AT&T U-Verse coming to west Michigan

[Nitro]

I am thinking about getting AT&T U-verse. I do however want to know that for those who do have it, how has it been for you? Also, if I go with them, I may do a bundle with the TV, internet, phone and all that sort of stuff. Also, what's the best package I could go with that's cheap? I currently have Dish network which costs me $56 a month and while it has been good, when weather hits, we lose the signal. That was mainly due to storms. Now I am quite concerned about winter and dish network. The dish is up on the roof. With phone and internet from AT&T, I currently pay over $70 a month on those. Hopefully I can get some help in this matter.

[pcdoctor]

I just got switched over from Dish last week. So far so good. I don't think the cost was a huge savings over what we were paying, but it got Comcast out of my life for good. I was using them for internet, no DSL in my neighborhood.

There are a couple of limitations that they claim will be corrected soon, i.e. You can only have one DVR and you can only watch things that you've DVR'ed on that receiver. Not so great in my house where kids hijack the main TV and I can't watch things on other TV's that I've recorded. This is supposed to be remedied in November.

I sorely miss the Sirius satellite radio from Dish, there are music channels on Uverse, but the blues station sucks. They were playing Queen Latifa last night. WTF?

I'll warn you the modem/controller/wireless router/ main brain is frickin huge. It's taking up space on my desk that I didn't want to give up.

I do like that I now have wireless internet (haven't actually used it yet) and it has a really good supply of free On-Demand movies. I was quite shocked to see that they had some free "after midnight" movies for the On-Demand.

Overall I'm pretty happy so far. Still learning all the new buttons and trying to learn where the channels are. Food Network is way up in the 300's. I guess I'll relearn them soon enough.

[hood]

I don't know why people hate Comcast so much. Their customer service is a bit lacking, but they offer the best TV/internet service by far I think, I've had them for a long time. They have TiVo, a lot of HD channels, and tons of On-Demand. And their internet is faster than DSL, I can't speak for their VOIP, but I assume it's like others. It should be interesting to see how ATT's services match up.

[Nitro]

Which package did you get? How many TV's do you have hooked up to it? How many other computers can be connected to the router? I currently have three other computers that go online in my house with AT&T and I plug the connections into a baseline hub.

[Coleco]

I just got switched over from Dish last week. So far so good. I don't think the cost was a huge savings over what we were paying, but it got Comcast out of my life for good. I was using them for internet, no DSL in my neighborhood.

There are a couple of limitations that they claim will be corrected soon, i.e. You can only have one DVR and you can only watch things that you've DVR'ed on that receiver. Not so great in my house where kids hijack the main TV and I can't watch things on other TV's that I've recorded. This is supposed to be remedied in November.

I sorely miss the Sirius satellite radio from Dish, there are music channels on Uverse, but the blues station sucks. They were playing Queen Latifa last night. WTF?

I'll warn you the modem/controller/wireless router/ main brain is frickin huge. It's taking up space on my desk that I didn't want to give up.

I do like that I now have wireless internet (haven't actually used it yet) and it has a really good supply of free On-Demand movies. I was quite shocked to see that they had some free "after midnight" movies for the On-Demand.

Overall I'm pretty happy so far. Still learning all the new buttons and trying to learn where the channels are. Food Network is way up in the 300's. I guess I'll relearn them soon enough.

[pcdoctor]

Well after reading that reply, it's now giving me 2nd thoughts about U-verse. If it always freezes, then I don't think I would want that. Hopefully the new box dosen't give you any trouble.

[Nitro]

We also get occassional stuttering and digital artifacts requiring a need to reset our central hub box. It's pretty annoying. TV is one of those things that should just work.

[grrwymg]

UVerse TV is simply TV over IP packets. (Like Comcast voice and other providers phone services are Voice over IP packets).

I don't think AT&T has expanded their ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network enough yet to handle all of the existing DSL subscribers AND new UVerse offerings. If I had either AT&T DSL or Uverse, I would be a little nervous at this point. Only time will tell I suppose.

[pcdoctor]

Well good news and bad news:

The good news is that I have decided to get AT&T U-verse with the u200 plan for the TV, 1000 minutes a month on the phone and a 3.0 Mb high speed internet connection. The bad news is that I won't get it until December 10. That was the earliest that I was able to schedule an appointment. I ordered online and they are going to give me a $300 cash back bonus.

