AT&T U-verse Users

[daverp]

I'll quickly mention internet access, as you'd probably get this with the TV service if you switched. It's decently fast, downloads waver around the 16 to 17 Mbit mark (~2 MB/sec), and uploads max out at exactly the capped 1.5 Mbit mark. Latency is pretty bad if you're an online gamer, and if you're a die hard gamer, keep a different service for the better pings. With the higher sync rates available, plus pair bonding, everyone is hoping they offer some better speeds soon, as Comcast is just about to launch their 30/5 and 50/10 service here in our area.
.

This is definitely your mileage may very part of the system. Personally my ping times are 10 to 20% lower than my Comcast connection was. DOCIS 3.0 ( does seem to increase Comcast ping times. Now this just might be my experience and in my overbuilt area. In Counter Strike my ping times with U-verse are typically in the 30’s to low 40’s and Comcast they are 40’s to mid 50’s.

 

[technikal]

I just switched from Dish to U-Verse. Primary reason for the switch is two fold - first I wanted to drop TWC as my internet provider after they announced plans to implement usage caps here, and secondly we were getting a new roof on the house after a massive hail storm and I didn't want to put dish-mounting holes in my brand new roof.

We are 1 TV family, so the constraints on HD streams isn't a drawback. PQ looks pretty good. SD is much better than what I had on Dish. HD is a tossup for national channels. We used the OTA option on the Dish 622 for locals, and there was a noticable difference between those and the UVerse locals - but nothing horrible. That said, I'm not an videophile and am watching on a 32" LCD - so folks that are pickier, or watching larger sets may have a different experience.

The DVR is just Ok. The 622 is better, imo - real 30 second skip, more control over recording settings, better Favorites lists, better remote, etc. I've also had a couple of issues where I couldn't FF recorded content - seems like that 'broadcast flag' problem Microsoft had on Media Center might have snuck its way into the AT&T software, too. However, the DVR does work, the Flicker integration is nice, it's super quite and small, and the platform has a ton of potential.

I put my Dish account on hold for 6 months to evaluate. On an even compare, I'd still give the nod to Dish - but I have not seen any problems with Uverse (Save the inability to FF - which ATT says is a glitch that shouldn't happen again) that makes me want holes in my roof.

 

[daverp]

The DVR is just Ok. The 622 is better, imo - real 30 second skip, more control over recording settings, better Favorites lists, better remote, etc. I've also had a couple of issues where I couldn't FF recorded content - seems like that 'broadcast flag' problem Microsoft had on Media Center might have snuck its way into the AT&T software, too. However, the DVR does work, the Flicker integration is nice, it's super quite and small, and the platform has a ton of potential.

I've yet to figure out the logic of U-verse's 36 second skip. As for the broadcast flag. It's in there all new DVRs are required to have it. As for sneeking in, U-verse is Microsoft's Media Room platform, it's not customized it's just branded.

 

[technikal]

I don't mind the length of the skip so much as the fact that I can't queue skips. On the 622, I'd press the skip button 6 or 8 times and I'd be back to the program. On Uverse, it's press-wait-press-wait-press-wait... I guess they feel there's some value in me seeing 2 or 3 still shots of whatever commercials I'm skipping over.

The Fast Forward problem occurred on stuff recorded from our local FOX affiliate. I'm aware of controls out there that delete PPV content after a few days, but I wasn't aware anyone was purposefully, actively impeding local broadcast. The programs would record just fine - but you couldn't fast forward or skip at all. Every other station worked fine, and even the SD version of FOX worked fine. Hasn't occured in a few days, so hopefully it was just an accident.

 

[lern4483]

uverse for a year

I just switched from Dish to U-Verse. Primary reason for the switch is two fold - first I wanted to drop TWC as my internet provider after they announced plans to implement usage caps here, and secondly we were getting a new roof on the house after a massive hail storm and I didn't want to put dish-mounting holes in my brand new roof.

We are 1 TV family, so the constraints on HD streams isn't a drawback. PQ looks pretty good. SD is much better than what I had on Dish. HD is a tossup for national channels. We used the OTA option on the Dish 622 for locals, and there was a noticable difference between those and the UVerse locals - but nothing horrible. That said, I'm not an videophile and am watching on a 32" LCD - so folks that are pickier, or watching larger sets may have a different experience.

The DVR is just Ok. The 622 is better, imo - real 30 second skip, more control over recording settings, better Favorites lists, better remote, etc. I've also had a couple of issues where I couldn't FF recorded content - seems like that 'broadcast flag' problem Microsoft had on Media Center might have snuck its way into the AT&T software, too. However, the DVR does work, the Flicker integration is nice, it's super quite and small, and the platform has a ton of potential.

I put my Dish account on hold for 6 months to evaluate. On an even compare, I'd still give the nod to Dish - but I have not seen any problems with Uverse (Save the inability to FF - which ATT says is a glitch that shouldn't happen again) that makes me want holes in my roof.

So its coming up on one year for my uverse setup.

