We’ll be leaving WOW cable & internet soon for... anything else. Currently doing due diligence.

Options seem to be Comcast (no way), Satellite (no internet) or AT&T U-Verse.

U-Verse’s U-200 with the hi-def option, plus 6Mbs internet, without phone seems appropriate for us, so we drove down to the AT&T store in Danada today to see it in action. The demo unit was, of course, down. Not a good sign.

Got some of our questions answered, but not all... can any of you GEBBers with hands-on experience tell me...

• When simply clicking through the channels whilst bored and looking for something — anything — worth watching... is there a noticeable delay between channels? Does the program info text pop up quickly?
  
  
• We have 8Mbs internet service with WOW. U-Verse’s 6Mbs should be o.k.... but what’s the upload speed? (WOW advertises 1Mb+ up, but I’m actually getting only .3Mbs.)
  
  
• Anything else I should ask or know about? Forewarned is forearmed, and all that.

I don’t know why, but somehow I just don’t have a good feeling about this... like I’m missing something important I should know about beforehand. Thoughts and opinions appreciated. Thx!

Ted, we love U-Verse. We have had all the different offerings that GE has had since the 80's with WOW being the last. Mr Scotty loves to channel surf and specializes in watching several stations at once and he has no complaints. I find that there are so many more things to watch and love the way they group the channels into categories. Will check upload speed and post in a few. Also I just told them what WOW speed we had and they told me what we needed. Last week I called for an appointment to make a minor change which required a tech visit. Called on Saturday and they came the next day. (Sunday, unbelievable!)

1.47 mbsp up

11.52 mbsp down

Ted, your first question is our biggest gripe with WOW. The channel guide system is horrible! So bad, I simply downloaded the TV Guide app on the iPhone to see what's on.

Awhile back when I was looking for a landline solution to the high priced landline/dsl deal at AT&T we ended up with AT&T DSL, Dish HD, and Vonage. Cheap. And I have no complaints with the service of any of them. I think you had found a better deal for the landline.

Regarding AT&T- for any of their services you can dicker the best deal with the main office- local outlets like by the Jewel are limited in that area (so said an employee).

Thanks everybody... very useful. Two more questions...

The receiver U-Verse installation manual / user guide is online, so I read thru it last night. It shows that there is both a Cat-5 “Home Network” and a “USB" connector on the back of the box... but why? The manual doesn't give an example of what either might be used for.

Our TiVo connects to our network via Cat-5 in order to update its program listings... our AppleTV gizmo also uses it for Netflix streaming, etc.... but neither use should be necessary with U-Verse. Anybody use either of these jacks for anything? Thanks again!

quote:

Originally posted by ackerman:
We have had service issues, due to being near the power lines by the Western Trail. It took a couple months and 5 visits,(they finally installed all shielded wiring outside).

Ackerman,

From previous descriptions of the view from your home, I am under the impression you are in one of those newer homes directly under the ComEd high voltage transmission lines. I can hear those lines buzzing and sizzling when I am at my kids soccer game at Ackerman.

How can you build a house under those things? If it takes special shielding on the wires to fix the AT&T services do you think the electrical fields might have any affect on your health?

I have U-Verse here in Indy [should be the same pretty much everywhere] and I think I can answer the "..Cat-5 “Home Network” and a “USB" connector on the back of the box.." question.

The incoming feed is indeed coming in off the legacy copper phone lines. This feed goes into a [LARGE] modem/router. The modem then networks out to everything else.

I have the U-300 tier with the $10-per-month HD option for TV and the "standard" [slowest] Internet connection. HAD to have the Investigation Discovery channel AND Comcast Sports Net.

So far, I am very satisfied. The HD is very, very good. Much better than Comcast's HD.

Also, the Internet connection is very stable. Comcast's would wink out on me nearly once a day, jumping into "Local Only" mode where I had to unplug the modem and the router to reset the connection. Have yet to have ANY problems with the U-Verse Internet connection. Speedwise, it seems about the same as Comcast's.

I also like the fact that one DVR/box and one modem/router is part of the basic package - no monthly rip-off rental like Comcast.

Ack - Did I mention that I am a U-verse customer now because Comcast jacked my "promotional bundle" from $95 per month to $190 per month? When the promo ended.

Thank Jah that U-Verse was available in my area [near Carmel/Fishers, far northeastern Indy]. I am paying less now for U-Verse and getting better service.

Ironically, I couldn't get Comcast Sports Net on any bundle when I had Comcast! But U-Verse offers it here in Indy. Smart move as there are many Cubs and White Sox fans down here. Most of them born and raised in Indiana.

Ack,
I don't think you answered my question about building a house under high voltage power lines.

Your old post stated, "I overlook the park from the other side of the Great Western. My office view going southward has been decimated. I look out my window and see workmen on top of the structure even with my second story view."

From that statement, I gotta believe your house is within 50 ft of high voltage lines. Was it that much cheaper to live there than north of St. Charles road?

mykidsmom2011 —

I'd like to thank you for staying on-topic.

I'd like to... but, of course, I can't.

It's an interesting subject, though. Why don't you take it to the “Everything Else” Forum and start a new Discussion thread there? Thankee! —Ted E.

Ted,

Please keep us up-to-date on your ultimate decision. We have had the ATT guys stop by a couple of times, but the price was never good enough. For use our service with WOW is pretty reliable and switching can be painful.

Well, that didn’t go as planned...

I promised to report what we did after deciding to drop WoW. (Regular readers will recall that, when WoW reduced the number of channels included in their raw basic cable analog feed from almost 100 to around 30, we began looking into our options. WoW's “free” DTA [digital-to-analog adapter boxes] are pure junk, and do not perform as advertised.)

