The U-verse is falling...still...oh my achin'head...holy crap!

It seems like ever since we enabled HD on our AT&T U-verse account, the picture has been stuttering, stammering, hanging, etc. I called tier 2 support (yes, I have their direct number because the front line flowchart morons are worthless!), and they checked it out, and there was definitely a problem. The technician came out and replaced the outside splitter as well as a couple other connectors. The picture was no different.

As an experiment, I ran a 100-ft length CAT5 cable from the RG to the DVR and removed the coax connection. Instantly the picture was better...and perfect! Obviously there is a problem with the coax connection. It just so happens that the coax to the DVR is a RG6 shielded line, dedicated to the DVR, and only splits at the outset, for household distribution:

RG -> AT&T splitter -> 3 way house splitter -> 1) DVR 2) living room 3) floor 2

My suspicion was the home 3-way splitter, since the tech had replaced the AT&T splitter. I called to get another tech to come out. When he arrived, I gave him the rundown of what was going on and what had been done, so he set out to replace the home splitter, and he discovered a lot of interference on the line coming from the floor 2 line. I showed him the attic access to that line and splitter, where he replaced a couple of the end connectors. In all, he replaced the 3-way splitter and also some end connectors, as well as the end connectors at the splitter in the attic on floor 2. After all that, he could detect no interference on the line, and the picture has been perfect ever since.

AT&T U-verse is a go

Well, it looks like we're gonna stick with AT&T U-verse. It's been as stable as cable was, even during the storm that rolled through yesterday. That was a really good test because my DSL line used to drop out at the first sign of lightening, but U-verse stayed up and just kept on ticking.

I'm still not convinced I'm getting the full load of speed I'm paying for, but I'll monitor that.

Now all that's left is to call Comcast and cancel my service, and take my box converter box back to the local office....that's getting done today.

How goes the AT&T U-verse?

Well, here is my first impression of the new AT&T U-verse I had installed to replace Comcast. Setting up the TV converter boxes has been quite frustrating. All of the old wiring (that I installed 15 years ago when I was young(er) and dumb(er)) does not seem to work very well. That means 2 of the TV's were rather spotty with coverage. I fixed one of them by running a length of CAT5 cable to it. The other simply required rearranging the living room to take advantage of a better connection I had installed a few years back. Now all 5 TV's are working well.

There are occasional hangs or stutters, but my wife assures me it's not more than what we saw with Comcast Digital cable. The DVR works wonderfully. I haven't tried watching on a different box, but I will soon. The 2 recorded shows we watched were of very good recorded quality.

I'm a little bummed that the U200 package does not include any real movie channels. At least Comcast's digital basic included the Encore movie channels. It's also taking some time getting used to the locations of all the channels, but all-in-all, it's looking acceptable.

The internet connection is also pretty stable. I don't think it's quite as fast as it should be, as I still usually max out at around 1Mb downloading on torrents, and i'm paying for the highest speed. I may try dropping that if the future to a lower level and saving a few bucks, as we are only 1700 feet from the drop box and should be getting as good a connection as is possible.

I abhor changing email addresses (I'm seriously considering moving everything to my google mail account so I don't have to do it anymore), so I'm certainly going to make sure we keep this service before changing everything and canceling the comcast service.

U-verse on the way!

I did it. I ordered AT&T U-verse. I ran into a AT&T field tech guy at Arby's while I was eating lunch. He looked up my address in his computer and found that I am only 2500 feet from the nearest fiber box, so I should get exceptional service. That was the clincher. Even though it will cost about $30 more per month than my current Comcast cable/internet combined, I think it will be worth it for a few reasons:
1) NFL network (BOO-YAH!)
2) ESPN Classic
3) No usage limits, so no fear of waking up to find that my service has been disconnected because I used my internet too much last month
4) Total home DVR...record once, watch anywhere (my wife pointed out that we could have paid for more converters from Comcast and gotten the same feature..true)
5) 18Mbps download - I went for the whole enchilada in terms of speed, so the U-verse speed will be double what I was getting from Comcast.

Installation is less than a week way...more to come!

Well, AT&T U-verse may not be a go!

Well, the AT&T U-verse requires a converter box for each TV, and the package only includes a single DVR, so I would have to pony up $7/mo for each additional TV in the house....which at this point is 4, so another $28/mo. I'm not sure that's gonna be worth the cost, not to mention the hassle of changing email addresses (I guess I could have the kids chip in, since 2 of those TV's are in their rooms).

However, this 250Gb monthly limit imposed by Comcast is driving me crazy. I've reduced uTorrent to only 50Kpbs, and its uploading just under 3Gb a day,which is doable, I guess, but it leaves very little room for downloads....1 4Gb DVD, like the Phil Collins live in Tel Aviv I found today, and that day's 8Gb limit is wiped out...on just this PC....that doesn't count the other 4 that are running in the house. This is gonna kill my sharing ratios!!!

I did call AT&T to see if I could get just the U-verse internet w/o the cable....I can't. If I want JUST internet, I have to go with DSL (yuk! although from what I've read, there are no artificially imposed limits, but I'm very used to cable speed now, so going back to DSL would be pretty tough.

More to come...

Could AT&T U-verse by in my future?

Well, as I just found out this week, my penchant for downloading and sharing live concerts is pushing me perilously close to the 250Gb monthly limit as outlined by my ISP, Comcast. Combine that with 5 or 6 other PC's in the house, including my work from home office, and it's pretty easy to see that it's gonna be painful to try and stay below the threshold.

Enter AT&T U-verse. I've heard really good things about it, and apparently it's available in my area. If I combine the price for the 200 channel package and the fastest internet connection (18Mbps), it's about the same as my Comcast monthly cost. The AT&T channel package has ALL the same channels we get now, but it also has a few more that I would like to have (NFL network and ESPN Classic). The internet rated d/l speed, assuming it's available, is nearly twice as fast as the fastest offering by Comcast, and even if i have to step down to the 10Mbps, that still faster than the 8Mbps I'm paying for now. The best part is that there don't appear to be any usage limits associated with the service (unless you an abhorrent abuser to the tune of TB's per month), so it will allow me to continue sharing my stuff w/o fear of getting dropped for exceeding some arbitrary limit. Sounds like a winner!

Throw in a super cool DVR that lets you playback on any TV in the house, and it's really a convincing offer....more to come!