I'll post this here too: just got uverse available, have a few questions

[Optimus Prime 4]

And dont try to sell me on dish or direct, not signing a 24 month contract that starts the second the install guy leaves. I am willing to at least try uverse, I see a thirty day trial.

And I'm looking to switch anyway. It's not cheaper, but mostly I hear good things, though some bad too. I'm willing to give them a shot, at least they have WatchESPN and NFL network. Couple questions, do they have normal onDemand? I assume so. Is there a contract? And how does equipment work, lease like dish or rental like cable? How is the guide and DVR functionality, pretty good? Lastly, what package is needed for the good channels and sports? Looks like to even get SyFy and some others I'd need the 450 pack. I'll hang up and listen, I don't feel like talking to a sales dude yet.

 

[Bulldog from Birth]

I'm in the same boat too and interested

One more question. How is the TV signal fed through the house to each receiver ? Through coax? Telephone wires? Wireless?

 

[gptdawg]

If you don't mind never paying the same price two

Months in a row, unexplained charges, unexpected price increases, by all means go for it.

 

[SanfordRJones]

I switched from DTV and Comcast internet a couple of years ago. I switched because I had had it with Comcast, and I work from home and need a reliable internet connection. Overall, it's been okay, but I think DTV was better as far as picture quality. The internet connection has never gone out like it did with Comcast at least once a month, but it can bog down from time to time.

The first couple of years, I was paying month-to-month, but for some reason, they made me sign a 1 year contract this time when I called to complain about the the 1-year intro offer that they had already extended for a year.

They have normal onDemand. The equipment is a rental, but I got my fee waived. The DVR and guide is decent, but I thought DTV was better. U-verse lags sometimes, especially when scheduling recordings and deleting shows. I don't know about the packages you'd want. You can find that on their website. I think I have U450.

To answer BfB, you can get wired receivers or wireless. The main box is fed through a DSL line. The rest of my boxes are wireless. There's some sort of router that has to be wired through DSL, and the wireless boxes talk to that over wifi. The wireless boxes cost an additional $50 at setup, but I got those for free somehow.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Sounds like every cable and satellite company out there.

They love hidden costs.

 

[vhdawg]

I'll answer the questions I can answer.

[Full disclosure: I work for AT&T and have employee pricing, so I have no idea how consumer pricing works]

Uverse does have a pretty normal onDemand. There's no CBS in onDemand for some reason, so if you're a huge fan of Mike & Molly, set your DVR. That's the only particularly egregious network I've noticed missing from onDemand.

The guide and DVR are as good as anything I've had, certainly not the worst I've ever had. Totally functional, no real complaints.

Been a while since I looked at the channel packages, but I think you'd need at least U300, and I think a number of the more niched sports channels fall under U450. U300 also gives you all the movie channels except the HBO's and Cinemax's.

To answer Bulldog from Birth, I believe they have wireless receivers, but the normal receivers can worth with either coax or Ethernet, however your house happens to be wired.

 

[seshomoru]

Had if for years. Very pleased.

Perhaps it's what I'm used to now, but the guide format is easy and so is the remote. I actually use the uverse remote app on my android phone most of the time. Even though the receivers are wireless and work over wifi in your house, the remotes don't. So you either have to have a clear shot to the box or get one of there RF remotes. We have the RF remote because we hide the receivers in cabinets, but they are kind of spotty. The app on the phone works great. The Uverse app itself is also good for finding and recording shows if you aren't home. If you want all the sports channels you'll need to get the sports package. I have U300 which gives me NBAtv, NFL Network, the local FoxSports and SportsSouth, all the ESPNs, some soccer channel I think... don't know about MLB as I don't care. U300 has the showtimes and encores and yes... SyFy because I love some terrible mutant nature movies. Free ondemand except for CBS for some reason. You get whatever you pay for in your subscription as far as HBO and Showtime on demand. You rent the equipment but will get a lot of stuff waived as a new subscriber. Then when you price bumps up, just ***** about it and see what you can get. Actually, the best case is for something to go wrong... yeah, you gotta work through some horrific AT&T customer service but you eventually will get someone who will fix it and slash your bill.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

Thanks, good summary

 

[leonblack.sixpack]

My experience wasn't good

Admittedly, though, I've been DirecTV for years and have been pleased with it.

