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18Mbps U-Verse
'Nothing to announce at this time,' says telco...

Last week we noted that user chatter both here and on AT&T's official forums indicates that AT&T is cooking up an 18Mbps U-Verse tier, for customers who don't want to subscribe to U-Verse TV. Supposedly dubbed "Max 18," rumors say the tier is scheduled to appear sometime in November for somewhere around $65. I've been pressing AT&T for more information on the new tier this week, and have so far only been told "we have nothing to announce at this time." Still, all signs point to the new tier being real, and dropping soon.

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While asking around the industry, broadband sector analyst Dave Burstein reminds me that AT&T's Ralph De La Vega has hinted at such a move in the past. "If people don’t want our TV offering, that’s fine and we’ll just sell them the bandwidth," De La Vega was recently quoted as saying. A quick Google search for any mention of a "Max 18" tier finds a deleted but cached AT&T website reference (see screenshot).

With Comcast's new speeds now getting lots of press, expect an announcement sooner rather than later. While simply not offering TV to a customer who wants faster speeds is one solution, AT&T was also scheduled to offer line bonded DSL by the end of this year. While AT&T recently told us this was still on target for the end of the year, bonded VDSL chipsets aren't fully cooked yet -- making next Spring or Summer a more likely launch date for anything above 18Mbps.
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screavic4
Premium Member
join:2006-08-11
Paron, AR

screavic4

Premium Member

Expand Coverage

Now if they would just take it everywhere! HAH! Yeah right highspeed internet is like a diamond in America Everybody wants it but nobody can either A. Afford it (T1 Only Option) B. Get their hands on it period.

I think everytime I see an AT&T Commercial that they need to take some of that marketing budget and spend it on the network. If DSL was here they would be the only provider. I would even pay $50 a month for the 3mbps package just to have high speed internet again.
hihi9
join:2007-05-06
Port Orange, FL

hihi9

Member

Re: Expand Coverage

said by screavic4:

Now if they would just take it everywhere! HAH! Yeah right highspeed internet is like a diamond in America Everybody wants it but nobody can either A. Afford it (T1 Only Option) B. Get their hands on it period.

I think everytime I see an AT&T Commercial that they need to take some of that marketing budget and spend it on the network. If DSL was here they would be the only provider. I would even pay $50 a month for the 3mbps package just to have high speed internet again.
That's pitiful
did you know that comcast offer 19.95 at 6/1 for a year?
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

this seems lacking....

with it coming after Comcast announcing the start of rollouts for 22mbit service for 62.95. if CC is smart they will throw this at Uverse areas.

jt4528569856894
@comcast.net

jt4528569856894

Anon

Re: this seems lacking....

the funny thing is if you have att uverse you will not see the 18bm speed. my friend has uverse. he has the up to 3mb plan. when he turns on his tv the speed drops to 1.3mb. he will switching back to comcast. i hate the fact that the tv service sucks down the brandwidth. att should have run fiber to the home, not the node only.
hihi9
join:2007-05-06
Port Orange, FL

hihi9

Member

Re: this seems lacking....

said by jt4528569856894 :

the funny thing is if you have att uverse you will not see the 18bm speed. my friend has uverse. he has the up to 3mb plan. when he turns on his tv the speed drops to 1.3mb. he will switching back to comcast. i hate the fact that the tv service sucks down the brandwidth. att should have run fiber to the home, not the node only.
Yea I know that why uverse sucks

S_engineer
Premium Member
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL

S_engineer

Premium Member

just curious

"Best of all it comes with a wireless router"....Is ATT still dishing out those crappy 2wire wireless routers?

It was horrible trying to use those when they were deployed in the midwest back in the day!

tad2020
join:2007-07-17
Orange, CA

tad2020

Member

Believe it when I see it

Besides, 18mbps doesn't 'seem' all the fast when there's already 50mbps service out there or being cooked up.

I'd only be interested if their finally going to increase upstream speeds as well.
Rob2647
join:2008-08-12
Rochester, MI

Rob2647

Member

Re: Believe it when I see it

FYI, those crappy 2wire routers kick out the best wifi signal of any G router out there.
ShadezeRO
join:2006-04-24
Fort Lauderdale, FL

ShadezeRO

Member

Re: Believe it when I see it

said by Rob2647:

FYI, those crappy 2wire routers kick out the best wifi signal of any G router out there.
Indeed, I loved mine, till I got my Netopia Business Class modem.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Believe it when I see it

I still prefer Netgear HDX101 - 100Mbps ethernet over powerline.
Using VNC ~25' (1 exterior wall), on Netgear 108G router, I'll max at a rated 48Mbps, but throughput is less. VNC stats show ~5-10Mbps
Using HDX101, which has to go to the circuit breaker and back on a different circuit, (100' each way), I show 75Mbps, and VNC viewer's line estimate never shows less than 20Mbps.
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

etaadmin to tad2020

Member

to tad2020
said by tad2020:

Besides, 18mbps doesn't 'seem' all the fast when there's already 50mbps service out there or being cooked up.

