[colug-432] Comcast and connectivity alternatives
Robert Grimm
robertgrimm at gmail.com
Sat Mar 1 23:44:52 EST 2014
I got my U-verse installed on Friday. I'm taking it out on Monday. Netflix
looks terrible, Hulu is often bad, the higher latency is noticeable in web
browsing, and I don't think I've ever disliked a networking device as much
as this gateway. Fortunately, I haven't cancelled my WOW yet.
Robert Grimm
Voice only: (614) 212-4625
http://www.datablitz.net
http://www.grimmphotography.com
On Sat, Mar 1, 2014 at 8:23 PM, Jeff Stebelton <jeff.stebelton at gmail.com>wrote:
> Got my uverse installed today. I'm getting consistent 35 Mbs down and 5
> Mbs up. I've seen as high as almost 40 down when I can kick my daughter off
> of Netflix. I'm a happy man.
> On Feb 19, 2014 6:55 AM, "Stephen P. Molnar" <s.molnar at sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
>
>> I switched to U-verse about 15 months ago when the monthly charge for DSL
>> went up again. I didn't realized at the time that the telephone service,
>> included with what I wanted was VOIP! The phone service kept dropping
>> while maintaining the internet connectivity. It took three service calls
>> by techs (?) of questionable ability (I was convince that the first one
>> wasn't sure as to what end of the screwdriver was the handle). To shorten
>> the story a bit the third technician did, indeed, know what he was doing
>> solved the problem. Part of his solution was my calling the AT&T Business
>> Office and demanding that my telephone service be returned to an analog
>> line, while maintaining the same overall monthly rate (that was his
>> suggestion and a learning experience for the customer service person I
>> talked to).
>>
>>
>>
>> All was then well until two months ago when the U-verse bill increased
>> by ~40%, it was the end of the introductory year. I solved that problem by
>> allowing the download rate to be degraded. I'm still getting good
>> transmission rates.
>>
>>
>>
>> Bottom line is that I'm satisfied with U-verse (at least so far). Oh
>> yes, they did try to bundle TV with the service, but had no answer to the
>> question 'why should I pay for many channels of garbage when I never watch
>> what's available over the air?'
>>
>>
>>
>> Stephen P. Molnar, Ph.D. Life is a
>> fuzzy set
>>
>> Foundation for Chemistry Stochastic and
>> multivariate
>>
>> www.FoundationForChemistry.com
>>
>> (614)312-7528 (c)
>>
>> Skype: smolnar1
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* colug-432-bounces at colug.net [mailto:colug-432-bounces at colug.net] *On
>> Behalf Of *Jeff Stebelton
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, February 18, 2014 6:44 PM
>> *To:* David Reed
>> *Cc:* Central OH Linux User Group - 432xx
>> *Subject:* Re: [colug-432] Comcast and connectivity alternatives
>>
>>
>>
>> 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
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > colug-432 mailing list
>> > colug-432 at colug.net
>> > http://lists.colug.net/mailman/listinfo/colug-432
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Jeff Stebelton GCIA GCIH GPPA GWAPT CEH SFCP
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > colug-432 mailing list
>> > colug-432 at colug.net
>> > http://lists.colug.net/mailman/listinfo/colug-432
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Jeff Stebelton GCIA GCIH GPPA GWAPT CEH SFCP
>>
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>> Content preview: I switched to U-verse about 15 months ago when the
>> monthly
>>
>> charge for DSL went up again. I didn't realized at the time that the
>> telephone
>> service, included with what I wanted was VOIP! The phone service kept
>> dropping
>> while maintaining the internet connectivity. It took three service
>> calls
>> by techs (?) of questionable ability (I was convince that the first one
>> wasn't
>> sure as to what end of the screwdriver was the handle). To shorten the
>> story
>> a bit the third technician did, indeed, know what he was doing solved
>> the
>> problem. Part of his solution was my calling the AT&T Business Office
>> and
>> demanding that my telephone service be returned to an analog line,
>> while
>> maintaining the same overall monthly rate (that was his suggestion and
>> a learning
>> experience for the customer service person I talked to). [...]
>>
>> Content analysis details: (5.6 points, 5.0 required)
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