Being a cheapskate, I thought I'd give u-verse a chance.

During my 30 day trial, here's what ultimately led me to stay with DTV

1) No NHL network. Don't ask me why, but my sons love it.
2) I couldn't access more than 2 HD programs at once. That is, if I am recording one HD program and watching another HD program, my wife/kids could not watch a third HD signal on another TV. Very frustrating when you have three TVs... especially since no one in their right mind would watch SD now.
3) We had two wireless and one wired receiver. For some reason, one of the wireless receivers needed to be rebooted at least once per day.
4) OnDemand was limited. Missing access to several channels (as compared to DTV) and those that you could access had a small number of shows. For instance, DTV HBO OnDemand has virtually every episode of every series that has been on the channel in the past five years. Every Sopranos episode is on there. Not the case with Uverse
5) Menu was ok, but not as intuitive as the DTV one.
6) Required a contract (similar to DTV). Once you get past 30 day trial, to see any real savings, you will sign a 12 month contract. That price WILL go up after contract is over.


I was, however, able to upgrade my crappy DSL to U-Verse internet. I am kicking myself for not doing that sooner.

 

[dawgdoug1962]

And dont try to sell me on dish or direct, not signing a 24 month contract that starts the second the install guy leaves. I am willing to at least try uverse, I see a thirty day trial.

And I'm looking to switch anyway. It's not cheaper, but mostly I hear good things, though some bad too. I'm willing to give them a shot, at least they have WatchESPN and NFL network. Couple questions, do they have normal onDemand? I assume so. Is there a contract? And how does equipment work, lease like dish or rental like cable? How is the guide and DVR functionality, pretty good? Lastly, what package is needed for the good channels and sports? Looks like to even get SyFy and some others I'd need the 450 pack. I'll hang up and listen, I don't feel like talking to a sales dude yet.

I just dropped Comcast and switched to Uverse Monday of this week.....installation on time and working great....no contract for me and it does have on-demand feature and better dvr service than Comcast...the signal comes to my house through the telephone line and ties into my already existing coaxial cables....does a 'back-feed' through the cables according to installer. Already had Uverse internet and voice, both of which have give me no problems over the last three years....signed up for the U300 package and the cost before taxes/normal fees is $ 93 a month....have three boxes and one wireless unit which will drive a second set in my den when I want to watch a second game on the side-set. Excellent picture and sound....only draw-back is being old and having to learn a new remote/channel lineup...lol...my location is in Desoto county...

When I called to cancel Comcast the rep began to tell me all of the discounts/lower rates I could get if I chose to stay...

 

[MarriedtoStateGrad]

Great Question. I am looking for SEC network, but I am worried about Internet. I called ATT and was told I could get a blistering 12 ups. Uh, I get 100 with comcast. I also have DTV [long story]. My comcast internet is good. HD reception not so good.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I have had it for a while. The first couple of years were bumpy but I just upgraded to their latest technology and love it. Internet is great. One wired on wireless receiver that both work great. They did have to replace my initial wifi but they did it quick and it is working great.

That being said, I do live in Austin where Google and ATT are both fighting to get everyone and the gigabit systems are starting to roll out.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

How many HD streams can be recorded. And I'm sticking with Grande internet, we also have Google and someone else bringing gig in the next year or so, maybe three with Grande. But my current 50 meg is only $40 a month, cheaper than max 18 with Uverse. I do occasionally have three things I want to record at once, is that possible? I'll also use a wireless one to move between kitchen, patio, 2nd TV for football. Looks like the 300 package can hold me until NFL, then I add the sports for NFL network and Red Zone.. $85 for first six months for three receivers, HD package, Showtime and HBO. Not too bad.

