Hey everyone, I am a U-verse installer and just saw this thread thought I would chime in and see if I could help with some answers. I also worked as a DirecTV installer and dive way more into this stuff than they trained us.
First thing, please dont blame the company for some of these irresponsible, lazy, and disrespectful installers. They have been pumping a lot of new techs out and new managers that aren't prepared for a job like this. The training they give us is extremely comprehensive but they are pulling people off the street to learn all these complex ideas in a couple of months. If you do have a problem dont be afraid to ask for the techs ID number and supervisors number and report them. They are required to tell you if you ask. They've been firing a lot of these techs but its not easy to find them all. As with DirecTV, I tell all my customers to question everything a tech does and to ask questions. But enough of all this on to the technical aspect.
All set top boxes can be run on either Cat 5 or coax cable. I like to run new Cat 5 cable because it is a much more reliable cable and can run much faster than coax but yes the existing coax wiring can be used. That is if it passes testing(If the installer tests it) and there isn't a million splitters in line. For home run going to the RG (modem) both types of cable can be used as well but I personally only use Cat 5 and would recommend that to everyone else as well.
The RG does transmit wireless but as for the 4 ethernet ports on the back of it, those are for installing either the set top boxes or computers. If you would like to use them as a router make sure you tell your installer so he can make arrangements to leave them available for you. I dont recommend using other wireless routers with this system as it may conflict with our signal and it is unnessary. If you do need some more ethernet jacks your installer can supply you with a switch for additional ports.
The whole home DVR update is coming. And it is pretty cool. It just recently came to our area and I havent had a chance to play around with it much but it is a really cool function. From what I've been hearing everything is on schedule. As for the large time jumps im pretty sure U-verse doesn't have a function where you can do that either. I believe it will jump ahead 30 seconds(same with DirecTV) but I am having a brain fart on the exact amount.
In my opionon the 4 stream limit with one HD stream is U-verse's biggest downfall but I've heard rumors that more are coming, possibly more than double, with more HD streams possible. I am in no way making any promises or official statements on that though. All recorded programs are seperate from the live streams so yes you can watch a recorded HD program and have an HD live stream going at the same time.
The VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocal, so to answer the question about being able to use IP based endpoints, yes you can use them. It works with both old anolag POTS telephones(which I would recommend keeping at least one on the line) and IP based units. In my personal oponion I would just keep the old POTS line for reliability, but you shouldn't have any problems with the VoIP as its a pretty basic operation.
As for recording games and other protected programs, I really dont know why think a company that works with all levels of the government would let you perform an illegal action on their system. I dont think they should be required to tell you such things either, in fact the broadcast explicitly states that it is illegal to make unathorized recordings of the program at the beginning.
