ATT U-Verse - any good?

T

ThrowittoRoy

100+ Posts
In a few months, i'll be moving into my new home, and I've been told that the neighborhood is being wired for AT&T U-verse. It's an intriguing option, as I hate TW, but not sure i want to switch to Direct TV or Dish.

I don't know much about it, and don't know anyone that has it, so I can't go over and "see it". Based on pure hearsay, it's only been positive things about Internet Speeds and the TV service.

The website uverse1.att.com seems to suggest that they offer many options U200, 300, 400 and different internet options as well. Pricing looks very intriguing, compared to my $120 TW bill for 1 HD w/DVR box + Road Runner.

I don't have HBO or any other movie channels today (prefer netflix).
Is the U200 enough for a sports and regular tv fan?
How's their Hi Def lineup?
What about internet? Any outings?
How about the channel menu/guide?

I'd appreciate any insight anyone can offer.
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TW just sent me a brochure today that had a comparison chart and under ATT U-verse it said "NO" to "able to watch HD programming on two different TVs at the same time". Not sure why that would be or how it works, but there you go.
 
had it for 2 months now. like it fine. one interesting feature is that you can set it up to where it shows you your local weather by hitting one button on the remote. nothing detailed, just forecast high and low and a pic indicating sun, clouds, rain.

same feature for stock quotes, sports scores, and traffic. and you get to choose which teams or stocks you want to see. neat little trick.

didn't order the HD so i don't know about the above post.
 
I've had the service for almost three months. It's still maturing so there are a few growing pains.

I have the U300 and Pro (3Mbps) package. The internet speed is pretty consistent and is as fast as advertised.

As for HD, I think it has as many or more HD channels than TWC, but I find the quality of the non-local HD channels to be lacking. It's not horrible, but if you've seen better, you'll probably be disappointed. The one HD stream hasn't been a major issue for me, but I hear they're adding an extra stream within the next few months.

The channel guide is better than TWC, but I think it's tries to do too much.
 
I moved from their standard DSL 'Net service and DirecTV.

The 'Net service has been rock solid since 25-Nov '07. You will not experience the varying slowdowns that I've been told is common with TW. On the other hand, you will not attain the advertised speed, at least without some fairly sophisticated tweaking, even then, you might get close, but the speed will be far, far more consistent than what you're used to. So, for a 3 Meg service, you'll probably get around 2.7 or so, as an example.

The TV is OK... for this casual user (No HDTV here). Only a hand-full of digital freezes / distortions... nothing that lasted over 1-2 seconds. No outages either.

The program guide is sophomoric, compared to DirecTV.

Rumors abound about enhancements - 1st qtr. of this yr. Fact: ATT recently procured a large order for new-gen./ high performance equipment for their backbones, so I believe that suggests something positive.

If your new home is internally wired for Ethernet, all the better, as far as installation is concerned. One way or the other, you'll require a run to each TV's location, and each has to end at a central location for the home-gateway box.


Oh, a box was found at the doorstep this week... Some junky coffee mugs from China emblazoned with the ATT logo... my free gift for beoing a customer...

WOO-HOO
 
You CANNOT watch two HD TVs in HD at the same time. At least not in Houston. I hate Comcast more than anyone, and I'm beyond looking for an excuse to switcha stop giving those ******** my money. My wife and I both watch different programs, usually in HD, and not being able to watch both in HD is unacceptable.

Other than that, I've heard decent things. That's just a deal killer for me.
 
I had UVerse TV earlier this year and liked it fine, for a while.

I got rid of the TV (but kept the Internet) because our Motorola STB was constantly re-booting. Also, my wife is a real Tivo UI devotee -- once you experience the Tivo interface, it's hard to give up. There is a noticeable lag in the button response time. Our re-booting was caused, a tech told me, by my hitting the buttons too fast.

All in all, UVerse TV was decent. Some early adopters in 2007 ended up with some bad hardware. I have a co-worker who has it now, and is generally pleased. I told him of my good and bad experiences.

True, you can't watch more than one HD show at a time, but that will change over time. You can still record up to almost 4 SD program at once. That's because your typical setup has fiber to the node (a box in your neighborhood). Once the infrastructure starts going in, AT&T will have fiber to the curb, enabling you to record multiple HD streams at once.

The vDSL is great. I have to admit that I turned off my 2Wire box's wireless capabilities in favor of my hacked, reliable Linksys router. I have had excellent throughputs. I work from home once a week doing intense IT work -- database queries, and other bandwidth taxing tasks -- and have no appreciable problems with their vDSL.
 
To expand on what kujo said, U-Verse sends channels 'on-demand' to your box, as opposed to sending the entire channel compliment to a digital tuner in your home. So in effect, it's like you're controlling a tuner remotely. You're sent up to 4 standard definition channels (so you can record them in real-time), one HD channel, and your internet service. You select which SD channels and which HD channel you want to see. Supposedly changing channels is fast and seamless.
 
