Getting Uverse Installed Soon What to Expect?

[mamamia88]

So I'm getting uverse soon and wondering what I should expect? I have 2 desktop computers upstairs and my tv/enetertainment center is all in the basement on opposite end of house. The desktops for sure need wired internet because I don't want to buy pci cards. I'm hoping they will run ethernet from the upstairs desktop location to the downstairs tv location? Then maybe I can use a switch to use the tv ethernet for my ps4 as well? Equipment I have to use if needed is TP-Link TL-WDR4300 with gargoyle, 8 port gigabit switch, 2 TP-Link TL-WR841N v7 (rosewill rebrand) running gargoyle, and 4 powerline adapters. I'm thinking of phasing out the 2 cheap gargoyle routers and putting them on ebay or maybe even selling them here. I think the best and simplest setup would be to have the RG setup upstairs and have them run ethernet downstairs to the tv where I could then use the switch to all my other stuff and use the wdr4300 as a second access point connected to the switch? I hope all this makes sense if I could just get a little advice that would be great

 

[jlake]

I don't have uverse, but here is a link to a 2 month diary that might help.

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=13365

 

[stevech]

Opinion, based on experience:
I suggest you back out of that contract. Get Cable modem/Cable TV. Not fun either. But AT&T is simply evil in terms of customer service, billing, customer respect, etc.

Uverse is not viable unless you are in an area where they run fiber to the HOME, not fiber to the distant curb VRAD.
Copper to the home... they try to use your old copper pair phone wires. Just silly, for real broadband.

 

[vdemarco]

Opinion, based on experience:
I suggest you back out of that contract. Get Cable modem/Cable TV. Not fun either. But AT&T is simply evil in terms of customer service, billing, customer respect, etc.

Uverse is not viable unless you are in an area where they run fiber to the HOME, not fiber to the distant curb VRAD.
Copper to the home... they try to use your old copper pair phone wires. Just silly, for real broadband.

It works fine. Does depend on the speed you want to get. AT&T is actually good about service, i call them and get discounts etc..

I pay for 16 MB/s and i get 20. Its ALWAYS 20, people at work complain that comcast speed varies based on time of day (I live in San Jose, CA).

I have always had bad experience with Comcast.

(I can't believe i am defending AT&T)

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Enjoy! It's usually very good.

I work with ISPs all the time, it's part of my job....I'm an SMB IT Services consultant...we provide (manage) all IT related services for small to medium businesses. So in many states...we work with all the ISPs on a regular basis. In our state we even have biz account reps for most of the ISPs. ...yes including AT&T.

Since DSL has become too old...too slow, compared to cable offerings...U-Verse gave AT&T a fighting chance against cable..well, at least in the Docsis 2 speed category. Can't compete with docsis 3 ...yet.

To become familiar with it, I got it installed in my home years ago. They give you the old AT&T "Gateway"...which unfortunately was the dreaded 2Wire brand. However, similar to prior 2Wires, you can easily setup your own router to pull the public IP address simply by setting it up in the "DMZ Plus" mode. And disable the wireless on the 2Wire. Now you're using your own router properly setup, not double-NAT'd.

TV picture quality is excellent, we had the 18 meg speed package..and get all 18 megs of it. I had an issue once...and got online with U-Verse chat support...easily and quickly setup an appointment, next day guy came out, fixed issue, all set. Quick 'n painless.

Last fall wife got tired of the pricey rates...5x TVs, 18 meg package, U200 TV package..think it was around 165 bucks/mo, so she called and played the "cancel my account I'm getting cable" game with them. They upped our speed package to the 24 meg, gave use the U300 TV bundle, dropped our rates to 120/month.
Reliability/uptime has been great. Even during the major storms we've had, notice that the phone company always provides power to their lines during wide power outages like when storm Irene ripped through and we had no power for a week. I had internet and TV! Not so with cable. Phone company always runs generators at each station.

We have quite a few UVerse setups with our clients...run well. The motorola 510 gateways are sorta a pain to setup your own firewall to pull the public IP on, but it can be done. Low latency is better for IP phones than cable.