Used Uverse for 3 weeks..thinking of Dish now

[JM42]

The Hopper with sling sounds great, but I didn't think about it running off upload speed if you're out of your network. Mine is a crappy 1-2 mpbs.

Upload speed has absolutely no impact on regular TV viewing.

The upload speed only impacts watching Sling'ed DVR content away from the house on your computer/phone/tablet via the Dishanywhere site/apps.

 

[broeddog]

I had uverse tv for 2 weeks along with my uverse internet @45 megs down and 6 megs up. The picture was unacceptable even as those speeds so i called AT&T and told them to remove out from my account. They tried to give me their top tv package at a steep discount and I told them I wouldn't watch it even if t was free. The uverse internet @ 45 megs for $47.50 a month I'm happy with and that price includes a rental gateway.

 

[JM42]

I'm apparently close to the VRAD. How do you think the PQ compares--Dish vs. Uverse?

Distance from the VRAD will not impact picture quality. It may impact the overall speed of the connection, but will be felt on the "internet" side of things and won't impact TV.

 

[Hall]

Distance from the VRAD will not impact picture quality. It may impact the overall speed of the connection, but will be felt on the "internet" side of things and won't impact TV.

Definitely sounds like Uverse's modem gives priority to the TV stream, as it probably should as that's what people will "see" more noticeably.

 

[Hall]

The Hopper with sling sounds great, but I didn't think about it running off upload speed if you're out of your network. Mine is a crappy 1-2 mpbs.

1-2Mb/s upload or download ? If that's upload, that's pretty damn good !

Upload speed has absolutely no impact on regular TV viewing. The upload speed only impacts watching Sling'ed DVR content away from the house on your computer/phone/tablet via the Dishanywhere site/apps.

He/she mentions when "you're out of network", so I suspect they are referring to Dish Anywhere usage, but if they have 1-2Mb/s, they won't have much issue.

 

[Yespage]

Encouraging to hear about retaining a good signal though! When do you know you can watch HD again though?

In general, weather fading the signal is more a sign of a bad install. I lose signal only in the most significant of downpours. Honestly, I think I've lost signal more often from thunderstorms at Dish's uplink center than I have at my home.

 

[Hall]

Encouraging to hear about retaining a good signal though! When do you know you can watch HD again though?

You just have to check - it doesn't toggle back to the HD channel on it's own. It's not 100% perfect though - I have had it toggle to the SD channel but it was losing signal as well.

 

[mitchflorida]

I am not criticizing Uverse with this response, but the fact is, your "feed" has a finite amount of bandwidth (I think the number is around 18Mb/s). If you are watching (streaming) enough channels to use, let's say 15Mb/s, that only leaves you 3Mb/s for internet. If your TVs are off, your internet gets that full 18Mb/s. Internet speeds are absolutely impacted by the TV streams.

Now, given how the internet works -- right now, as you're reading this, presuming nothing else is running in the background, your internet usage is ZERO. On the TV side, ATT is very likely using a variable bitrate delivery system too, so the TV streams could fluctuate up and down as you watch a show.

I don't think the number 18 Mb/s is correct. They have 45 Mb/s service for Internet available at my house, plus of course the TV service would be in addition to that. Assuming that you start out with a maximum pipe of 50 Mbps, each HD stream takes 6 Mb/s so if you have two shows on you should still have 38 Mb/s for Internet . Perhaps in some places the pipe is less and then you would have problems with the Internet speed.

 

[maverick22]

How responsive are the Hopper & super Joey? I had Directv's 2 tuner DVR, and it was pretty slow. I think Direct overall had some lag (remote responsiveness, DVR, etc)

How long does it take to change the channel (either from channel up or Guide and entering a channel)? I have been pleased with Uverse's responsiveness to these so far!

 

[mitchflorida]

In general, weather fading the signal is more a sign of a bad install. I lose signal only in the most significant of downpours. Honestly, I think I've lost signal more often from thunderstorms at Dish's uplink center than I have at my home.

I don't know what you mean a bad install. Lots of people have trees and foliage around that interfere with satellite reception, especially in Florida. Unless you chop down all the trees you are going to get an occasional outage when it gets cloudy. It shouldn't happen often, but it does happen during bad weather conditions. Plus my Dish was installed in my back yard so the gardener would knock it over with his lawn mower every year or two .lol

 

[Hall]

I don't think the number 18 Mb/s is correct.

