AT&T UVerse vs Comcast
- Thread starter jay929
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I had it before (have Comcast now). It's fine. It mainly depends on which package you get. For watching youtube videos, you should be fine with 6-10 Mbps download. If you want to watch high def stuff, the next faster tier up might be best to give you some cushion, although 10 Mbps will probably work. Just surfing, you can probably get away with 1-3 Mbps if you're not in a hurry.
All of this sort of depends on your tolerance for waiting.
All of this sort of depends on your tolerance for waiting.
I had uverse for about 3 years and have nothing but good things to say. I had the 18mbps package. The only reason I no longer have it is because the area I moved to doesn't have uverse.
We had Uverse dry loop DSL and it was far more usable than the similar speed from Comcast. The latter could never get their stuff together. Billing from both companies was an absolute nightmare.
Happily getting much, much faster speeds for less money from my friendly local cable provider, Wide Open West.
Happily getting much, much faster speeds for less money from my friendly local cable provider, Wide Open West.
I've had uVerse for almost 6 years. It's drama free. Two total outages during that period.
Originally Posted By: jay929
I'm just looking to get Internet service is AT&T fast enough to surf the web and watch videos?
It really depends on the quality of ATT facilities and your distance from their CO where you live. This will dictate what speeds are available to you.
Uverse is just a generic term and can refer to any number of speeds, some of them as low as 3 Mbps. 3 Mbps is fast enough for surfing the web, but may not be fast enough to reliably watch videos in high def.
I've had their 18 Mbps tier (that's the best they can do where I live) coupled with their voice service since last December. So far no complaints.
I'm just looking to get Internet service is AT&T fast enough to surf the web and watch videos?
It really depends on the quality of ATT facilities and your distance from their CO where you live. This will dictate what speeds are available to you.
Uverse is just a generic term and can refer to any number of speeds, some of them as low as 3 Mbps. 3 Mbps is fast enough for surfing the web, but may not be fast enough to reliably watch videos in high def.
I've had their 18 Mbps tier (that's the best they can do where I live) coupled with their voice service since last December. So far no complaints.
DSL has distance from the central office in your area limits, FIOS is fiber based and provides high speed without those limits, but they didn't string it in anywhere near as much area as their DSL and phone lines reach. You may very well not find FIOS even though they provide your phone service and even DSL. DSL isn't really very fast, either.
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ATT has been regularly prodding me with UVerse marketing with emails, phone calls and every time I talk to a rep. Be careful about getting "hooked" at a low rate, then watching it escalate after 12 months.
I currently receive their 'elite' ADSL service for $20/mo. I do have to mark my calendar when the 'plan' is due to negotiate another. Otherwise you'll go to the 'normal' rate of about $50/mo.
Caveat Emptor Att!
I currently receive their 'elite' ADSL service for $20/mo. I do have to mark my calendar when the 'plan' is due to negotiate another. Otherwise you'll go to the 'normal' rate of about $50/mo.
Caveat Emptor Att!
Had both Comcast and ATT. I'd say the reliability depends on the location and the season / time / whether the local tech messed up the wiring / cabling.
Personally I found in suburb Comcast is fine and ATT due to the wiring distance from CO or the lawn fridge could be less competitive. However in large city Comcast tends to have a lot of traffic jam during peak hours and I lost a lot of speed.
They both have teaser rate and dramatically raise price after 12 months. To get the best deal I'd switch back and forth between them every 12 months.
Personally I found in suburb Comcast is fine and ATT due to the wiring distance from CO or the lawn fridge could be less competitive. However in large city Comcast tends to have a lot of traffic jam during peak hours and I lost a lot of speed.
They both have teaser rate and dramatically raise price after 12 months. To get the best deal I'd switch back and forth between them every 12 months.
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Depends. In my home, uVerse is fiber. Other places, you get copper pair (DSL)
Originally Posted By: jay929
So is U-verse DSL or cable?
