Is AT&T uVerse internet connection Fiber or DSL?

[Wiseass]

The lady I spoke to on the phone didn't seem like she knew what the hell she was talking about, but she's saying it's fiber and NOT dsl. Everything I've seen on their site says DSL, and I checked dslreports and theres comments about their uVerse DSL service. They've got a comparable price but I don't see any mention of a fiber service.

Anyone know of that or heard of it? Or currently have it?

[jodynicH]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-verse


Looks like fiber or copper phone line can be the transport layer.

[SnarkFish]

Originally Posted by https://uma.att.com/assets/files/u-verse_FAQs.html

What is AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet?

AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet uses fiber technology to deliver the ultimate in Internet speed and performance, all with email and content provided through AT&T Yahoo!

.

[ILAMtitan]

It was my understanding that ATTs fiber service is to the curb, not to the home. The difference being that several residences will share a fiber line rather than have dedicated physical lines.

A little disambiguation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_to_the_x

[Wiseass]

Hmm, so it is a form of dsl called VDSL.


[quote=wiki]The internet service includes an AT&T email account along with a suite of security tools. Up to 10 active email sub-accounts can be created, each having 2 GB of storage space. The master account can be used to manage and schedule recordings on the U-verse DVR if available.

U-verse users on the fiber-to-the-node VDSL connection are all using interleaved profiles as opposed to fast path profiles. The interleaving is done to reduce the amount of lost frames since VDSL is carried over twisted pair that is susceptible to ingress radio frequency interference[1].

The depth of the interleaving on the U-verse VDSL adds a theoretical maximum of 11.8 milliseconds[2] of latency to all Internet traffic. Users are seeing a real world ping of about 20 milliseconds to the first router outside of their residential gateway[3].[/quote[

Looks like they offer 4 tiers of speeds:

Name 	Downstream 	Upstream

Express    1.5 Mbit/s    1 Mbit/s
Pro           3 Mbit/s       1 Mbit/s
Elite          6 Mbit/s      1 Mbit/s
Max         10 Mbit/s     1.5 Mbit/s

not sure on their pricing yet as I've got to call them back I wanted to research before I made a decision. I've got comcrap now and im already switching from their digital cable (100 channels, no DVR and im getting jaggies on some shows, loss of signal or it freezes up)

ATT's same priced plan for the television gives me 200some channels, multiples of each cahnnel (like Discovery, Discovery science, all those other channels), one included DVR for around the same im paying for comcast.

Not worried about home phone since I have the cell, and the one we have through comcast (got the triple play for $99 a month for a year for cable/internet/phone) never gets used anyway.

It looks like VDSL is faster DSL, but still limited to distance:

Second-generation VDSL2 systems (ITU-T G.993.2) utilize bandwidth of up to 30 MHz to provide data rates exceeding 100 Mbit/s simultaneously in both the upstream and downstream directions. The maximum available bit rate is achieved at a range of about 300 meters; performance degrades as the loop attenuation increases.

So I guess the trade off would have to be to see if I'm close enough to get better speeds than what comcast is giving me.

Anyone had any luck with this connection?

Also if I recall, since DSL isn't sharing the connection like cable does with others in the neighborhood, you get a more sustained speed? But the trade off was that at the time it was slow (only about 1.5 total?)

I haven't looked at DSL in about 6 years now as cable has always been better, but improvements in technology have come along im sure, just not certain if it's still worth it.

[Stajerker]

[QUOTE=Wiseass;22893858]Hmm, so it is a form of dsl called VDSL.

Originally Posted by wiki

The internet service includes an AT&T email account along with a suite of security tools. Up to 10 active email sub-accounts can be created, each having 2 GB of storage space. The master account can be used to manage and schedule recordings on the U-verse DVR if available.

U-verse users on the fiber-to-the-node VDSL connection are all using interleaved profiles as opposed to fast path profiles. The interleaving is done to reduce the amount of lost frames since VDSL is carried over twisted pair that is susceptible to ingress radio frequency interference[1].

The depth of the interleaving on the U-verse VDSL adds a theoretical maximum of 11.8 milliseconds[2] of latency to all Internet traffic. Users are seeing a real world ping of about 20 milliseconds to the first router outside of their residential gateway[3].[/quote[

Looks like they offer 4 tiers of speeds:

Name 	Downstream 	Upstream

Express    1.5 Mbit/s    1 Mbit/s
Pro           3 Mbit/s       1 Mbit/s
Elite          6 Mbit/s      1 Mbit/s
Max         10 Mbit/s     1.5 Mbit/s

not sure on their pricing yet as I've got to call them back I wanted to research before I made a decision. I've got comcrap now and im already switching from their digital cable (100 channels, no DVR and im getting jaggies on some shows, loss of signal or it freezes up)

ATT's same priced plan for the television gives me 200some channels, multiples of each cahnnel (like Discovery, Discovery science, all those other channels), one included DVR for around the same im paying for comcast.

