 amungus
Premium
join:2004-11-26
America
clubs:
| says it all.. "reporter complains about "digital ghosting or smearing" and occasional outages"
..says enough for me right there. and people still have this notion that if something is "digital" than it's "better" in all ways...
Sorry, no TV through my phone line anytime soon, even if they did have it here... NTSC (or better) needs REAL bandwidth and not some frail attempt at using a 50 year old rotten phone line. | |
|  | BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
 ·Comcast
·Comcast Formerly ..
| Re: says it all.. AT&T has done wonders on their picture quality from their lab tests, but it's still not enough.
They need to realize that iptv does not scale well. You can't really over subscribe it like cable and fios can. Capacity is a premium and they need to realize that ftth is the only solution to the problem.
--
"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" | |
| | | 
Mactron
el camino Real
Premium
join:2001-12-16
CM94sv
| Re: says it all.. said by BosstonesOwn  :...Capacity is a premium and they need to realize that ftth is the only solution to the problem. True. It's all about bandwidth. I just can't see this being a true competitor to FTTH or Cable. Sure glad I'm VZs foot print. I can look forward to FIOS... well may in 10 years, if ever. 
--
If only the Verizon CSRs worked this well.  | |
| | | | 
silversurfer2469
| Re: says it all.. said by Mactron :said by BosstonesOwn :...Capacity is a premium and they need to realize that ftth is the only solution to the problem. True. It's all about bandwidth. I just can't see this being a true competitor to FTTH or Cable. Sure glad I'm VZs foot print. I can look forward to FIOS... well may in 10 years, if ever. I thought FTTH was Fiber to the Hub, which is what U-Verse was, and Verizon FiOS was FTTP, Fiber to the Premises? I understand you're using the H as house, but I thought the CWa and IBEW officially blessed (cursed, since this is putting brothers outta jobs) was H was hub, P was premises)? | |
| | | | | koolkid1563
Premium,MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
clubs: | Re: says it all.. FTTH is Fiber to the Home, same as FTTP, Fiber to the Premise. U-verse is using FTTN, which stands for Fiber to the Node. | |
| 
johndoe303
join:2003-01-01
Boca Raton, FL
1 edit | Lesser of two evils NEITHER! I've dealt with ATT before.. I also had BS DSL before it went ATT.. Long story short, to hell with both of them.
As for my current situation with Comcrap I'm dealing with never ending slowdowns all throughout the day with no end in sight. | |
| | 
en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·DSL EXTREME
| Re: Lesser of two evils Had a chance to use Commiecast, but it was VERY pricey - even for basic service (installation fees, digital basic was $60 + $100 installation fee + remote rental, etc, etc)
AT&T U-verse is still not complete here in my area (VRAD doesn't have power yet), pricing is competitive
DirecTv - works for me. | |
| | |
silversurfer2469
| Re: Lesser of two weevils said by en102 :Had a chance to use Commiecast, but it was VERY pricey - even for basic service (installation fees, digital basic was $60 + $100 installation fee + remote rental, etc, etc) AT&T U-verse is still not complete here in my area (VRAD doesn't have power yet), pricing is competitive DirecTv - works for me. Commiecast? Comcrap I can see, but Commie would indicate communism, wherein all the people are supposed to receive the same from the government. Yeah, I know that's not accurate, but you can't use that for that giant company!
Guess you were getting ripped off. You need to call 1-800-COMCAST instead of your local office.
I'm getting like 170 all-digital channels. Comcrap FINALLY went all digital in our town, but only on the TV with the box; both of my cable-readies get analog channels, and my local channel 10 has a ghost on both those, but when I had DicTV I had to pay monthly for every TV, because you HAVE to have a receiver for every TV. My dad has Fish Network, and they offer 2 TVs on 1 dual-tuner PVR box, but demanded an extra $350 installation to wire it up that way, because he already had cables in his walls, and they said they'd have to fish new wires to "back-feed" and to feed the receiver with 2 inputs, then an output going to the 2nd TV, so he ended up with 2 boxes, and had to pay a bunch more because he got all stuck on the idea of a PVR for both his TVs, since that's what the yahoo at RadioShack got him hooked on. But dad has money to burn.
