Quote :

"synapse: for those who have called to cancel TWC and told them you're going with U-Verse...what kind of crap did they say you would be missing with U-verse?"

Quote :

" RSXTypeS: ^random outages."

lol for page 6

[Edited on March 10, 2009 at 9:52 PM. Reason : -]

3/10/2009 9:52:13 PM

Quote :

"^^wait, its not even available in your neighborhood yet? "

It's not according to their website.

I may need to call.

3/10/2009 11:10:50 PM

^thats beat up. you are literally less than 2 miles from my house. We'll just run a really long cable between us haha

3/11/2009 1:34:22 AM

^^

You would think with the 6 lane highway they are putting behind your house now would be the time for them to run all their drops. They were in my n'hood for a solid month and a half before they left. Maybe it takes a loooooong time .

3/11/2009 5:15:29 AM

I see AT&T trucks every so often, but they're probably just pushing back the normal telephone infrastructure, rather than actually getting me U-Verse.

3/11/2009 7:57:00 AM

Quote :

"You can download an xvid copy of that shit about 15 minutes after each episode ends."

Same can be said for all tv. Only difficult item would be sports. Most games are available OTA on the major networks. The small majority on ESPN and fox sports south are the exceptions.


AND MSG/VERSUS FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK HOCKEY IS FUN TO WATCH

[Edited on March 11, 2009 at 8:09 AM. Reason : stein ]

3/11/2009 8:09:19 AM

Do I need anything or do anything before the installer comes tomorrow?

3/11/2009 5:19:22 PM

if you want to make it much easier/faster (and have your installer love you forever):

- make sure your cable lines are disconnected from the TWC drop.
- make sure your phone NID/incoming cable connections outside are accessible/clear of debris.
- if you can, figure out what phone jack in your house is the first one in the loop.
- make sure the cable jacks near each TV you would like connected are accessible (i.e. pull the TV away from the wall)
- if you have a computer that is in the same room as a TV you're getting a STB for (and you have the cat5 to spare), run cat5 however you'd like between the location of the TV and the location of the computer.
- if you already have cat5 run in your walls, ignore everything i said about the cable jacks, just make sure the rj45 ports are accessible.
- clean up your house a bit if it's messy

3/11/2009 6:14:00 PM

Quote :

"if you want to make it much easier/faster (and have your installer love you forever): - make sure your cable lines are disconnected from the TWC drop. - make sure your phone NID/incoming cable connections outside are accessible/clear of debris. - if you can, figure out what phone jack in your house is the first one in the loop. - make sure the cable jacks near each TV you would like connected are accessible (i.e. pull the TV away from the wall) - if you have a computer that is in the same room as a TV you're getting a STB for (and you have the cat5 to spare), run cat5 however you'd like between the location of the TV and the location of the computer. - if you already have cat5 run in your walls, ignore everything i said about the cable jacks, just make sure the rj45 ports are accessible. - clean up your house a bit if it's messy "

- offer to buy the guy Bojangles for breakfast. he actually almost took me up on the offer!

3/11/2009 7:40:01 PM

Quote :

"- if you have a computer that is in the same room as a TV you're getting a STB for (and you have the cat5 to spare), run cat5 however you'd like between the location of the TV and the location of the computer."

Wait what? I don't have any cat5 running to any computers because its all wireless. I thought they can connect it with coax and not just cat5. Also why would I be running cat5 between the computer and STB?

I've got phone jacks and cable outlets in every room. but I only have 2 TV's. One in my bedroom and one downstairs and I ordered 2 boxes.

All the outlets are easy to get to.

So... given what you know now about my house... what should I do before tomorrow

Also, I came home today to find a notice from AT&T saying a technician came to my house, installed my phone/high speed internet and that my service is working properly. WTF is that all about? Is this something they do before setting you up with U-Verse.

[Edited on March 11, 2009 at 11:29 PM. Reason : .]

