meathead39
| reply to justin
Re: Review AT&T U-Verse
standard def is good. HD is a waste of money. I have 3 hd tv's ranging from 47 to 60 inch (all LG) i had comcast HD service previously and pic in hd was great, quality with the pic over IP is not really so great. Very pixelated has a tendency to freeze or just drop the channel quite often Internet speed ROCKS
Customer service however is a joke and then some |
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dahlia
@pacbell.net
| reply to justin
I signed up for AT&T U-Verse. The installer was here for 7.5 hours and couldn't get it to work. The next day a repair person from AT&T came out...let me know we did not have enough power to run it. We were too far from the main box, though it seemed when I signed up we could get the service. You need to be within 3000 feet of the box because of the type of wire they used. We were about 3200 feet away. They said if they could get it up and running we could have problems...not be able to run more than one HD tv with the service and disruptions. AT&T should have checked this out before the installer spent 7.5 hours here. The installer cannot do outside wiring. |
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rontom
join:2006-04-09
Saint Louis, MO
2 edits | reply to justin
ATT U-verse was installed on 11Feb09 with an AM appointment between 8-10. The tech arrived at 0815 after first calling. My install went very well and I was informed my distance to the VRAD was 400ft. The tech ran cat5 cable from the inside of my house (basement) to my desktop computer location. My desktop PC is hard-wired into the modem (the wireless capability is disabled for now). I ordered the u-100 service with HD upgrade and everything seems just fine so far. The tech did a very neat job and even installed a new phone jack for my existing land phone next to the computer. I also ordered the "Pro" level internet service and I'm now getting download speeds of 2.844Mbps and upload speeds of 965kbps. The install took approx. 2.5hours with just one TV. Very happy so far and if this changes I will update. |
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rickduva
join:2000-10-30
Cocoa, FL | reply to NC Joe
The website says you can pause/rewind live tv |
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Garfield
join:2008-03-17
Alpharetta, GA
| reply to justin
Had my install last Monday. Scheduled on-line, and picked the 8-11am time slot. First installer called at about 8:15, to say that he was going to take down my phone line while he worked at the VRAD. At about 8:30, he was at my house with the 2nd installer. Got my NID replaced, and line tested, and then the first installed left, and the second got to work figuring out to how to do the install.
Ended up using existing coax, which I was a bit worried about, but everything looks fine. Two HDTV's, one STB and one DVR. 6/1 internet as well. By about 2pm, everything was done and working.
I do get about 5.9Mbit download, when I test a couple of test sites, and I used to have 1.5MBit with "old" bellsouth DSL.
TV quality seems fine, about on par with comcast cable, although I didn't do an A/B comparison. But nothing really stands out being different. For my downstairs TV, it's hooked up with HDMI to the TV and optical to my processor. On some channels, I do see an occasional quick sound drop as others have noted. DVR box seems fast, no problems so far.
Upstairs, I had the STB with component and RCA cables direct to the TV, but had a nice background hum over my TV speakers as well as a vertical scrolling 2 fuzzy bars on the TV screen. Changed to a HDMI cable, and the problem went away.
Overall, I like it so far, and haven't had any real problems. After reading a lot of negative reviews, I was nervous about switching, so I am glad I went with this. No to see how much money I can save over comcast. |
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Polypmaster
@sbcglobal.net
|  reply to justin
U-Verse Install
Ordered U-Verse after the apartment complex decided to stop paying for basic cable through Time Warner (+$17 per month). I already despised Time Warner, so I figured it was time.
Guy came out at noon yesterday to hook everything up. He went out to the box and came to my place around 1:30-2pm. Install went fine at first, got the gateway hooked up and then the TV in the same room. He tried to patch into the coax lines in the house to run the signal downstairs, but apparently there is no splitter anywhere in the walls. From what we could tell they must have put the splitter at the cable box just outside my place and all the cables run from there.
So we wasted an hour doing that, then he decided to use the cat5 to go downstairs. Hit another snag when it turned out that the wiring was not hooked up properly throughout the apartment, so he had to find the source of the problem and reconnect all the phone lines. He couldn't find where the bad connection was for a while, and we discussed drilling possibilities (turns out there were no feasible options). That wasted another 1.5 hours.