I also get all the HBOs, Showtimes, and Starz!s, kick-butt OnDemand catalog (I haven't even been able to unearth all the titles, let alone actually watch a significant amount of it. PLUS all the Music Choice channels... DicTV includes the music channels in their count of 155 channels, and Fish Network counts their music channels in their 60, 120, 180 packages my dad can get. My bill syas the video portion is $64.
I ponied up the extra $10 per month on the internet making it $43 instead of $33 to get 16Mbps downstream with what they call powerboost of 32 Mbps short-term bursts, with 2 Mbps upstream. I ran several of the tests at dslreports.com, and found I had sustained throughput of about 20Mbps, and one speed test allged I had 40.68 Mbps bursts, and upstream was consistently about 3.85 Mbps.
I got phone, too, which I really didn;t need since I've only had wireless for 4 years, but it worked out CHEAPER to include the landline because like Verizon FiOS or Cavalier, it's all or mouy expensive if you go all-a-cart! Especially since that made the install free going with their triple threat. FREE INSTALL. 3 TVS! No $100 install. Whoever you talked to must make commission based on total amount of sale, instead of SPIFFs like we had at RadioShack. I remember GIVING a customer a phone, and a penny ($99.99 phone with $100.00 instant rebate meant we actually had to GIVE a penny to the customer!) and I got a 220 SPIFF for that!
I also got Conbest's DVR, cheaper monthly than Tivo, and no stinkin tivo box to buy. The only bummer there is I cannot remove the hard drive like I could with my ReplayTV box, and it won't transfer shows to the computer using the CAT5 wire like my Replay, but my Replay is now out of warranty; if it dies, I need to trash it, or I will have to buy a new one, since I paid for a "lifetime" membership. Dumb, I know now.
Anyway, I got that for $150 per month. They said $130, but I got the $10 double-speed internet, and the DVR is $10 extra. The install was free, but there was some "activation" fee on my first bill of $30. The dude on the phone, after waiting 15 minutes to talk to him, said that was like when I signed up with Single-Air. Something about programming the public phone system to recognize where to send those calls to.
Anyway, call the 800 number, man. This is the age of sales. Someody there will kick you a sweet deal. They want customers. The only crappy thing was that i had to sign a contract, but you have to sign one for DicTV, Fish Network, Verizon DSL, Cavalier DSL, Single-Air, SplintPOS, and so on. So far, I ain't switchin! It's Craptastic! | |
| 
ftthz
If love can kill hate can also save
join:2005-10-17 | .. dunno know yet haven't tried uverse yet and till its released suck with comcast -.- ... would do dish but no where to put it | |
| guardfrog
join:2004-08-27
Dallas, TX
| Picture quality? Sure...he mentions "occassional" smearing and says it's a "minor" issue.
But he also says, "The aspect that most impressed me as a TV watcher was the picture quality. My Toshiba television has never had a picture that good. In fact, I've never seen a picture that good on any tube TV, even one using digital cable." | |
| | 
ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA | Re: Picture quality? Here all the channels look good. When I had Comcast digital, the locals were unbearable, channel changing was slow and the boxes were fugly. | |
| radougherty
join:1999-07-23
Austin, TX | What a joke I love his comment attractive to those with high-definition TVs , what HD owner would want only one stream into the home at a time? | |
| | keyboard5684
join:2001-08-01
Youngsville, PA
 ·Teliax VOIP
 ·WestPAnet Inc.
·WestPAnet Inc. CA..
| Re: What a joke Me. No really, I just got an HD tv for my living room. I do not have any more HD tvs in the house and probably would not be doing much recording of HD while I am watching an HD stream.
