# AT&T U-Verse Review



## chachster (Aug 25, 2004)

(This is a review after having the service for a week.)

I had DirecTV for nine years. The bundle package and rebates from ATT made me pull the trigger. 

I have the U300 package (same price for the first year as U200)

The HD quality is fine for me. Maybe my eyes are as good as they used to be. It's a nice clean picture. I have not experienced any pixelation or stuttering. I can tell its not quite what I had with DirecTV, but fortunately for me, I am not dreading the U-Verse HD as I know others have experienced and wishing I didn't take the plunge.

Channel changing is QUICK! No delay. PIP channel browser is nice as it lets me see what's on (during Sports I can see if the other station is back to live or still at commercial)

On-Demand is good. I only have DirecTV On-Demand to compare to. It's much quicker since I no longer have to download the program. I have browsed through the free and since it has Nick Jr stuff I am able to pull that up quickly for the kid. 

Features I miss with DirecTV: No 12 hour skip forward/backward in the guide. I do get a 1 day skip ahead. No longer can hold fast forward down and have it skip in 15 minute increments. The fast-forward with U-verse does seem ultra quick so I am quickly adjusting.

Channel Lineup in guide. ATT does the put all the HD in a totally different area. I miss having my SD/HD back to back. I know all I have to do is add 1000 to my SD channel, but it's something that DirecTV did right!


Any questions about U-Verse TV, let me know.


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## joelifer (Mar 22, 2011)

I'm happy with it too after about 2 months of service. The channels do load very quickly and I think the HD quality is fine. I was very happy to see MLB network added within my first month of service and AMC HD last week. They already have the best channel lineup of major providers that I have compared so it is really nice to see them continuing to add more programming. 

There are a few things here and there I miss such as program reminders but there are a lot of things I like such as the Multiviews and U-Bar for Sports and Fantasy Sports. 

So far so good in my opinion and I'm happy to answer any questions about U-Verse as well.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Thanks for the reviews guys. I've post this on our home page. 

I looked into getting U-verse last year but they have no fiber running to our area. Guess I have to patiently wait.


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## chicagoland (Feb 22, 2007)

Thanks for the review. I just installed U-Verse internet only in my home. I switched from AT&T DSL, 6MB down/768K up to U-Verse 6MB down/1MB up. I have noticed a performance increase and I am very happy with it. I never had issues with the ADSL, it was solid but VDSL is working better for me. I have been tempted to get U-Verse TV for a couple of years now. My brother had it installed years ago in a beta-testing area. After hearing and reading peoples reviews I have come to the conclusion that it is similar to cell phone service, it all depends on where you live (network connection). I priced out my DirecTV package and compared it to U-Verse similar package and they are with in dollars of each other for me, U-Verse was a little higher. I currently have 2 HD-DVRs and 1 HD STB , I ran ethernet to all three to use MRV which works out nicely. I have to say that I am more tempted now that the AT&T U-verse Wireless STB just hit FCC. I have a couple rooms that I don't want to run cable to in the future, but in time I am sure DirecTV will follow with a Wi-Fi STB too. I have nothing against DirecTV and have been with them since the late '90s. I guess I just like the "aww factor" with U-Verse's technology. I think IPTV is definitely the future of TV and only more good things can come of it. My big question is what percent are the network outages? I know DirecTV claims a 99.9% signal reliability, which can differ for some of us that live in heavy rain locations. In short, I don't want to walk away from DirecTV and after a month or two wishing I hadn't.


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## inkahauts1367066121 (Feb 17, 2011)

twowheelchopper said:


