One year review of AT&T U-Verse

I decided I would write a review of AT&T; U-verse service after having it for a year. We still have the same service that we signed up for last January. We have the U200 package, and have the 6mbps download speed.

I’m still very happy with the service. The picture on my standard definition TVs is great. I don’t have any HDTVs, so I can’t comment on that part. The DVR I think is the best part of the whole setup. About mid-year, they updated the software in the boxes so that the DVR can be viewed from any TV in the home. It works like a client-server model. So I can watch my recorded programs from any TV that has one of the U-Verse boxes.

Also, I like the multiple audio and video outputs. The fiber optic TOSLink connection on the back works great with my receiver, and I’m using S-Video. I could go with component video, but it becomes and issue because not all my equipment has that, and I don’t want to switch TV inputs all the time. Having the digital audio all the time is great — when I tried digital cable a few years ago, only certain channels were digital, and I found switching audio inputs on the receiver cumbersome. Everything is well integrated with U-Verse.

I tried the picture feature, which allows you to upload pictures on the internet, and then display them on the TV. I got it to work, but didn’t find it very useful. Maybe if I had parties and invited people over quite a bit, it might be nice to have a collage going. In any case, the feature works, but I don’t use it.

I still have traditional landline service, not U-Verse voice. I’m still very concerned about reliability issues. I don’t want a disruption in the VDSL connection to bump us off the phone. We have had a few outages, but usually at night, around midnight/1am. Its possible updates were being done at the VRAD or something like that I suppose. The service was always working when we woke up the next day, so I can’t complain too much.

The only issue I still have with U-verse is Amateur Radio. I find that my VHF/UHF setup does not interfere, but my HF (shortwave) does knock the U-Verse RG (Residential Gateway) off the internet, if I run full power on certain frequencies. To get around this, I’ve tried running the HF coaxial cable in runs that are perpendicular, not parallel, with the U-Verse cable. This has helped somewhat, but the problems still happen from time to time. Since there is this issue, I still want the traditional landline so that the worst case is the Internet and TV are disrupted. Most people won’t have this issue with Amateur radio. Maybe there is a bad ground somewhere, and the signal is leaking in. I can’t say for sure, but I’m not sure I want to spend the time to find it.

So to summarize, I’d recommend U-Verse. It is a nice alternative to cable, and has features that integrate well with other AT&T; products. It would be nice to do the phone and wireless together, to get the ability to check voicemails and such, but I just can’t see moving the voice part of the service over to U-Verse. When I had inquired about it, AT&T; wanted to charge an installation fee to come out and switch the phone over. For me, it wasn’t worth it. I’m hoping that more features and uses for U-Verse will come out over time.