Major Glitches With Uverse Tv Service - Anyone Else?
#1
Posted 18 September 2011 - 12:59 PM
About a month ago, the DVR started losing its signal/input and began restarting the entire system, and this started happening with increasing frequency. Last week I had a tech out and he replaced all my DVRs and my modem. Problem still happened, even worse, and I noticed that every time a program is set to start recording, it loses the signal input and restarts, which takes 5 minutes, and it also loses where I was in the recorded program I was watching. It also doesn't capture any information about the new program being recorded, it says "No Info Available" but still records the show and knows the series name (because it puts it in the same folder as other shows from that series), just has no name. In addition, I've experienced issues with the remotes being unresponsive and pixelation.
I have a tech out right now who replaced my DVR for the THIRD time this week (I lost all my programs earlier this week when it was swapped out, and again right now). The issue is still happening and the tech has no idea why. He now has to try to replace something in the fiber optic box down the street but isn't sure if he can replace it or fix it today. Good times. I've already spent about 20 hours reporting this issue to AT&T, waiting for techs, waiting for system to restart.
Is anyone else in Folsom having similar problems? It seems odd that it just started happening and it obviously is not an issue with the hardware, being that I'm on my third DVR in a week.
On a side note, the customer service and tech assistance from AT&T has SUCKED royally. I never had to interact with them at this level but dare I say, they are actually WORSE THAN COMCAST. The repair techs talk trash about work previous AT&T techs have done, they say the phone tech reps don't know what they are talking about (the phone tech asked if the cables had been replaced, when I asked the repair tech he got mad and said the phone reps don't know what they are talking about and if I want to argue with him he will replace the cables and bill me for it). When I asked to speak to a supervisor he said no tech supervisors work on Sunday. I could go on but in the interest of brevity I will stop, I have detailed notes for the long letter I'll be writing AT&T. Good times.
Also, it looks like I will be in the market for a new TV, internet and phone provider. I've heard good things about Direct TV - can anyone tell me how it compares to Uverse in terms of quality of service, functionality and HD channels? Comcast was way behind the times on HD channels when I happily ditched them two years ago.
#2
Posted 18 September 2011 - 01:03 PM
#3
Posted 18 September 2011 - 01:49 PM
I did have a problem a couple of weeks ago when the MENU for the TV went away along
with all the programs I had scheduled for the next two weeks.
I called Comcast and asked them to reset the box, which they did. They said it would
take about 4-6 hours for the menu to fill back in. Two days later it still was not
completely filled in and the items that I had scheduled never came back.
Comcast sent someone out with a Brand New box. The Tech also checked the signal strength
and found it low. He checked outside and inside. He checked where the line came into the
wall in our bedroom closet and he found the one line coming in and that there were four
lines connected to the splitter going out. Well I only had 3 TVs in the house so he found
out which one was not connected, he took that splitter out and put in a one in/three out
splitter and that was fixed.
He then wanted to check all the other TVs and computer and phone connections.
He came into the computer room and found the splitter there and changed it out with a new
one and put in a new cable from the splitter to my TV box.
He did one great job.
Didn't cost me one thin dime. Nota.
Great Job COMCAST....
COMCAST does cost more than others in the area but they are a
24/7 operation. They even came out on a Sunday to the work that
I mentioned above.
#4
Posted 20 September 2011 - 11:21 AM
#5
Posted 20 September 2011 - 11:25 AM
#6
Posted 20 September 2011 - 12:07 PM
I've had UVerse internet for a couple of years now but have always had DirecTv as my television provider. I wanted to upgrade to HD and DirecTv does have good HDTV so I contacted them - they wanted $300+ dollars to do it! I looked at UVerse TV and it would be free. Called DirecTv back and was put in touch with "Customer Retention" who offered $100 off, so $200+ to upgrade. Ridiculous, I told them no I would be installing ATT and will call back to cancel once I have switched over. Got AT&T installed, called DirecTv to cancel --- and now they offer me all of the equipment for free. Too late, I already installed AT&T, and I like it...