I'd only be interested if their finally going to increase upstream speeds as well.
Besides probably the 18mbps tier will come in the ADSL2+ flavor and NOT using VDSL2. Some advantages of adsl2+ are:

1. REACH. ADSL2+ is good for up to +5,000 ft or more where VDSL2 is only good for 1,200 ft.
2. LATENCY! This will make all the un-employed gamers happy.
3. Maybe get rid of that awkward 2wire crap and use a real adsl2+ modem like a zyxel or netopia.

After all, looks like VDSL2 was not really a good idea...

ropeguru
Premium Member
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA

ropeguru

Premium Member

Would be nice...

To even be able to get any U-Verse at this point. According to them available in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale markets, but not many have been reporting being able to order it.

Robert
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Miami, FL

1 recommendation

Robert

Premium Member

Re: Would be nice...

said by ropeguru:

To even be able to get any U-Verse at this point. According to them available in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale markets, but not many have been reporting being able to order it.
Or greater than the 1.5/256 for $32.95/mo. for $10 dollar more (42.95), someone can get Comcast @ 6/1.

AT&T isn't very competitive in my area.
hihi9
join:2007-05-06
Port Orange, FL

hihi9

Member

Re: Would be nice...

said by Robert:

said by ropeguru:

To even be able to get any U-Verse at this point. According to them available in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale markets, but not many have been reporting being able to order it.
Or greater than the 1.5/256 for $32.95/mo. for $10 dollar more (42.95), someone can get Comcast @ 6/1.

AT&T isn't very competitive in my area.
You can talk comcast into offfering you 19.95 at 6/1 for a year
Its a trade secret ^_^

Robert
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Miami, FL

Robert

Premium Member

Re: Would be nice...

said by hihi9:

said by Robert:

said by ropeguru:

To even be able to get any U-Verse at this point. According to them available in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale markets, but not many have been reporting being able to order it.
Or greater than the 1.5/256 for $32.95/mo. for $10 dollar more (42.95), someone can get Comcast @ 6/1.

AT&T isn't very competitive in my area.
You can talk comcast into offfering you 19.95 at 6/1 for a year
Its a trade secret ^_^
Actually, I "know" people (myself)
hihi9
join:2007-05-06
Port Orange, FL

hihi9

Member

Re: Would be nice...

If you have cable service but for those without its 57.00
A steep price but some will pay anything to have broadband

I see you live in bellsouth territory
1.5/384 should be 19.95
768/384 14.95
3.0/512 is 24.95
6.0/768 29.95

Depending on where you live
some can only get 768/384, others 1.5 or 3.0 at best...
Few about 25 percent of dsl user are able to qualify for elite 6.0
DSL blows when it comes to speed
With Cable you get your advertised speed
There is no PPPOE BS, that suck up 15 percent additional bandwidth. That's right wasted converting your bandwidth into useless protocol. Point to point=wasted bandwidth
1.5 DSL= 150kb/sec
1.5 Cable= 187kb/sec
With cable you can maxout your upload on p2p and still have decent download speed...
Cable has this hidden extra upload called download booster
Not visible by the naked eye

fatmanskinny
Premium Member
join:2004-01-04
Wandering

fatmanskinny

Premium Member

Woo hoo!!

18MB down / 56k up.

ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium Member
join:2001-08-02
La Porte, IN

ztmike

Premium Member

Re: Woo hoo!!

said by fatmanskinny:

18MB down / 56k up.
18/1.5 you mean lol

work_houkouochi
@dreamhost.com

work_houkouochi

Anon

Wow, I sure hope so!

I have tried to get u-verse installed 3 times but they keep giving me trouble due to the fact I can't lose my regular DSL connections when they install service.

If this speed upgrade is true I might really try to force the issue and get service installed. I haven't put that much effort into it due to the fact that its currently only 10 megabits and not *that* much of an upgrade.

