AT&T UVerse vs. cable

Two of the things you need to think about: What download/upload speeds am I actually pulling now? Based on what I actually do on the Internet, do I feel like that connection is too slow?

This site can help figure out the answer to the first question: http://www.speedtest.net

My download speed, on a cable broadband connection claimed to be 8 mbps, actually runs about 6.5 mbps. My wireless router is capable of more than that. I've never come close to overwhelming either the router or the cable internet.

 

OK, here's what I'm looking at:

AT&T UVerse
* 270 channels, including all the ones I Tivo
* add on HBO for $14 a month
* 6 Mbps internet
* Unlimited home phone
* DVR included that records 4 shows at once
* Free installation

$139 a month for six months, then $158

Comcast
* 150 channels, including all the ones I Tivo
* add on Showtime for $10 a month
* 8-16 Mbps
* Unlimited home phone
* $29 transfer fee that they might be willing to waive

$149 a month

Comcast apparently has 24/7 customer service, while UVerse apparently stops at 9. Woman at Comcast (grain of salt) said 30 percent of people who leave Comcast for UVerse come back within 90 days because of that.

Also, I already have the Tivo I've been using, so keeping Comcast would be easy in that way, no new equipment to learn.



What do you all think?

 

Right now, Comcast says I'm at 12 (it doubled recently) and it's slow but that's not because of the internet but because my computer is old as hell.

 

If they're willing to waive the transfer fee, and you don't watch much on the other 120 channels you get with AT&T, I'd stick with Comcast.

 

Well, I don't know if I'd watch the other 120 channels because I don't have them. What if they're awesome channels?

 

Have you looked for listings of each?

 

I mean, I saw the names. More movie channels with UVerse. Plus, I get a lot of "West" channels, which since I'm up until 4 or 5 a.m., might be nice to have something that isn't informercials overnight.

 

Not that anybody gives a shit but me, but in case anyone looks up "Uverse" on here in a search:

Don't do it. Well, not if you like recording shows on channels other than the broadcast channels.

1. You can't set a season pass. You have to add each show for the two weeks that the channels are set in advance. Then you have to set them again. So if you want to set it for American Idol in case you forget to do it before it airs? Shit out of luck.

2. There are SEVERAL channels you can't record on. Among them: HBO and VH1. I learned this when I tried to add Entourage and any number of VH1 reality shows. I could record all of them on Comcast, none of them on Uverse.

3. I called Uverse's customer service and sat on hold for 25 minutes waiting for someone to answer. No thanks.


So...Comcast is coming out next week to transfer my service to this address, with no fees and no installation costs. Forget you, Uverse. And I'm sorry for the VERY nice guy who spent four hours today climbing a pole to hook up the wire, then going down in my basement to fix something down there, then slaving in my 90-degree apartment. I appreciate you...hate your employer.

Funny thing was, I told him I really wanted an iPhone and hoped AT&T would win me over. Ha!

 

So you have no idea why you can't record certain channels? That's bogus.

I remember the days 20 years ago when it was impossible to record HBO with a VHS because of the different hook-ups. Reminds me of the same thing now that you mention that.

 

When I try to add it, it says "Channel 1802 HBO HD does not allow recording." Same thing on VH1 HD. Only with a different channel number.

I did a live chat online and the woman said something about how Entourage is owned explicitly by HBO and so it can't be recorded, or some such. I told her I Tivoed it every week with Comcast. Apparently that blew her mind.

She offered me a $20 credit, but I told her the first month was free and i wouldn't see a second month, so her $20 meant nothing.

 

I'm pretty sure fair use allows you to record any dang thing you want on your TV. IANAL though.

 

Yeah, I didn't want to dredge this up to show I was an idiot...but I was an idiot.

I can record it on the SD channel. Problem was the channel guide is like a six-fold brochure, and so when I flipped it open, I saw the HBO listing and just went to that channel. I'm stupid.

But UVerse wins. It has Fox Reality Channel! Househusbands from Hollywood, here I come! (Did anyone else know Tempestt Bledsoe (Vanessa from Cosby) was in an LTR with Darryl Bell (Ron Johnson from Different World)? I sure didn't.)