3/11/2009 11:21:06 PM

Quote :

"Wait what? I don't have any cat5 running to any computers because its all wireless. I thought they can connect it with coax and not just cat5."

correct, they use coax to go between rooms.

Quote :

"Also why would I be running cat5 between the computer and STB?"

all of the STBs have ethernet ports. if you're using coax for the network feed to the RG, the ethernet port essentially becomes a HomePNA to ethernet bridge... so if you plug a switch/computer into that port, anything connected to it will have network access... very convenient if you don't have cat5 run between rooms but want wired connections to everything... it works surprisingly well.

if you have desktops, i'd suggest wiring them... you just can't get anywhere near the bandwidth with standard 802.11b/g at any sort of distance whatsoever...

Quote :

"So... given what you know now about my house... what should I do before tomorrow"

exactly what i said above

Quote :

"Also, I came home today to find a notice from AT&T saying a technician came to my house, installed my phone/high speed internet and that my service is working properly. WTF is that all about? Is this something they do before setting you up with U-Verse."

that's pretty strange... did you have an at&t line running to your house before now? the only thing i can think of is they either ran a new line to your NID or reconnected an existing one that was inactive. obviously, you have to have an active at&t line to be able to get u-verse. did the note say anything about them coming back to dig a trench and/or do you see a cable just chilling on the ground?

the technician physically has to be in your house to install u-verse (all of your phone jacks get replaced, for one... and you have to get the STBs/RG installed... etc) so you'll definitely know when you have it.

3/12/2009 1:47:23 AM

Just to be clear... I have my main TV downstairs but my PC, my router, and my vonage setup are all upstairs in an office. To connect my 360 and a laptop downstairs into my router I ran cat5 between the floors and put in an outlet in both spots. Since I will have a STB downstairs by the 369 and laptop and one next to my desk upstairs, I can now use those for direct access instead of the line run to my upstairs router. I just need a hub or switch behind each STB for multiple access, correct?

Also, is the fact that the existing coaxial is ancient going to be a problem?

evan, do you remember where you got that "TO DO:" wallpaper?

[Edited on March 12, 2009 at 2:12 AM. Reason : .]

3/12/2009 2:10:55 AM

Quote :

"all of the STBs have ethernet ports. if you're using coax for the network feed to the RG, the ethernet port essentially becomes a HomePNA to ethernet bridge... so if you plug a switch/computer into that port, anything connected to it will have network access... very convenient if you don't have cat5 run between rooms but want wired connections to everything... it works surprisingly well."

is this by any chance gigabit because I have trouble streaming some WMV-HD's but not all through my wireless to the xbox360 or PS3. But when I network them with cat5 it works flawlessly. So I might have to do this if thats the case.

Also how does my connection to the internet fit into the big picture? Is it like TWC with a modem or is it similar to DSL with a wall-filter. I guess I'm just missing the piece where my coax suddenly becomes hooked into my network.


and no, there was no note or indication that they will need to dig a trench. I also didn't see any cables outside BUT I didn't go out back to check. I have never had an active land line in my house since it was built.

3/12/2009 10:24:10 AM

Quote :

"all of the STBs have ethernet ports. if you're using coax for the network feed to the RG, the ethernet port essentially becomes a HomePNA to ethernet bridge... so if you plug a switch/computer into that port, anything connected to it will have network access... very convenient if you don't have cat5 run between rooms but want wired connections to everything... it works surprisingly well."

I need this.

I need this badly.

