 deadzoned
Premium
join:2005-04-13
Baton Rouge, LA | It's Like Lipstick on a pig. Still a pig. | |
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Arel
@ameritech.net
| Re: It's Like said by en102  :Yeah - Uverse is still too pricey for general use here: 1. Uverse still requires the order of TV service for Internet 2. No Uverse VoIP + Unverse Internet only bundle (Cable offers this) 3. No Uverse VoIP offered in the L.A. area I'll use OTA for now, thanks. I've installed U-Verse Internet only......?
As for the VOIP and internet bundle no such luck there  | |
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| xxTRAGEDYxx
join:2008-03-14
Kannapolis, NC | wow!!! you took the words right out of my mouth!!! AT&T needs to stop rolling out U-verse, re-think their strategy, and come at the market when they have something better... | |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs: | Re: It's Like 4 trucks? wow. | |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs: | Re: It's Like No Big Deal, possably were traning outher tech's newly hired in. Also commond to have landline repair come out in bucket truck just in case they need to do something. | |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs: | Re: It's Like that makes sense. i assume verizon fios installs were like this, once upon a time? | |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs: | Re: It's Like Still is, bucket truck for the overhead fiber drop (unless a contractor does it ahead of time) while theres a fios tech inside, and perhaps another outside working on the nid/ont | |
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| | | | | | JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
edit:
May 22nd, @10:15AM
| Re: It's Like said by OSUGoose :Still is, bucket truck for the overhead fiber drop (unless a contractor does it ahead of time) while theres a fios tech inside, and perhaps another outside working on the nid/ont That's not what my install was like at all. I got FiOS internet service in January of '06. I had one intaller. That was it. He ran the fiber from the pole to my house, installed the ONT, ran the cat-5, installed the router, and got me all setup. Granted it took him a little over four hours, but considering the work he had to do, that ain't bad (especially since he had to work around some stuff in my home - had to run an extra-long power cable for the ONT, and had to go into my crawlspace to run all the wiring/cabling).
When I got hooked up with TV service, about a year ago, again, there was one installer, and it took him about two hours (much of which was spent waiting for the s/w to download to the STBs - one STB wasn't plugged in correctly when he did the download, so after troubleshooting and discovering the problem, he had to redownload the s/w).
Both installers were excellent (without a doubt among the best I've had in my house), and really knew what they were doing. I don't doubt that some installs, particularly if they have to bury the fiber, can take a couple installers, but I didn't have that experience at all. | |
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| | | | | | | | JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
| Re: It's Like said by OSUGoose :Which is exactly why just because you have multiple installers there dosent mean they dont know what they are doing or anything. In some places based on the union only certan craft people can do certan aspects of the install. So to have 4 guys there could be bc the area has had some issues and the vaious trades/craft people are there instead of waiting hrs when they need to be paged. Plus they dont do the shitty work like some cablee and their sub contractos do, at&t and vz are both trying to have as need and clean installs as possable bc they care about their craft/work. And this is comming from an ex-directv installer here. When i first started i took the time needed, but then after time they wanted to cram more down my throat so my standards had to get tossed to get it done if i wanted to have work the next day. Needless to say i left. Totally agree with you. The idea that DirecTV and Dish, and many cable companies have, of paying installers by the install is killing their service. When I had DirecTV, and I got a second DVR (I had to take the installation to get the DVR for free), they sent two guys to run one cable all of 10 feet to a multi-switch, swap out the old box and hook up the DVR. The one installer called in to activate the box, and they had him on hold. After a few minutes, he handed me the phone, told me what to tell DirecTV, and they left. They didn't even find out if the box worked! I was astounded. I personally didn't have an issue activating the equipment myself (I installed the prior DVR just fine), but can you imagine if you have a customer who doesn't know what they're doing?
As it was, the guy in the installation department couldn't get the information about the install correct. When I told him 'I want to cancel the box in my family room, and activate a DVR...' it was like I was speaking Martian or something. He ended up deactivating the wrong box and it took him several minutes to get everything straight. Again, what if I didn't know what the hell I was doing? The guy on the other end was nice enough, but I didn't think I was making some outlandish request.
The reason the Verizon installers were so good - they took their time. They wouldn't leave until they made sure EVERYTHING worked. Not only were these guys clearly well-trained, but it was obvious they took a great deal of pride in their work. I couldn't say the same for the last set of DirecTV installers I had (and I had some good DirecTV installers too). | |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs:
 ·AT&T Midwest
 ·Cingular Wireless
·Verizon BroadbandA..
