[colug-432] Comcast and connectivity alternatives

Tue Feb 18 20:23:10 EST 2014

Huh, interesting.

Last year I tracked my usage and it was in the 100 to 150GB a month. I got a new router (new faster WiFi for laptop that supports it) and it doesn’t support tracking usage any more. I asked AT&T if I could check my usage and they said they’d just send me an email when I hit 70%. Their site seems to claim you can track it, but it doesn’t work for me and I’m not even certain they can track it accurately. The router they installed has stats but includes the tv so it’s impossible to tell what is internet. The first time or two you go over they don’t charge you so I’m not going to worry about it.

While the AT&T CEO still says things that make me cringe, their cellular service has gotten much, much better during the last 3-4 years. I’ve been with them since they were Cingular. I hope the other side (which I think is actually a completely separate company) is also taking quality more seriously.

Dave

On Feb 18, 2014, at 7:24 PM, Jeff Stebelton <jeff.stebelton at gmail.com> wrote:

> Answering my own question.. I confirmed with a second rep it is 250 Gb per month for U-verse High Speed Internet. Since I have a 30 day trial period, I'm going to give the Death Star another shot and hope U-verse is better than residential. Though I have a co-worker who's a network engineer who's been with U-verse for years and is satisfied and I found out today the Director over networking and network security where I work has been on it for 2 years with no issues.
> 
> On Feb 18, 2014 6:43 PM, "Jeff Stebelton" <jeff.stebelton at gmail.com> wrote:
> I looked at this again and it says:
> Residential AT&T High Speed Internet service includes 150 gigabytes (GB) of data each billing period, and residential AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet service includes 250 Gigabytes (GB) of data each billing period. U-verse with Gigapower, where available, includes 1 terabyte (TB) of data each billing period. The data you send and receive each month contributes to your monthly data plan.
> I'm on the U-verse site, looking at Internet only plans and they are calling it U-verse High Speed Internet. It looks to me like I'd be ordering U-verse High Speed which is capped at 250 Gb. Am I missing something? (probably am which is why I'm asking.. =-)
> "Get new U-verse High Speed Internet and receive a discounted rate for 12 months... blah blah"
> And...
> 
> I watched the video "Broadband Usage Overview" in your link and it also made a distinction between AT&T High Speed Internet and U-verse High Speed Internet. I couldn't find anything that mentioned TV or bundling. Is that hidden and if I sign up I'd find "U-verse High Speed Internet" really means U-verse Bundled TV and High Speed Internet? Not trying to pick at what you said; I just want to make sure if I sign up I know what I'm getting. 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 7:54 AM, David Reed <dave256 at mac.com> wrote:
> This says 150GB if you don’t also have tv.
> 
> http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB409045&cv=812#fbid=wpWmyP0XTGj
> 
> Dave
> 
> On Feb 17, 2014, at 7:35 AM, Jeff Stebelton <jeff.stebelton at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > I chatted with a service rep who told me it was 250 Gb per month. I'll find that on their site before proceeding. If ordered online they're offering a $50 gift card right now, including Internet only.
> > The setup process is telling me:
> >
> > A $100 one-time Internet equipment fee automatically applies for orders without U-verse TV or orders with select lower Internet speeds.
> >
> > It's put in the cart as $99.00. Go figure. =-)
> > So in my cart I have the following:
> >
> > AT&T Rewards
> > Additional online only $50 reward card when you order today!     $50.00
> >
> > Monthly Charges TOTAL    $71.95
> > One-Time Charges TOTAL    $99.00
> > Your Estimated First Bill*  This total is only an estimate of your first bill. The monthly charges on your first bill will be slightly higher than normal. The charges may vary based on the following:
> >
> >     Monthly charges are billed one month in advance
> >     Prorated monthly charges from date of installation to start of bill period
> >     Taxes, fees, and surcharges
> >     Applicable installation charges
> >
> >     $170.95
> >
> > My next option is to order, so it looks like the $99.00 install fee is the only one. But I've dealt with AT&T before.. heh.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 7:09 AM, <davelist at mac.com> wrote:
> > AT&T only sends the channel(s) you are watching to your house so in effect everything you are watching is streamed to you. Note this means you need one of their boxes on every tv you want to use with their service. So the phone lines can (at least with their current technology) carry a max of 45 Mbps total so 3 HD channels takes over 30 Mbps leaving less than 18 Mbps for internet.
> >
> > Rick answered Jeff’s other question, but Jeff, check the 30 day guarantee if you’re just getting internet (and then I think the cap is 150GB instead of 250GB). And I suspect they won’t waive the fees (and no gift card) since they’re not getting as much money from you per month as if you were getting UVerse.
