anyone have experience with AT&T Uverse?

Calica

I have "Standard" cable internet (up to 10 mbps) through Time Warner Cable. I want to downgrade because it's expensive and I really don't need that many internets. I had been thinking of just switching to their 3 mbps service, but today I got my bill and it includes a $4 "modem rental fee" that wasn't there before. They just added this, and are claiming it's equipment rental so as to avoid calling it what it is, which is a plain old rate hike.

The rates have been steadily increasing anyway, and now I'm mad. I'm thinking about switching to AT&T Uverse internet, but I have no idea what their service is like - whether it's reliable, delivers speeds at least sort of comparable to what was promised, etc. If it's actually 3 mbps, then I should have no problems. But if it's more like "1.5 mbps, maybe, when the planets are aligned and we feel like it" I'd rather suck it up and stick with TWC.

I use the internet mostly for browsing here and reddit, playing Guild Wars 2, and watching Netflix (whose website says a 3 mbps connection is fine). I don't play FPSs, and for large downloads I'm perfectly happy to let it run overnight.

I don't intend to sign up for TV services through either company, if that's relevant.

azith28

I've had U-verse a few years now, and while it may be slightly more expensive then getting phone + internet + cable seperately, I havent had any big problems with it. I think ive had down internet maybe once for a day or so. Speed wise, I havent had any complaints and the occasional large download goes pretty fast.

Something to remember with AT&T is that when a problem does occur, you have to keep calling to get it fixed and if it takes long enough they have some kind of automatic 'apology credit' built in...ive gotten like 300-400 bucks in debit cards from them since starting because when they came to my apartment advertising it, they offered a 200 dollar debit card with contract, but the paperwork they gave us with that add on it was apparently old. I kept calling and asking, and i kept the paperwork and they gave me the credit plus some because i had to keep calling about it.

MushroomStick

I've had U-verse for a few years here and they've been better to deal with than Comcast ever was. Speeds have always been consistently at the advertized speeds or better (apparently the block's node is in my backyard though, so maybe its not as good for everyone.) I don't think we've ever had any downtime. Also, when it was first being installed, the installer just seemed infinitely more competent than any other cable/satelite/etc. installer I've ever dealt with and actually took the time to wire stuff up properly instead of just blindly drilling holes all over the place. We've never had to call support, so I can't really comment on that. Mileage may vary, but that's been my experience.

amateurhour

UVerse has been absolutely amazing for me.

I was a Comcast customer, and we moved to an area that had UVerse and I had already heard good things about it. I tried ATT DSL and it was horrible, I went through hell and back with them, and almost took them to small claims court, so understand that I love UVerse while having an absolute hatred for ATT, it's almost like a completely separate business though.

I get somewhere in the ballpark of 12 meg internet, full digital HD cable (like 160 channels, no movie channels currently) for $105 a month after taxes, there's a one year contract, but my price is guaranteed for a year and currently ATT UVerse (at least in my area) doesn't have that "you can't get a new promotion until you've been off your current one for six months) bullshit that Comcast has.

So yeah in general it's fan-fucking-tastic. I've never noticed a drop in speeds even during peak use hours. At 5-8 PM I can watch TV, stream netflix, and play around on the internet with no problems whatsoever.

My plan also comes with a DVR, and I've seen better promotions recently where you also get a $100 Visa Gift card and a second DVR box as well.

Make sure you order online, you'll get the best deals.

Lanchester

How long have you been with Time Warner Cable? A lot of the time, they have a rental fee, but when you sign up you get 6 months free, or 12 months free, etc.

I had Uverse almost 2 years ago so I can't be certain...but I'm pretty sure they do the same thing. Again, when you sign up you might get a year of no monthly fees, but you will eventually. Cable and Internet companies that I'm aware of don't give you a modem + wifi without charging you for it. Same is said with DVR's nowadays.

MichaelLC

UVerse TV and Internet have been fine here in Chicago. Install initially had some problems, but second crew was able to do it just fine. Even capped an old wall jack that wasn't part of the install.

We're in a 50 yr old condo building, so getting a working POTS line in here would be a feat of engineering, let alone fiber-to-copper. We're on the "Pro" plan:

Orogogus

Lanchester wrote: »

How long have you been with Time Warner Cable? A lot of the time, they have a rental fee, but when you sign up you get 6 months free, or 12 months free, etc.

I had Uverse almost 2 years ago so I can't be certain...but I'm pretty sure they do the same thing. Again, when you sign up you might get a year of no monthly fees, but you will eventually. Cable and Internet companies that I'm aware of don't give you a modem + wifi without charging you for it. Same is said with DVR's nowadays.

No, the TWC modem rental fee is a new thing, and was widely talked about over the past few months (one recent link). Apparently there are only a few modems they support if you buy your own to avoid paying the fee, and they don't always work right, and TWC isn't very helpful about it.

I can't speak to U-Verse, but as a DSL-only customer I was pretty disgusted with their service in San Diego. I'd get disconnects, they'd screw up my billing, and I thought their bandwidth cap (150 GB) was too low. I think it's 250 for U-Verse customers. I ditched them for TWC. But AT&T is trying to add phone/TV/mobile subscribers and ditch DSL subscribers so, well, mission accomplished.

Calica

Thanks for the responses. I think I'm going to cancel TWC and go ahead and sign up for 3 mbps UVerse internet at the sweet promotional rate.