u-verse

All posts tagged u-verse

We cut the cable

Posted by Photonstopper on December 7, 2010
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It’s not that we didn’t like our AT&T U-verse TV service; we just didn’t feel we were getting out money’s worth out of it. With U-verse and DirecTV before it, we paid a handsome sum monthly for programming packages that contained very little of interest to us. To gain access to a single channel we might wish to view we would be expected to purchase an entire programming package of stuff we did not want. So what if you can get 250 channels if, after scanning them all, “there’s nothing on!” Finally, last month, we asked AT&T to stop our TV service –though not that very nice high-speed Internet– and sought our entertainment elsewhere.

Photo: Tivo Premier XL. Image Credit: Tivo.com

The Tivo Premiere XL is an excellent video entertainment control center and does not require a cable TV connection in order to be useful or even to work (as opposed to what the dope at Best Buy told us).

To help with the transition and enable “time-shifting” and alternative access we purchased a Tivo Premier XL digital video recording system. With a reasonable annual fee we have access to an on-screen programming guide from which we can select “live” programming or schedule recording. We can also download and record video content from the Web and video-on-demand paid programs from sources we choose. The slim, self-contained unit has HDMI and Internet connectivity and is easy to operate via remote control.

So far, so good! We get outstanding high-definition programming through local TV network affiliates (no charge), a few interesting and entertaining downloads from Web sources (free), a couple of video-on-demand cable programs through Amazon.com (cheap and a la carte, no subscription fee). A pay-per-view movie also proved to be a bargain and beautiful to view and listen to… Eat, Pray, Love via Amazon’s movie service; we’ll do more of that.

The biggest challenge so far has been getting optimal over-the-air reception via an attic-mounted antenna. (The condo people don’t like outdoor antennae.) Some signals are shaky at times but we see our favorite network shows in full HD and for free.

We don’t really miss paying $60 per month for the three or four programs we liked most. We didn’t miss the conclusion of Top Chef: Just Desserts (by the episode via Amazon) or the ongoing installments of The Little Couple. I do, however, sorely miss Storm Chasers… but the DVD of Season 4 is about to be released!

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Easy, eventful Friday

Posted by Photonstopper on May 30, 2008
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I had the day off because I get to work tomorrow. Whoopee! So took Tasha for routine innoculations. She hated the trip. After all, Tasha's visits to the vet have generally been when she needed immediate attention and lots of needles, etc. Can't really blame her for her aversion to seeing Dr. B. She got through the visit just fine though crying more than usual on the trip out and back.

I'd been considering purchase of a Canon "L" series lens –their best quality– for a while but they're just so darned expensive! I've noticed some shortcomings in the Tamron lens we bought for the Canon and, with some tax "rebate" money burning a hole in my pocket, decided to take the plunge and buy Canon's most reasonably priced "L" zoom telephoto, the f/4 70 – 200mm. To help offset the expense, I'm offering the Tamron lens for sale through Amazon.com. I hope that works out 'cause there are several other things I'd like to sell and somehow I trust Amazon more than eBay.

Finally, I canceled my EarthLink account today. I'd been with them since November 1999 from dial-up to DSL and back again (as we phased them out). AT&T's U-Verse service was just too reasonably priced to pass up and has been too good to quit! I actually feel a little sorry about leaving EarthLink but I guess that's competition for you. Bye-bye!

The weather's looking stormy overnight and tomorrow, possibly clearing up a bit Sunday. Again, I work Saturday so the weather doesn't matter too much to me! We'll see if we wind up cycling Sunday.

Have a good weekend!

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One heck of a week

Posted by Photonstopper on February 8, 2008
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As expected, this was a very intense week of work. The software installation project went well. Working with the vendor's on-site installation technician we installed the system on 50 client PCs, two staff management PCs, three print release stations, and the server. He was able to write an installation script that removed the old –and lousy– software system and installed the great new stuff. Made the process consistent and quick. Still, I wound up with work days no shorter than 10 hours and extending, on Monday, to 16 hours. Had lunch out twice with our director and the technician and discovered a couple of good places to eat. At the end of four days the system was running excellently well providing users with computer use time management and print management services at a level they were not used to. Only one component did not install and that was due to a Windows Server service that somehow went missing in the past several years. I'll fix that and all will be in good order. Spent today watching a movie on TV (U-verse is great), going out to lunch at Chipotle followed by a walk around the mall, and generally resting and relaxing at home. Tomorrow is my Saturday to work on weekend rotation so the grind starts again. Yeah, one heck of a week.

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U-verse arrives. Oh, joy!

