exist AT&T customers with legacy ADSL, and longstanding problems.

There exist AT&T customers with U-verse ADSL2+/VDSL, and trouble free operation.

DSL, regardless of the revision level, is dependent on the condition of the wiring; plant or premises.

Each installation is, mostly, unique, so any one customer's experience normally can't be extrapolated as a "class" problem.
Austinloop
join:2001-08-19
Austin, TX

Austinloop to rgsalinger

Member

to rgsalinger
I have had U-Verse TV and internet for over 3 years with no problems, other than defective set top box.
rgsalinger
join:2006-11-02
Vista, CA

rgsalinger

Member

Of course they said they'd send someone out to fix it but no one showed up for the second time. Nothing but trouble here. Incidentally, ALL of the wiring was done by ATT when the system was installed. I insisted on them wiring directly to my home gateway and the DVR in our family room. Even then I had one guy come out, look at the wiring to the gateway and say it wasn't theirs and replace it. ATT doesn't actually have people that work for them doing the repairs they're all independent contractors from what I can see. One guy was so horrible looking that my wife wouldn't let him in the house.

Forosnai
join:2011-09-30

Forosnai to rgsalinger

Member

to rgsalinger
You couldn't be more wrong. All Uverse work (inside your home and on the outside plant) is done by bona fide ATT employees. ATT only uses contractors to dig trenches and bury wires.
Your experience with Uverse is going to be as unique as any consumer's. I've had Uverse since 2009, and had Comcast cable and ATT DSL for years prior. My experience with all 3 different services has been extremely pleasant.
In the past 3 years I've never had to replace a single TV receiver. The 3 tech visits I've needed to clean up line errors were extremely pleasant.
Maybe I'm lucky cause my outside plant is new, or perhaps it is because I take a critical approach to my Consumer + ISP relationship?
There are a host of good resources available here and at ATT's website to assist with resolving problems.
Posting on a board such as this to just complain isn't critical. That's what the DSL reports reviews and resources such as consumer reports are for.
UverseTech2
join:2012-08-04

UverseTech2 to NormanS

Member

to NormanS
Norman I could not agree more, there are no two installs the same, I don't care if they are fed by the same terminal. There are so many factors that can cause interference. I have said this from the beginning when I first started, leave it to ATT and Microsoft (IPTV) to come up with the most complex way to deliver video, data and voice. It is an antiquated solution. They should ReThink what they are doing because uverse is over compressed video and slow internet, thats it. When 24Mb is the fastest internet available thats ridiculous. They could offer 30-50 Mb on many internet only connections but they choose not to because in my opinion they do not want people to start cutting the video in lieu of internet only video services. Its just greed and thats reflected in poor quality techs in the field today.

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker to rgsalinger

Premium Member

to rgsalinger
Yes, Uverse is extremely over complicated. Combine that with strict time limits on installs and you end up with customers like rgsalinger.
Paralel
join:2011-03-24
Michigan, US

Paralel to rgsalinger

Member

to rgsalinger
I had some initial difficulties with my UVerse install. However, once I identified the problem, and had them replace the underground 4 color, while I rewired the rest myself, I haven't had any trouble for going on 3 1/2 years now. Although, I do acknowledge that most people do not have the time nor expertise necessary to identify and/or repair the problems themselves.

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx to rgsalinger

Premium Member

to rgsalinger
said by rgsalinger:

Clearly ATT has rolled out something which is simply not a reliable service.
...
I think that they should just stick to DSL, at least around here in Southern California.

I had a different experience. I had U-verse in SoCal for 3 years (TV service for a year, but kept internet). It didn't go down once the entire time. I've had way more "micro-outages" with cable in the year I've had it.

The reason I left AT&T was the technology wasn't keeping up. HD quality is not as good as DirecTVs, and Time Warner offers faster speeds with lower latency.

ridebud
Challenge Accepted
join:2003-12-06
usa

ridebud to rgsalinger

Member

to rgsalinger
I recently got the uverse internet service, previously had comast hsi, and att dsl before that.

When I had regular DSL, it was pretty solid. Years ago they ran a new feed line to my house when the pots line went bad.

Now when I got uverse, initially I had a lot of trouble. It would connect, disconnect, take forever to sync etc. I ran a new cat5e directly from the nid to my 3600, and its been rock solid.

Collected for 10 Days 17:46:29
Since Current Current Time Since
Reset 24-hr int. 15-min int. Last Event
DSL
Link Retrains 0 0 0 0:00:00
DSL Training Errors 0 0 0 0:00:00
Training Timeouts 0 0 0 0:00:00
Loss of Framing Failures 0 0 0 0:00:00
Loss of Signal Failures 0 0 0 0:00:00
Loss of Power Failures 0 0 0 0:00:00
Loss of Margin Failures 0 0 0 0:00:00
Cum. Seconds w/Errors 0 0 0 0:00:00
Cum. Sec. w/Severe Errors 0 0 0 0:00:00
Corrected Blocks 0 0 0 0:00:00
Uncorrectable Blocks 0 0 0 0:00:00
DSL Unavailable Seconds 0 0 0 0:00:00
JoshCloud9
join:2001-08-25
Atlanta, GA

JoshCloud9 to rgsalinger

Member

to rgsalinger
I had Uverse at a previous address as a replacement for regular ATT ADSL...
I have to say that it was super reliable in spite of the terrible condition overhead wiring to the house. Apparently squirrels like to chew on the wires!

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx to rgsalinger

Premium Member

to rgsalinger
This is the best statement I've read any where on the subject:

"DSL, regardless of the revision level, is dependent on the condition of the wiring; plant or premises."

What you get may not be the same as your neighbors.

Tech007
Premium Member
join:2013-01-25
Belleville, IL

Tech007 to Paralel

Premium Member

to Paralel
said by Paralel:

However, once I identified the problem, and had them replace the underground 4 color

There's a reason why those old non-twisted 4-color drops are supposed to be replaced anytime we find them, because they don;t support data
Paralel
join:2011-03-24
Michigan, US

Paralel

Member

said by Tech007:

said by Paralel:

However, once I identified the problem, and had them replace the underground 4 color

There's a reason why those old non-twisted 4-color drops are supposed to be replaced anytime we find them, because they don;t support data


I know. Apparently the guy who did the initial install was hoping he could get away with leaving the underground 4-color, and NID filter that was out of date and did not support VDSL by just putting us on a lower profile. As you can imagine, it created serious problems with the service until it was rectified.