3/12/2009 10:42:08 AM

Quote :

"ust to be clear... I have my main TV downstairs but my PC, my router, and my vonage setup are all upstairs in an office. To connect my 360 and a laptop downstairs into my router I ran cat5 between the floors and put in an outlet in both spots. Since I will have a STB downstairs by the 369 and laptop and one next to my desk upstairs, I can now use those for direct access instead of the line run to my upstairs router. I just need a hub or switch behind each STB for multiple access, correct?"

yep, it's essentially a bridge, so it's transparent - you can stick as many devices on the ethernet side as you want... just keep in mind they're all sharing the coax uplink so you won't get the fastest signal, but it's a signal nontheless.

if you already have cat5 run in the walls between the two endpoints, you'd be much better off using that for both your STBs and your computers instead of the coax. it helps if your switch can do IGMP snooping, but it's not a necessity. the STBs extensively use multicast to save on the number of streams that have to be sent - if your switch at the endpoint can't snoop the IGMP packets, every machine on that switch will receive the multicast packets (but will discard them, so no harm unless your NIC sucks; you'll just see your switch ports blinking like crazy almost all the time).

in short: just stick a switch on either end of the cat5 you have in the wall running between floors and have the premise techs hook up your STBs/the RG to the switch.

Quote :

"Also, is the fact that the existing coaxial is ancient going to be a problem?"

possibly. they'll try to use your coax first. if that doesn't work or keeps causing the RG to lose sync, they'll try your phone lines and stick baluns on the ends that convert it to coax - it's still homePNA though. again, your best bet is to use the cat5 you already have run.

in addition to being faster, this will give your techs another option to get the VDSL signal up to your RG - in the event your phone lines completely suck, they can run it through a balun on each end and use your coax to feed the RG.

Quote :

"evan, do you remember where you got that "TO DO:" wallpaper?"

flickr, if i remember correctly.

Quote :

"is this by any chance gigabit because I have trouble streaming some WMV-HD's but not all through my wireless to the xbox360 or PS3. But when I network them with cat5 it works flawlessly. So I might have to do this if thats the case."

nope it's 100mbps ethernet... but i guarantee you won't see that, as the homePNA over coax can't even begin to come close to 100mbps... i think it's more like 40-50mbps.

it sounds like you'd be better served with cat5 running between your endpoints. if you own your place, go ahead and do it the right way (run it through the walls) - it looks a hell of a lot nicer than running it along the baseboards, and you'll thank yourself later for putting in the effort now.

Quote :

"Also how does my connection to the internet fit into the big picture? Is it like TWC with a modem or is it similar to DSL with a wall-filter. I guess I'm just missing the piece where my coax suddenly becomes hooked into my network."

there's a big ol' silver box that AT&T calls the RG, or Residential Gateway. it's a 2Wire 3800HGV-B. looks like this:



(it's much bigger than it looks, trust me)

this is your VDSL modem, router, wireless AP, and VoIP ATA (if you have voice service). it's actually a pretty decent device. you can use your own router by sticking it into the DMZ, but i'd advise against that (or do that, and segregate your STBs to the RG subnet), as most consumer grade "routers" can't handle the massive amounts of multicast traffic that are required to sustain the TV streams.

on the back of the RG, you'll find rj11 jacks, an f connector, and 5 rj45 jacks. the VDSL signal from the at&t phone line can either come in over the actual phone lines (in which case you'd use the rj11 jack) or can be stuck on your coax (you'd use the f connector). that same f connector (if not being used to feed the RG with the VDSL signal) can be hooked up to the coax loop in your house to create a homePNA network over your coax. the second rj11 port can be used to do the same thing over your internal phone lines after they have been disconnected from the outside line (that's why you need to know which jack in your house is the first in the loop).

depending on which setup you get (the premise techs usually prefer coax first, then phone lines, then cat5... or if cat5 is already in place, they just use that) you'll get your phone jacks replaced by filtered jacks.