It varies, depending on what ATT has in place at a given location. Sometimes it's fiber, and sometimes it's just glorified DSL.
So is U-verse DSL or cable?
It varies, depending on what ATT has in place at a given location. Sometimes it's fiber, and sometimes it's just glorified DSL.
If you go with att make sure it's actually on their new fiber optic network and not the old stuff, don't ask how I learned that!
Don't like Comcast service but the internet is really great. We have "blast" speed (was 50mbps recently changed to 75) and we can stream 3 hdtv movies, play on multiple phones/tablets and still have enough bandwidth for online first person shooter gaming.
Aft "u-verse" but on the old copper wire network couldn't even handle one hdtv stream....
Don't like Comcast service but the internet is really great. We have "blast" speed (was 50mbps recently changed to 75) and we can stream 3 hdtv movies, play on multiple phones/tablets and still have enough bandwidth for online first person shooter gaming.
Aft "u-verse" but on the old copper wire network couldn't even handle one hdtv stream....
Originally Posted By: buck91
Don't like Comcast service but the internet is really great. We have "blast" speed (was 50mbps recently changed to 75) and we can stream 3 hdtv movies, play on multiple phones/tablets and still have enough bandwidth for online first person shooter gaming.
Does comcast enforce data caps these days? If so, what is it? 300 GB/month? Streaming 3 HD movies simultaneously, you can hit that cap fairly quickly.
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Aft "u-verse" but on the old copper wire network couldn't even handle one hdtv stream....
Mine is on the old copper network and it stream HD video just fine. I could probably pull two HD streams simultaneously. You only need about 5 Mbps to stream HD video from services like Netflix. Granted, it's nice to have some buffer so that you can do other things at the same time, too.
Don't like Comcast service but the internet is really great. We have "blast" speed (was 50mbps recently changed to 75) and we can stream 3 hdtv movies, play on multiple phones/tablets and still have enough bandwidth for online first person shooter gaming.
Does comcast enforce data caps these days? If so, what is it? 300 GB/month? Streaming 3 HD movies simultaneously, you can hit that cap fairly quickly.
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Aft "u-verse" but on the old copper wire network couldn't even handle one hdtv stream....
Mine is on the old copper network and it stream HD video just fine. I could probably pull two HD streams simultaneously. You only need about 5 Mbps to stream HD video from services like Netflix. Granted, it's nice to have some buffer so that you can do other things at the same time, too.
Uverse service out here is very poor.
It is not very fast either.
Comcast will offer you more reliability and speed for the same or cheaper.
On the business side, I have dealt with their enterprise support and it is poor at best. Would not advise that anyone uses ATT for anything.
It is not very fast either.
Comcast will offer you more reliability and speed for the same or cheaper.
On the business side, I have dealt with their enterprise support and it is poor at best. Would not advise that anyone uses ATT for anything.
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I see lots of pros for U-Verse, I guess I will add a con. I have nothing good to say about it. It was glorified DSL (at best--even with the fiber) and I went to the fastest they offered (which used two separate connections bonded together). It was supposed to be 48M down and 10M up. I never saw more than 15M down and 3M up. The TV service pixelated (a lot!) and that is because it shares bandwidth between Internet and TV.
I switched to Comcast and it totally smokes U-Verse. The funny thing (at least to me) is that when I turned in all of the U-Verse equipment at the UPS store there was a line of people doing the same. When I made it to the counter, I said that it seemed like the day that everyone decided to quit U-Verse. The rep laughed and said it was like that most days.
Comcast recently doubled the bandwidth in my area at no extra cost. I have been more than thrilled to pay less than U-Verse rates, have 8x the bandwidth and HD TV that does not pixelate. YMMV!
I switched to Comcast and it totally smokes U-Verse. The funny thing (at least to me) is that when I turned in all of the U-Verse equipment at the UPS store there was a line of people doing the same. When I made it to the counter, I said that it seemed like the day that everyone decided to quit U-Verse. The rep laughed and said it was like that most days.
