Connecticut U VERSE Install

[Neutron]

I sure wish AT&T would dump PPPoE on their DSL here. I hate it!!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Ok I must say, that I am a little pissed at AT&T at the moment.

One of the neat advertised features of their U-VERSE service is the ability program your DVR from anywhere over the web.

Well tonight I was told that this feature is not available to me as I do not subscribe to AT&T Yahoo Internet Service.

It says no where in any of their ads or documentation that I must subscribe to their sub par internet service (sub par for me being that I have a 15 meg connection already... it would be a major downgrade to drop down to 1 mb service)

The first tier 2 rep I spoke two had no idea what he was talking about and told me I could only program the DVR over the internet while I was in my house using their DSL service.

I then spoke to a supervisor named Tom (ID Number TD9214) who was a nice guy and explained things better to me and I told him I found it unacceptable and he agreed with me and said he would see what he could do. We talked for a long time about other issues I have seen and he seemed like he was taking notes.

The issue is because I did not get Internet from AT&T I can not get a login to access the remote DVR function on Yahoo.COM. To me this is totally bogus.

Whats funny is after I got off the phone with Tom, my wife reminded me we have a 768k DSL line from AT&T, so that makes me a AT&T Yahoo Subscriber.

I got to admit I am really agrivated by this.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Scott, that does suck.

What are some of the positives so far??

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

So far the big postive has been MHD. I love that channel. And my 4 year old loves the PBS Sprite Channel.

The SD Channels look MUCH better then they do on Dish Network, without doing any real comparison I think that the HD quality between Dish and Uverse is about the same. I am told that the UVERSE HD is a 10 MB MPEG4 stream. When I get back from CES I will compaire them side by side.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Thanks Scott.

Can't wait for your CES coverage next week, and your full U-Verse review later on....

 

[danct]

Scott, I have been eagerly following your thread and hope we can get UVerse down in Milford soon.

I saw you post that you are getting two HD streams, does that mean the DVR can record them both and play one back. I don't think I could deal with not being able to record two HD programs at once, especially on wednesday nights.

Also I got lost a bit at the install point. Do they use your existing coax to hook up the boxes ?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

No we were able to get HD on both receivers at the same time.

If you have HD DVRed you can watch a recorded show and record another hd show at the same time.

The hook up all new wiring.

 

[danct]

Ahh, I think I will wait till one can record two HD programs at the same time, I could'nt live without that. We are HD junkies in our house.

They run all new wiring through that walls, new faceplates etc ? Sounds expensive (and potentially messy)

No we were able to get HD on both receivers at the same time.

If you have HD DVRed you can watch a recorded show and record another hd show at the same time.

The hook up all new wiring.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

They run all new wiring through that walls, new faceplates etc ? Sounds expensive (and potentially messy)

Yup they do.

 

[Kirby Baker]

Nice review Scott.

I make your NID box

http://www.satelliteguys.us/attachment.php?attachmentid=13900&d=1167846759

 

[RandallA]

Scott,

They allow 1 DVR per account, is there any charge for the DVR?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

No charge for it.

 

[RandallA]

Cool! Man, you're fast.

I'm doing a comparison between Dish Network, Directv, Comcast and Uverse and for the programming and equipment that I want Directv and Uverse are the cheapest one. Of course, Uverse is not available in my area yet. Guess who is right behind Comcast in terms of pricing, yep Dish Network.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am fast because I monitor the board by using this handy URL...

http://www.satelliteguys.us/vaispy.php

 

[RandallA]

I've tried that tool before and it got stuck on me last time. Let me try it again.

 

[RemyM]

The DVR is not included in the U100 package, it costs $15/mo. I would assume it is also not included in the U-Family package. They have no details on that plan on their web site however. A DVR and two other receivers is included in the U200, U300, and U400 packages.
https://uverse1.att.com/launchingAction.do

 

[RandallA]

Thanks Remy. I'm looking at the U200 or U300 package so it will be included.

 

[GaryPen]

Cool! Man, you're fast.

I'm doing a comparison between Dish Network, Directv, Comcast and Uverse and for the programming and equipment that I want Directv and Uverse are the cheapest one. Of course, Uverse is not available in my area yet. Guess who is right behind Comcast in terms of pricing, yep Dish Network.

I'm doing the same thing myself, except that in regard to the programming I'm interested in, I've found E* to be the same price as Comcast, if not a little more. So much for the "cable pig".

I was this close to making the switch to D*, until I found out their DVR's don't have a true 30-second skip. (It's more of a preset 30-second fast-foward. ) U-Verse sounds great. But, can it record either 2 SD shows at once, or 1 SD and 1 HD? (I read above where only 1 HD show at a time.) That would be another deal breaker.

I also don't care for the way U-Verse matches Comcast's stupid numbering scheme for local channels, a holdover from their limited analog A/B system days. No reason why ATT couldn't use the more logical approach of using the actual OTA numbers, as E* and D* do. (In fact, Comcast could do the same with their digital boxes, but don't. Channels are scattered averywhere, regardless of theme, and locals are bunched together between 2 and 25 (except digital subchannels in the 190's and HD in the 700's.)

 

[JohnBlacklock]

Hello all, I am a U-verse installer employed by AT&T. As it stands currently, you get 4 streams into your house. That means that you can watch or record up to 4 different things at the same time. If you try to watch or record another program you must interrupt one of the streams in progress. With HD programming, you normally can substitute one HD program for one of the streams. So, you can watch or record 1 HD channel, and watch or record up to 3 SD channels. I am not sure how Scott is able to watch HD on two streams at once; I will look into it.

As regards the channel line-up, there are some features we have that allow you to change the order of the channels in the guide. This does not, however, change the channel number.

 

[RandallA]

Welcome John, glad to have you here to answer some questions.