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: It's Like Exactly, the issue DirecTV has in peticular, as i cant speak to dish, is that alot of the installers are subcontractors. Meaning they drive their own vehicle, use their own tools, supply their own wire, ect.. the only thing given to us is the dishes, recievers and switches and lnbs, and even some outfits charge the contractor for them then reimburse for them being put in afterwards. So nextime when you get an shitty installer, its not directv, its the company of the company that got to job to blame. For Example in this market, Columbus. ConnectTV is who Directv will say is comming to do the the install as they are the HSP, outherwise known as Home Service Provider, basicaly the first person that is getting the money from directv to install it, and yes directv asctualy spends several hundred dollars to get a new sub installed, average is 400-500. Then ConnectTV sends it to one of 8-10 "fulliment" companies, after taking a percentage from what directv paid, lets say 100. So now were down to the people who will be comming to install, lets say its Joe Shmo's Satellites. They will assign your install to one of their subcontractos that they will overwork that day, or route them several hours apart in jobs (a commond reason the installer dosent show or is late) who will get at the most 200 of that original 400-500 directv paid, bc the company he works for takes about half to cover their expences. Now rember out of that 200, he has to pay gas, supply the wire, connectors, ground blocks, ect to install plus his damage claim insurance insurance on his vech and unemployment. | |
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| | bogey780
join:2004-03-19
Covington, LA | Well when you're trying to retrofit a new network over an old one and the previous guys are known for their horrible install practices it gets tricky. | |
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| | Canezoid
join:2001-02-16
Powder Springs, GA | So I take it you've got some on-hand experience w/ what the ATT techs are "actually doing"? There are procedures for this stuff which maybe you might um, not know about?
Geesh ! | |
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Corona
It's cool, I'm takin it back
Premium
join:2000-03-14
San Antonio, TX | They're also doing ride alongs for those that aren't normally in the field to observe and learn more about the product by seeing it in action. | |
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digiblur
Got Sipura?
Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana
| said by deadzoned :Lipstick on a pig. Still a pig. Yep... lame. What about the nights I need to record three HD streams at once and watch another?
--
Make your Sipura/PAP2 speak. »www.voipurize.com
SouthWest Louisiana PC Users Group »www.swlapcug.com | |
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Goober
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL
·WOW Internet and C..
·Comcast
edit:
May 21st, @04:13PM
| What's the big deal? Is this whole "2 HD streams at once" thing supposed to be something great? It won't work in our house.
At home, there are times when the first DVR will be recording two HD streams, we'll be watching TV on another HD stream. In addition, on the second DVR, the kids will be downstairs recording an HD stream and watching another as well.
Is my thinking wrong on how U-verse works? | |
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jt45
@comcast.net | Re: What's the big deal? not with uverse. uverse cant handle 5 hd streams. | |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | U can still get U-verse. You just need to pay for it 3 times  | |
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Goober
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL | Re: What's the big deal? Can never get too much of a good thing I suppose . . .  | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Better than nothing.... It's funny how people can complain about this so much, but any advancement in abilities, etc is better than none. It may be a small move forward, but I won't knock it. | |
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| deadzoned
Premium
join:2005-04-13
Baton Rouge, LA
·Cox HSI
| Re: Better than nothing.... But it's not really an advancement - and therein lies the rub.
Real advancement in abilities would be running FTTH. at&t is DOA before they even finish deploying their coveted "U-Verse" "Next Generation" services in all of cherry-pick land. | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs:
 ·ViaTalk
·AT&T DSL Service
| Re: Better than nothing.... said by deadzoned :But it's not really an advancement - and therein lies the rub. Real advancement in abilities would be running FTTH. at&t is DOA before they even finish deploying their coveted "U-Verse" "Next Generation" services in all of cherry-pick land. So for areas that Verizon and then major cable companies don't service this isn't an advancement? | |
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| | | deadzoned
Premium
join:2005-04-13
Baton Rouge, LA
·Cox HSI
| Re: Better than nothing.... So at&t is going to build it's awesome U-Verse in non-competitive areas huh?
*Hint* They won't. They are deploying U-Verse in competitive areas only. The day at&t deploys U-Verse in an area in which major cable companies and/or Verizon are not is the day we see pigs fly and Hell freeze over. | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Re: Better than nothing.... According to the AT&T tech who installed my DSL, we are scheduled to get it (eventually). | |
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| | | | bogey780
join:2004-03-19
Covington, LA | You're in Baton Rouge.