Posted by Photonstopper on January 26, 2008
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They arrived as scheduled and worked all day Friday. The AT&T installers found our '70s condo was a bit difficult to work with. They were, however, open to suggestions, courteous, careful, and a pleasant pair of guys to have working in our house. By the end of the day I had emptied three closets and one bookcase to accommodate the new wiring: some of it coaxial cable and some of it cat. 5e. The upstairs and the main floor weren't very difficult, all things considered, once the old cable paths were figured out and partly replaced. The TV for the basement, however, was another matter. Thank goodness the U-verse system is network-based! The cat. 5e cable run I had put in between the second floor and the basement (with great difficulty) a few years ago was put to good use; it now carries data packets for our restored broadband Internet access and the set-top box for the TV down here. The guys arrived at about 9 AM and left after 4 PM. There was only one shortcoming which, for us, turned out all right: the head installer couldn't get our high-definition TV to display images via its component inputs — the highest quality outside of HDMI (which the TV doesn't have) and the only true high-def display it can give us. Hi-def TV via a regular composite video input isn't worth much! After they left, I explored the installation manual for the set-top box. I discovered the unit's output resolution could be safely changed because, much like a modern computer, it will test a setting before making that setting permanent. If the setting doesn't work, the unit safely returns to the one that did work. I changed the setting to 1080i and it looks very, very good.

Overall the image quality of the TV is very good. Standard "cable" channels look fine, better than we were experiencing with DirecTV satellite service, and high-definition channels look very good but not excellent. Local HDTV broadcasts, especially, suffer some loss of clarity. Whereas they were razor-sharp (you could see the actors' pores) viewing local HDTV shows via antenna, the local channel HD now is only a little better than standard definition. The color seems to have been shifted; we noticed so-so sharpness, garish colors, and marked red flesh tones watching The Ghost Whisperer on local HD Channel 19 via U-verse. Unpleasant, really. That is our only disappointment. We'll likely purchase an HD tuner to use in watching local broadcasts over-the-air to enjoy the incredible quality we know is available for free locally. Adjusting to the new array of channel numbers and the new remote controls, well, that's a learning process!

Internet access is, technically, the same speed as we had with our DSL. We selected the U-verse "Pro" access which is advertised as 3 Mbps download, 1 Mbps upload. This morning testing via the Speedtest.net site, I found we were getting 2.9 Mbps down and 943 Kbps up. Close enough to keep AT&T honest and, interestingly, noticeably faster than my recent experiences with DSL. I'm thinking it may be the higher-capacity "residential gateway" router AT&T installed in Her office. The gateway router provides all TV and network access to our house.

What exactly is AT&T's U-verse technology? Can't say. It does, in fact, come down our street and to the phone box on our house via POTS wiring, not, from what I can tell, over fiber. From the phone box it enters the house and the residential gateway (router) via coax cable. Inside the house it's cat. 5e to the set-top boxes and computers. The router has built-in Wi-Fi with WPA encryption … good signal strength in the house and very fast access. Whatever U-verse technology is, it is nice to have excellent TV quality available again. Oh, and to be saved from "dial-up h3ll." Trying to live without broadband Internet was, we believe, harder than living without 200 channels of TV.

Would we recommend U-verse? Yup! Except for the misunderstanding concerning DSL disconnection, the whole thing went as promised. Installers did what they needed to do while taking our needs and preferences into account. Video quality is very good. HD quality is mixed but not excellent (very good on "cable" HD channels, not-so-good on local HD channels). The price is right. We're happy!

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A fairly fine day off

Posted by Photonstopper on January 19, 2008
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January Sunset
January Sunset

I'd noticed a brief phone outage on our line earlier today (no dial tone) and wondered if the the phone guys had pulled the final plugs on our old DSL service or were checking the line. To also get a better understanding of just why we couldn't get U-verse and its supposed non-DSL broadband Internet access installed while DSL was "officially" still connected, I called AT&T again this afternoon. I am so glad I did!  Speaking with a very pleasant and helpful woman named "Kimberly," I learned that yes, indeed, the DSL was "clearing" today and that we could re-order our service! We went through all of the ordering steps (after Kimberly spoke with her manager to make absolutely sure it would stick this time) and we should be getting our service installed Friday, January 25… just a few days later than our initial order had promised. Whoo-hooo! Oh, and Sweet Kimberly told me it wasn't for technical reasons that our DSL connection had to be completely cleared, it was to meet regulatory requirements. Right or not, I'm glad it's done. When She Who Must Be Obeyed arrived home we had a simple evening out with dinner at The Olive Garden, not fully in celebration but it was on our minds.

Missy, our old cat, visited the vet today for blood sugar tests. Dr. B. also ordered follow-up tests to check her hyperthyroid condition. He noticed that, even though her weight was up a smidge more, she was a bit dehydrated again. While we were there, they pumped a bunch of saline under her skin. She came home looking like a strange little cat hunchback –leaking a little– but otherwise bright-eyed and happy to be here. We're supposed to get the full test results Monday but blood glucose –tested at 171– looked to be under control.

So with the end of the big communications crisis apparently in sight, my publishing project up-to-date, a clear sky (by day), a cat still hangin' in there, a beautiful sunset, and a nice evening meal with my sweetie, it turned out to be a fairly fine day off for me.

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Bye-bye DirecTV!