I have the 450 package plus the highest speed internet.
I think I have a good grasp on Uverse.

I might also mention I have dish and Direct.
I have suspended direc for the summer.

Uverse Tv:
Every morning I have to reboot the system. I must have had the techs out 10
times since day one changing equipment. I use to have lots of pixelation issues.
Thats not the case anymore.
Just rebooting in the morning due to the blue logo being frozen on the screen.
What I like is super fast channel changing. Video on demand is excellent!
I have never had that before with any provider so Its kinda cool.

Picture quality: SD is by far the best Ive ever seen!
HD is good but not great. At times its up there with the sat cos, other times its not.

Internet: best service i have ever had! fast and stable.

Compared to dish\direc:
I still say dish has the best dvr. Uverse, while better than the direc recievers, are just not that good.
I guess if I never had the 622/722 it would be fine.

Not crazy about the limited streams. I would never make Uverse my main system beacuse of that reason alone.
In my family we record allot.

In short: Uverse gets good marks. However, If choosing, Id go with Dish network.
Still the better more stable system by a long shot.

 

[aaron12]

So its coming up on one year for my uverse setup.
Uverse Tv:
Every morning I have to reboot the system. I must have had the techs out 10
times since day one changing equipment. I use to have lots of pixelation issues.
Thats not the case anymore.
Just rebooting in the morning due to the blue logo being frozen on the screen.

I assume when you say you're rebooting you mean the DVR and not the RG, and if that is so, are you using HDMI to connect to your TV? I had the same problem when I originally had U-Verse, the system would be all kinds of screwed up if I used HDMI, but now I have it connected via component cables, and have had no issues whatsoever. I also hear if you can get them to give you one of the new Cisco boxes it fixes the HDMI problem as well.

 

[lern4483]

Uverse not there yet.

I assume when you say you're rebooting you mean the DVR and not the RG, and if that is so, are you using HDMI to connect to your TV? I had the same problem when I originally had U-Verse, the system would be all kinds of screwed up if I used HDMI, but now I have it connected via component cables, and have had no issues whatsoever. I also hear if you can get them to give you one of the new Cisco boxes it fixes the HDMI problem as well.

Yes, I had those ''hand shake'' issues with HDMI. I switched to component about 6 months ago.

Since then the pixelation issues stopped.
Again, when i turn my set on for the first time the following day the dvr(main unit)
is frozen on the blue att screen.

I can deal with rebooting. Im tired of calling the tech folks. They never seem to get it totally right.

I do have the latest cisco with the bigger hard drive.

Im not wowed by these cisco machines.
Uverse has potential but they are just not there yet.

Im not sure why I still have the tv service? I guess im hoping for improvements.
Hoping to say goodbye to dish once and for all.

I just dont think thats going to happen.
Uverse is just not stable enough. Dish is just too good to be knocked off..at the moment.

Uverse certainly is trying though.

 

[technikal]

...
I do have the latest cisco with the bigger hard drive.

I hear rumor that the Cisco box has a 'real' 30 second skip. Is that true?

 

[lern4483]

Cisco- no 30 skip-just fast forward.

I hear rumor that the Cisco box has a 'real' 30 second skip. Is that true?

Nope...False. The 30 second skip is the same as the direc tv recievers.
It scans through rather then actualy skips.
Kind of like fast forwarding.

The ''real'' 30 second skip is on the dish recievers.
They actaully skip. Super fast.

I have the dish 722 reciever. Its like lightening.

This should be the benchmark for all recievers.

 

[daverp]

Nope...False. The 30 second skip is the same as the direc tv recievers.
It scans through rather then actualy skips.
Kind of like fast forwarding.

The ''real'' 30 second skip is on the dish recievers.
They actaully skip. Super fast.

I have the dish 722 reciever. Its like lightening.

This should be the benchmark for all recievers.

I have the Cisco box and it's a true skip, it 36 seconds however. I just press the skip button and it pretty much instantly 36 seconds forward.

 

[lern4483]

I have the Cisco box and it's a true skip, it 36 seconds however. I just press the skip button and it pretty much instantly 36 seconds forward.

I have been through about 10 dvr cisco(uverse) units.

None of them have a true 30 second skip.

Maybe a regional thing? Im down here in south florida.
Its only a year old down here.

 

[digiblur]

We are 1 TV family, so the constraints on HD streams isn't a drawback. PQ looks pretty good. SD is much better than what I had on Dish. HD is a tossup for national channels. We used the OTA option on the Dish 622 for locals, and there was a noticable difference between those and the UVerse locals - but nothing horrible. That said, I'm not an videophile and am watching on a 32" LCD - so folks that are pickier, or watching larger sets may have a different experience.

We only have one HDTV in the house the 2 HD stream is still a deal breaker. A few times a week I have 3 HD streams recording at once.

Nope...False. The 30 second skip is the same as the direc tv recievers.
It scans through rather then actualy skips.
Kind of like fast forwarding.

The ''real'' 30 second skip is on the dish recievers.
They actaully skip. Super fast.

