COX OR AT&T

[Nick1236]

Since I'm moving into a new place I thought it would be a good idea to shop around for some better tv/internet service. I'm limited to Cox or AT&T. I have previously been using cox and I'm not too impressed. The fees they charge for Hd/DVR services are ridiculous. The internet service was great, never had a problem conecting or slow DL speeds. I play games online a lot so fast internet is KEY. I have looked into AT&T and their TV packages are far better then Cox (and cheaper). I can get HD-DVRs in both rooms and the channels I want for $30 less then Cox. But I have heard that AT&Ts internet is so so.

I need fast internet for myself, and the fiance has to have the DVR. I wont watch anything thats not in HD as I have spoiled myself. So, Fast internet and HD-DVR must be included.

Anyone have any input?

[orangeusa]

There's a lot of hate out there for AT&T, but has been outstanding for me. The DVR is as good or better than TiVo (no kidding). And we got 2 DVR's and can tape up to 4 shows at one time.

If you get AT&T video package and DSL, DO NOT let them take away your POTS (plain old telephone system). It costs no more or less to keep it, but explain right off that you want to keep the POTS line - you'll be able to call without power, call 911 without issues..

But I really like it and so does the family. And I agree, I don't really use HD for anything.

To me the big advertizing about difference in data speeds is kind of hokum. I get 3MBits/sec 24/7 and could pay for higher data rate, but my kid can do online gaming (World of Warcraft?), while we all surf the web.

Customer support has been very good, you can chat on website or call and talk to a human...

I'm not a cable fan. More about the companies than the technology.

[Brianguy]

I do not know what Cox is like in your area but it's super fast in South OC. I have never had AT&T dsl but I have heard they suck (friends & family). Check if there are any reviews in your area: http://www.dslreports.com/

[professorhard]

COX in San Diego sucks ***. Worst customer service ever, the service always cuts out, they charge u more than they say and u have to hassle them down to what ur supposed to pay. I hate having cox

[Nick1236]

Is the AT&T DSL that same as their new U-verse high speed internet? I've had DSL before and it wasnt that great but I thought I heard a comercial or something that said they upgraded to all new fiber optics.

[orangeusa]

AT&T details

I was talking about UVerse, which includes video, DSL and phone line. The hardware is an all new modem - video and DSL w/ 802.11G(?) WiFi built in. The fibreoptic line goes to about 40 yards(?) from my house, and then twisted pair works for video, POTS, and DSL to the house. BTW - installation was pretty painless too. The guy listened to what I wanted, and spend a good 1/2 day installing, left his card... cool.

Same technology, shorter run. The video (I believe) is at 25.8 MBits/sec. You can buy higher rates of DSL, I just didn't think it was worth paying for higher data rates.

[Nick1236]

I was talking about UVerse, which includes video, DSL and phone line. The hardware is an all new modem - video and DSL w/ 802.11G(?) WiFi built in. The fibreoptic line goes to about 100 yards from my house, and then twisted pair works for video, POTS, and DSL to the house. BTW - installation was pretty painless too. The guy listened to what I wanted, and spend a good 1/2 day installing, left his card... cool.

Same technology, shorter run. The video (I believe) is at 25.8 MBits/sec. You can buy higher rates of DSL, I just didn't think it was worth paying for higher data rates.

I'm not getting a lan line, I really have no need for it with my cell phone (Yes I know if the towers go down or the zombies attack or the world ends I wont bed able to get in touch with anyone but I really dont talk on the phone much anyways). AT&Ts website doesnt say whether you need to have the phone line or not to get internet, do I need phone also?

[orangeusa]

I don't know what you mean by lan line. I think you mean land line (w/ a typo)?

They want to get rid of pots equipment at the CO (central office) and convert your line to VoIP. Then they can remove the twisted pair that goes (currently) from your house the the CO. Remember - the fibreoptic panel is placed near a set of houses to provide high bandwidth to the home. It's really not a big deal if you are comfortable with just cell phone coverage and no landline. I don't know if you can tell them to forget any kind of land line service. Probably can...

And I work in the Cellular Wireless field, and don't worry about cell coverage going away during blackouts! Every cell site has backup power in case of blackouts.

Doesn't mean you'll be able to GET a call through! bee bee beeeee (congestion tone)

.

[TonyM]

Uverse was not a great option for us for TV. They can only have 1 DVR on a subscribed line, and additional receivers. That means UP TO 4 shows at once can be recorded, or 2 HD streams + SD.

They cap the HD streams at about 6mbps H264, and you can see it on bigger sets. Their SD streams look very nice compared to everyone else though..

