Should I cancel Dish for U-Verse?

[morganb]

Hi Guys,

Long time lurker, first time poster. Thanks for all the useful info in this forum!

I am interested in your opinion on switching to U-Verse from Dish. Basically my main motivation is $. I currently have At&T DSL and would like the U-Verse speed. I can get a much better deal if I take their TV service as well. I currently pay 145$ per month for Dish and I can get AT&T TV plus Net for 145 / month total which saves me about 40$ per month over my Dish plus AT&T internet cost.

I have been happy with Dish (had them for 4 years) and have had no service problems but its just so pricey.

My number one concern about switching to U-Verse is picture quality. The PQ on Dish is acceptable and really enjoy the ability to record OTA which has an excellent PQ. I can see a difference in quality between OTA and Dish and from what I hear U-Verse quality is not as good as Dish and I will loose OTA recording. I also don't really want to go through the process of setting up an entire new tv service.

Any one have an opinion on the U-Verse service? Also do you think Dish would be willing to offer me a better deal on my service? My U-Verse install isn't for another week so I have time to think about it.

Thanks!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Check the programming and see if it has what you want to watch.

Yes the PQ on HD is not as good on UVSERSE as DISH but it has gotten better over the years.

At the moment there is no UVERSE in my area because the storm knocked out power to their distribution network in another part of the state, even though my neighborhood now has power. When UVERSE is out you can't do anything not even watch recordings on your DVR. Check with neighbors who have the service and see if they have had any issues.

if not then look again at the programming and make sure they have what you want and if it makes sense switch.

 

[Scherrman]

From what I've heard from people on here is that ATT is not as good as Dish. I have heard some good things about them to of course. I have very little experience with them. My brother has U-Verse in Houston and I have used it there. I didn't really like it. The remote and DVR functionality drove me nuts.(probably just me being so use to Dish) I thought the picture was nice but it seemed to get blocky when there was fast motion.(could have been the TV also)

If you're Dish bill is so high have you looked into trying to lower your price? $145 just for Dish is pretty steep. I have a 922 and 211k with the everything pack, multi-sports pack and Blockbuster Movie Pass all for about $135.

 

[dwarren2]

Do a search on U-verse. You'll see a number of posts from people who made the switch and then came back. All were very dissatisfied with U-verse.

 

[navychop]

Less PQ and fewer concurrent HD streams.

 

[JM42]

First, check with your neighbors, is UVerse reliable in your neighborhood. I think for most it is, my parent's neighborhood has had problems, but it is rock solid in mine.

Second, check what happens if you drop the TV component of UVerse . UVerse has usually been pretty good about having reasonable outs even if you initially take the promotions.

Third, have UVerse installed but don't disconnect Dish. Compare "side by side" and live with it a while. Tell the installer not to use any of the existing cabling because you are keeping Dish. They will probably run Cat 5 to each TV location.

I did the above, ended up staying with Dish for TV but keeping Uverse for internet. UVerse HD can actually look a little sharper for fairly static shows, but falls apart with heavy motion. Liked the Dish DVRs better too, but that is very subjective.

After the promo rebates and an initial "please stay with us" credit the first time I called to cancel TV, I had Uverse TV+Internet essentially free the first 2+ months, and ended up with all my TV locations hard wired for network. They paid all return shipping for the receivers. It couldn't have been simpler. I didn't have to pack up or anything, just drop the units and remotes of at a local UPS Store.

 

[GaryPen]

U-verse pros:
-Whole-house DVR
-Small form factor
-ethernet or coax connectivity
-good bundle and promo pricing with ISP and VOIP
-No contract! (unless that's changed.)

Cons:
-PQ and number of HD streams depends on your bandwdth, which differs from location to location. (I had excellent PQ.)
-Local channel numbers tend to follow your local cableco numbering scheme vs actual OTA channel numbers like Dish. (I hate that.)
-Separate channel numbers for HD channels. Does not map HD versions to regular channel numbers. (I hate that, too.)
-Somewhat clunky UI, comparable to cable DVR's from Motorola.

You also have to weigh the pricing advantages/disadvantages for the programming you want.

I would say that if you can get comparable programming from Uverse for substantially cheaper than Dish, you should go for it. But, do not cancel your Dish service until you are sure you are happy with Uverse.

 

[rocket69]

"u-verse is great when it works." - My mom Issues vary for each city and block. During bad weather your service could be out for a day or over a week depending on how hard your region is hit.

Vod on u-verse is great and works well most of the time but dish vod is still in alpha stage as some issue pops up most of the time.

Not sure how your location is but at one time in CA you could order tv,phone,internet and have them install 1 tv then return the tv box and keep the phone /net with in 3 days ( in CA) and still get an install for free.

DTV and u-verse phone and internet pkg are around but are hidden dishstore.net could give you a quote.

Last but not least why not keep your dish and DSL. with dish you can get your hd for free not $10 like u-verse and you can call and pretend to cut your dsl and att will offer the new customer price $19 for 6mbs for one year then just do the same next year. i did it 4 years in a row but now with kids using netflix at the same time as me and the wife we need 40mbs + and cable was the only one on the table.

