[XCSSA] AT&T IPTV

[xcssa@xcssa.org]

Since a story appeared on /. today 
(http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/27/2315239&from=rss), I 
decided to pass on my experiences with it.

To explain what it is for those not aware, AT&T U-Verse service is FTTN 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTTN), that is, fiber to your neighborhood 
and copper to your house.  Basically they bring in your phone and 
network over a single dedicated pair, which they bridge to an existing 
coax line.  That comes into a VDSL modem (dubbed "residential gateway"), 
which distributes IPTV over your existing coax network.  Each TV 
requires a set top box to decode the stream to your TV.  They provide as 
part of the service 2 set top boxes plus one DVR (for a total of 3 
viewable monitors).  I have a package of a 200 channel line-up (no 
premium channels), plus HD service, and a 6Mb/1Mb internet service.

First, the good.  The network is pretty reliable, and I can usually get 
fully 6Mb down and 1Mb up to any endpoint at 
http://speakeasy.net/speedtest.  Not bad.  The SD service is as good as 
satellite, and the set top box does a decent job of deinterlacing and 
scaling (not great, just not bad).  Since it's much better than the 
crappy analog signal coming from Time Warner, this is a big plus for me. 
  Also, I pay $89/month for the service I'm getting, which is 
significantly cheaper than the Time Warner package I had, which was over 
$130/month.

OK, that's where the good ends.  Let's start with the installation.  I 
had to have 3 different crews come out over the course of the day to 
even get the cabling from the node to my house straightened out.  The 
in-home install went OK, but I've had 3 techs back here in the past 
month, and I've had 1 set top box replaced and my DVR replaced.  They've 
been pretty responsive, but it's been a HUGE hassle.  But then there was 
the time my phone was out for 3 days, and when they finally came out 
there was a blown fuse at the node, directly related to the uverse install.

Now let's talk about the equipment.  It sucks.  Really horrible. 
They're manufactured by Motorola and run Microsoft's IPTV software. 
Think Media Center on WinCE.  Really slow, buggy, non-configurable, and 
the list goes on.  The DVR is neigh unusable, but thank god you can 
schedule recordings through the internet.  It's actually faster to get 
the computer, turn it on, connect to Yahoo, and search and schedule 
recordings through a web browser than to use the remote for the set top 
box.  Yes, it's that horrible.

The software is pretty unconfigurable.  They picked a nice white on 
light blue interface that is transparent with the current channel 
playing behind it.  So it's nice and unreadable, especially for my wife 
who needs more contrast to read it.  It's completely unusable to her. 
You can't change the colors at all.  The closed captioning is 
implemented incorrectly, is buggy, and is completely unconfigurable. 
It's the only digital TV equipment I have ever used that can't be 
configured according to the EIA-708 standard.

As for the VDSL modem, it's fairly capable as a router, but one of the 
features is built-in Wifi, and it sucks.  It drops packets like mad, at 
a rate of 6-9% nominally.  I have yet to disable it and connect my 
Linksys up for wireless access, but I may cancel the service before I 
get to it.  You can't disable http access to it, even over wireless.  It 
does have an https service running, but that doesn't change the fact 
that it comes preconfigured for WEP, not WPA, and you just can't off 
wireless admin access.

Now on to the television service.  Fortunately, AT&T is offering free HD 
service for a year to new subscribers.  Unfortunately I have been 
charged every month for it, and I have to call and argue to have it 
refunded.  Because I wouldn't pay for it, given the choice.  It's 
HEAVILY compressed and is at best 720p, even the 1080i HDNet channels. 
The picture quality is significantly worse than cable, and it pixelates 
drops frames like mad.  Sometimes the audio is off from the video, 
sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.  I have a very clean signal, and 
I'm using HDMI cables.  The FTTN just can't support good HDTV.  Oh, and 
you can only get 1 HD stream at a time.  Period.  It's good about just 
NOT recording your shows without warning on the DVR if you're watching 
HD on another TV.

The DVR has so many problems I don't even know where to start.  It can't 
even do simple things like record an entire series of shows at any time. 
  Yes, it has an option to do so, but it's a known issue that it doesn't 
work.  You have to manually set up the recordings throughout the week. 
Even then it just won't record sometimes, or not start at the right 
time.  I missed recording the season finale of Heroes.  Twice. 
Sometimes it says I'm not subscribed to the channel and I can't watch 
the recording.  That brings me to DRM.  Yep, it's got integrated DRM. 
It's Microsoft.  You cannot record some programs, period.  They're 
restricted.  No TV for you!

Generally speaking, the technical support has been very responsive, and 
I can get to tier 2 fairly quickly.  Unfortunately for the most part all 
they can do is either send someone out to replace the equipment or say, 
"Yes, we know it sucks, but there's not much we can do about it."  I 
don't knock them for it, because they really try to get to the bottom of 
things, and they are continually hearing about new problems.  When they 
go through the troubleshooting list, they've got about 6-8 known issues 
they go through with me until they give up and pass me on to 2nd tier. 
That's a lot of problems.

In conclusion, I have to recommend against anyone getting this service 
unless you just don't care about the issues I've described.  That is, if 
you're just looking for a cheaper alternative to SDTV+Internet and don't 
care about a reliable DVR, then this CAN be a cheaper alternative to 
TWC.  Packages start at $74/month.  On the other hand, if you are, as I 
suspect most people on this list are, a techie looking for the next 
great technology, this isn't it.  It sucks.  It's worse than cable.  I'm 
going to cancel as soon as I get my installation rebates.  It's just not 
worth the hassle.  I'd rather pay the higher price of cable for a 
service that works rather than a half-assed, rushed, buggy, crippled 
service.

If you like, I can tell you what I REALLY think :)
Nick