So finally, he ran cat5 from the gateway upstairs to the downstairs outlet. We tried to hook up the DVR box, but no link. Seems that the phone line here has a buffer or something wrong with it and it cannot support enough bandwidth. We discussed getting into the crawlspace to see if he could do anything, but luckily it did not come to that. He decided he would rewire the phone line in the apartment (since we do not have home phone service) and he got the connection to work.
Except that it did not work. Turns out that he had the old DVR and not the new one. For some bizarre reason, if you sign up for the service with the new DVR, you will not get a connection at all with the new one. Tier 2 tech support had to redo my entire service to get the old box to work. We were already late for dinner, so tech support said they would call back at 9:30pm to verify the service worked when we get back (notice the time between when they started and now?). So we get back and hook it back up, and voila, the downstairs TV works!
Except it still didn't work. We were now getting a signal, but it was so choppy that it was unwatchable (max 1 fps, average 1 fp10s). I spoke with tech support and told him thre was major packet loss. He checked the system and told me he was not seeing any packet loss, but there was frame loss. Maybe I am confused, but it is my understanding that data is data, no matter what it is, so frame loss is packet loss. Either way, it didn't work.
He tried to schedule a tech to come out today, but his system kept giving him errors. He finally put in a manual maintenance order in, gave me a phone number and pin number to call this morning, and told me to verify with them that the order went through. Well I called, but the pin was apparently invalid. So I was forced to call the second dumbest tech support people there is, tier 1 support (first is TWC). She told me there was no order in the system and then had to transfer me back to tier 2. I finally got them to put a work order in for today at noon-2 (still not here at 12:25).
While I was waiting for them to come back, I remembered something very important from work. I work with videoconferences at work all day, and the #1 fix to a packet loss problem is be sure there are no hand-made cables hooked up. Well, there are of course 2 hand-made cables in the system, one from the gateway to the upstairs wall, and one downstairs from the wall to the box. I happened to have a few extra cat5 cables lying around, including one that was provided with the gateway, so I replaced the hand-made ones with the factory-made ones, and it worked! Not just a little bit, but perfect!
So now I am waiting for them to show up and replace my DVR. According to the tech support they cannot make a service call just to replace the DVR. I am not sure if this is true or if the guy was just an idiot, but if it is and I can't get my box there are going to be problems.
Overall I am annoyed, but the ease of use with the new system over TWC makes up for it. I have new equipment that functions properly and quickly. My internet is supposed to be 6 Mbps, but the speed tests I have done range from 4 Mbps to 19 Mbps. I am questioning the second number, but I got it to hit that twice. The gateway says my downstream is 29 Mbps and my up is 2, so I guess it is physically possible. I will post an update when then tech finally shows up. |
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GrnFld
Premium
join:2005-05-23
Greenfield, IN
clubs:
| reply to justin
Re: Review AT&T U-Verse
My install was 02/25/2009 .. U-400, 6mb Internet, Unlimited phone ... install was set for Noon .. installer called about 15 min. before that he was on his way ... arrived right on time ... was extremely professional and courtious.
'Always' kept me informed of what he was doing, explaining everything in clear, non-geek-speak (even though I 'am' a geek  )
Always cleaned up after himself as he moved from place to place.
All the U-Verse estimates I've seen on installs state "4-6 hours" ... however he was done in just 1 1/2 (!)  ... said it was one of the easiest he's ever done (single SD TV, phone, 1 desktop PC, one wireless laptop).
Have been 'up and running' for 4 days now ... and have 'just scratched' the surface of what I have.  
TV, phone and internet have all performed flawlessly ... picture is 'fabulous' (much / noticibly better than what I got with Comcast Digital).... phone is great ... as is internet (both desktop and laptop use the same 'wireless adapter' to communicate with the main 2wire box.
Overall (at this point) ... definitely high marks.
'Now' ... just have to wait for that 'first bill' to come .. and hope it's in the range that I was told it would be in.