Comcast recently doubled the bandwidth in my area at no extra cost. I have been more than thrilled to pay less than U-Verse rates, have 8x the bandwidth and HD TV that does not pixelate. YMMV!
Originally Posted By: JustinH
Comcast will offer you more reliability and speed for the same or cheaper.
Comcast's pricing can vary quite a bit, depending on how much competition they have in a given area.
Where I lived in IL, they had very little competition, so I used to pay an arm and a leg for their 25 Mbps link. Alas, my only other choice was a 6 Mbps DSL line, so I put up with it for a while.
Comcast will offer you more reliability and speed for the same or cheaper.
Comcast's pricing can vary quite a bit, depending on how much competition they have in a given area.
Where I lived in IL, they had very little competition, so I used to pay an arm and a leg for their 25 Mbps link. Alas, my only other choice was a 6 Mbps DSL line, so I put up with it for a while.
if you have a good HD TV, comcast's signal picture quality will be better than uverse.
As far as service in general, it goes both ways. There are going to be plenty of ATT horror stories as well as comcast horror stories.
If you have multiple options in your area, just be glad that you have the option can switch if you're not happy.
As far as service in general, it goes both ways. There are going to be plenty of ATT horror stories as well as comcast horror stories.
If you have multiple options in your area, just be glad that you have the option can switch if you're not happy.
Just my opinion also, but a lot of people are buying too much speed.
If you have one desktop computer, you probably don't need a 100MBPS package, or 300MBPS, or GIGABIT.
You just will not use that speed.
I'm trying to figure the sweet spot for me, I just reduced my speed with time warner from 100/10 to 50/5, and did not notice ANY loss of speed based on what we do.
If you have 4-5 kids, and everybody wants to watch HD content over streaming at once, then that is something to consider, but we have two people at home doing web browsing for the most part, and a bunch of devices connected but not doing much.
I think the sweet spot for me would be 10/10, but Time warner does not offer that package.
So I called, and lowered my bill 15 dollars per month by going with the 50/5 package, I think it is $43 per month now.
I own my modem, so there are no rental fees on there.
If you have one desktop computer, you probably don't need a 100MBPS package, or 300MBPS, or GIGABIT.
You just will not use that speed.
I'm trying to figure the sweet spot for me, I just reduced my speed with time warner from 100/10 to 50/5, and did not notice ANY loss of speed based on what we do.
If you have 4-5 kids, and everybody wants to watch HD content over streaming at once, then that is something to consider, but we have two people at home doing web browsing for the most part, and a bunch of devices connected but not doing much.
I think the sweet spot for me would be 10/10, but Time warner does not offer that package.
So I called, and lowered my bill 15 dollars per month by going with the 50/5 package, I think it is $43 per month now.
I own my modem, so there are no rental fees on there.
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Originally Posted By: JustinH
Just my opinion also, but a lot of people are buying too much speed. If you have one desktop computer, you probably don't need a 100MBPS package, or 300MBPS, or GIGABIT. You just will not use that speed.
While the weak link in the chain is always the slowest connection in the overall path (and latency rears its head in there too), I will disagree with what you are saying and will counter with "it depends". It all depends on what you are doing with your bandwidth. If you do some light surfing and check e-mails, then 10/2 would be more than enough, but if you are a gamer, heavy downloader, streamer, or have multiple machines (including smart phones), then you will need a faster connection or will be forever irritated with your experience.
Just my opinion also, but a lot of people are buying too much speed. If you have one desktop computer, you probably don't need a 100MBPS package, or 300MBPS, or GIGABIT. You just will not use that speed.
While the weak link in the chain is always the slowest connection in the overall path (and latency rears its head in there too), I will disagree with what you are saying and will counter with "it depends". It all depends on what you are doing with your bandwidth. If you do some light surfing and check e-mails, then 10/2 would be more than enough, but if you are a gamer, heavy downloader, streamer, or have multiple machines (including smart phones), then you will need a faster connection or will be forever irritated with your experience.
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