[TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

[TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse
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yozho @ 25th Aug 01:06AM:
[TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

After years of good service from BHN for both cable and internet I've decided to wash my hands of them and go with UVerse. The AT&T guy came today to hook it up. My connect speed is slower for the same price but I'm hoping I can work on them concerning that in the coming weeks :)

What did I get for my troubles and why did I do it? First was the fact that AT&T is giving a $200 rebate for the switch. Free wireless modem (RG) and free install of the cat5 line to my TV from the new UVerse box.

Why did I do it? Combination of things over the past year. First, and foremost, was this godawful new software they laid on our DVRs last year. I.....was.....sick ...and..... .tired.....of.. ...how......freaking.... slow....the......dvr.....software.....is.

Slow menus, slow deletes, slow EVERYTHING!! Did BHN really care? No

Next up - the tiny 160GB hard drive. This is the same HD I got with my dvr 5 years ago and they still don't offer a larger one!! Constantly having to erase HD stuff to fit other things. Talking with a buddy about it and he says, "It's not a problem, I just don't record in HD. Lot's of room then." HELLO!! MCFLY!!?? IT'S HD FOR A REASON!!! I'm not paying EXTRA for an HD dvr every month in order to record in standard. argh

There is a freaking eSATA port on the back of the dvr, Brighthouse. Use it. I even IM'd them to ask if there were plans to use the port or support installing a larger hard drive. Nope, was the reply. Then he points me to a years old internet article on how to utilize the eSATA port. It might work *if* I'm lucky, he implies.

Sorry. Been there, done that, doesn't work on mine. Besides that is also UNSUPPORTED.

Now for the past few months have been having these aggravating drop outs. Modem loses sync and dies. Sometimes up to 10 mins or so before I get the net back. BHN says the modem checks out fine, it must be my router. Right. My router forces the modem to lose sync with the internet and croak only to miraculously come back to life 10 mins later. It's the self-healing router for under a $100!

Anyhow that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm going to run both side-by-side here for a few weeks and then make my decision to dump BHN.
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weaseled386 @ 25th Aug 07:21AM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

I install the Uverse backbone for a living. Chances are I installed some leg of your network :)

I wasn't crazy about the "new & improved" software, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. People really shouldn't be in such a big hurry. Why is a few seconds that big of a deal?

Did you try to get your hands on one of the new Samsung boxes? I have one, and it has a 320GB. To be honest, I never came close to filling up the 160 when I had it... and we watch a fair amount of TV. (2 adults and 1 toddler in my household.)

I've suggested this to more than one person on here: upgrade to the Extreme Value Package, if only for a month. My connection is 15/2 with static IP and I call into BrightBiz for support. I've never had an issue lasting more than 12 hours... and that includes Sunday disbatches. The cost is $10 on top of whatever you're already paying.

I'm not a fanboy of either service. Uverse is currently paying my bills... and the ~50 people who work for us. At the same time Brighthouse DOES have the superior internet service at this point. Not only do they have a higher upload (at 2M), but they don't block port 25 on email like ATT does.
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yozho @ 28th Aug 02:42AM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

A few seconds to wait for the menus to change? Half the time I waited so long I thought they weren't going to change at all (which also did happen frequently) so I'd press the button again only to end up one menu beyond where I wanted to go.

Both times I called in to complain about the lack of storage and the speed nobody ever mentioned a new box. If they had, and the new box was fast with twice the storage, I probably wouldn't have switched to AT&T. I'm sure we could have sorted out the network drops sooner or later.

So far though I'm impressed with the UVerse. At the very least I don't have to wait for the menus ;-)
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murdered @ 31st Aug 08:14PM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

Recording HD does not take up any more space then Digital or analog for that matter. And when you record something in HD then its in HD.

The boxes are manufactured for a lot of cable companies not just BHN.

I will agree that the new Mystro software can be slow but it sounds to me as if you had some type of a signal issue. The boxes are slow to respond if they cannot communicate with BHN. A good example of this is the "Please Wait" that appears when you advance the guide to far ahead or even sometimes when changing channels.

But, alas it sounds as if you had problems that went uncorrected that caused you to switch.
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anon @ 8th Sep 08:01PM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

said by murdered :

Recording HD does not take up any more space then Digital or analog for that matter. And when you record something in HD then its in HD.

Recording HD vs. SD does in fact take up more space on the hard drive...

Recording in HD vs. Digital/Analog is not a proper comparison. You're recording digital format regardless of whether it's high def or standard def.
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murdered @ 8th Sep 08:04PM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

How do you figure?
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galfert @ 12th Sep 09:27AM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

said by murdered :

How do you figure?

Um...it is not any different than your digital camera filling up the memory card faster with higher megapixel shoots versus changing your camera to take photos in lower resolution. Less information equals less storage. You can see this in the file size of your pictures. I'm not sure how else to make you realize that recording in HD vs SD does take up different amount of space on your DVR's hard drive. The DVR manufacture even says that for the 160GB you can record 20 hours of HD or about 90 hours of SD.