[grrwymg]

Well good news and bad news:

The good news is that I have decided to get AT&T U-verse with the u200 plan for the TV, 1000 minutes a month on the phone and a 3.0 Mb high speed internet connection. The bad news is that I won't get it until December 10. That was the earliest that I was able to schedule an appointment. I ordered online and they are going to give me a $300 cash back bonus.

[MuskeMI]

Good luck. I can't even get anything faster than 768k DSL from AT&T where I live, so I have a feeling Uverse is a long way off. Too bad for them, I'd be game to try them but will probably pull the trigger on satellite soon.

[tamias6]

I still don't qualify for UVERSE in Wyoming. I ponied up for the cheapest landline possible about a month ago to get 6 Mbps DSL. My Dish Network contract is up - so I'm in the market for getting all my services combined into 1 bill. C'mon AT&T. Roll that fiber...

[pcdoctor]

When I ordered Dish Network, they had to do a credit check on me too I think. But what plan do you have? I have America's Top 200 on Three TV's.

[tamias6]

When I ordered Dish Network, they had to do a credit check on me too I think. But what plan do you have? I have America's Top 200 on Three TV's.

[pcdoctor]

I will agree that the programming choices aren't that great with Dish Network. I'm getting the u200 plan and will get even more channels.

[todras]

I live on the NW side and have had it for 2 months now. Love it! Never had a DVR before and it is very welcome. I had previously had DirecTV and the costs kept climbing plus it would go out during heavy cloud cover. Yes, this only happened about twice a year and didn't last long but still. The picture is a lot better IMO over my old satellite. I had AT&T DSL but the think I hated was that you had to have a land line. What a waste of $ that is! Never used it. I like opting out of it with U-verse. So now I have a 6mb internet connection and the U-300 and no land line. Cost is about $80 a month for the pair. Also got a $100 gift card when I ordered. I guess it's $200 if you order online. No contracts to agree to or anything. I will prob. drop to U-200 and no movie channels when my first 3 month promo is up. Yeah U-verse!!!!!!!1

[Gorath]

You can get DSL from AT&T without a paying for local phone service. They just don't advertise this. They do charge approximately $10 more for DSL without the landline. But that is still cheaper then the $20 plus taxes that they want for the landline.

I'm single and have a cell phone so I ditched the landline a long time ago. I really didn't need two phone numbers.

[msujdog]

Just got UVerse installed last week. Love it so far. My DSL stayed the same, my land line actually got cheaper and now includes long distance, and the TV is great so far. The Whole-House-DVR is great...I can even schedule stuff to record from any internet browser; so if I forget to set the DVR and go to work, I can just log into UVerse and schedule it to tape that program. Picture is great so far, and the wireless gateway has pretty decent strength. Best of all, it's affordable, something that I couldn't say for Comcast.

[pcdoctor]

I get mine installed this coming Wednesday. I can't wait.

[jwazzz]

U-verse seems to be the way to go - I'll be moving in about 6 months (staying in GR) and am debating how I want to handle phone, internet and cable. I'll be checking back here periodically and hope to hear from more people who have switched to ATT.

[suydam]

How's the availability of this service?

I know we don't have it in our neighborhood (yet?) but it sounds like it's spreading nicely.

[pcdoctor]

Well I just got U-verse installed today and it is working good except for an issue I'm having. The TV with the DVR box witch is the main TV is not loud enough. I have the volume on both the receiver and on the TV Maxed out. I called tech support to discuss this issue and we did some troubleshooting and weren't able to fix anything. He said he didn't know what else could be done. The TV having this problem is a 32 inch ESA TV from Circuit City bought about three years ago. it is a Standard CRT TV. Is there anyone out there who can think of something that I can do to it to get louder sound?

[Nitro]

Is there anyone out there who can think of something that I can do to it to get louder sound?

[pcdoctor]

Both my TV and the receiver are at Max Volume. It's not that old either. I didn't have this problem with dish network.

Edit: I do have a U-verse tech coming to my house between 12-2PM. I found out that my particular DVR Box has had issues with sound. So they will have to replace my DVR box with a different one. Will let you know what happens once they are here.

[tamias6]

Well I just got U-verse installed today and it is working good except for an issue I'm having. The TV with the DVR box witch is the main TV is not loud enough. I have the volume on both the receiver and on the TV Maxed out. I called tech support to discuss this issue and we did some troubleshooting and weren't able to fix anything. He said he didn't know what else could be done. The TV having this problem is a 32 inch ESA TV from Circuit City bought about three years ago. it is a Standard CRT TV. Is there anyone out there who can think of something that I can do to it to get louder sound?