I didn't realize they offered faster than that. At our old house, I had looked into Uverse and that was the fastest available to me and was also the fastest ATT offered anywhere. I do see that 45Mb/s is available in some places.

 

[JM42]

I don't think the number 18 Mb/s is correct. They have 45 Mb/s service for Internet available at my house, plus of course the TV service would be in addition to that.

18mbps is low, I wonder if they would offer TV at a location if that was their biggest pipe(probably shouldn't, but I wouldn't be shocked). My Dad's neighborhood is like that - they have "UVerse" but for internet and phone only. 32-45mbps is most common around here though.

There is no set configuration for Uverse. It varies market to market and even neighborhood to neighborhood. The underlying tech may be VDSL, ADSL, fiber, etc. Layer on top of that that some markets are offering bonded lines to increase speed.

In all instances I have seen(which is not every possible implementation) if you have their fastest internet offered, then TV viewing will impact it.

 

[Tampa8]

From first hand experience with my Daughter's Uverse when she still had it;
1. Internet speeds were pretty consistent and were not affected while using the TV service.
2. However there were more than a few downtimes, and picture freezes. They came out at least twice I know of and finally said that was as good as they could get it.
3. PQ was ok easily seen to be not as good as Direct, DISH, Fios or Brighthouse. (The ones I can compare them to in areas I live) and slightly worse than Charter.
4. At&t has sold off part of Uverse, and all landlines completely in Ct and will be doing the same in some other States and reportedly has given the new owners (Frontier) some opening to acquire more in other States. They and Verizon seem to want to get out of all landline business. Verizon stated they are not adding any new areas beyond those already promised and may end all new areas in NJ even though they were promised in favor of promising 4G everywhere. That makes me think the future will all about Direct TV for At&t and/or online.

 

[Hall]

18mbps is low, I wonder if they would offer TV at a location if that was their biggest pipe(probably shouldn't, but I wouldn't be shocked). My Dad's neighborhood is like that - they have "UVerse" but for internet and phone only.

I checked my old address when posting the above (Uverse isn't available where we live at all now) and they offer TV, internet, and home phone with that maximum 18Mb/s service.

 

[Yespage]

Hadn't heard of it, but looks like AT&T is rolling out "Gigapower" in markets. It is very limited right now, but my community, which received UVerse relatively early in its rollout, is one of the possible expansion communities. As usual with AT&T, it is impossible to get a typical price. $70 3 yr term for 300 Mbps.

 

[maverick22]

Just called AT&T & they increased my profile from 25-32. Apparently now more megabytes will be allowed to flow in. I'll test that when I get home from work. If that doesn't help, I think I'll order Dish.

Please keep the Dish info coming!

Still want to know how responsive the Hopper and Super Joey are. Thanks

 

[Hall]

Still want to know how responsive the Hopper and Super Joey are.

Not sure if anyone can answer that. It's 100% subjective or depends on what you're used to. I think you'd just have to try it (at Sears, Radio Shack, a Dish retailer ?).

 

[maverick22]

Not sure if anyone can answer that. It's 100% subjective or depends on what you're used to. I think you'd just have to try it (at Sears, Radio Shack, a Dish retailer ?).

I had no idea Sears and/or RS sold Dish!

Yeah just wondering if responsiveness is similar to Direct (slow IMO) or Uverse (pretty quick). Thanks

 

[Hall]

I used Time Warner's system a few weeks ago, Directv's more recently, and have Dish myself. In order of "responsiveness", I'd say Dish was the fastest with Time Warner a close second, and Directv noticeably slower. I have no idea what hardware the TW or Directv stuff was though. Also, the TW system (interface) was very boring/bland, so that alone would help it operate faster.

 

[maverick22]

I used Time Warner's system a few weeks ago, Directv's more recently, and have Dish myself. In order of "responsiveness", I'd say Dish was the fastest with Time Warner a close second, and Directv noticeably slower. I have no idea what hardware the TW or Directv stuff was though. Also, the TW system (interface) was very boring/bland, so that alone would help it operate faster.

Thanks! Can you comment on PQ- Dish vs. Direct?

Also, is Dish's interface boring/bland?