When do you think you'll see it? | |
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| | | | | deadzoned
Premium
join:2005-04-13
Baton Rouge, LA
·Cox HSI
| Re: Better than nothing.... Soon, they just got some state franchise law passed. We have Cox, at&t dsl, and Eatel Fiber though. They are just trying to keep up with the big dogs that already have service that far surpasses even their Holy Grail - U-Verse.
No way I am leaving Cox for shitty U-Verse.  | |
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apeface
join:2000-09-16
Mckinney, TX | Re: Better than nothing.... 2009. | |
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apeface
join:2000-09-16
Mckinney, TX | They already have.
The cherry picking fallacy is getting beyond old. | |
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Alpine
Premium
join:2000-01-11
Atlanta, GA | Re: Better than nothing.... No doubt... "Cherry Picking" is also know as "Business 101."
Why would you deploy first in areas that aren't going to be profitable?
Also known as "common sense." | |
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| | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| Re: Better than nothing.... said by morbo :said by deadzoned :But it's not really an advancement - and therein lies the rub. agreed. AT&T is competing not on technology -- as they can't compete with cable here -- but on being an "alternative" to cable and satellite. they also aren't competing on price, as the price of Uverse is not different enough to justify leaving established the established players. I'll say they are competing on price. They don't have anything else going for them, except people who swear off cable and satellite (customers with a grudge). Uverse is like Walmart, cheap and shitty. | |
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| | cornelius785
join:2006-10-26
Worcester, MA
| i call BS on 'not really an advancement'. last time i checked, fiber is still pretty scare between any house in the US to their local TELCO office. maybe i'm just living in woods or something for all my life.
how is Uverse DOA when there is the possibility to upgrade to FTTH and it offers vastly increased speeds to the end user? only fanboys care on how the speed is achieved, most end users only care about the end result (speed and TV services). looking purely from this prespective, Uverse is nearly equal to FIOS. | |
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| | | bogey780
join:2004-03-19
Covington, LA | Re: Better than nothing.... Uverse's growth is about the same (if not slightly better than ) as FiOS TV on a per inception basis. With an install cost much lower, I can see it staying as long as FiOS. | |
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| | | deadzoned
Premium
join:2005-04-13
Baton Rouge, LA
·Cox HSI
| That is fantasy land you are living in - plain and simple. All the cable companies offer much better service that U-Verse does, even with the pair bonding crap they are doing. When the 3.0 stuff hit's - it puts them even further behind.
When you compare it to Verizon's FTTH - it's not even in the same league, end of story.
The crazy thing is this. With all of the stuff on the horizon from the cable co.s and Verizon, it just puts U-Verse even further behind and basically obsolete. Why not just spend the bucks and do the FTTH now like they will have to do anyway to compete? It just makes no sense, it's not like they don't have the cash to go FTTH. I mean seriously. | |
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ninjatutle
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA | Naw, I think the people would rather have nothing. Just let Comcast run around free, unchecked raping everyone after Christmas time with rate hikes. | |
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| | Trollhawk
join:2005-05-28
| Re: Better than nothing.... Well said.
I don't see how anyone can knock what AT&T are doing with U-verse, unless they're being paid by the competition, or are just some fanboys of another service provider.
Fact is, U-verse is a competitive alternative to cable or satellite. If one doesn't like it, don't buy it. But how is having U-verse as an option a bad thing? | |
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bohn002
join:2008-01-18
Columbus, OH
|  I must say...ahem... "YAY"
@hookem99
It takes a couple hours for an install because they do a decent amount of work. more then cable has ever done or will do in just one call. Plus its a free install. They usually pair up the crews and the others could be there to learn how to do it.
@goober
your 2 hd streams are per dwelling. Multiple tvs do throw a wrench in the process, but with multi-room dvr should help relieve the problem. Multi rooms can access the single dvr. Plus there is no crime in watching a show in sd. Is there anything then can show multiple HD streams at once? TWC and Comcast always locked me out at 2. | |
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See 9 replies to this post |
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dg2
Premium
join:2004-01-22
Lowell, AR
·Cox HSI
| Next up? DSL service in large parts of America. (Sorry Karl  )
Nothing much to be excited about here. Not likely to get "U-Verse" anytime in my lifetime, since we still can't get DSL. (Living in the middle of a MSA of 300,000+. DSL available all around, just not here.)