How fast is Time Warner now? I'm getting 20/2.5 on Comcast in Houston. I looked into U-Verse because Comcast's TV service sucks, but U-Verse maxes out at 10/1.5 nationally and 6/.75 here.
 
I've had U-verse in Houston for a few months now, since i was fed up with my Comcast service constantly (5+ times a day) dropping my internet connection and not recording some hd channels.

First, let me say that i love the internet service. I attached my apple router to the provided ATT monstrosity to boost power--and that dominates. I can finally play ps3 online and run 2 computers wirelessly with no slowdowns.

Television-wise, i have the U-200 service and added ESPN Fullcourt so i could watch mizzou play (what a disaster that was). It's PLENTY of sports channels. I get espn, espn2, espnU, espn Classic, EspnNews, probably 3-4 FSN channels, etc. way more than comcast offered.

the only gripe i have is the damn 1 HD feed at a time. I didn't realize how much i would miss seeing a movie i wanted to watch later and recording it, then flipping through HD sports. Now, i find myself either not recording things, or trying to keep my dvr full enough that i always have something to watch.

overall, i like it better than time warner/comcast. hearing that they will be adding another HD stream just makes me happy though.
 
I've posted on every thread about U-verse since I got in in December. I have really liked it so far. I have had no problems with video signal or audio, but I rarely ever watch TV. I only keep TV service for my son. I have the U200 package, HD package and internet and pay $106/month. So I get more channels, and a lot more HD channels than with TW for $47 less a month

I was told during install that it would be March/April before I could get two HD streams. I have no idea if it has happened.

My down/up speeds are 4600/1000. With TW I was getting 6100/450. So it's a little bit slower, but hardly noticeable.
 
I have Uverse 400 and their highest internet connection, and have been pleased with both. The one HD at a time bums me out, but i assume this will get better. I do believe it is a far better value than the comcast I had.
 
Bumping this up as there seems to be growing interest in Uverse (myself included). Anybody got any updates on where they are/how they're liking there service?
 
ok, i just noticed this was old.

i got UVerse in June. My only beef is that you can only have 1 DVR. i liked having one in my bedroom and one in the living room. that said, Uverse blows TWC away.

to clarify, you can watch HD on 2 TVs. TWC claims they don't charge for HD, but they do. they charge you more for HD boxes. Uverse has a flat rate in your house of $10, and only $4 per extra box, the 1st (DVR) box is free.

MAJOR BONUS - ATT customer service is awesome. my house is old and installation was tedious. my net went down about a month after. turns out the box that handles the entire signal from outside was jacked. got it fixed the day i had problems. also, had a problem with the promotion i got when i joined. i was told $100 or 1 month free. what they didn't tell me was the 1 month free was just on the tv service, so $45. not the 120 i expected (i have u200 with hbo and whatever the top internet is). i called asking wtf it was about. the girl on the phone said that she understood my problem and i had a $100 gift card through mail in about 4 days.

when i cancelled TWC, they told me i would be back b/c everyone that left had come back. i hardly believe that...
 
AND... when you're watching a show, press guide to see what else is on, the show you're watching goes to the background, guide pops up, and you can see what is on the other program. very helpful when trying to get back to a game and don't want to catch commercials.

AND... you can control your DVR from the internet! if you're out of town and forget to record something, log in. works well on an iphone, too.

LAST... this is rumor, but it would be very nice. b/c of the way Uverse handles signals, all tv's will have access to the DVR. i was told this is in the future plan, and not too distant future. but i guess we'll see
 
How about ESPN360?
I recently discovered that Uverse includes access to 360 - gratis.

The jury's out on this on.... as of today, Horns vs Rice on 360? nada.

Any user comments on ESPN360? Seems that there's plenty of programming, but NCAA football coverage? I think (maybe) their lineup is based on their GamePlan coverage... dunno.
 
In Austin they now support two HD streams at once. A deal-killer for me was the lack of MLB Extra Innings. I don't think they have NHL Center Ice, either. Obviously don't have NFL Sunday Ticket.
 
As of Friday night I now have Whole Home DVR in Cedar Park, meaning that any TV in the house can access the DVR and watch a recorded program. Also have had 2 HD streams for a couple weeks now.
 
if your **** is freezing constantly, you might have a fried RG (the box that disperses the signal in the house). i had mine replaced when i had a couple problems. none since.

and i just realized today that i have access to the DVR in every room now! it's pretty sweet that i can sit in my office and watch recorded programs. mad i didn't record the game this weekend like i had planned.
 
I've had mine since December 27th. When it was first installed, I was getting about 4900/down and 1000/up on my internet connection. Just tested last night and I am up to 6000/down. And my whole house DVR is now setup. I am in 78759.
 
Can you get more than one HD signal now in Austin? I have two HD tvs and am waiting so I can watch HD on both tvs at the same time. I'm in southwest austin.
 
No, you have not always been able to get two HD feeds in Austin. Not on U-verse. That is a very recent development. That has been one of the major issues with the AT&T service here.
 
recent as in 6 months? uverse has only been available in my area for about 6 months and i've always been able to watch HD on 2 at same time
 
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