*phew* did that make sense? feel free to ask if you need clarification. i think i've somehow become the de facto u-verse expert on here

also, just in case you're curious, the STBs look like this:



that's the DVR (the box below it in that pic is the RG). the slave STBs look almost identical, except they're smaller, both in width and in height. on the back (if i can remember correctly, heh), you'll have a spdi/f out, hdmi out, composite/s-vid out, L/R RCA outs, f connector for network (if used), and an rj45 jack for uses discussed above.

and yes, at&t provides HDMI cables

3/12/2009 2:04:49 PM

I do own my own house and I'd like to run ethernet from the downstairs to the bedrooms...but the problem is getting it upstairs. a few years ago I ran speaker wire through the walls for the downstairs on my own and that was easy enough because i just dropped it through the walls, drilled into the crawl space and back up through the wall on the other end. Can't exactly do that going upstairs. Or I could just replace all my phone jacks with ethernet and pull the wires through the wall


I do have more questions but I'm still soaking it all in hahaha...tech should be here in about 10 min anyway.

[Edited on March 12, 2009 at 2:20 PM. Reason : .]

3/12/2009 2:20:24 PM

Your house is new enough that the wire behind your phone might already be Cat5 or better. You'd just need to swap faceplates and re-teriminate the ends.

3/12/2009 2:21:58 PM

Quote :

"Or I could just replace all my phone jacks with ethernet and pull the wires through the wall "

do this. use the existing phone lines as fishtapes (if they're not stapled to the framing) and pull at least 2 cat5 drops to each outlet. check to see if the lines are ALREADY cat5... most builders just run cat5 for phone jacks because it's cheaper when bought in bulk. this obvioiusly applies only to newer houses, though. if they are indeed cat5, just get some rj45 110 jacks and punch it to them.

Quote :

"I do have more questions but I'm still soaking it all in hahaha...tech should be here in about 10 min anyway."

as of now, you know more about the service than probably 90% of everybody that has it

3/12/2009 2:22:27 PM

^^thats what I thought but I didn't want to say that and make myself look like a n00btard How can I find out if it is cat5 or better?

[Edited on March 12, 2009 at 2:24 PM. Reason : .]

3/12/2009 2:22:51 PM

pull out your phone jacks and look at the punchdown block... you should see 4 pairs originating from the cable, orange+white/orange, green+white/green, blue+white/blue, and brown+white/brown.

if you see that, you've got cat5. go pick up some rj45 jacks and a 110 punchdown tool and go crazy.

3/12/2009 2:26:12 PM

Can you watch the DVR from a PC, either local or remote? I have a slingbox for watching my TWC DVR upstairs without a TV, it would be awesome to skip a step.

3/12/2009 2:27:38 PM

nope, not right now.

if they continue to implement microsoft mediaroom features, it's definitely a possibility.

3/12/2009 2:28:23 PM

let me take a look at one of my jacks.

If I do this to 2 of my phone jacks, one for where the router is and one for where the PC is...what will this do in terms of U-Verse coming in from the outside...I'm guessing it comes in over the phone line, right?

3/12/2009 2:29:04 PM

yeah, it comes in over the phone line. (as i said above, it can also come in over the coax)

it depends on how the subcontractor who did your wiring wired everything.

if you take off your wall plates and see only one cable coming into the box on at least 2 different outlets, they did it properly and terminated everything at a punchdown block (probably in your basement, garage, pantry, or a closet). just disconnect the lines you're using for ethernet and either terminate them to a patch panel or a new punchdown block.

if you take off your wall plates and you see two cables coming into the box on at least 2 different outlets, they did it the easy way. let me know if this is the case, as i don't feel like typing out what to do right now if i don't have to

3/12/2009 2:32:23 PM

Tech is here. He said he'll put the gateway in my room because there is coax behind my desk. So he said he can just run ethernet to the STB. Is this a hint that it's going to come in over coax and not the phone line?

3/12/2009 2:37:46 PM

i'd say so.

3/12/2009 2:49:28 PM

Quote :

"Your house is new enough that the wire behind your phone might already be Cat5 or better. You'd just need to swap faceplates and re-teriminate the ends."

My house is this way. If U-verse ever becomes available here I don't plan to do anything about it but mention it to the technician.

3/12/2009 3:09:20 PM

Sweet! tech just left. I ran a speed test and I'm getting 17.5 down and 1.4 up

So far so good!

