Enlightener
join:2006-01-28
Cedar Park, TX
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to MarkyD
Re: U-Verse AVAILABLE in my FTTP area in OKC
You know, you and I are on the same page. Many people who've read my rants probably won't believe me, but I have no bad blood for AT&T and I really just want it to work out also. After all, I do continue to have Elite FTTP w/metered service for $48/mo inc tax.
Still, I didn't even have to place an order to know that U-Verse is a dud and that it doesn't address the fundemental problems that you observed.
BTW, since we are so similar, may I suggest DirecTV to you? I'm confident that you would find it superior to Dish. |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
 ·Cox HSI
| reply to MarkyD
Well, that was short lived. We canceled it.
Over the last few days we experienced lots of freezing on the HD channels. A reboot of the STB and/or RG fixed it for a bit, and then it would come back. Also, the HD quality was very mediocre. To add to that, it was even worse when played back form the DVR.
A few more things that sealed the deal:
-no OTA capability on the STB
-single HD stream (this would not be an issue if they put an OTA tuner in the STB)
-no whole-home DVR. We did not think this would be an issue. However, the toddler in the house is used to sitting on the bed in our bedroom to watch a recorded show or two while my wife takes a shower, gets ready for the day, etc. This was no longer possible.
Little things, sure. But I wanted to give it a fair shot. For now, Dish Network HD proved to be a better, more mature solution.
When AT&T gets their act together in terms of reliability and features, I'll give it a try again. No bad blood here, just disappointment. I WANTED it to work out.
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more |
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wolverine_99
Premium
join:2004-12-07
Mckinney, TX
| reply to MarkyD
I have my U-Verse install tomorrow (FTTN, about 400-500 ft from the VRAD). I'm interested to see how it compares to DISH HD on my TV. I'll have HDMI & component cables so I can see which looks best. Currently using HDMI for my DISH HD signal and it looks great. I do hope it gets better for you. |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to wolverine_99
said by wolverine_99  :Are you using HDMI for both your DISH & Uverse TV connections? If so, what happens if you switch to HD component cables for your HD signal from Uverse? I've read about some people experiencing issues with the HDMI output, but I don't believe it's that widespread nor have I seen anything official. Just a thought. I'm using component for both because both seemed to be worse over HDMI. I'm not giving up on UVERSE yet. I'll keep it for a while to compare further... |
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wolverine_99
Premium
join:2004-12-07
Mckinney, TX
| reply to MarkyD
Are you using HDMI for both your DISH & Uverse TV connections? If so, what happens if you switch to HD component cables for your HD signal from Uverse? I've read about some people experiencing issues with the HDMI output, but I don't believe it's that widespread nor have I seen anything official. Just a thought. |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to etaadmin
said by etaadmin :said by MarkyD :I'm undecided at this point as to whether or not I'm going to keep it. The compression on HD channels is REALLY bad on dark scenes. I mean, horrible. The one HD stream is proving to be a challenge since the STB doesn't have a port for an OTA antenna, and my TV doesn't have a built in tuner. Do you have pix-elation and/or freeze-ups like many if not all of the FTTN (copper wires) customers? I suppose your FTTP setup should have no problems in this area. Some people at the at&t uverse forum say the HD quality is 'AWESOME' » utalk.att.com/utalk/board/messag···g&page=7 no freeze-ups. The HD picture is just not nearly as sharp and crisp as DishHD. Not even close. The SD is better, though.
I recorded a concert on HDNET on both Dish and UVERSE. The DishHD broadcast was crystal clear! The UVERSE broadcast was pixelated and not sharp at all. I'm very disappointed with the HD quality. |
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etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
Dallas, TX
| reply to MarkyD
said by MarkyD :I'm undecided at this point as to whether or not I'm going to keep it. The compression on HD channels is REALLY bad on dark scenes. I mean, horrible. The one HD stream is proving to be a challenge since the STB doesn't have a port for an OTA antenna, and my TV doesn't have a built in tuner. Do you have pix-elation and/or freeze-ups like many if not all of the FTTN (copper wires) customers? I suppose your FTTP setup should have no problems in this area.
Some people at the at&t uverse forum say the HD quality is 'AWESOME'
»utalk.att.com/utalk/board/messag···g&page=7 |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to MarkyD
I'm undecided at this point as to whether or not I'm going to keep it. The compression on HD channels is REALLY bad on dark scenes. I mean, horrible. The one HD stream is proving to be a challenge since the STB doesn't have a port for an OTA antenna, and my TV doesn't have a built in tuner.
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to MarkyD
OK, now that I've had a chance to play a bit...
Pros:
-SD picture quality is light years ahead of Dish Network. Considering most channels are still SD, this is nice. Even on "full zoom" having it stretched to fit, it still looks pretty dang good on my 42" LCD 1080p.
-VoD, even though the library is limited, is nice. Dish doesn't have this.
-Web Remote for scheduling programs...do like.
-Slick STB interface. I like it better than my Dish ViP 622 in terms of interface.