~ Satisfied customer, Greenfield, Indiana |
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ttugrad95
join:2004-01-27
Allen, TX
| reply to justin
I just had Uverse installed yesterday at my new house. They just upgraded the neighborhood and have been going door to door signing people up, although I had already ordered.
First of all I was not overly impressed with the install process. They guy said he would have to run wire around the outside of the house and go into the rooms through the exterior walls. I have a coax outlet in every room, including kitchen and couldn't understand why this was necessary. He first said he would do it in cat 5 which I was somewhat cool with because I thought could use it for a wired home network as well but he didn't have enough with him so he used coax. I now have coax literally running around the entire roofline of my house and up to one of upstairs bedrooms I use as an office. I also now have 2 coax outlets in each room where there is uverse, in the master bedroom they are side by side. I'm pretty particular about things and would expect better of myself and definitely a professional.
I have had Dish Network for the last few years and am not that impressed with the TV service overall. I have a 65" Mitsubishi DLP and was a little disjointedness that the uverse is not 1080p. Granted nothing from them led me to believe it was, I just assumed this "cutting edge" technology would be. The picture is dark forcing me to crank up the bright levels on my TV to be able to view it with somewhat bright room conditions. I also have the HD package and don't really find the HD picture any better than Dish's normal channels and its not even close to the picture quality I was getting with the set top antenna I was using in the interim time between moving in and the install. Yes I did change the settings to 1080i and am using an HDMI cable. In my bedroom where I just have a standard def tv the picture is decent, at least as good as that TV is capable of but the volume level is low. This morning I had the volume on the receiver all the way up and the volume on the tv almost all the way up to be able to hear it. I had it set to record some shows last night while I was out and when I got home I tried to watch them and the DVR kept locking up. The picture would freeze, then eventually the box would reboot sometimes taking 5-10 minutes. At first I thought it was due to me hitting the fast forward button too much but I found that it would do it if I didn't touch anything. I also noticed it seemed to do it more on standard def recordings than HD ones. I also noticed that some of the shows had multiple recordings so it looks like the box reset itself a few times when doing the recordings and I missed getting all of some of my shows (and a 2 hour 24 was last night!). I'm going to see how it acts tonight when I get home but currently the DVR service is almost unusable.
Now in all fairness, the good. Picture changing is very fast, almost as fast as the days of basic cable connected directly to the tv without a STB. Selection of HD channels is good. I have the elite DSL which I also had at my last address (non uverse) and it seems much faster than it was there. While the speedtest results are the same my previous DSL seemed to have issues when doing things like loading multiple web pages at once. I was able to hook up my PS3 using a power wire adapter (HPNA?) which works much faster than the wireless connection I had been using. The only bad I found is I had to unplug the modem a few times while arranging things and it took about 10 minutes to re-sync.
I'll give AT&T every opportunity to get it working properly but at some point I may have to choose reliability over technology. |
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Polypmaster
@oar.net
| reply to Polypmaster
UPDATE
Ok, so to update my status, everything is working perfectly. The tech came out on Sunday and replaced the DVR. It took a while to get the service working with the new box, but that was just sitting there waiting for AT&T to call.
The tech that came out had been to my complex before, and he showed me where the coax splitter is (in the hall closet). To be fair, the tech told me he only knew that because he had done an install a year ago in my complex and he had to crawl through the attic to find where the cables led. I showed him the hand-made cables I replaced and he laughed at how crappy they were.
My internet connection seems to have slowed down to between 4-7 consistantly now, so maybe AT&T is keeping a better eye on my line now that everything is set up properly. My max speed for the system is 52 Mbps, so I hope they can bump up my speed and give me 3 HD streams soon. |
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Marlee1029
join:2003-01-13
Lake Worth, FL
| reply to justin
Re: Review AT&T U-Verse
Just thought I'd chime in. Waited until now to post, as I think 3 months is a fair trial period.
11/08
Installer was 45 minutes late, looked around and informed me that the install might not be possible with the locations of my TVs and computers. After I showed him where the cable junction box was and agreed to the placement of the Gateway in the master closet, everything went fine. Installer was very professional and kept me informed as to what he was doing. He could not run Cat-5 to my computers (one in garage, one in bedroom) and attached "2-Wire" USB wireless adapters.
