Thread: My AT&T U-Verse experience (vs Dish)

I posted this in the Pub this past week and just realized that it should probably should be here:

I know that I enjoy reading other people's experiences and comparisons of different services, so I thought I'd share mine. If you don't want to read then move on. I currently have Dish with a 722k, a 722, a 622, a 211k and a 322.

AT&T just recently installed all the outside equipment to provide U-Verse in my area. After doing some checking I found out that for about $13 more a month than what I was paying for my 6 Mb DSL connection I could get the 18 Mb internet through U-Verse. I called AT&T and the agent asked if I wanted phone or TV service and I explained that I didn't want a home phone and that I was perfectly happy with Dish. She explained that with U-Verse there was no contract and I should at least try their TV service as there was a 30 day money back guarantee and that if I tried the TV too they would waive the $150 install fee. I said what the heck and had her add TV service as well. I scheduled an install for Sunday 11/8 between 1 and 3.

The install
The "outside guy" as he called himself called me at 1:05 and let me know that he was going to be disconnecting my DSL so that he could hook up the outside part of my new U-Verse service and that the installer would be calling me soon when he was on the way. I said great and he made the disconnect.

I still hadn't heard from "the inside guy" at 4:20 so I called the AT&T customer service number and spoke with a representative. She called the dispatch center and informed me that I was the next one to be picked up and that the installer would be calling very soon. I said great, and hung up.

Long story short, no one ever showed up. This was obviously very BAD. I called ATT on Monday as they close their customer service at 5:00 on Sunday and I could not reach anyone. After talked to about 5 different departments they rescheduled me for the following Thursday and gave me a $65 credit for my first month. Better but still pissed about the no show.

Move ahead to Thursday... The installer showed up and was a very very nice man. He came in got me hooked up and even gave me (that's right gave me not sold me) a 10 port internet switch so that we wouldn't have to chain my old switches together to incorporate all of the different things I have connected to the internet in my den. He showed me how to use the system and was out of here. I was very impressed with his professionalism and knowledge of the system. Very very Good!

The service
I've now had U-Verse service for over 3 weeks. So here are my pros and cons as compared to Dish. Remember this is just my



Pros:
All equipment was provided at install for free
No contract to sign at all
I like the channel numbering system. All HD channels are the same channel number as the regular channel with a 1 in front of it.
The SD picture quality is exceptional. Much much better than Dish's SD.
ESPNU and my local CW are available in HD

Cons:
The receiver overall is very sluggish as compared to the Dish Receivers
The electronic program guide is terrible. You can only see 1.5 hrs into the future, and there is no ability to setup personalized guides.
There is no DD 5.1 audio over HDMI - you would have to also connect an optical cable to get 5.1 audio.
You can only get 2 HD streams into the house and 2 additional SD streams at the same time. This is a big drop down as opposed to the 4 I can record on the 722k (and not even mentioning all the streams I can get when I add up all my receivers).
The skip forward (30 seconds) and skip back (7 seconds) is terrible. It is some hybrid version of a skip and a fast forward. It is very hard to describe, but I found it terrible to use.
There is no way to tell how full the hard drive on the DVR is, so I have no idea when things are going to be deleted.
The only free VOD events are crappy events that I can't imagine anyone wanting to watch and no movies at all.
The HD picture quality is noticeably worse than Dish.

Conclusion
So after all of that I cancelled the TV part of the service today. It is not close to what Dish has for my needs. However, the internet is great. My 18 Mb connection consistently registers at 17.5 Mb on speedtest.net. I'm very please that they let me try their service and if they can improve it going forward I would give it another shot.

Thanks for posting this. U-Verse has arrived about a mile from my house and am told I should be able to get it in a few months when its installed closer. I have a question maybe you can answer. When you have 2 HD streams and 2 SD streams what happens when you watch something in SD or HD ondemand? Does that count as a "stream"? Also was there no VOD because you didnt have premium movie channels (Starz, HBO, etc)?

Thanks for the post and information, much appreciated.

Not positive about on demand, but I believe that counts as a "stream" too. I did not have any premiums, so I'm not sure how the on demand works with that, but even dish now has a bunch of free dishonline movies.

Originally Posted by am7crew

Thanks for posting this. U-Verse has arrived about a mile from my house and am told I should be able to get it in a few months when its installed closer. I have a question maybe you can answer. When you have 2 HD streams and 2 SD streams what happens when you watch something in SD or HD ondemand? Does that count as a "stream"? Also was there no VOD because you didnt have premium movie channels (Starz, HBO, etc)?

Thanks for the post and information, much appreciated.

From my experience, watching on demand does not count as a stream..

thanks, good to know.

The streams work pretty funny. If more than one TV is watching the same channel, that only counts as one stream. Anything already recorded does not count as a stream. Basically there are several ways to use more than two HDTVs at the same time, with limits.

All of the premiuim channels have VOD content. Some only have about 20-30 movies at a time, while others have 80 or more. Showtime and HBO are great about providing VOD content from all of their series as well, even the cancelled ones. Like Voom, you can watch HD channels on any SD TV as well.

The HD picture is leaps and bounds above what it it was when we first got it. They DID just move several HD only channels to a premium tier, tho, which costs $5 A month more. Universal, Smithsonian, HDnet Movies and afew others so far. They decided to hold off on moving HDNET, but tit will eventually be moved too, which is bullshit.

so if two TVs are watching different HD channels a third TV can watch something via ondemand in HD and it not go over the 2 HD stream limit thingy?

Originally Posted by am7crew

so if two TVs are watching different HD channels a third TV can watch something via ondemand in HD and it not go over the 2 HD stream limit thingy?

Vod whether HD or sd will ''not'' count against the stream limit..

I know, it sounds confusing...

Just wish they would add more streams...This is why I wont make them my sole provider..

At night my family watches on different sets at one time...Stream limits becomes an issue..

thats fine with me, Im a big ondemand person, I wish the cable companies would catch up with dish HD wise (wont happen anytime soon) as OD is the best thing going for them. Thanks for the clarification.