 

[hatfieldms]

I switched from directv to uverse a year ago...

...fully expecting to not like it, but it saved us some money. A year later I think in like uverse more than I did direct. I deforest prefer their in demand over directv

 

[RockstarFromMars]

I don't watch a lot of TV outside of sports so I bought the sports package and am pleased with it. The internet is pleasantly fast. My only issue thus far is once in a blue moon, it will tank for an inexplicable reason. I usually call AT&T, the guy will tell me I need a new router, and then the next day it will work like it did before.

The good thing about having any AT&T product is that even though their customer service is often subpar, they always seem to cave if you threaten to switch services in my experience.

 

[mcdawg22]

Yes. Sundays at my house seemed to always need three recordings at the same time. You can't watch a fourth in HD though.

 

[missouridawg]

I'm honestly not sure if I'm arguing for or against Uverse here... but I'll

share my story.

Started building a new house last August. Completion date was going to be sometime in late March. The first week of March, I call AT&T and told them about the move and when I wanted to transfer my Uverse service. They agreed to it and set up the appointments for March 28th. March 28th rolls around and they call and say they had a slight hold up and will move it to early the next week. Early the next week came and the same story. They moved the appointment a total of 3 times before the story changed to "well, we are waiting on a piece to get manufactured for your neighborhood and it's going to be May 8th". (Also note this is a true story, as 3 others in my neighborhood fought this same battle - They needed to buy some type of splitter for the box for our neighborhood).

May 8th rolls around - still nothing. New date was May 29th. May 29th they finally came out and installed my system. I waited this long because I really like the Uverse programming, DVR capabilities (all rooms), and the channel guide (I got rid of DirecTV because I couldn't stand the delay in the channel guide - it's very slow to reach to the remote control).

But to make this story even more confusing, about mid-April I tweeted at AT&T about my disappointment. They responded and I actually got someone who managed my account from that point on. We exchanged lots of texts about setup, my disappointment, and how I was close to trying Comcast (or Dish...) and they ended up offering me a deal that I accepted. The deal was U450 package for U300 price, free premiums (HBO, SHO) for a year, and free permanent equipment rentals. And let me make something extremely clear... her text message to me said "The fees for equipment & rental would be waived permanently. The price for U450 would be 1 year.".

My new house has 8 boxes (I have 3 TVs set up in a gameroom, one in the living, one in the gym, one in the master bed, one in a guest bed, and one on a patio). So the enticement of "permanent" equipment rental fees was quite large. That's damn near $100 a month off my bill. Which is why I accepted it.

Last night, we exchanged more texts.... because apparently the word "permanent" means something different to AT&T than myself. Permanent to them means for the life of a contract, which is now only going to be one year, rather than my kind of permanent, which is until I change from AT&T.

All in all, I'll never go back to DirecTV. I hated their channel guide delay and their up-selling. I've only had Uverse since September and as soon as this deal runs out, I'll probably beg for the same offer or look for something new. By then, Comcast will most likely have the SEC Network and I'll have some options.

 

[Dawgzilla]

I switched to U-verse about 1 year ago. Overall I am very pleased. The picture quality blows away Comcast and other cable companies, and is about the same as satellite providers (but without the weather interruptions). On Demand content falls behind Comcast for the network and cable channels; you don't find very many full seasons available, just a handful of shows for each program. The On Demand content for premium channels is the same as Comcast as far as I can tell.

I have two basic gripes with U-verse. The first is the way they have set up the multiple tuners. With Comcast, I had a DVR box with dual tuners and the tuners were always active, recording up to 1 hour of whatever channel they were set to. So, if you were watching two football games at once, you could pause one, switch to the other tuner to watch the second game for a little while, pause the second game, then switch back to the first game and pick up where you paused. Rinse and repeat. Very handy.