But, for TV (not that I am in the area of ANY real cable company) I think sat is and always will be the way. Yep, DTV, DSL and Vonage and I am done. Now, in 10 years I bet my area still has the same offerings... | |
| | | shoan
join:2006-02-27
Benton, AR
| Re: What a joke I only have one HD tv in my house and have no plans of putting one in my bedroom or my kids bedrooms for a LOOOOOONG time. So one HD stream is fine for me considering that most HD content is crap anyways. I am using Dish Network for my HD. Give it a few years and i might need more than one stream at a time but until then i'm happy with one stream. | |
| | | | radougherty
join:1999-07-23
Austin, TX
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: What a joke said by shoan :I only have one HD tv in my house and have no plans of putting one in my bedroom or my kids bedrooms for a LOOOOOONG time. So one HD stream is fine for me considering that most HD content is crap anyways. I am using Dish Network for my HD. Give it a few years and i might need more than one stream at a time but until then i'm happy with one stream. So you have no plans to record one HD channel while watching another with their DVR? | |
| | | | | 
morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:
1 edit | Re: What a joke how dare you point out the obvious! don't you see that shoan wants to live in ignorance? | |
| | | | | | 
Topmounter
Sent By Grocery Clerks
join:2001-02-20
Evergreen, CO | Re: What a joke I only have one TV and I could record 2 HD channels simultaneously on my Moxi box with Charter two years ago. | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
silversurfer2469
| said by djrobx :Yes, but most people I know with just one HDTV want to record at least two primtime shows at once on their DVR. I realize there's a group of you out there that thumb your nose up at network programming, but we're talking about "general" uses, and the ratings say that's what the vast majority of people watching TV are tuning into. You're right. Ratings among cable and satellite subscribers still show the major 4 broadcast networks eclipse other programming during primetime. Even though it's censored and the most advertisement-laden, people must owrship their American Gots Talent Idols in 24 Law & Order Deal or No Bachelor Jeopardy ERs.
Of course, the Fish Network installer put the dish up on the edge of my dad's property, which is fine, except when my dad's neighbor parks his van in his own driveway, not my dad's. Then it all goes to crap. My dad asked Fish Network about moving the dish, since their installer put it there. They'll be happy to move it for $200, since there's a ured line to the | |
|
Its hot out
@comcast.net
| Like em, love em or hate em.. any one of them for that matter, the NICE thing about all of them is they represent CHOICE for we consumers...
and COMPETITION amongst themselves.
And, that's just not a bad thing all the way around.
While uverse certainly isn't "all that" today, the fact of the matter is it does present some interesting potential.
If they were to be able to make the bandwidth flexible in that if you're not watching TV it could be utilized for internet speeds instead, that certainly could be very competitive against the cable industry. And, multiple hdtv streams are something that can apparently be accomplished with bonding of the lines.
No, it's not FTTH..but it's something they can roll out quicker across the country. And, in turn, something that can later be expanded upon to include FTTH.
In addition, let's face it, someone as big as AT&T rolling this out quickly CAN have a positive effect on what we cable customers are paying, namely in forcing the cable industry to be more price and feature competitive.
Cable services ARE priced too high and Uverse IS attractively priced. That alone could be beneficial to everyone whether you take the service or not.
I say..bring em on. All of them. Let them fight for our business...
and, may the best company win it. | |
| | 
Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
1 edit | Re: Like em, love em or hate em.. quote:
the NICE thing about all of them is they represent CHOICE for we consumers...
Choice for consumers in neighborhoods deemed worthy, anyway. | |
| | |
en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
1 edit | Re: Like em, love em or hate em.. Very true.
At least its getting deployed rather quickly. The jury's still out on its success. Here in Valencia, I'm still waiting (Deployment was May 1, 2007)... still not available. | |
|
Tobalik
@sbcglobal.net
| Both suck I have had both companies in the Houston area. They both suck big time and we need more competition to force them to pick up their game.
The Comcast/ex-TW premium plan was 8Mbs down and 512Kbps up and I like the higher uploads of Uverse at 6/1. As far as the TV service is concerned Comcast comes out ahead because of the dual HDTV stream recording capability and slightly better quality but ATT has cheaper overall prices for internet and TV combos.
BTW the Comcast rep made no concessions whatsoever when I called to cancel my service and informed them of the better prices that ATT was offering.
I also think Comcast will be offering faster internet speeds before ATT does. If they go up to 10/2 it might be a good reason to switch.It will be a while before ATT gets their bonding act together.
Notes of interest:
1.The first Uverse installer did not know jack shit and did stuff the wrong way. On calling to get someone to come in to fix up the mess I got the usual bullshit I was used to with TW/Comcast. Techs did not show, huge appointment ranges etc.
