AT&T U-verse ??? Anybody have it?

Does anyone have AT&T U-verse? If so do you like it? Is it dependable?
I have AT&T DSL but AT&T U-verse offers a better price for internet but I don't know anyone that has it to ask questions. Wondering what the difference is since they are both AT&T.

 

Hey KatKat, I have U-verse, this is what I know. The guy came out pulled my router out and replaced it a new one, then he took my phone jack out and put a new one, changed my connection to Hi-Speed, then connected a generator box to the router also, that way if I lose power to the house it will keep the laptop or any battery operated device connected to the internet for a couple of hours without power. My wireless desktop should have got 54 mbp but was only getting 11-38 mbp, now with U-verse it gets a full 54 mbp. And one other note, we renew every year, our bill is almost half of what it was and whenever we renew we get a better discount. Hope this helped.

 

Dsl is slower, in most cases, than regular uverse.

If you get a good installer, that can recognize the issues before they happen(which is not always possible with this company) then it can be very reliable and fast.

If the installer sucks, or theres something going on with the lines in your area, it can definitely be a headache.

The good thing is they will throw guys at the problem til it gets fixed

It sounds like you live in what they call fttn(fiber to the node) unless you live in Austin, then they could be converting your area to FTTP(fiber to the premise).

Right now the gigapower and fiber overlay areas are in austin only. (talk about expansion but we shall see)

The only reason i even work for uverse is i was out of a job and had it for 2 years in my apartment in austin(cant get it where i live in bastrop too far out of town) and i had a few minor issues in the beginning but once they were ironed out, we had zero problems for almost a year and a half, then we moved.

Its like most any service there are goods and bads, ups and downs. Just be crystal clear to the sales idiot, and yes i think theyre all idiots as they just throw things at customers and hope we can install them the way they think it is, what you want and even then, discuss it with the installer if you decide to go with it.

 

I had Uverse for a long time. they had to install a wierd outlet into my wall to get cable/internet, asside from that but I only had a few problems with them,

I can't say I remember what the problems were or how often, But I do know I had to tech support number and my DSL model/account number near my phone(back when I had a landline) because I had to deal with them so much.

I know have clear internet and cable is Comcast(basic), 4G service is $30/month, which is fast enough to watch netflix, or do anything else, and the best part is, it's totally wireless.(or I can plug still into it, but I don't have to)
I have rare issues with clear, like once a year at most. after 3-4 years, my clear modem died, and I just had to buy a new one, but that's it.
I also like pizza, but that is likely too much for this thread.
I gotta cut back on the coke zeros.....

 

I've got U-Verse and I'm paying double what I was after my 12 mo. ended ($39.95 for 12mbp).

I asked for a discount because the price was going to be $49.95 - still think it's too much.:cry

If you don't mind - what is your cost for 54mbp?

Thanks,

Paul

 

That sounds like alot to me even, what state do you live in?

I wonder if its different around the country than here in TX as ive never even heard of the 54mpbs plan. Here we have 3,6,12, 18, 24, 45, and gigapower(300up down, going to gigabit)

 

Thanks for the info.
The first year U-verse would be $19.95 but has a $149.00 install charge, then $33.00 a month after first year. But that is only internet. The TV and home phone U-verse are not available in my area because our lines won't carry it. So I am really wondering how fast the internet would be on those same lines.
After AT&T adds taxes and fees I am paying about $40 for DSL now. Total phone bill is $82.00.
I am thinking of just getting rid of home phone. I could get DSL internet from AT&T without home phone for $44.00. It is not that fast but manageable.
So just looking at my options.

 

I also have U-verse.
Service wise I am happy enough, it is the lying about bandwidth that make me angry. I have their highest tier service but never get close to the advertised bandwidth. After a lot of calls I was told that up to 50% of my bandwidth is "reserved for HDTV" which was part of the package. When I asked why the reserved portion was not freed up when I was not watching TV I was told that was "not technically feasible".
I eventually got fed up with their TV offering and went to Direct TV which seems better, as in drops less often and has clearer picture. When I called ATT back to ask about the bandwidth since I no longer had their TV I was told the same litany about "reserved for TV" and that they could not give me the full advertised bandwidth as an internet only connection. I asked a higher tier technician about an internet only connection and they were truthful; all their plans have a portion of bandwidth reserved for TV, even if you don't get TV.
I only have ATT, Clear and Comcast available where I am. Comcast is slightly faster, ATT slightly cheaper, Clear is very slow.

 

My options are AT&T or DishNet. Everything else is little independent internet providers that are very slow and unreliable according to everyone that has tried them.
Having said that I have Dish Satellite TV and while the install tech was here replacing outdated equipment I ask about DishNet Internet and he advised me to stay with AT&T unless I was having problems.

 

California.

 

Been there done that. Got the T-Shirt also. It all depends on distance. I finally gave ATT the boot when they would not fix routing issues on their I-Bone & Backbone.

I had 24/3 for Internet. Only bad thing was that you have to use the ADSL2+ or VDSL2+ Gateway that they lease.

I switched over when they lit up the VRAD's in our area. They offered the $500 rebates that we could not pass up. Two years later. We switched to Comcast for Internet and DirecTV for TV.

 

As a tech i can tell you right now thats BULL.

The video aspect should only matter if you are actually USING the Tv. Ive seen, at least here in austin, ppl paying for 18 and receiving much more.

Each tv stream reserves 6mbps of bandwith for HD services or so they tell me.

hell, i personally have had 4 streams going, paying for 24mpbs and still getting 22 and change, which is acceptable to me.