With U-verse, that feature is not available. Although you have 4 tuners, if you are not watching them then they are not on, and you cannot pause or rewind to any of the content. So, if you are watching one game and then switch to another game, you will be picking up the second game as though you had just turned on the TV, and then if you switch back to the first game you will have missed all the stuff that went on while you switched. The only "fix" is to set up a second receiver in your house to watch the second game you want to see. That turns on a second tuner that starts saving up to 1 hour of content for live viewing. The only catch is, you cannot pause to switch between tuners. If you switch over to the second game, the action will be live.....you can rewind back to the point that you last saw the game, but you cannot pause, switch tuners, and then pick up the game where you left off. I am working on a fix for this by connecting a second receiver to my TV so that I will actually switch between TV inputs, but the remote works for both receivers so that will be tricky.

Also, I think the U-verse user interface is much worse than Comcast's. Comcast's UI was developed by TiVo, so you kind of expect it to be really user friendly. The U-verse search feature sucks, and the series record settings can get screwed up at times and either miss shows, or not record the entire program. The skip forward feature only moves the program ahead 14 seconds, so its pretty useless (I just use fast forward and try to push "play" at the right time). A couple other buggy issues with it that I can't think of right now...

Overall I prefer U-verse because picture quality is very important to me. I have never had any service or outage issues. I did sign a two year contract in order to get a substantial bundling discount, so we'll find out next year how bad they try to gouge us on pricing

 

[dawgstudent]

Did someone mention May 8th? We ain't talking about no May 8th.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5631006

 

[RocketDawg]

How many HD streams can be recorded. And I'm sticking with Grande internet, we also have Google and someone else bringing gig in the next year or so, maybe three with Grande. But my current 50 meg is only $40 a month, cheaper than max 18 with Uverse. I do occasionally have three things I want to record at once, is that possible? I'll also use a wireless one to move between kitchen, patio, 2nd TV for football. Looks like the 300 package can hold me until NFL, then I add the sports for NFL network and Red Zone.. $85 for first six months for three receivers, HD package, Showtime and HBO. Not too bad.

Some of the rates I see quoted here are amazing. You'd think Huntsville would be one of the more progressive cities around, perhaps on par with Austin in technology availability, but it's not. And apparently it's not even up with rural Mississippi.

I used to have Knology internet and telephone, but it was recently taken over by WoW! With Knology, I had 12-15 MBPS, and that along with telephone was right at $100/month. Same price when WoW! took over. Only problem is, with both providers, my real rate was between 2 and 11, depending on the time of day. I never once saw 15.

I called Wow! a couple months ago and told them about their lousy service, and upgraded to the next highest ... 25-30 MBPS. In reality, I get anywhere from about 4 at this time of the day til around midnight, and sometimes it's up around 40. Total cost of phone and internet is about $115.

Their highest available rate is "up to" 50, and it's $25 MORE per month. So that would be about $140 for internet and phone. And you get 100 for 40 bucks. As I recall, you're somewhere in Kansas, maybe Wichita. Why the huge differences?

Since this is beginning the slowest time of the day for my internet service, it took about a minute after I hit "reply with quote" until the box came up ready for me to type. A lot of that could be this board, but I think most is my lousy service.

 

[Shamoan]

yes
no
wireless or through outlet (ethernet)
rental
very easy to use...much better than direct imo
im the second step, which gets most sports channels i want (minus comcast obviously) espn, 2, u, fox, fsn, and some others. id doesnt have the outdoors channel which i kinda grew to like, but that may not be what you are looking for.

i paid $100 for a year for gaming speed internet and a nice selection of channels, but hbo and the premium channels are in another package. you get 3 months free of the premium channels, so since you are on a trial basis, go for it. cut bait if you dont like it, but i really like mine....a year out, i am paying $120...still pretty good...as soon as things calm down for me, im calling to try to renegotiate. i have been really happy with them.