ATT sold me overpriced phone on a 30-year old, 22,000 foot long copper pair, and offered me a satellite dish. Cox gives me 5/0.5 internet service, phone, digital TV, and is actually improving their system. Not perfect, but a lot better than vaporware.
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Former 17-year ATT customer, now ATT free. | |
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| patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | Re: Next up? Sounds like you will get Uverse soon. Uverse does get installed in places without ADSL service. Rumor says ATT will let you have Internet-Only Uverse if you don't have ADSL. | |
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FastiBook
join:2003-01-08
Newtown, PA
 ·Verizon FIOS
| A joke. My house via comcast can handle 6 HD boxes plus phone and internet. Verizon can handle 6 boxes plus phone and internet, and has a better picture than comcast and faster internet than comcast. ATT landline services are a joke and a half.
- Andy | |
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EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA
| IPTV You know, this is somewhat significant as U-Verse is probably the largest deployment of IPTV (as opposed to RF cable systems) in the US, and is fairly impressive considering that it's all over a 25mbps DSL line... it makes one wonder how many streams they could get if they went all FTTH... | |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
·DSL EXTREME
·DSL EXTREME
| Re: IPTV While it may be technically impressive (offerring TV, DSL, VoIP on ~25Mbps VDSL @ 3,000'), it is not an overly impressive service that AT&T is attempting sell as competition.
Cable can/will sell +10Mbps HSI, HDTV, VoIP, and in any combo
AT&T will sell Uverse TV + 10Mbps + VoIP if you're in the right area, and order TV service, and VoIP exists in your area.
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Canada = Hollywood North | |
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a333
A hot cup of integrals please
join:2007-06-12
Corona, NY
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: IPTV I can hardly begin to imagine hwo horrible this'll look, unless the article is wrong. How can you sqeeze 2 SD, 2 HD, AND 10 Meg internet through a 25 Meg pipe. If they uncapped the lines, and used all that capacity, MAYBE they could offer Comcast-quality HD, but until then, no way it's going to look pretty. No bashing meant, and no hard feelings here.... | |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: IPTV Yup ... its a pretty small connection.
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Canada = Hollywood North | |
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jstory
join:2003-03-10
Rockwall, TX | 2 Hd streams? While i appreciate ATTs progress its ashame they wont invest in a FTTH network. For those of your that cant imagine using more than 2 hd streams, I have 12 hdtvs in my house. Thank god for Directv | |
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odreian615
join:2006-01-18
Chicago, IL | Re: 2 Hd streams? "I have 12 hdtvs in my house."
Someone has a huge e-penis | |
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tad2020
join:2007-07-17
Orange, CA
| Is U-Verse coming to Orange/Tustin area? I've been seeing AT&T installing new "lawn fridges" all around Orange and Tustin CA. Their about 4'x4'x2'and a usually placed near or across the street from the existing mid-sized copper junction boxes. I asked one of the work crews what they are and they won't tell me and when I called AT&T, they didn't know.
It would be nice if they started offering DSL above 386K/128K in my neighborhood. I don't like the forced TV service requirement and lack of static IPs unless they're offering business class. I'm happy with cable, but I could really use a second connection for my business. | |
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Al Smith
join:2005-06-09
| ??? All of you idiots know nothing. It's all about the price. Many people are signing up left and right for U-Verse. How many homes have more than 1 HD tv? The picture on U-verse is better than standard cable. ATT went for the sweet spot for standard customers. Hell, how many homes have more than 3 tvs on at 1 time watching TV and not video games. The standard price of $85 for 3 TVs and internet including a dvr is good enough for 17 out of 20 people. The 1.5 mps is enough for 90% of paying customers. It may not be enough for those of you who live on your computers all day beating off, but for those with a personal life, it does just fine. How many of you own your own home? I bet if you're paying a house note, then U-Verse looks like a real good VALUE. I'm not defending ATT for anything, just that most of you complainers are idiots. Stick with cable if they suit your needs, just pay more for it... | |
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ArgMeMatey
join:2001-08-09
Milwaukee, WI
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: ??? said by Al Smith :All of you idiots know nothing. ... most of you complainers are idiots. ... Nice opening, Mr. Smith. How's everything under the Troll Bridge tonight? | |
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AT&T Confirms Dual HD Stream U-Verse Upgrade
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