One 32" LCD in bedroom w/DVR, One 42" LCD in living-room w/d-stb, and on 32" TV in 2nd bedroom w/d-stb. VOIP unlimited and 10Mb "Elite" internet.
Everything worked great, can record 2 HD programs while watching a 3rd, VOIP is clear and steady, hardly any impact on bandwidth during overseas call that lasted 90 minutes.
Internet connectivity close enough to stated speeds to make it well worth the extra cost. Then it started. Intermittent loss of internet connection on both desktops.
I narrowed it down to the USB adapters, tested and re-tested until I was 100% positive that the crap "2-Wire" adapters where the cause. Called AT&T U-Verse Support and got the standard run around. Thirty minutes later I got a really stupid operator in the Philippines that informed me I would have to contact "2-Wire" directly as AT&T does not support the equipment they install. Afer requesting that i be transferred to tier-2 service, a tech in the U.S. gave me a $50. credit on the adapters so I could replace them with something better. Got permission from the management company to drill two small holes in the closet walls and ran Cat-5e to each computer and now all is well again.
So far so good. Cheaper then TWC too! Really like that I can manage everything from my Desktop or laptop including DVR and voicemail.
By the way this all takes place in San Antonio, Texas. We moved and I forgot to update my dslreports profile. |
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TheDuck
join:2003-06-22
Eastlake, OH
| reply to justin
Uverse was installed Tuesday and the install went great. With 20 years as a network specialist I pre-wired the four sets with CAT5e and also rewired my phone lines so the technician only had to install the hardware. The tech noticed they had sent a DVR with the small hard drive so he took it back to the office and changed it with one with the large hard drive. The Technician was very knowledgeable and pleasant and everything went smoothly.
As for the service I find the HD a serious drop in quality from the cable and OTA. It looks like a lot of fine detail is missing and the video is too far in the black level.
My wife complained that the phone takes too long to connect but otherwise the VOIP has worked fine so far. I am waiting to see how the bill shakes out as she makes a few calls to the UK every month and has been going over the limit on US long distance calls.
I haven't noticed any difference in the DSL so far.
I am 2700 feet from the VRAM and have a very clean line since the underground drops have been replaced a couple years ago. |
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HappyUverseSJ
@sbcglobal.net
| reply to justin
I'm in San Jose, CA. Just got 10Mbps (too bad they don't have 18Mbps in my area!) Internet + U200 TV. I'm pretty happy with my service so far. Internet speed is as advertised. I'm downloading at 1.2MB/s and uploading at 185KB/s which is what I expected. Installation from the tech took about 4-5 hours due to the crazy routing they had to do. Pretty satisfied so far. Hopefully the service does not go bad on me. |
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jeslevine7
join:2006-01-19
San Jose, CA
| reply to justin
Had UVERSE installed on March21. U300, 4 TVs, and 6 meg internet. Located in San Jose California area, and so far am very happy.
Everything works as advertised. The SD streams are terrific, and the HD streams are comparable to Dish, though Dish might be slightly better, in my view it is not significant
We will see how it holds up
Only features I wish they had were 3 simultaneous HD streams, and start a recording from a non DVR, though you can start a recording from the internet which is nice |
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Boricua65
join:2002-01-26
Puerto Rico
| reply to justin
The initial install date was March 20th, but there was problem so it was postponed. I finally had mine installed March 28th. This time, the install went smoothly. The tech I got on the 28th seemed more knowledgable than the previous one. I also had the Pro when I had dry-loop DSL and retained the same Pro.
Flipping through channels has been a breeze with very minimal lag time. I was able to record a couple of programs when I had to step out. Viewing the programs later was a cinch.
The package I got is the U300 plus the Paquete Espanol. I got three STBs with one DVR. My roommate told me it took him two hours, but he manage to go through all the channels to see what is available, plus set up his box to be in Spanish.