Posted by Photonstopper on January 17, 2008
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When She tried to watch a little television at the end of a long, stupid day at the office yesterday, DirecTV wasn't delivering. It may have been the service's fault. It may be an equipment failure at our end. We had strong satellite signal but no programming. Whatever else it was, it was the last straw. I was making no calls to DirecTV's crap customer support. After many futile attempts to diagnose and fix the problem myself, I called DirecTV and officially terminated our service. Then I went online and ordered installation of AT&T's U-verse television service with high-speed Internet access. It was supposed to be installed January 22. We'd been with DirecTV for a long time and, by and large, liked their service. It cost less than cable with more programming per dollar, was reliable, and had top-notch customer service. Over time we watched it slide downward by every measure until now we part company. Bye-bye DirecTV!

So next I called EarthLink and ordered our DSL service terminated and EarthLink service rolled back to dial-up so we'd have at least some connectivity between DSL disconnection and AT&T installation. I hated to do it –EarthLink has been great all this time– but the broadband bundled with U-verse will cost a fraction of EarthLink's and  the savings will add up. The customer service person was easy to talk to, politely tried to keep me as a customer, and quickly complied with my requests. The EarthLink high-speed service cut took effect at midnight, last night: no high-speed access though the DSL modem was showing it had a signal (a "soft" disconnect). Gad! I'd forgotten how agonizing dial-up can be and it has gotten worse since most Web sites now assume you have broadband. Arrrrrgggggg!

In the mean time, AT&T is showing some flukes early on. Whilst online placing my order, the automated system told me it saw that we had DSL service and said it must be disconnected in order to have the U-verse service installed. I called AT&T and spoke with a live customer service person who said, no, that's not correct — the DSL can stay in place and even be operated at the same time as U-verse services. I received an email confirmation of my order this morning and thought everything was fine… we only had to suffer through one week of Internet and TV withdrawal. Of course tonight we receive a call (on voice mail) from AT&T saying our installation has been canceled because there is currently DSL* on our telephone line! The live customer service person's advice was incorrect. Thanks a lot AT&T. Time for a little more training of your customer service staff, don't you think?

Calling AT&T Technical Support got me connected with "Billing," of all departments, and the man there worked through our situation with me. Unfortunately we are at the mercy of the disconnect process and it will be seven to 10 days before we can place a new order. Ugh! At least I was given a direct-in phone number to call once we are sure of disconnection… maybe cutting some time off the process and definitely bypassing the phone answering system!

Late in the evening I noticed the DSL signal light was dark on the DSL modem. That tells me there is now a "hard disconnect" of our service. Now… how long will it take for word of that disconnection to reach AT&T?

* Covad is likely the company that owns the connection in the AT&T central office that needs to be cut at EarthLink's request. So we have no service, but the physical connection is still in place preventing the new service installation.

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The end for DirecTV?

Posted by Photonstopper on November 26, 2007
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We've subscribed to DirecTV satellite service for many years. That goes back to the days when we lived in Cleveland and the city had no cable TV service. Satellite gave us lots of programming, excellent customer service, and at a price lower than cable when cable became available. Sunday morning we had a power outage of about two minutes. When the power came back our DirecTV receiver rebuilt its channel list the way it normally would in such a situation. The difference this time was that our local channel satellite feed was gone. No matter what I tried I couldn't get the local channels back. We get lousy off-air reception except for a couple of digital channels so we really want those satellite local channels. A call to DirecTV customer service didn't resolve the situation… the guy said we should buy a new receiver. Well I have to say that sounds bogus. We're receiving all of our other satellite channels with good strength only the local channels have disappeared — channels we must pay a surcharge to receive this way! Stupid. So AT&T's U-Verse IP television and Internet service package is looking better all the time; it also isn't affected by weather the way DirecTV is. Kind of hate to say goodbye to our satellite provider but customer support means a lot and I didn't get it Sunday. I'll try again tonight and what happens then may just be the deciding factor!

UPDATE: Tonight I unplugged the receiver so that I could connect it to a spare UPS I had laying around. Kind of clunky but I figured it would be good to protect the satellite receiver, stereo receiver, and the DVD player from power problems including brief blackouts. I called DirecTV customer service to give them one more chance. Just as I was finishing my explanation of our situation I checked the on-screen channel guide and –surprise– the local channels were back! All I can figure is mebbe having the receiver unplugged from power for a longer time may have completed the reset it needed whereas it didn't get fully reset with an intentionally short power-down. Or mebbe it was DirecTV's fault and they didn't want to fess up. In any case, the DirecTV support woman said she thought when I was working on the equipment I must've jiggled the antenna cable just right to restore service. BLOCKHEAD! The satellite feed is a "1" or a "0" — it's either connected or it's not so you'll always get all or nothing. A loose cable isn't going to cause most channels to be listed and leave out a few. Where did they go? Did they leak out on to the floor?? Sheesh! DirecTV support used to be fast and effective — call 'em up, within a few seconds you were talking to a real person, and the problem got resolved. Now, once you get past the horrible phone answering system, it's little help and a lot of sales talk. A year or so back we also had a less-than-pleasant experience with their local on-site service provider who tried to trick us into signing a service contract! We have our local channels back now (no thanks to "them") but this experience has really soured me on DirecTV. It still may be time to move on and the end for DirecTV.

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