Another downside to UVerse on the internet side is that it's an interleaved packet system. This means if you play FPS games, you will notice a latency increase in your ping times. I am 800 feet from my VRAD and have a 24Mbit connection with a great signal (gateway reports a max allowable signal of 63Mbit) and I can't play FPS' anymore without randomly getting kicked for having too high of a ping. My comcast connection was much, much better. I've only kept the UVerse 24Mbit internet because it's cheap and uncapped for $60 a month, but I cancelled the TV service and went back to DirecTV.

For more info on UVerse check the DSLReports.com forums, or uverseusers.com

[POLICESTATE]

AT&T sucks for me, I get my connection reset several times throughout the day.

[tacticalcity]

When I moved into my new place the rent was $150 more than my old place. So I decided to go without cable for bit to see how if I could survive. I also decided to go without a home phone, since I have a cell phone, and to tether my cell phone and use it for my internet access since I get unlimited data minutes with my phone plan.

The only real downside is my internet access is a bit slower than I would prefer. But at a savings of $70-$200 month, I can more than tolerate it. It is fast enough to handle Hulu.com and Netflix.com streaming videos. Between those and other free media websites I realized I am not missing much. I still get to see all my favorite cable TV shows. The only ones I have to wait until they are available on DVD are the ones from HBO and SHOWTIME, the rest are available the day after they air online. So what if I watch BURNED NOTICE on Fridays instead of Thursdays? Doing so saves me a ton of money. Bear in mind I have access to the standard broadcast channels all in HD 100% for free. Everything else I want to watch is available through HULU.com and/or Netflix.com, and Netflix only costs me $10 a month.

All said and done, I spend $400 less a month even after my rent when up by $150 a month, and I am never at a loss for something to watch. It may require a tad bit more effort on my part (I have to pull up a FAVORTIE bookmark on a web browser instead of pushing the channel button on the remote) but for that amount of savings it is well worth it.

It helps that I own two very nice computers that are hooked upto my TVs, each running Windows 7 with Media Center built-in, and I took the time to learn how to fully exploit the benfits Media Center offers. Most people have no idea just how much their computers could help improve their TV experience, if they only took the time to learn. If you have more money than brains, and subscribe to the ultimate cable package, Media Center helps improve your viewing experience even more. If you haven't spent some time checking out a friend's system who really knows Media Center, then there simply is no way to comprehend what you are missing.

[thefifthspeed]

I've had Cox for 2 years, paid a ton for it since it was the only thing I could get and then I moved and now have Uverse which I've had for about 2-3 years and I like it. If you are already an ATT wireless customer I would go down to a store and check out the packages. I work for AT&T and I'm not sure if San Diego runs the same promos we do in the central valley so I don't want to quote you on prices but typically as a first time user you get some pretty good rates plus some type of cash back depending on package.

[Nick1236]

is this FUD? I read that the HD picture quality, and ability to record multiple HD shows is tied to your internet speed package. I was gonna go with the elite package and see how it wis (up to 6Mbps). But with this new information, a higher package may be preferred, like the max (up to 12Mbps).

Any truth in this? I guess I really dont know how uverse works. I always thought it was like cable but apparently it still goes through the phone line and everything is tied to that ONE line, IN and OUT.

[TonyM]

is this FUD? I read that the HD picture quality, and ability to record multiple HD shows is tied to your internet speed package. I was gonna go with the elite package and see how it wis (up to 6Mbps). But with this new information, a higher package may be preferred, like the max (up to 12Mbps).

Any truth in this? I guess I really dont know how uverse works. I always thought it was like cable but apparently it still goes through the phone line and everything is tied to that ONE line, IN and OUT.

Well...... Kinda.

The number of channels you can stream at one time is limited by your connection, but not exactly your data plan.

If you sub to the 6mbps internet you will get the 6mbps (minus overhead of DSL) fine and the TV will use the remaining connection speed that you don't get provisioned for data... In other words, to have 2 HD and 2 SD streams at the same time you will need to be close enough to the VRAD for a 25mbps connection minimum. If you come in under 25mbps raw connection they will provision you on a 1HD/2SD max stream.

If you have the higher end data plan of 18 or 24mbps and your DVR records 2 HD shows, or a combination that is using a lot of data, you will see your internet speed dip. When I had the TV portion I would see my then 18mbps connection drop to 12mbps when multiple recordings were going on.

[TonyM]

I'm not sure if San Diego runs the same promos we do in the central valley so I don't want to quote you on prices but typically as a first time user you get some pretty good rates plus some type of cash back depending on package.

This was one of the best part of my dealings with AT&T U-Verse for TV. I got $400 in rebates and another $350 for referring a family member (who got $400 for themselves) that didn't care that it wasn't the best picture out there. They liked it for the price and it is technically HD.

The absolute best part of U-verse: it is (was?) no-contract. sign up, keep the service for a couple months and get your rebates. If you don't like it, cancel and pay no ETF.