Not worried about home phone since I have the cell, and the one we have through comcast (got the triple play for $99 a month for a year for cable/internet/phone) never gets used anyway.

It looks like VDSL is faster DSL, but still limited to distance:



So I guess the trade off would have to be to see if I'm close enough to get better speeds than what comcast is giving me.

Anyone had any luck with this connection?

Also if I recall, since DSL isn't sharing the connection like cable does with others in the neighborhood, you get a more sustained speed? But the trade off was that at the time it was slow (only about 1.5 total?)

I haven't looked at DSL in about 6 years now as cable has always been better, but improvements in technology have come along im sure, just not certain if it's still worth it.

not sure what you guys have in the states, but in canada we have DSL that offers 8mb downstream, so thats quite fast - my DSL has been at 3+mb for several years. It really does depend on your proximity ot the CO, however if you live in a largish city im sure that it wont be a problem. Also, a good DSL modem is a +, since we have shit ones at my 2 places and they wont go apst 3mb, but if we had better modems we could be getting 5mbit. Sucks, but I dont want to pay for another one.

anyways, i've always been a DSL user since the start, and while cable does theoretically offer higher peak speeds, I enjoy the lack of slowdown on my DSL lines during peak times because thats when im on the net too.

[ryokurin]

A friend of mines lives in a test area in Atlanta.

Basically they plan on doing two things. The first to get it deployed will be to do fiber to the curb, and basically run vdsl to that junction box. Depending on the distance that will give most people 10-20mb of bandwidth. 10 megs of that (or less) is dedicated to internet access. the rest is for video. It (at least at his house) supports at least three SD connections but currently only one HD stream can be made. Allegedly they have tweaked the system to allow two but he hasn't seen it yet.

The best way I can describe it is its like digital cable. SD is pretty much spot on, but the HD while not bad tends to be a little lower quality than Comcast at least in Atlanta. (some channels here are only shown in HD when there is actually HD content to show, otherwise its testscreen) either way the channel switching is pretty quick, even quicker than the HDMI boxes that Comcast now use. AT&T UI blows the doors off of comcast however, its basically Windows Media Center.

edit: I forgot the future plans. They will do fiber to the home, in new subdivisions, and eventually to everywhere else. Don't hold your breath however.

[FBAnder]

I have U-verse and the tech said its fiber at the box but copper to the house at this point in time. The U-verse "box" connects to a phone jack for Internet access so it is a form of DSL. The service is pretty good IMHO. I had DishNetwork before and I disliked the lag and the SD picture quality is very noticeably inferior after switching to U-verse. HD is good but I have nothing to compare it to as I did not have HD with Dish. I do get some pixelation every now and then when watching sports in HD...I don't know if that is U-verse's fault or the station I'm watching.

FWIW, as far as throughput, I subscribe to the 3/1 service and I'm seeing 95% of that when doing speed tests. With my 6/756k Speakeasy DSL service I see about 85% of rated line speed.

[Assunder]

I'm signed up for the six Mbps plan and also get close to the theoretical max. Also,at&t is moving forward with the two hd streams plan, we got switched magically last month but some people have called dust support and the rep "activated" their acct for two hds. Can't wait for voice and whole-home DVR

[Perry County]

Doesn't sound bad, depending on the prices.

[sir tex]

I've got it, and I have no complaints. Haven't had any downtime yet in the two months I've had it, and I get the speeds advertised (10mb down, 1.5 up) 24/7. SD looks 10x better than Comcasts, and HDTV looks better still, though I had comcast in Houston, and Uverse up in DFW. The GUI for the DVR is very nice, the TV guide responds instantly compared to Comcasts, and looks better. Plus if you have AT&T cell phone you can tell your DVR to record whatever show you want to watch when you're away, though I just use the internet to do the same thing through their website.

God damn I sound like I work for AT&T

[ocbaud]

i plan on getting uverse internet and video whenever we get it here in my area. i've heard good things about it.

[Camulos]

I use uVerse for Internet, Phone and TV and Ive been really happy with it. I used to have cable and the signal would go out all the time but uVerse seems like its fairly stable. My only pet peeve is that when Im forced to reset the box for some random reason it takes 10-15 minutes for the TV service to come back. Overall its stable and reliable plus the internet is pretty fast.

[aphex]

I've got at&t dsl - the 6.0mbit package - and in my area at least I can max that out (especially multiple usenet connections to easynews) no problem all day long. My other option is Charter cable which... ughhh... even on their 16mbit plan its hard to hit those speeds...