Of course, the install of AT&T wasn't without hiccups. The tech installed the DVR box, went through the steps of showing me how to record, etc... Pretty basic stuff. That night I had scheduled some recordings, but they didn't record... WTH... It turned out that the box wasn't provisioned properly and that night when I called tech support they got everything working properly... But that's when I could see the recording capacity and found out the tech installed an old DVR box!! I was still on the phone with tech support so they sent me a newer box in the mail, all shipping pre-paid to and from (sending the old box back). Everything was up and running and looks good.
Now on to the questions:
Am I expeirencing problems (Willow Springs area of Folsom) - no, everything appears to be working great.
How does DTV compare to AT&T?
- HDTV - DTV is pretty much the provider to beat when it comes to HDTV, though I do feel AT&T has made a lot of improvements in thier HDTV. If you watch on demand (PPV) then DTV will broadcast those in 1080p vs 1080i. They also offer more fluff when it comes to channels, so depending on what you want you could get more (at a price) at DTV. As far as customer service, I've had no problems with AT&T phone support. The techs in this area seem a bit overwhelmed and don't care as much. Family in other areas who have AT&T have had amazing experiences with techs and the length they will go to solve a problem. For DTV, my only real experience with DTV customer support was the one above, more or less negative... The only issues I've had with DTV was that I intentionally planted some trees near the dish so that it would be hidden from the ground and when the trees grow too big they end up blocking the satellite signal and I have to go trim the trees. My fault, in a way, and the price I pay to keep the dish hidden a bit - but I'm also glad I don't need to do that any more
Now, when you talk phone/internet provider, DTV can't compare. Internet I would stay with UVerse definitely. I've had it for several years now and it's been consistenly fantastic. As for phone, well, I cancelled my phone service a long time ago for an Ooma VoIP phone, so I can't comment any more...
#7
Posted 20 September 2011 - 02:27 PM
Now, when you talk phone/internet provider, DTV can't compare. Internet I would stay with UVerse definitely. I've had it for several years now and it's been consistenly fantastic. As for phone, well, I cancelled my phone service a long time ago for an Ooma VoIP phone, so I can't comment any more...
CW: I am ready to pull the trigger on killing Comcast once and for all because of their ridiculous price gouging. I am on the fence between AT&T vs. DirecTV for broadcast, but think AT&T is going to be my choice for Internet - Honestly can't believe I said that given the past with their wireless service
Anyway, I am curious about your internet speeds (down more so than up). What kind of speeds are you seeing with AT&T U-Verse for your internet connection?
Any insight you have would be great. Thanks.
#8
Posted 20 September 2011 - 03:22 PM
I'm supposed to be at 18, so 15.9 while displaying HDTV and downloading various things seems fine.
#9
Posted 20 September 2011 - 06:43 PM
#10
Posted 20 September 2011 - 06:45 PM
provide to me here in Folsom.
We live in the Prairie Oaks area and when they looked it up they
do not have Fiber Optics in our area yet so they can not hook us up
here. Asked him when they might have it here and he did not know.
If I do it and they can provide it, I want Cable TV, Modem for computer
and phone.
#11
Posted 20 September 2011 - 08:38 PM
Did you try using the online availability tool: http://www.att.com/u...se/availability
#12
Posted 20 September 2011 - 08:56 PM
Really, they said you couldn't get U-Verse?? I like in Willow Springs, right next to Prairie Oaks, and we get it.
Did you try using the online availability tool: http://www.att.com/u...se/availability
Just tried it again and it came up:
Currently, AT&T U-verse service isn't available for:
#13
Posted 20 September 2011 - 09:13 PM
#14
Posted 20 September 2011 - 11:34 PM
The issue was not every address was entered into their system. Random homes were missed, so you might be one of those.
#15 (The Dude)
Posted 21 September 2011 - 07:23 AM
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