> >
> > Dave
> >
> >
> > On Feb 16, 2014, at 1:27 PM, FiL Farris <philipfarris at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > When you say your recording HD channels @ 10 - 12 Mbps are you referring to some type of streamed media  or HD shows coming into the digital tuner(s) of your cable box?
> > >
> > > On Feb 16, 2014 12:30 PM, <davelist at mac.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > AT&T has run fiber to newer neighborhoods so you if you are lucky enough to have fiber to your house, you might be able to get those speeds. I made another post about this but maybe you didn’t see it. I finally got fed up with TW (after about 13 years with them) and switched to AT&T U-Verse. I don’t have fiber to my house. There is an AT&T box near my neighborhood (about 1/4 mile straight line distance from my house) that I suspect has fiber to it and then phone lines to my house. I’m paying for the 18 Mbps (and I think 2 Mbps up) service and speed tests report 16-20 Mbps (and 1.5-2 Mbps up) so I’m reasonably happy.
> > >
> > > I think right now the max they can get is 45 Mbps total over the phone line with their current technology so if I’m recording 3 HD channels (I think those take around 10-12 Mbps each), the internet drops to 7-10Mbps, but as long as no more than 2 HD channels, the internet seems consistent (where I live in Hilliard - obviously YMMV). I hear that max over phone lines may go up to 70 Mbps this year in which case I shouldn’t see any slowdown when recording 3 HD channels. But I don’t think you’ll get 45 Mbps internet if you’re watching/recording tv unless you have fiber to your house.
> > >
> > > AT&T will give you 30 days to try out their system before you’re locked into a 1 year contract so I kept TW for 3-4 days while I tested AT&T’s service. I had a 6-7 year old TW HD DVR that I hated. It would occasionally not record shows it should and interface was sluggish and took too many button presses to do some things IMO. And it only held about 30 hours of HD shows whereas the AT&T DVR seems to hold around 150 hours of HD shows (if you get their U300 or U450 service you get that larger capacity - don’t recall what capacity is for U100 or U200 but it’s less). TW signal so it would occasionally cut out for 1/2 a second so watching tv was annoying at times. TW’s internet service was reasonably reliable but the extreme cold caused my internet to go out for half a day multiple times in January.
> > >
> > > After 4 weeks with AT&T’s service, I’m happy as DVR hasn’t missed a show and internet has been reliable even in the cold temperatures. AT&T will waive some, but not all of the installation fees and then give you a gift card so the end result is all the fees are covered. They seem to be making a big push to get new subscribers right now. They do give you a big discount to get you hooked. We’ll see what price they’re willing to give me in a year when the contract is up. I’m hopeful it will be reasonable since I’m lucky enough to have the options of TW, WOW, and UVerse in my neighborhood. At this point, I’ll stick with them if the price is reasonable and if not look into WOW.
> > >
> > > Right now I’m paying what I was before with TW (and I had a pretty decent discount from TW’s listed prices) but also have a second box in the basement so I can watch tv while exercising. I’ve got a few more channels I actually want to watch and a larger capacity DVR that works well. I had TW’s 12-15 Mbps (can’t remember exact speed) internet service so internet speed is slightly faster than what I had.
> > >
> > > I had checked my usage on my router last year and I was using 100-150 GB a month so the 250 GB (gigabyte not 250 Gb - gigabit) data cap doesn’t bother me too much. I suspect if you watch a lot of streaming video (we don’t have netflix) that could be an issue.
> > >
> > > And yes, watch what the installer does so you can go back to TW if you want easily. I wanted the internet router in an upstairs bedroom/office so they ran the internet service (which is what the tv runs over too) up the phone line to that office. Then the box in the office splits out the tv and internet and they ran the tv data back down to the basement using the coax line in the office. Since I only have two tvs they put the actual DVR in the basement there and then are using a wireless box for the first floor tv. I think we could have run the signal back up to the first floor over the coax if we wanted.
> > >
> > > I still have Vonage for my home phone (AT&T offered me 200 minutes for the price I’m currently paying Vonage for unlimited so I didn’t switch the phone). I told the installer I still wanted the phone outlets to work and he ran the internet up to the office over two of the four phone wires, put a double jack in the office and the other two wires run the phone back to the phone outlets throughout the house.
> > >
> > > Dave
> >
> >
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> > --
> > Jeff Stebelton GCIA GCIH GPPA GWAPT CEH SFCP
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> Jeff Stebelton GCIA GCIH GPPA GWAPT CEH SFCP