Former Employee
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21 Messages
MUST READ! NEW UPGRADES "UVERSE TECH"
I have seen a lot of questions regarding 2013 upgrades. I have also seen a LOT of incorrect responses to these questions. Ill cover what I KNOW is on the way and what is being tested. The area I work in is a very well known test location for testing.
1. Stream increase- U-verse is an IP based TV service that currently offers 4 streams per customer. Mid July there will be an increase to 6 streams.
2. New Gateway- The NVG589 Gateway has been released already and is currently very limited and is for NEW installs only.
3. Internet speed increase- The top is 24MB down 5MB up. July is the release for 48-60MB down and up to 10MB upload.
Ill explain what these mean the best I can.
A stream is basically 1 channel. So when you are watching a live TV program you are using 1 stream. If you are recording a program you are using 1 stream. If you are recording HD you are using 2 streams due to high bandwidth. "1.75 stream actually" . So if you have 4 boxes you can watch 4 different channels at once but then you have no streams to record. If you want to record a sd program one of the boxes would need to give up its stream to allow the recording. Recording 2 sd and 2 boxes would have to give up their streams. For 1 hd recording 2 would need to give their streams up and so on... This is a big problem with large households or heavy dvr users. ATT offers up to 8 boxes per household. Even with 8 boxes only 4 could surf at once leading to this increase. No, still won't be able to surf 8 because there will only be 6 but never seen 8 boxes simultaneously in use. It was found most customers at most use six streams, 2 in progress HD recordings and surfing 2-3 boxes=6.
So when watching your tv only the channel your watching is being sent to the box. When you change the channel a request is sent to the office and different channel sent back instantly. This method uses very little bandwidth. Cable companys send all signals to the box at once and the box filters the channels. This is why cable companys like twc and comcast have so many issues with random picture issues from signals bleeding together. Back to streams uverse will continue to add streams until negative feedback drops below "x".
The NVG589 will be the first gateway with the N router feature extending wifi range. This gateway must have CAT 5 feeding the signal in. This will remove current problems caused by coax feeds. " can feed signal OUT to boxes via coax". Bonded customers will see the biggest change. Right now there has to be a outside unit, an internal battery unit, and inside wifi unit. 589 has all built into gateway that is smaller than current 3801 gateways. This gateway reduces 3 points of failure ad works great.
The new internet speeds are not advertised yet but increase in bandwidth cap is already at "most" locations just waiting for more location upgrades before sale release.
COMING FALL 2013- another gateway with WAP built in, AC routing, 8 port e.
Cloud DVR storage- no more lost recording when replacing bad box, also means.
Will add more if questions
mibrnsurg
Expert
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20.4K Messages
11 years ago
My Vip2250 has a 500G hard drive. Still 4 streams, but rumored 6 or more in the near future.
As I proposed a couple months ago, the network DVR is dying, Uverse DVR is going to the cloud.
http://www.digitaltveurope.net/spot/network-dvr-the-killer-app-for-cloud-tv/#.UZBqFp1j0xg.email
Have a hunch ATT will, IMHO, overprice those offerings as they overprice them now. 😉
Chris
Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
Need Help? 1-800-288-2020, After he gets acct info, press # a bunch of times, get a menu from Mr. Voice recognition
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more
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trparky
Guru
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594 Messages
11 years ago
So you think they will be more expensive? If they are maybe $20 more than what their current prices are, it would still result in some cost savings for me.
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trparky
Guru
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594 Messages
11 years ago
Are they handing out newer DVRs? Why I ask is that I remember that set top box model number. I remember reading about newer black-colored DVRs instead of the silver models.
I currently have two DVRs in the house each with a 500 GB drive in it for a total of about a Terabyte of storage which equals out to roughly 75 hours of HD content per box or 150 hours total in the whole house. If AT&T can match that, that will be extremely cool.
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texasguy37
Expert
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14.5K Messages
11 years ago
AT&T matches that storage capacity with a single 500 GB DVR. I have gotten over 160 hrs of HD recordings on the U-verse 500 GB DVR.
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mibrnsurg
Expert
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20.4K Messages
11 years ago
24M is $66/mo, can imagine ATT will price 40M at $90, 75M $150. This just going on how internet has been priced. 😉
Chris
Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
Need Help? 1-800-288-2020, After he gets acct info, press # a bunch of times, get a menu from Mr. Voice recognition
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more
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trparky
Guru
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594 Messages
11 years ago
Now this is starting to look even better than what I have now. If only AT&T would start rolling out the newer higher speed Internet tiers. As soon as they start doing that, then it's good bye TWC hello uVerse again.
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trparky
Guru
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594 Messages
11 years ago
Who knows, those who are on the current 24 Mb plan may see the higher speed tier as a free upgrade. Yeah, I know... one can dream though. lol
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texasguy37
Expert
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14.5K Messages
11 years ago
When AT&T introduced Max Turbo (24 mbps) internet, they actually reduced price of the other high end internet package (Max Plus and Max). I recall that Max Plus (18 mbps) was $65 at the time, and the price was dropped to $55. The new Max Turbo service was then offered at $65. You never know what will happen with pricing.
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trparky
Guru
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594 Messages
11 years ago
Have they integrated the VoD into the STBs yet? I know you can go to http://uverseonline.att.net/tv/show and then proceed to browse and watch stuff provided on that web site on your computer screen. I guess what I'm asking is if they have integrated that content system into the STBs so people can watch that kind of stuff on their big screen TVs.
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oufanindallas
ACE - Master
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6.9K Messages
11 years ago
24Mpbs is more than sufficient for that. I only have 12Mbps and with almost constant streaming of Netflix via either an iPod, iPad or a Roku and have never had an issue. To top is off, all of our devices, PC, iPod/Pad/Phone, Kindle and Roku are all wireless. Using AT&T provided wireless router.
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