Thread: Review: AT&T U-VERSE

Originally Posted by allargon

We're finally getting U-verse in the Austin area. I won't leave Dish HD for U-verse. I wonder if AT&T will let me replace my DSL with U-verse Internet.

Only limited areas of Austin. Check out
statesman.com | The Ticker

to see where folks are saying they can and can't get U-Verse.

I just had UVerse installed today and it was fairly simple and easy. The only problem is that the internet connection is slower than what i had before. I did not know this would happen. The connection now shows at 18 mbps for my laptop wirelessly and my desktop shows at 56 mbps. My old dsl (cheapest one) with dslextreme was at 100 mbps. I was told by the salespeople (who by the way showed up every few weeks for months so I finally gave in) that the dsl would be significantly faster than what was out there. I guess shame on me for not researching it. Overall that is the only thing that had me question it. I was hoping for faster service. Is this something that ATT will be changing. I read in earlier posts that the original speeds were even slower, so will they ever be as fast as other providers?

The TV seems to be about the same as before so I am fine with that. Overall it seems to be a good service.

Originally Posted by rad

Only limited areas of Austin. Check out
statesman.com | The Ticker

to see where folks are saying they can and can't get U-Verse.

I can get it at my address. I checked it on the website. They even sent me a flyer in the mail. No dice. Only one HD channel? I have two HDTV's. No dice.

If the Internet connection is slower, I will definitely pass. I routinely get 1.5-3Mbps with DSL.

Originally Posted by allargon

I can get it at my address. I checked it on the website. They even sent me a flyer in the mail. No dice. Only one HD channel? I have two HDTV's. No dice.

If the Internet connection is slower, I will definitely pass. I routinely get 1.5-3Mbps with DSL.

IIRC, the internet connection will be faster, top speed is 6Mbps and since they don't use PPPoE on U-Verse actual throughput will be faster then normal DSL service.

After rejecting numerous phone solicitations and mail promotions, last night a nice young man from at&t showed up at the door, wanting to inform us of a no cost, no obligation trial of U-verse. We listened to his pitch, and after determining that no money would change hands, agreed to a thirty-day trial. We will get one dvr and two non-dvr receivers, plus the at&T "Pro" level Internet service (3.0 mbps). We had three choices of the offer: 1) thirty days of free u-Verse service, with free installation, the cost of the Internet service is a wash with the at&t dsl service I currently have, at 1.5 mbps; 2) $100 rebate, assuming one signs up for the service; or, 3) one year HD service fee waived, a $120 value. If one signs up for mid-week installation with any of the three options, one gets two $50 pre-paid gift cards.

We opted for the one month free service, since it would be a wash with the level we chose, U-400, versus the $100 rebate. That way, if we do not like it, they take it away and we have no ongoing bill. I currently have DISH HD service, America's Everything Pack, with HBO, Showtime, et al; and two 622's. There are some public access channels my wife really likes, which I did not see on the U-verse list, so that might be the deal-breaker. Other one is I just got external hard drives for both 622's, and have been archiving to my heart's delight. But, with the HDMI port available on our big 57" Sony, thanks to the 622's HDMI output port failure, and DISH's refusal to replace the box, I figure I can compare the picture on the same HD program for U-verse on HDMI and DISH on component cable.

"Film at eleven."

Let us know how the comparison goes. Good luck.

I got Uverse installed one week ago and am satisfied with it. I miss the Eastern feed I had on Dish Network, loved seeing FX programs at 7PM instead of having to wait until 10. The DVR doesn’t fast forward as fast as Dish DVR but I can record 3 programs at the same time. 4 if I watch one while recording. The TV also freezes for varying times of a second or so to as long as 10-15 seconds, very aggravating during football.
I previously had a very slow DSL connection of 384kbs which was just a hair faster than dial up. Usually around 250-325 and had to recycle the modem on a regular basis. I got the U200 with a sports package and 1.5mbs download. I will probably opt for the 6.0mbs after the billing stabilizes. I would like to have the option of going with the U400 package and bypass the U300 movie channels for the price of the U300 package.

Originally Posted by dohmixer

The TV also freezes for varying times of a second or so to as long as 10-15 seconds, very aggravating during football.

I learned today they're getting ready to roll out U-Verse in my area. I'm very, very interested -- but am concerned about the "freezing" issues that were mentioned in the initial review and in this last post. Have they gotten any better?

I have been toying with the idea of going to U-Verse from D* for th elast month or so. I have been having way too many billing/service issues lately w/ DirecTV and paying them $200 to lease an HD-DVR seems a bit ludicrous at this point.

But I am getting off topic. I was an inch away from pulling the trigger when I had to call in to a CSR (I was ordering online to get an extra $100) to find out if it was possible to get more than one DVR (I hadn't yet read this thread). He said it was not possible because of the number of streams comign into teh home.

Wait a minute?!? I have three tv's. I can have up to 6 setup thru Uverse, so if I had six boxes (One DVR) here'd be eight streams. 3 boxes w/ two DVRS would give me 7. That's less streams...

He kind fo just shrugged it off and told me in the future I'd be able to access all of my DVR content from any box in the home. No ETA on that though.

So, I was dejected and got off the line and exited the ordering screen.

I came here to read up on the service (should have done so to begin with), and now I am at a loss. Back to the drawing board.

U-Verse sounded so good. One DVR is a dealbreaker though.