> Thanks for the review. I just installed U-Verse internet only in my home. I switched from AT&T DSL, 6MB down/768K up to U-Verse 6MB down/1MB up. I have noticed a performance increase and I am very happy with it. I never had issues with the ADSL, it was solid but VDSL is working better for me. I have been tempted to get U-Verse TV for a couple of years now. My brother had it installed years ago in a beta-testing area. After hearing and reading peoples reviews I have come to the conclusion that it is similar to cell phone service, it all depends on where you live (network connection). I priced out my DirecTV package and compared it to U-Verse similar package and they are with in dollars of each other for me, U-Verse was a little higher. I currently have 2 HD-DVRs and 1 HD STB , I ran ethernet to all three to use MRV which works out nicely. I have to say that I am more tempted now that the AT&T U-verse Wireless STB just hit FCC. I have a couple rooms that I don't want to run cable to in the future, but in time I am sure DirecTV will follow with a Wi-Fi STB too. I have nothing against DirecTV and have been with them since the late '90s. I guess I just like the "aww factor" with U-Verse's technology. I think IPTV is definitely the future of TV and only more good things can come of it. My big question is what percent are the network outages? I know DirecTV claims a 99.9% signal reliability, which can differ for some of us that live in heavy rain locations. In short, I don't want to walk away from DirecTV and after a month or two wishing I hadn't.


If you really want to try it out, I suggest simply suspending your directv account and trying uverse, and then you can always make a simple call and reactivate your directv. Just don't let the uverse techs touch any of the diretcv equipment or wires. I;d tell them your going to have both, so they will stay away from it.


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## chachster (Aug 25, 2004)

Chris Blount said:


> Thanks for the reviews guys. I've post this on our home page.
> 
> I looked into getting U-verse last year but they have no fiber running to our area. Guess I have to patiently wait.


Glad to give my review. I know I wasn't sure as everything I read about U-Verse was that it was awful, however, most of those were 2+ years old. I know that I had my growing pains with DirecTV with the introduction of the HR2x series of receivers.

It's been two weeks so far and still pleased (well, minus the fact that my internet connection is going to start being capped May 2nd) I might drop the internet and get that from one of the two cable companies I can chose from if it becomes an issue.


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## chicagoland (Feb 22, 2007)

I will hold off until next year to give U-Verse TV a try since I have a 1 year contract left with DirecTV. I understand the CAPs on the internet, that is why I upgraded from AT&T DSL, they will be capping at 150GB/month. I will get an extra 100GB/month with U-Verse internet. A friend of mine has Comcast HSI, they also cap at 250GB. He is a heavy user of the internet, streaming Netflix etc. and has yet to have any overages. My only other choice is to use Clear out in my area (http://www.clearwirelessinternet.com). They have no caps currently but wireless is never is good as wired IMO.


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## inkahauts1367066121 (Feb 17, 2011)

AT this point, unless you are a crazy downloader, I don't see the caps being a big deal for 99% of people. The key is that they don't over time start to think they can lower the caps and then start charging by actual usage.


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## chachster (Aug 25, 2004)

twowheelchopper said:


> I will hold off until next year to give U-Verse TV a try since I have a 1 year contract left with DirecTV. I understand the CAPs on the internet, that is why I upgraded from AT&T DSL, they will be capping at 150GB/month. I will get an extra 100GB/month with U-Verse internet. A friend of mine has Comcast HSI, they also cap at 250GB. He is a heavy user of the internet, streaming Netflix etc. and has yet to have any overages. My only other choice is to use Clear out in my area (http://www.clearwirelessinternet.com). They have no caps currently but wireless is never is good as wired IMO.


Exactly... Comcast doesn't charge anything if you go over. They can cut service, but from reading around the interwebs they don't have a strict enforcement. With ATT they are rounding up to the next GB. So the questions are if I would use 300MB in a day does that now equal 1GB or is the total done at the end of the month? The only thing I can do now is wait and see how it goes.


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## Flatus51367066126 (Apr 2, 2011)

I live on a street where a lot of houses have changed over to U-Verse TV. The drawback I've seen is that it's increased the latency on my ATT DSL Fast acct. It still works well but just not so well as before. Perhaps I'll be the squeaky wheel and start complaining.

So far as U-Verse itself, the big changeover will come, in my neighborhood, as the trees continue growing to the point where satellite becomes more-and-more problematic.


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## quadgirl (Jul 26, 2007)

Hi all. I just switched from att dsl to uverse vdsl 18 mbps. It rarely tests more than 12-14, but my biggest issue is that my Aluratec internet radio will not work with the new 2wire modem. The previous 2wire did work and tech support says they are having issues with uverse setups. An unexpected irritant, for sure, since the radio now just sits there unused. Anybody find a solution to this? I have manually entered the ip and gateway and even assigned the radio its address,but still will not connect. Either way, just sharing my experience.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

I'm just about 24 hours into Uverse TV service.
I still have my DirecTV going as my main interest to comparing.