3/12/2009 4:17:32 PM

welcome to the 18/1.5 club, my brother

there are still very few of us in NC, according to the latest premise tech i talked to. like less than 100.

3/12/2009 4:47:36 PM

In raleigh or all of NC? that doesn't seem like much at all.

The Router is reporting like 25 down and 2 up. I'm guessing thats for TV + internet?

3/12/2009 4:49:32 PM

the triangle is the only part of NC with u-verse service, as far as i know.

the tech said that most people just don't want the 18/1.5 service, they don't need the speed

and yeah, the 25/2 is what you're actually getting - the 7/0.5 is to support the TV streams

3/12/2009 4:55:57 PM

i'd like 18down. no real need for it though

[Edited on March 12, 2009 at 4:58 PM. Reason : 18up ahahaha]

3/12/2009 4:58:49 PM

I live off Glenwood near the mall, and I can't get it

3/12/2009 4:59:13 PM

Quote :

"the triangle is the only part of NC with u-verse service, as far as i know."

iirc Charlotte started getting it before us, but I'm not positive about that.

3/12/2009 5:28:43 PM

Charlotte was getting U-Verse before Raleigh was.

3/12/2009 10:43:19 PM

waaaaant

3/12/2009 10:47:20 PM

they finally recognize my address...

3/12/2009 11:24:23 PM

Ok folks, what would it look like if they were wiring a neighborhood up for U-verse?

3/13/2009 10:57:37 AM

I started seeing a truck or two parked at nodes in the neighborhood back in mid-December. They would be working on a box for a few hours. Then in mid-January through February I started seeing fleets of trucks, talking like 3-4 each day, either working on boxes or simply driving around. It is a very noticeable presence (much different than back in December). I was eligible for service some time last week. SO looks like about 2-3 months of work by AT&T.

3/13/2009 11:04:47 AM

^^

you'll see one of these big huge white boxes (referred to as the VRAD) somewhere in or near your neighborhood:



you'll also see a bunch of at&t trucks that seem to constantly be there for 2 months or so

3/13/2009 12:02:58 PM

Quote :

"SO looks like about 2-3 months of work by AT&T"

There were outside our 'hood for right at 2 months before the first customer was eligible.

3/13/2009 12:05:56 PM

I live in hedingham in raleigh, and there is a huge hole in the ground in the front of my neighbor's yard. there are holes of equal size scattered throughout our street every house or two. they are roped off by orange netting

3/13/2009 12:21:33 PM

^are there AT&T trucks outside these holes?

3/13/2009 12:24:31 PM

We got ours installed yesterday, and I freakin love it so far. The UI is so much more polished that I thought it would be

3/13/2009 12:49:18 PM

^yeah, same here. I do really like the UI. Granted I haven't had TWC for tv service in about 3 years but I hated their interface when I used it from time to time at the rents.

3/13/2009 12:51:59 PM

^,^^ it's one of the few Microsoft products i actually like.

3/13/2009 4:30:25 PM

my house is really old, we don't even have phone lines run except to one location. we have a spiderweb of coax in the basement running to all of the rooms through registers and holes in floors, would i run into any problems or extra cost whenever this moves into my area?

3/13/2009 5:52:21 PM

I have to say...I love being able to watch my recorded shows upstairs in my room when the DVR is downstairs

So how does the pause in one room resume in another work? is that just for DVRed shows or also for Live TV?

and does the RG support UPnP? I couldn't see my iMac from work today so at lunch I forwarded port 4500 because thats the port that MobileMe back to my mac uses and still nothing.

3/13/2009 6:33:29 PM

ordering in the next few weeks

U200
HD
Receiver
Elite

$114

3/14/2009 7:13:06 PM

Quote :

"^are there AT&T trucks outside these holes?"

i haven't seen any trucks at all near the holes! I just rolled up one night and there was a massive hole in my neighbor's yard. and several other yards looking down the street.

3/14/2009 9:12:27 PM