StarFish267
join:2005-11-25
Keller, TX

StarFish267

Member

Re: Wow, I sure hope so!

order a 2nd phone line, then put the u-verse on that number then you can still have your dsl as a backup while you test the U-verse.

houkouonchi
join:2002-07-22
Ontario, CA

houkouonchi

Member

Re: Wow, I sure hope so!

said by StarFish267:

order a 2nd phone line, then put the u-verse on that number then you can still have your dsl as a backup while you test the U-verse.
Nope! Sorry doesn't work. I already have a second phone line and a dry loop DSL line as well and no dice.

ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium Member
join:2001-08-02
La Porte, IN

ztmike

Premium Member

AT&T DSL

That side of their business is going to fall flat on their face..only people that will get that are the ones who want slower internet or can't afford Comcast services.

No U-Verse anywhere around my zip code.

And the best At&t can do for me is 6/768, and Comcast just upped my tier package to 12/2 for free.
hihi9
join:2007-05-06
Port Orange, FL

hihi9

Member

Re: AT&T DSL

said by ztmike:

That side of their business is going to fall flat on their face..only people that will get that are the ones who want slower internet or can't afford Comcast services.

No U-Verse anywhere around my zip code.

And the best At&t can do for me is 6/768, and Comcast just upped my tier package to 12/2 for free.
8/2 is now 12/2??? so 6/1 is now 10/1???

John Keels
@appstate.edu

John Keels

Anon

UVerse

I think AT&T is making the right move by doing this. However, what will they charge for it. I am certainly not willing to pay more than $60/mo with 18mbps internet. Besides, as others have hinted the upstream is really the side that matters. In any case, I would consider it.

Where I live AT&T offers up to 6mpbs down/512kpbs up (former bellsouth territory). However, the cable company offers up to 16mpbs service. Actually, for about $40/mo one can get 10mpbs internet from charter (even though they blow).

Currently, I am on the 3mpbs link which is enough for me. However, it is a little pricey for such speeds at $42.95/mo without phone service (not wasting my money on that when I have a cell phone).
Rob2647
join:2008-08-12
Rochester, MI

Rob2647

Member

Max Is Plenty

10/1.5 has been more than enough for me.

kilometers3
join:2007-01-24
Sacramento, CA

kilometers3

Member

Silly AT&T

AT&T would be smart if they priced the 18/1.5 plan at 45 dollars or so in Comcast areas because once DOCSIS 3 spreads their 18/1.5 plan will look weak compared to comcast's 22/5 plan:

AT&T
18/1.5 $64.99

Comcast:
Ultra (22, boost to 30)- $62.95 + $3 modem

Hmm... extra 4mbps on down and a little over 3 times the upstream bandwidth for around the same price. Yeah. I think I'll go with Comcast.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Silly AT&T

At least Comcast has a proper triple play.
In the Los Angeles market... AT&T still doesn't offer VoIP on Uverse.
dishrich
join:2006-05-12
Springfield, IL

dishrich

Member

.

Unfortunately, I can't get but the slowest DSL pkg at my address - but if AT&T DID make this available, I would at least give it a thorough tryout, but NOT disconnecting Comcrap until I was sure it was better. Ever since CC took over Insight here, my internet has been atrocious & I'm ready to try ANYTHING that might be better.

Ima
join:2003-10-23
Little Rock, AR

Ima

Member

Re: .

It's simply a fantastic deal for people who want more speed. I already have the max tier, I won't be upgrading to this, I already have more than enough. If what the AT&T tech told me is true, MAX tier going down in price is definitely a winner for me. In all honesty, it's a win-win no matter how you look at it, unless you're some disgruntled douche who loves to bash AT&T for the hell of it. Then it's the worst thing in the world.

jester121
Premium Member
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL

jester121

Premium Member

Re: .

How's your latency?
cableguy619
Premium Member
join:2003-06-24
Chula Vista, CA

cableguy619

Premium Member

insider

My Buddy works in house for ATT and has confirmed they will launch the 18 Meg Tier in NOv in certain Markets. San Diego is one of them...

YEAH that means Cox will up theirs
hihi9
join:2007-05-06
Port Orange, FL

hihi9

Member

Re: insider

Too bad 99 percent of American will not be able to get uverse or be widely available in the next 5 years
Its a wetdream for most of us
DSL or Cable is the only viable option
vinnie97
Premium Member
join:2003-12-05
US

vinnie97

Premium Member

Re: insider

FIOS is my wet dream...and I can supposedly get U-Verse locally. I'm not eager to leave TWC/Road Runner for U-Verse just yet.