2. I have 27/2 coming into my house. How difficult is it for ATT to give me all the bandwidth when the TV is not in use? I am paying for it anyway. | |
| smurf1
Premium
join:2004-03-18
Anderson, IN
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| att uverse I don't know what you are watching; but in the eight weeks i have had uverse here in anderson ,indiana.I have not had any outages no ghosting no smearing of colors.I am very satisfied with uverse.It is a much better deal than what I was getting with Insight cable. | |
|
No to ESPN
@rr.com
| My Copper Sucks I spoke to ATT during the Houston International Festival about a month ago and checked to see if I could get the service. I found out I was in the area so I asked some questions. I looked at their packages and then asked if they would do ala carte. The guy said no and asked why would I want that. End result was that I looked and determined that the display was not live and the picture on the TV in the tent had nothing to do with reality. I asked some technical questions and got a blank stare.
The copper to our house is in bad shape and everytime it rains the phone service becomes noisy. I doubt that you could get more than 20k through the line on a good day and I know you get about 6 to 8K when the line is wet. I don't think that their product will pan out unless they replace a bunch of their copper. Maybe they could replace it with fiber! LOL | |
| |
silversurfer2469
| Re: My Copper Sucks The Cavalier sales guy that came to my house asked to put a DVD in my DVD player to "demo" their new video over IP service. At first I was like, no way. then I invited him in to see what he wanted to show me.
He said, and i truly quote him, "You are now watching Cavalier's video over Ip technology. Isn't it awesome?"
I took about 10 seconds to let that sink in, then replied, "No, I'm not."
"Yeah, man, this is Cavalier on your TV. isn't it better than your Comcast? Look at this awesome picture!"
"No, we're watching your DVD."
"Sir, we are watching Cavalier's Video over IP, right here, in your living room, right now."
"Didn't you hand me a DVD, then use my Sony DVD remote still in your hand, to show me this picture?"
"Sir, I'm not sure how I can make this any clearer. You ARE watching Cavalier Video over IP technology right now, on your TV. This is the future. I'm a professional. This is my livelihood."
"Maybe you need to understand your profession a little better. Were you an installer, or did they train you solely for sales?"
"Sir, I assure you I take my job very seriously. They train us on every aspect of the service. I think I know how my service works, and I know for a fact you are watching Cavalier's Video over IP right now. I don't have a reason to lie to you, sir. As you can see, you can change your cable box," he grabs my remote and starts pushing buttons, IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF MY RECORDINGS, "and it's not changing the TV, because we're watching Cavalier, see, not Comcast."
"Well, that is absolutley amazing, since the Verizon drop came down in a hurricane in 1998, and was never replaced!"
"Sir, this is Cavalier Video over IP, not Verizon I'm showing you."
"Wow. [eject DVD] Here you go. Please call your office to see when you could set up the install for me."
He got very excited, but i knew something he didn't... According to a Verizon rep I called for DSL a couple of years ago, I have over 11,000 feet of copper to the verizon CO, so Verizon WILL NOT offer me DSL. That means Cavalier won't either, because they need less than 6,000 feet to get enough bandwidth for 1 TV and internet, and less than 3,500 feet for 2 TVs, according to an article in the Washington Post. The sales rep wanted to get my credit card. I told him I wanted a possible install date first. After some heming and hawing, he made a call, HE sat on hold in my living room (hey, it was like 90 degrees outside, i wasn;t going to make him go back outside to call from out there) for 40 minutes, then finally gave my address to someone. After 10 more minutes of him being on hold again, he said, very angrily to whoever he was talking to, "No way! check it again. We was just watching it in this dude's living room. I showed a couple folks on this block already. Something's wrong and I'm gonna get my supervisor to straighten this out. He'll be calling your supervisor" He frowned, then snapped his phone closed.
"Sir, it appears that at this time, we can't hook you up to our service, because they aren't checking the right thing in the computer. I don't understand it. We were just watching it."
After he left, I laughed for a little while. I wonder how many "sales" this guy ever makes? | |
| | |
morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs: | Re: My Copper Sucks unbelievable.
at first i thought he was trying to fool you, but he truly seems like an idiot. | |
| | | koolkid1563
Premium,MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
clubs: | Wow...I think your story just made my day! That is truly unbelievably...apparently their version of IPTV is to give the customer a DVD of the show they want to watch...wow...just wow. | |
| | |
Occasional
@swbell.net | Yes indeed. The woeful life of the lowest paid that they can "dress up a bit" to do this door to door selling.
It's kind of sad in a way... | |
| | | |
|
|
Comcast or AT&T U-Verse?
Re: What a joke