Author Topic: Switched to UVerse  (Read 7823 times)

charlie

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Switched to UVerse
« on: March 21, 2013, 01:11:21 PM »
So some dudes came by the house and told me that fiber optic was now available in our neighborhood. My contracts with DirecTV and Comcast (internet) are expiring soon and I wanted a cheaper deal, so I listened.

And I switched.

I'm happy because:

* I'll be saving $50 a month for the first year off what I'm paying now.
* I might be able to automatically renew the cheaper prices after that year is up, which has been a hassle for me recently.
* The internet seems fast enough. I got the 18Mbps but will probably downgrade to 12.
* It's all done through the phone lines, and really only through a single jack behind our big TV. So no running cable through the house or having to position routers or TVs in certain areas. Our bedroom TV is a pain, and now it uses a wireless box so it can be moved to anywhere with a power plug.
* It's not a comcast/cable DVR.

I'm not exactly happy because:

* I hate salespeople, and there were some things these sales guys glossed over that I would have liked to have known about.
* For example, if I had ordered online I could have gotten HBO free for three months, but with them I got $10 off for 6 months. Technically the second is better but I thought I was getting both with them.
* Not a fan yet of the guide/channel lineup. Mixing HD and SD channels is annoying, and trying to set up the channel list with only those channels we watch is cumbersome. It's also not easy (that I can tell) to turn subtitles on and off easily, which we do, and other things aren't quite as intuitive as I'd like.
* I have much less recordable space. The info said 65 hours in HD, but the DVR I got says 140, but that's still a lot less than we are used to.
* There's no Disney Junior, even in the U300 package!
* We tried to watch Disney Junior shows from the On Demand, and they came out in SD, not HD. WTF?
* There's no proper Swap functionality, which I use a lot. There is PIP, which is sort of nice but not the same thing.

Overall I guess I'm happy about saving the money, but I'm skeptical that I'll be a big fan as I get used to it more.

micah

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2013, 01:18:54 PM »
we might be switching to UVerse if we move to that new rental property because the owner already has it set up and its $50 less than cable which we'd have to pay to install....

but no Disney Jr? that might be a deal breaker :/

that said, I'm not sure what this means: http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=23667&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=35932 
It sounds like you should have it? or should be getting it? or I dunno
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charlie

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2013, 01:28:57 PM »
We get the regular Disney Channel, which has most of the shows from Disney Junior available to be recorded, plus they have the shows on On Demand (but in SD). The difference is we can't turn on Disney channel in the middle of the afternoon and expect decent shows for small kids, we have to find a recorded one.

And it doesn't show up on the channel lineup. Hopefully they just haven't turned it on yet (the channel is only a year old or so). That link might be talking about web based stuff that is available for UVerse subscribers.

Jake

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2013, 01:42:07 PM »
a few people I know have uVerse and are relatively happy - I guess as happy you can be with those kind of services.

I in turn just cancelled our ATT DSL service - it was pretty cheap but I had a 4Mbps connection - and this day and age that was not cutting especially when streaming HD video. Went with comcast 20Mbps connection for 29.99 for the first 12 months/no contract. Waiting for modem.
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ober

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2013, 03:16:57 PM »
Thanks for the overview Charlie.  I've heard a lot about UVerse but didn't know anyone that had it so it's good to get a full review.  Based on what you just said, I think I'll stick to cable.

charlie

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2013, 03:20:04 PM »
Since you have a TiVo that's the right move. I definitely like it better than cable, but less than Dish/DirecTV. Still, if one of those three is significantly cheaper I'll go with them, but I'll never do cable TV.

ober

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2013, 03:43:07 PM »
.... I don't understand why?  What's wrong with it?

charlie

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2013, 03:56:27 PM »
The DVR sucks horribly. Still.

ober

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2013, 04:02:38 PM »
AH... I thought you meant there was something wrong with the service.  That's why I have a Tivo!

charlie

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #9 on: March 28, 2013, 10:11:22 PM »
Update: Today was the day I planned to cancel my old services, and I almost canceled U-verse instead.

The DVR/Set top box is fine, but not as good as DirecTV's. There are features I'm missing (like swap tuners, or certain types of skip forward or back). I caught it glitching a couple times and losing about a second of video (not really a big deal, just worrisome). And I checked my bill and the taxes made the total not as cheap as I had hoped.

I was also disappointed with the sales agents as I mentioned above. One thing I forgot to say was they kept touting no installation fees or anything like that (using that type of phrasing) but there was a $49 activation fee that would have been waived if I ordered online but wasn't because I ordered with them.

So, I called AT&T to find out what would happen if I canceled. Sales guys had said I could cancel within 30 days with no issues, but of course they were weaselly on that one, too. Turns out I don't have to pay the $180 cancellation fee, but still am on the hook for the time I used the service and most likely the activation fee as well. Blech.

Of course, since I'm talking to the retention department, they try to keep me. I say the quality isn't great but I'd deal with that if it was cheaper than what I'm currently doing, which after looking at the bill it isn't so much. So she offers to cancel the activation fee, plus take out the $7 fee for the second TV, and make the $10 off for HD 12 months instead of the 6 months the sales guys had weaseled me on. That's $200 I'm saving from where I started the day.

So I said Ok, and stayed with U-verse.

Then I called to cancel DirecTV (they offered $30 off plus Showtime and something else) and Comcast internet (they offered $25 off). The DirecTV guy was really nice and helpful, but at that point I had decided to cancel it. The Comcast guy was not rude, but didn't really sound like he knew what he was doing very well. Regardless, if they had given me those offers without me having to call their cancelation department, then I'd still be with them. Their loss.

So after this 1 year contract with AT&T is up, I'll probably switch back to DirecTV for TV, but leave the internet with AT&T. I'll just cross my fingers that nothing horrible goes wrong with the DVR until then.




ober

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #10 on: March 28, 2013, 10:40:45 PM »
$200 you're saving?  holy shit dude... I pay $130 for tv and internet. 

KnuckleBuckett

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #11 on: March 28, 2013, 10:45:48 PM »
$150 here... phone, internet and programming.  DVR, HD, and for 2 years the movie channels in for free.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2013, 08:36:27 AM by KnuckleBuckett »

Jake

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #12 on: March 28, 2013, 10:47:29 PM »
$200 you're saving?  holy shit dude... I pay $130 for tv and internet. 

I think he means $200 for the first 12 months combined
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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #13 on: March 28, 2013, 11:02:20 PM »
OH... maybe.  CHARLIE!  CLARIFY YOURSELF DAMMIT!

charlie

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Re: Switched to UVerse
« Reply #14 on: March 28, 2013, 11:43:33 PM »
Yeah. $200.