That said, if your complaining about paying for example, for 24 and your still getting over 18, then your out of luck since they say you should be getting at least over the lowest tier near you. So, for example, if your paying for 24, and getting less than 18, theres a problem or your tv is taping or watching more than one channel.

Speaking as an install and repair tech, not those tier 2 or 3 baboons, they really make our job THAT much harder.

/rant over

sorry but it irks me to no end that they lie to MY customers just so they dont have to actually solve a fing problem.

 

yeah you guys definitely have different plans and payments out there. a few of our best techs moved from cali.

 

I have uverse but in the city not far from a station. For out in the boonies I have windstream and that's a whole lot to rant about in some other life.

I did have a modem burn up last summer. Other than that, it's perfectly fine. It's fast enough and stable. It's not uncommon for 3 of us to stream netflix or amazon video at the same time. Once it a blue moon one of us will buffer but it's not common.

 

I also have 54 mbps on wireless.

I'd love to get a better price on U-verse, but since I only have Internet, that's what I'm stuck with.

 

You do know thats not what your ACTUALLY downloading at right? That just shows what your card is capeable of.

try speedtest.net, att.net/speedtest, or verizon speed test to get an actual of what your getting.

 

Blath, thanks for all of this info. I've got Austin T-W clients studying UVerse and Grande alternatives. They're not seeing any significant price differentials ($10-15 a month on $150 services - not much).

But their biggest hesitatation is UVerse's Data Cap.

On forums, however, I've read some users "never see a data-cap enforced" while others do. Some of this might be linked to AT&T deciding to enforce a data-cap (and overage charges) on heaviest users while the modest over-usages are simply ignored.

You may not have experience in this 'billing issue over time', but what's your notion? I can't recommend anyone jump into a Data-Cap Mentality for that reason alone, especially with the T-W and Grande offerings eschew it.

(Of course, if ComCast succeeds in further monopolizing America's ISP offerings with the killing of T-W, then "data caps" will cover almost all Americans. And since AT&T is set to infect DishNet with its 'purchase', we come down to Only Two.)

 

AFAIK, ive never seen the data cap, which is 250GB, enforced. I think if they enforce it its a 10 dollar overage fee per 10GB but never goes over 30 bucks total. (thats just speculative on what ive seen and discussed over the 2 years ive been doing this) My son also used to live with us and download movies and music(im sure we HAD to have hit the cap at one point) but never saw an extra bill. (and this was before i was a tech, i only got this job because i talked to a prem tech and he thought id be a good fit, which apparently i am lol)

Also from what ive heard in my travels, most people arent fans of grande's service. Theres a store on the corner of Burnet and N loop(gas station with a food truck in the parking lot, next to the amli) that i literally just had this conversation with. Hes not a fan of the way they bill, and the service isnt fantastic. He's actually thinking of switching after his contract is up.

Also depending on where you are you may not get what i consider "true" uverse. In some areas its IPdsl, which depending on your distance, can be pretty crappy speed wise, but it does go further than regular Vdsl Uverse, on a single pair wiring scheme. Theres a bunch of other stuff coming down the pipe, or are already being implemented that as a tech its a NIGHTMARE to get installed, but, when finally smoothed out, i still feel its a great service most of the time.

ON the service side, the biggest problem, is that this position is considered entry lvl and theyre hiring too many, too fast. We lose as many people as they hire due to the numbers game, or just hiring the wrong type of person and hoping the training will work.(which for some it just doesnt)

and my suggestion for everyone here who has uverse and has a problem, dont hesitate to call your service guy or put in a call(i know excruciating at times with hours of wait time, even i have to put up with it) because they almost always send out a tech. And here in Austin esp, we try not to even bill customers, because as techs were frustrated as hell with mgmt shoving things down our throats and pushing out, what we consider, untested (at least real world untested) ideas.

sorry for the long rant, but i needed it

hope ive answered some questions and not sounded like a shill. I love the service(which i can no longer get, too far away) its just upper mgmt and esp sales weasels, i cant stand. (and i do love my job mostly, customers are fun to meet everyday! .........most of the time)

 

Thanks for these notes. I've worked with two UVerse installers who did 3 drops 'for free' as is the UVerse custom or pledge or whatever. And those were very well done - I've done a few thousand drops myself and both guys were top-notch.

Grande doesn't have a contract, that I can find, and this is one reason I've shoved folks onto them FIRST because the UVerse does have contracts. I am beating more bushes to see if more Austinites have data-cap experiences. I suspect that as Fiber enters, this cap needs to be significantly increased or dropped altogether.

Thanks also for the notes about "hiring too many too fast". Yes, tis a problem all over.

I have more positive comments about UVerse service-installer types on a personal basis, but won't mention those since UVerse managers might punish them for being so wonderfully helpful. Desk-jockey bureaucrats don't enjoy anything they can't control or receive personal bonuses for.

 

I agree with the data cap increase or done away with, esp with gigapower coming. Those data caps will be pointless and probably drive away customers that actually USE 300up and down(or gigabit when it hits)

Heck, its possible we've already met if you've dealt with uverse before

I,personally, strive to at least be as helpful as i can. As far as im concerned, you're my customer, not ATT's and customers pay my salary, not ATT.

Im sure the bosses love/hate me and my logic, but all the managers seem to want me around.

 

AT&T is acquiring Direct TV not DishNet.

 

Thanks, Kat... I couldn't remember if there were 2 SatGroups or only 1 these days. I expect AT&T will install guidance systems on the DirectTV units to blast away if they can't drive them out of biz.

Of course, no need - ComCast probably has them in their crosshairs already.

I keep seeing Woody Allen toss the hijacked nose under the steamroller in SLEEPER. I get the feeling that we consumers are facing the same fate.