I have the dish 722 reciever. Its like lightening.

This should be the benchmark for all recievers.

One of my favorite features right there... couldn't switch to service without it. When a commercial comes on I mash the skip button about 5 or 6 times... I'm not patient I don't want to wait to FF'd. I wish Dish let you program another skip button to a flexible time. That way you could have 30 second button then depending on your preferences make a 2 minute skip button. That would be cool!

 

[lern4483]

We only have one HDTV in the house the 2 HD stream is still a deal breaker. A few times a week I have 3 HD streams recording at once.



One of my favorite features right there... couldn't switch to service without it. When a commercial comes on I mash the skip button about 5 or 6 times... I'm not patient I don't want to wait to FF'd. I wish Dish let you program another skip button to a flexible time. That way you could have 30 second button then depending on your preferences make a 2 minute skip button. That would be cool!

Not sure what the time frame is on my 722? But is sure is fast.

Uverse has tons of potential but the limited streams and the unstable dvrs
are just not up to it yet.

I say yet because I do think there is great potential with the Uverse system.

But no matter how hard I try to love it I always seem to revert back to the 722(dish)

I never have had to reboot dish or for that fact direc tv dvrs. While I dont love the direc HDDvrs, they have grown on me. I really like quick tune. Thats an awesome feature.
Plus I like that you can watch a recorded show and flip to a live show and then back.

Dish recievers dont have this...What a great feature! Yes, Cisco units have it.

Probably best feature on both Direc and Cisco(uverse units)

However, the limited stream thing(Uverse) needs to be fixed.

 

[technikal]

It's interesting that the skip is implemented differently with different boxes. I kind of figured it'd all be the same since it was running the same software. I definitley miss this feature from Dish.

I think it'll be interesting to see how ATT handles the streaming limit. I know the MediaRoom software has the ability to do Network DVR functionality - allowing you to 'go back in time' in the program guide and watch any program at any time. Assuming ATT could implement that without the wrath of the content providers, you'd elminate the need to consume a stream for anything that's just recording - you'd only consume for shows that are actively being watched. Add in a couple of ATSC tuners for local content and they might have a solution that would work for more folks.

I also imagine they're banking on significant improvements in technology to delivery improvments in bandwith and compression. Probably a good bet, given that 10 years ago, most telco 'broadband' was 128/256k ISDN and they're consistently squeezing 25mb/s over that same copper today.

 

[cwbuckley]

I currently have D* and I was interested in making the switch from satellite to Uverse. One of my concerns has been the number of HD streams. When I talked to Uverse rep I told him about my concerns. He told me that Uverse goal was to have a total of 8 streams, with 5 of them being HD and the other 3 SD. I dont know if he was telling me the truth or not. I told him that I had heard that they were adding a 3rd hd stream soon. He didnt know anything about that. I cant make the change until april of next year, because I bundled my dsl and D* service to get a discount and that added a year to my committment. That was something that ATT failed to tell me. It would sure be nice if Uverse had 8 streams. I could live with that especially the 5 hd.

 

[technikal]

The current 'normal' profile for UVerse is 25mb down, 2.3 mb up, I believe. Most folks within about 3000' can get that profile.

From what I've read, the average HD stream on Uverse is around 6mb/sec and SD is around 1.5mb/sec.

So, to support 5 HD streams, they'd need 30mb/sec down + whatever they reserve for internet and phone (say 10 mb/sec). That's going to push them to a profile of 40mb/sec. I don't think they'll be able to offer that at most distances with the technology they are using today.

FWIW - I'm 2700' from the vrad and have a max sync rate of around 40mb/sec. They typically like a minimum of 20-30% 'headroom' so my realistic max rate would be 28-32mb/sec. They might be able to squeeze 3 HD streams into that, but not 5 - at least not without giving up internet speed.

 

[FIREBIRD81]

I'm getting close to 50

 

[jb1945]

Ah, to be young again!

 

[confused]

Today I received a flyer in the mail that we can supposedly get AT&T U-Verse. Today, we use AT&T for two phone lines, long distance, and Internet and I think we can save some money if we add U-verse.

Currently, I have DirecTV with six SD TV's and four tuners (three TV’s are driven off one box). Two of the tuners are the R-10 DVR's. I love these because both tuners are always buffering 30 minutes. Many times, I will turn on the TV in the middle of a show that I want to watch and I can rewind to the beginning. I can also bounce between two stations to skip the commercials. I believe the capacity is about 70 hours * 2 = 140 hours.

How does U-verse compare with the buffering / flipping channels / capacity / etc?

In addition, I have heard you can get AT&T to run CAT5. I would be concerned about how much that would cost and would they need to drill holes through your exterior walls.

 

[goaliebob99]

There is no buffering, if you turn on a show, you start from the point you turn on. once your on the show you can rewind back, but if you flip the channel you loose the buffer.

What I did was have att run cat 5 to every tv location instead of rg6 (the did rg6 the first time I had uverse.) So now I have cat 5 and rg6 to every tv. Nice for the echostar boxes