 

[morganb]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I can get 3 HD streams according to u-verse. My neighbor has it and likes it but I am really picky about picture quality ( I was one of those laserdisc owners) . I tend to watch and record OTA for all locals and I really prefer it so thats the biggest sticking point for me. I need to go to a AT&T store and play with the DVR a little .

After looking at my Dish bill I think I can save 20$ right off the top:

Movie Pass​

$10.00​

HBO & Sho​

$24.00​

America's Top 250​

$69.99​

HD 250​

$10.00​

DVR Service​

$6.00​

Protection Plan​

$6.00​

HD Receiver​

$7.00​

French: TV5 Monde​

$9.99​

Starz - 30th Anniv​

$0.00​

Monthly Charges​

$142.98​

I see that I can now get free HD by just going with paperless billing and letting them charge my credit card. I also see that the old platinum HD charge has become movie pass which I can dump so thats 20$ right there.

I don't think i can leave Dish hooked up at the same time as U-Verse because I live in a 3 story town home where all the Cat 5 is run in interior walls and I can't run things on the outside of the building. I could probably ensure that they hook it up in a way that I can just go up into the attic and re-hook dish myself. Not sure though.

 

[lern4483]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I can get 3 HD streams according to u-verse. My neighbor has it and likes it but I am really picky about picture quality ( I was one of those laserdisc owners) . I tend to watch and record OTA for all locals and I really prefer it so thats the biggest sticking point for me. I need to go to a AT&T store and play with the DVR a little .

After looking at my Dish bill I think I can save 20$ right off the top:

Movie Pass​

$10.00​

HBO & Sho​

$24.00​

America's Top 250​

$69.99​

HD 250​

$10.00​

DVR Service​

$6.00​

Protection Plan​

$6.00​

HD Receiver​

$7.00​

French: TV5 Monde​

$9.99​

Starz - 30th Anniv​

$0.00​

Monthly Charges​

$142.98​

I see that I can now get free HD by just going with paperless billing and letting them charge my credit card. I also see that the old platinum HD charge has become movie pass which I can dump so thats 20$ right there.

I don't think i can leave Dish hooked up at the same time as U-Verse because I live in a 3 story town home where all the Cat 5 is run in interior walls and I can't run things on the outside of the building. I could probably ensure that they hook it up in a way that I can just go up into the attic and re-hook dish myself. Not sure though.

Heres my take: Get Uverse out there to see if they can hook you up
without touching your dish setup.

You could also suspend dish and try out Uverse. Best part about Uverse is there is no contract!

I have both Dish and Uverse.

I have seen Uverse improve over the last 2 years.

Uverse pros:
Lots of HD channels
Vod-Instant
HD picture improved
SD picture excellent
Wont go out during bad weather
great promotional deals
No contract

Uverse cons:
HD picture-still can't handle lots of motion on screen
Dvr somewhat sluggish
Stream limitations-up to 4. Going up to 6

 

[whitewolf8214]

I say no dish is much better than at&t u-verse

 

[Joe Prati III]

I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wallyhts]

at&t u-verse is only good for the faster internet speeds.

Just wait till you have to call customer service. Also Att always gets bills wrong they are a nightmare to deal with stay away unless its your only choice.

Just my two cents.

 

[getstuff4less]

What internet price did you get? UverseTV has no OTA tuner. If you record three HD shows at the same time, no other HD stream is available for another TV.

 

[whitewolf8214]

at&t sucks on internet i went with charter here and much better,faster and cheaper than at&t

 

[getstuff4less]

at&t sucks on internet i went with charter here and much better,faster and cheaper than at&t

Really? Charter is $29 /mo here for 5mbps + $10 if you don't have TV. I was paying $19.95 for 6mbps for dry loop. I recently upgraded to UVERSE 12mbps for $24.95.

 

[JayStil]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I see that I can now get free HD by just going with paperless billing and letting them charge my credit card. I also see that the old platinum HD charge has become movie pass which I can dump so thats 20$ right there.

"Movie Pass" is basically the Platinum Pack renamed with Blockbuster added. So you will lose channels if you dump it. Better make sure you know which channels these are and they're not must haves for you.

The "Free HD for Life" is a no-brainer and will save you $10

 

[lern4483]

at&t sucks on internet i went with charter here and much better,faster and cheaper than at&t

Not having any issues with my Uverse internet. Its pretty fast.
As far as billing goes. Ive had Uverse make some mistakes on the bill
But they fixed it.

I really think Uverse is not the same all over. In my area its actually improved.
They have been in south Florida for around 3 years.

I can't say they are better than dish. I love my vip922 and 722k.
They really feel like high end equipment. Smooth experience.

However for the money Uverse might give you more.
The quality is just a notch below.

 

[empiretc]

I say no dish is much better than at&t u-verse

Yep. Friends in houston have made that mistake and all came crawling back.

Have dish ~$100/mo & RR internet ~$65/mo. Pricey combination, but it is great!

 

[thedamaja]

I had Uverse HD a few months ago and couldn't stand the motion blur (even noticed it on sitcoms) and pixelation during fast action and explosions was horrible. It also went out numerous times during bad weather.

I ended up canceling the TV and keeping Internet service.

Still after giving it a try for a couple months it cost me nothing due the incredible amounts of rebates they handed out.

Heck even when I called to cancel the TV portion they gave me a better deal on Internet. So it was worth giving it a try.