So far, I've been rather happy with it. It got me to start watching more and more TV . I have scheduled a couple more programs to be recorded in case I'm not home.
I will provide a follow up in about two to three weeks to see how it all holds up.
--
Yo te digo, el mundo esta jodido |
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SinNombre
join:2004-09-16
Charlotte, NC | reply to NC Joe
Also living in Charlotte in the SE side, and I've been told one or two larger neighborhoods are getting it soon. anyone have additional information on the Charlotte market and UVerse? |
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Boricua65
join:2002-01-26
Puerto Rico | Lo mejor posible es llamar a ellos. El numero de telefono es 1-800-288-2020. Buena suerte.
--
Yo te digo, el mundo esta jodido |
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Daleon
join:2005-01-30
Norcross, GA
| reply to justin
Had my install yesterday. u200 package with 18meg net. 1 DVR and 3 receivers.
They used existing phone line from pole to house then wired into the coax splitters in my roof. Installer said we were 2000ft from node. No real problems with tv reception. Net speeds are very good. Getting sustained d/l's of 2-2.2 megs a sec.
HMDI to 37" Westinghouse I use as my monitor/tv. The std channels look really good. But I am use to the full screen I would get with cable and now get the boxed picture with bars no matter what aspect ratio I try. I also can't get any of the advertised HD channels even though my service is supposed to have it so have to call them and check on that.
The DVR is ok, will defintely hate giving up my tivo though. |
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SoCalPaul
join:2009-04-14
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
| reply to justin
I saw an installer outside my neighbors installing Uverse so I quizzed him on all the problems I heard about the service (freezing up, poor video, etc…) he told me that we would not have to worry about it since there is a fiber optic line just across the street but he has had these problems when the line is much farther away. I decided to try it out as I wanted at the extra features and I couldn’t be happier. I used the installer’s advise and went to »uversereferral.att.com used code PA1414428 then use promotional code “EXTRAGIFT” on checkout which gave an additional $25.00 cash back ($200 already by signing up online) then before finishing online order went to “Chat” at top of page and told them my neighbor got an additional $100.00 cash back for ordering the same day which they added at end of order so I got a total of $325.00 Cash Back for ordering online. Way better than the deals at AT&T stores or the kids coming to the door (no cash back).
Service is awesome, picture is great and don’t forget to watch mail for the cash back cards as they look like junkmail and I’m sure many people have thrown them in the trash without opening them. I love being able to go online from work and schedule shows to record (I never miss a football game now because I’m running late or forget to record it). |
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anon69
@sbcglobal.net
|  reply to justin
Tv is OK but not better than free antenna to my digital TV. I live 16 miles West of Chicago. So for me it is not worth paying for. They just never turned off the introductory price. I ordered a step up in DSL speed but I did not notice any differece, so I will go back to the standard. ATT Uverse online does give you good control of your landline phone.
I was able to block a recorded message from Sally Mae that was programmed to call me every day. FCC would not do anything because they were not telemarketing. They just had my number erroneously as one of their customers. Repeat attempts to call them did not work.
The Uverse takes forever to log into giving information to many different websites before you get in. It also logs you out randomly.
If you need to talk to some one at ATT you can eventually get around all the talk to a machine requests. After you have wasted about 10 minutes of your time a rep will talk to you and stay on until you get an answer if it is aon their placards. |
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kj77
@comcast.net
| reply to justin
U-verse FREEZES and they tell me it's my TV
We all put in to buy a nice new 32" Magnavox HD TV/DVD for Christmas for our disabled Mother this past year.
Basic Comcast cable was installed before, but my brothers decided to go with ATT U-verse a couple months ago. There were no issues with the Comcast Cable, but with U-verse, the TV freezes. For long periods of time - at least 20 minutes, maybe more.
ATT came out twice, replaced the box, but the problem continues. It is only on one TV that there are issues, but my mom is disabled and in bed most of the day - so it is a big deal when its her new TV.
ATT tells us that the problem is our TV - the freezing of a program that they are providing is because of our TV.
Seeing all the other complaints, I don't believe them, but don't know how to address it. She now watches a fat old TV that has no issues...yet.
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