We decided to switch to AT&T’s U-Verse after we visited their demo store in Danada, and also talking for quite some time with the rep who came to our door a few days later. We decided that — since cable boxes would now be required by WoW to receive all basic channels, and since cable boxes would also be required with any other competing service — we might as well go with the least expensive option, which seemed to be AT&T.

So, we explained our audiovisual setup in detail to the sales reps, including the fact that we have a TiVo. They assured us that there would be no problem.

I also downloaded their cable box installation manual, which explained exactly how to connect the AT&T box to a TiVo. Since I speak geek, it was obvious as to how and why it would work just fine.

But (after having been here fiddling with other things for about an hour) the install tech told us U-Verse does not work with TiVo. (He had not yet visited the TV room that contains our main TV and TiVo.)

We talked about it for a while, and he went on to say that he had tried to connect a TiVo “a couple of years ago” and it didn’t work.

I soon stopped trying to convince him otherwise and decided it was a deal breaker. We said thank you, cancelled the order, and he left. (Muttering about having “wasted two hours” — much less than what we had invested in research, in moving furniture the day before, and in disconnecting (and later reconnecting) the WoW equipment.

All in all not a pleasant experience, and we’re back to where we were a month or two ago as we try to figure out what to do next.

We liked the WoW (previously Ameritech) service that we had for 15 years. Our cable service wasn’t broken, but WoW decided to fix it anyway. Thanks for nothing.

But, I figure this is just temporary. I’m optimistically waiting for the future — the smart money is saying that cable TV as we know it is going the way of vinyl records, 8-track tapes and audio cassettes... and that, in five or ten years, everything we watch will be streamed on-demand over broadband internet. We’ll pay for only what we watch.

The technology is already here; it’s just a matter of having Apple and the like negotiate the licensing.
I, for one, can’t wait.

Dish and Tivo? Most Dish receivers are compatible with TIVO service. I love my Dish HD receiver and its low cost

What do you do for broadband internet? I looked into Dish TV a few years ago but, when the cost of internet access from another provider was added, the total seemed to shoot pretty high... Thx!

AT&T DSL without the phone service.

Interesting — thanks!

How fast is your DSL? Netflix requires a minimum of 4Mbs. I figure that when my wife's watching a movie and the TiVo's calling home and iTunes is downloading a bunch of video podcasts in the background and I'm surfing the web, we're probably pushing 6Mbs.

We had DSL for a few years in the early 00's, but I forget its speed. It seemed fast at the time, but I'm thinking only 1 or 2Mbs.

What's it like today? Thx!

ATT

I pay for the fastest speed advertised at 6.0Mps. When I test the connection using whatismyip.com I generally get about 5.5Mps. I have not had a problem with streaming netflix, etc. So while it works for us you bring up a good point. I've heard that depending on your location/# users connected DSL is notorious for varying speeds. I don't know if that is still a problem in an urban area like this. I've never used Tivo - maybe someone out there can comment on Tivo through AT&T's DSL fastest service?

BTW - your point about pay for channels you want is well taken- As we are not huge channel watchers and streaming works so well I'm considering "suspending" Dish channels except for local. This little known option gets you HD local for a little over $5 a month. Have to see what is actually available through the net though. I would miss History ch, Discover, etc., and Robot Chicken on TOON.

BTW2 The other ironic thing about DVR is Dish lost a a lawsuit for stealing Tivo technology in Dish proprietary DVR receivers (hey- another option). No wonder you can hook up a Tivo unit to a Dish receiver LOL.

Also, the distance to your local Central Office (the GE one is at 444 Pennsylvania Ave) can affect the max speed you get:

From this website:


Bandwidth Availability for DSL
The network bandwidth you ultimately will enjoy with DSL also can depend on the service provider's telephone wiring. The longer the line between your residence and the service provider's hub, the less bandwidth DSL can support. Likewise, its thickness (wire gauge) can affect performance. Your neighbor down the block may experience faster (or slower) DSL Internet connections for this reason.

The maximum bandwidth of Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) available for Internet downloads based on length of phone wiring is shown below. Data rates are provided in units of kilobits per second (Kbps):

* 8,448 Kbps at 9,000 ft. or less
* 6,312 Kbps up to 12,000 ft.
* 2,048 Kbps up to 16,000 ft.
* 1,544 Kbps up to 18,000 ft.
------

Thanks for the info!

I checked the AT&T DSL link you posted, but it showed only the short-term $19.95 promo price for the 6Mbs service. I couldn't find the real price revealed anywhere (a sleazy business practice I despise), but I did see in the fine print that the price would be higher for customers who did not also have AT&T landline phone service (which we would not need).

Plus, the fine print goes on to note that, in some cases, an installation fee will apply. I'm guessing that will include us, as we no longer have a phone line running to the house... and our neighborhood has the grandfathered situation of electric and cable on one set of utility poles (front yards) and telephone phone on another (back yards... the old “alley.”)

So — since AT&T won't reveal their real non-discounted pricing, I have to guess... and I'm guessing around $50-$60 per month.

Beyond that — based on our recent experience with an AT7T tech — I don't have much faith in the company's ability to complete the installation correctly. (“Oh... you have a TiVo AND a VoIP telephone AND Netflix AND a computer you use to upload files? We can't possibly allow that...”)

I've tried to lose the anti-AT&T bias I've had against “the phone company” since before the Bell breakup in the 70s... and I know AT&T today is a very different entity than the “Ma Bell” it once was... but I guess I can hold a grudge for a very, very long time.