What does surprise me is how good the HD PQ is for having such a low bit-rate.
I've got one of the new wireless receivers and it run off a [N] access point @ 5 GHz, but my WiFi laptop software shows it limited to 7 Mb/s.

That's the good.
The bad [so far at least for me is the garbage user inferface of the Motorola.

Does anyone know how to press the guide button and get your favorate listing? It seems you need to go through the menu to select it, because guide brings up 633 channels.

I haven't had any pixelation, but many pauses, which seems to be how this handles either problems with the wireless, of from AT&T.

I've moved the access point into the same room as the receiver, which I thought helped, but this morning the receiver lost signal for a few mins, which I think was on the Uverse end.

Digging into the 3800 modem shows 32.2 Mb/s.


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## PCampbell (Nov 18, 2006)

I have uverse for internet and voice and it works wery well. as for outages I have no problem but know people around here that have outages on the TV part. I had the tv for 90 days as a test, the limit of 3 channels in HD at once is a killer for us in the winter. I can record 6HD at a time with DirecTV and watch a 7th. Also with Uverse the internet slows down when watching HD channels. I guy at work can only get 2 HD at once so when recording one and watching one his second TV can not be used. Over all it is a good service If you dont watch a lot of TV at once or a small famly.


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## am7crew (Jun 6, 2009)

nice review. I have U-Verse as well as Directv. Just recently I was upgraded to 4 HD streams (previously I had 3HD/1SD) Maybe Directv's compression is increasing which I think it is) or ATT is improving but recently switching between HDMI's I cant tell the difference as bad I used to. If directv is 100 ATT PQ is now 95, at least on my eyes. All depends on distance and lines though maybe. U-Verse internet is too slow for my work so I use charter 100meg for net so I can't comment on the internet speeds/quality.


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## kenbr (Jun 28, 2007)

I just switched from DirecTV to U-Verse about a week ago and I'm very happy with the service. I've had no pixelation problems or any other issue other than getting used to the differences between the two services.

I really like the fast channel changing and the extra HD channels. The whole home DVR solution seems to work quite well also. I don't have any major problem with the 3HD streaming option but I did have concerns about if all 3 HD streams were going would it affect my internet speed but I did a test and if there was any effect it was negligible.

Probably the thing I miss most is the dual live buffers and the fact that the live buffer was 90 minutes on DTV and is 60 on U-Verse. I also missed DTV's hide duplicates option. You can hide channels you don't want to see in the guide with U-Verse but it is a manual and painful process. 

I have had U-Verse Internet (24 down/3 up) every since it came to my neighborhood (maybe 2 years) and it has worked flawlessly. I work out of the home so I use the internet 24/7 and I've never had any issues with it except during extended power outages. Considering this same connection will now drive my TV I expect it should be pretty flawless also. Keeping my fingers crossed.


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## thebigeazy (May 12, 2006)

My 2 year contract with DTV is up in January. I have UVerse internet and voice, so far so good. I am thinking about changing to UVerse TV, I'm tired of the 2 year contract, just to change receivers. Am I making a mistake and/or what did DTV do to keep you from changing to Uverse?


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

What do you mean to keep not change receiver for two years. Your contract only says you keep DIRECTV nothing to do with what equipment you use or how often you change.


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## texas16309 (Jun 11, 2007)

I'm giving Uverse TV and internet a try. It's being installed on Nov 9. The bundled price for TV is just too good to pass up. $119 was the offer for just TV but bundled with internet they took an additional $40 off TV. For my package, U450 (which is the same as premier package) ATT doesn't charge a DVR fee or whole home fee and they waive the $10 HD fee. So that's an additional $23 I'm saving over Direct. This isn't including the amount I'm saving on internet either. Even after the first year, I'll be saving money over DirecTV.

Uverse has the HD channels I watch (now that they have BBC American in HD) and I couldn't care less about sports. It seems to work well at neighborhood friends down the street. They don't have issue some people report - pixelation, macroblocking, skipping, etc. I'll put DirecTV on pause before making a finial decision though.


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