Even if you are new to digital recording if you go back to the VCR days you will remember that VCRs had 3 recording speeds. You could get 2 hours or 4 hours or 6 hours on a standard tape. The 2 hour recording mode gave you higher quality....hence taking up more space or rather more tape.
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weaseled386 @ 13th Sep 01:23PM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

said by murdered :

How do you figure?

My thoughts were why did they bother to make Bluray and HD-DVD's? If HD didn't take up anymore space they'd still be fitting movies on 4.7GB media.
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anon @ 21st Sep 12:24PM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

You install U-verse in Port Orange? I am fed up with Brighthouse! I'm moving and want to switch to U-verse, but it's not available at the house I'm moving into. But, it is available 1/2 mile down the street! You've think it would be a no brainer to do the whole town. I called to double check the to my surprise the technician said YES, IT WAS AVAILABLE! But then when I called to schedule an installation, they told me that person was mistaken. What the heck? Do you know where and when U-verse will be in parts of Port Orange?
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weaseled386 @ 27th Sep 09:54AM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

said by Snowbrd277 :

You install U-verse in Port Orange? I am fed up with Brighthouse! I'm moving and want to switch to U-verse, but it's not available at the house I'm moving into. But, it is available 1/2 mile down the street! You've think it would be a no brainer to do the whole town. I called to double check the to my surprise the technician said YES, IT WAS AVAILABLE! But then when I called to schedule an installation, they told me that person was mistaken. What the heck? Do you know where and when U-verse will be in parts of Port Orange?

I don't really install it in any town. I install all of the behind-the-scenes equipment -- the Central Offices and most of the RT's. Because of the way it's deployed there are many instances where your neighbor will have access to Uverse but you will not. It's deployed at the RT (or crossbox), and there has to be a line drawn somewhere to who is fed from crossbox A and crossbox B.

Uverse is ALL over Port Orange already. I have no database to check, but -- having worked in every RT in Port Orange -- know the landscape here very well. If you PM me what street you live on (and what the nearest major intersection is to you) I can make a couple of calls to try and push your order.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT work for ATT, but work very close with them. The most I can do is make a call for you -- to the persons responsible for planning in this area -- to see if your pair can be moved. We, at best, have a 50/50 chance!
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anon @ 9th Oct 12:41AM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

ok there is a big difference between how "big" a Standard Digital movie/TV show is compared to how "big" an HD movie/tv show is...weaseled386 basically hit the nail on the head...Yes it does, it is a much higher resolution picture so it will take up a lot more space.

According to the link in the source 1 hour of SD video takes 1gig of space, 1 hour of HD video takes 4gigs. This can vary slightly depending on what exactly is being recorded, but that is a rough estimate. it also depends on what resolution it is in...480i, 720i/p, 1080i and 1080p...and how that program is encoded...mpeg-2, mpeg-4...etc...the higher the compression rate (encoding) the smaller the file size becomes...but the more you compress the video you sacrifice the quality of the video. Most cable providers are using MPEG-2 which is the same encoding most SD DVD movies are encoded with...it's a happy medium for now...most are looking to go to MPEG-4.
Sources: »electronics.howstuffworks.com/dvr3.htm

There are many factors to consider before knocking a piece of equipment...especially if one does not know or understand the technology behind that equipment...i wouldn't purchase a $10 telescope and then get upset when I couldn't count the rings on Saturn...unless i did my homework and educated myself as a consumer on what it is that i want to do with this equipment and does it suit my needs...howstuffworks.com is a great web-site that can explain almost all of what I wrote.

there is a 320 gig DVR that Brighthouse offers...but again if you don't understand the technology behind it and it's limitations...don't buy/rent it. AT&T/Tivo/Comcast/Time Warner all have a version of DVRs.... despite some speed differences in changing channels etc...you will come to find that you will not be able to put any more programming on one than the other.
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yozho @ 11th Oct 02:04AM:
Re: [TV] Dumped BHN for UVerse

said by TvGuY :

ok there is a big difference between how "big" a Standard Digital movie/TV show is compared to how "big" an HD movie/tv show is...weaseled386 basically hit the nail on the head...Yes it does, it is a much higher resolution picture so it will take up a lot more space.

Thanks for enlightening me :uhh:

Fact is the Scientific Atlanta box was not bad - until they did that software upgrade last year. After that the box was practically useless unless you had a day off to devote to programming it and adding/deleting shows. It was down hill from there and BH really could have cared less.

I called to complain twice about the box and the less than ample space to record HD recordings. Neither time did they tell me they had a "new" box. Oh well is right.

For stupid people such as myself the fact remains that I can record 2 HD lines and 2 SD lines, which I couldn't do with BH. Also, I currently have EIGHTY shows that I have recorded on my new UVerse DVR. A mixture of HD/SD. And I still have plenty of storage left. A number that poor, old, decrepit Brighthouse SA box could only dream about.
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