AT&T UVerse vs. cable

[imjustagirl]

I throw myself on your mercy.

I'm moving in a month, and the area where I'm moving to is able to get UVerse. But I'm looking online and their download speeds are 1.5, 3, 6 or 18 Mbps.

I talked to a friend, and he said cable, or basically what average is, is 54Mbps. So why would it be $175 a month for UVerse when I'm paying $129 a month for Comcast?

Are the numbers all off? What's the best deal? $105 for 3Mbps, $135 for 6 Mbps or 175 for 18 Mbps? Or just stick with Comcast and pay the re-installation costs?

 

[Stay Thirsty My Friends]

Just threaten to go to another company. I'm betting Comcast will relent on the re-installation costs.

 

[imjustagirl]

But is that the better option? Are the UVerse speeds so much worse? I figured with the way AT&T rolled it out with ads it would be a good switch.

I just really have no idea what the numbers actually mean.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

Just threaten to go to another company. I'm betting Comcast will relent on the re-installation costs.

F**k Comcast with a rusy nail and let them get a disease. Theirr customer service is horrible. If they offered U-Verse in my town, I would be on it in a heartbeat. I'm unable to get a satellite because I live in an apartment building.

And IJAG, that price seems high for U-Verse. You're better off talking them down before you install. I think if you tell the rep you're going with Comcast they will drop down. Only problem is, you have to do it again in six months.

 

[imjustagirl]

Well that's the bundle. That's phone, 220 channels and internet.

But no one's answering the other points. What do those Mbps numbers mean in practicality?

 

[finishthehat]

It's all over my head. All I can tell is we switched to U-Verse a few months ago, and my wife has a home business that is heavily dependent on high-speed internet.

If there were problems with slowness, believe me, I'd hear about them. At length.

I would hate to say "U-Verse is fine," though, and then have it suck for you. All I can tell you, not knowing anything about bit rates or anything else, is that it works for her better than Comcast, or at least as well.

 

[imjustagirl]

Thank you, fth. I appreciate that. It just seemed odd to me the number I was hearing for cable and then hearing it was so much less for UVerse.

I wonder if their available rates change depending on where you live.

 

[RickStain]

Well that's the bundle. That's phone, 220 channels and internet.

But no one's answering the other points. What do those Mbps numbers mean in practicality?

1.5 or 3 Mbps = fine for ordinary browsing, as long as the sites aren't too fancy with the flash and video

6 = fine for streaming video

18 = not needed unless you plan on sharing the connection among several computers or doing lots of file-sharing/downloading

 

[imjustagirl]

Then what's with the 54 for cable? Because I lose connection with Comcast all the time.

Also, will 6 work fine with an older computer (my desktop's about 8 years old)?

 

[finishthehat]

Oh, I should add my kid watches just about all his movies/shows on the computer, and he has no problems either.

We have wireless in the house. If I'm working at home on my laptop, I don't notice any big difference from working at my office.

 

[RickStain]

I'm not sure about 54 mbps for cable. I'm a little out of my depth as a part-time computer nerd here, but that doesn't even seem possible, let alone average. I think the physical capabilities of cable wire max out at about 30 mbps.

Are you sure he didn't mean 5.4?

 

[imjustagirl]

I was wrong. The 54 Mbps was at work.

I looked at the Comcast site and their "faster internet" is 12 Mbps.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

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.

 

[imjustagirl]

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?

 

[imjustagirl]

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?

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.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

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.

 

[imjustagirl]

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?

 

[KYSportsWriter]

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?

 

[imjustagirl]

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.

 

[imjustagirl]

Not that anybody gives a **** 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? **** 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!