Cons:
-No multi-TV (whole home) DVR. This is already proving to be an annoyance, but we can live with it.
-No true "quick skip" function. The quick skip on Dish jumps in 30 second intervals, making it easy to skip commercials. The Moto STB only "scans" in 7 second intervals. It doesn't "skip." This is definitely annoying.
-HD channels definitely appear more compressed than the Dish HD channels. This is disappointing for sure, but given the fact that the SD channels now look acceptable on my HDTV, it's a fair trade-off.
-only 1 HD stream at a time.
-6/1mbps internet speeds are a little (lot) anemic for FTTP, but I suppose it's acceptable for now.
more to come later
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to MarkyD
a few first tests....
traceroute www.google.com
traceroute: Warning: www.google.com has multiple addresses; using 64.233.167.104
traceroute to www.l.google.com (64.233.167.104), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 home (192.168.1.254) 1.167 ms 0.593 ms 0.890 ms
2 76-205-244-3.lightspeed.okcbok.sbcglobal.net (76.205.244.3) 3.139 ms 7.924 ms 19.328 ms
3 71.147.73.214 (71.147.73.214) 3.697 ms 3.756 ms 2.713 ms
4 151.164.92.230 (151.164.92.230) 3.170 ms 3.521 ms 2.889 ms
5 ex1-p0-0.eqchil.sbcglobal.net (151.164.42.147) 22.427 ms 67.333 ms 22.579 ms
6 74.125.48.117 (74.125.48.117) 22.366 ms 22.423 ms 22.419 ms
7 216.239.46.245 (216.239.46.245) 23.150 ms 209.85.251.38 (209.85.251.38) 22.535 ms 22.636 ms
8 72.14.232.57 (72.14.232.57) 23.873 ms 23.416 ms 66.249.94.133 (66.249.94.133) 23.559 ms
9 72.14.232.74 (72.14.232.74) 32.029 ms 72.14.232.53 (72.14.232.53) 23.463 ms 23.486 ms
10 72.14.232.70 (72.14.232.70) 29.847 ms 64.233.175.26 (64.233.175.26) 24.686 ms py-in-f104.google.com (64.233.167.104) 23.910 ms
--- www.l.google.com ping statistics ---
20 packets transmitted, 20 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 23.554/23.967/24.737/0.361 m
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to apeface
said by apeface :That should have come up to the NOC a bit quicker than it did. There is only so much customer service can do to correct that type of issue, which shouldnt take them that long to figure out it isnt going to work and they need to escalate it. The test fttp accounts worked fine, but sometimes the first few real orders to come through get bugged up. It actually went to the NOC pretty early on in the process. The NOC had it for a couple hours and then came back and said everything was fine. Then, they started looking at the CO as the cause of the problem...ruled that out, then went back to the NOC who finally figured it out. I just wish I could know exactly what went wrong, for my own education.
Oh, and pics are still coming, just got too tied up playing last night. Pics to come =) |
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apeface
join:2000-09-16
Mckinney, TX
·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to MarkyD
That should have come up to the NOC a bit quicker than it did. There is only so much customer service can do to correct that type of issue, which shouldnt take them that long to figure out it isnt going to work and they need to escalate it.
The test fttp accounts worked fine, but sometimes the first few real orders to come through get bugged up. |
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etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
Dallas, TX
| reply to MarkyD
said by MarkyD :I work until 8 central, but you can be sure I'll be taking lots of pics and giving some impressions when I get home. Looking forward to those pics, please include some of your FTTP connection. |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to MarkyD
install done and working! Wife says that the SD channels look WAY better than Dish on our 42" 1080p LCD. She said it's significant. She cannot see a difference in the HD quality...but I'm sure I will 
She also likes the Microsoft software better than was on our Dish ViP 622. So far, it meets her approval! I work until 8 central, but you can be sure I'll be taking lots of pics and giving some impressions when I get home.
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to koolkid1563
said by koolkid1563 :Wow! Did she mention if the tech said what they did to fix it? the tech said it was over his head and he was not sure...all he knows is that the NOC fixed it. I'd love to know more... |
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koolkid1563
Premium,MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
clubs: | reply to MarkyD
Wow! Did she mention if the tech said what they did to fix it? |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to MarkyD
WAIT! HOLD THE PHONE! Wife just called and said that the tech came back and said that the NOC fixed it! So, RG is synced and STB's are being set up now 
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to MarkyD
another day comes and goes with no resolution. The tech finally left. They ruled out the CO as the source of the problem, and they have no freaking clue what is wrong. This is awesome  
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to MarkyD
tech has been sitting out in the truck all afternoon. Apparently he's STILL waiting on a tech to be dispatched to the CO to check out the Alcatel stuff. 
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to MarkyD
nothing new to report. Still not up and running. I'm at work, but the tech is at my house (wife is there.) He's sitting out in his truck waiting to hear something from the CO people. Apparently they have no idea what's wrong.
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more |
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