# Directv vs AT&T Uverse



## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

I currently have Directv and the picture is stellar however our contract with them ends this June and we have the opportunity to go with Uverse instead.
If anyone has had both before can you tell me if there is a difference in PQ?
I was told that some providers have weaker PQ than others.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

Pm sent


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Can’t advise you on picture quality, as I’ve never had AT&T. But I can tell you that if you try to cancel your service with DirecTV, they will do their best to stick it to you. It’s part of their business model: do an internet search on “directv fraud,” directv scam,” directv lawsuit,” and so forth and you’ll find no shortage of reading material and hard-luck stories. 

When we cancelled they tried to hit us up for all kinds of bogus fees and charges, and claimed _they_ owned the used DVR we had purchased on ebay, and demanded we “return” it to them!

If you have a direct-payment arrangement using a debit or credit card, you will need to cancel the card and get a new one if you dispute any charges they try to hit you with. If you don’t they will politely take the money right out of your bank account.

Also, if you own your own DVR and have shows on it that you haven’t got around to watching yet, be sure and totally disconnect it when you cancel the service – all antenna, phone and/or internet connections. Everything. If you don’t they can and will blow out all your programs.

Regards, 
Wayne


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

Wayne A. Pflughaupt said:


> Can’t advise you on picture quality, as I’ve never had AT&T. But I can tell you that if you try to cancel your service with DirecTV, they will do their best to stick it to you. It’s part of their business model: do an internet search on “directv fraud,” directv scam,” directv lawsuit,” and so forth and you’ll find no shortage of reading material and hard-luck stories.
> 
> When we cancelled they tried to hit us up for all kinds of bogus fees and charges, and claimed they owned the used DVR we had purchased on ebay, and demanded we “return” it to them!
> 
> ...


Oh no that's not good at all. I will call them this week and see what they tell me as far as what happens if i cancel since I won't be in contract. I rather know ahead of time if I decide to cancel if I'll owe zero or try to stick me with fees. The question is will the agent be honest.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Wouldn't count on it. 

Regards,
Wayne


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

i have uverse and I love it, however i cant say if directv has a better PQ.

Chris


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

If anyone is looking to switch to Uverse let me know. I work for AT&T and I can refer you.

Chris


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## gregzoll (Feb 17, 2012)

Depending on how far you are from the VRAD. Depends on how many streams. I got tired of the break-up of the picture during fast motion and confetti drops. That I went with DirecTV. DirecTV will work with you on package savings. Unlike ATT.

After getting nowhere with ATT retention's to try and see if they would keep me as a customer. I left them for both Internet & tv.

What equipment do you have with DirecTV currently?


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

gregzoll said:


> Depending on how far you are from the VRAD. Depends on how many streams. I got tired of the break-up of the picture during fast motion and confetti drops. That I went with DirecTV. DirecTV will work with you on package savings. Unlike ATT.
> 
> After getting nowhere with ATT retention's to try and see if they would keep me as a customer. I left them for both Internet & tv.
> 
> What equipment do you have with DirecTV currently?


A dvr and 2 boxes all HD. If we stay with DirecTV we want the Genie dvr.


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## gregzoll (Feb 17, 2012)

asere said:


> A dvr and 2 boxes all HD. If we stay with DirecTV we want the Genie dvr.


I have a HR44/700 with two C31/700 clients, along with the AM-21N. My wife could not be any happier with that setup. Plus she loves having Sunday Ticket. If you look on some of the DirecTV forums (not the actual DirecTV forum). You will find that some have gotten Direct to renew their contract for two years, with the HR34 or HR44. Along with Promotional packages.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

gregzoll said:


> I have a HR44/700 with two C31/700 clients, along with the AM-21N. My wife could not be any happier with that setup. Plus she loves having Sunday Ticket. If you look on some of the DirecTV forums (not the actual DirecTV forum). You will find that some have gotten Direct to renew their contract for two years, with the HR34 or HR44. Along with Promotional packages.


Looking at the specs I have the HR 24/100 for dvr and two H25/100 for the rooms.
If they can't do Genie we might move on.


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## gregzoll (Feb 17, 2012)

asere said:


> Looking at the specs I have the HR 24/100 for dvr and two H25/100 for the rooms.
> If they can't do Genie we might move on.


With your setup you are better off. The Genie does limit you just like U-Verse would on the number of clients and that you are sharing the 2TB drive space on the DVR.

The HR44/700 DVR is the same size as the clients/STB's for U-Verse. You will find the biggest complaint with ATT, is poor PQ for those that are far away from the VRAD. Also you do not get the Sub-Channels for local stations with U-Verse.

Personally I like the C31's better then the clients for U-Verse. Smaller boxes that you can hide on the back of the tv if wall hung, or out of the way.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

gregzoll said:


> With your setup you are better off. The Genie does limit you just like U-Verse would on the number of clients and that you are sharing the 2TB drive space on the DVR.
> 
> The HR44/700 DVR is the same size as the clients/STB's for U-Verse. You will find the biggest complaint with ATT, is poor PQ for those that are far away from the VRAD. Also you do not get the Sub-Channels for local stations with U-Verse.
> 
> Personally I like the C31's better then the clients for U-Verse. Smaller boxes that you can hide on the back of the tv if wall hung, or out of the way.


With my current set up if someone is watching the recorded stuff in one room you would need to get out of the recorded stuff so the other person in a second room can watch the recorded stuff.
This is only with the bedroom boxes it does not apply to the dvr in the family room.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

Read below..I don't think this will be good.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1531628/merger-mania-at-t-might-buy-directv-for-50-billion


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## gregzoll (Feb 17, 2012)

I would not worry about that. Pure speculation. Same as what is going on over at dslreports.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

gregzoll said:


> I would not worry about that. Pure speculation. Same as what is going on over at dslreports.




Lol .... Speculation?


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

It's official Att bought Directv.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

Yes when major news outlets report on a speculation of 50 billion its a done deal!!!


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## djthadj (May 19, 2014)

I agree with Wayne, be careful when you are about to cancel Directv.....


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

djthadj said:


> I agree with Wayne, be careful when you are about to cancel Directv.....


I spoke with the DirecTV agent and was told that i won't be charged anything if I drop them.
Now i also asked about the packages to see if we can get the same deal as a new customer would and was told no because we are not new customers.
I think we should be considered new customers if we decide to renew the contract because after all I would be starting all over plus I can easily go with someone else.
They consider you new customer if you drop them and restart months later.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

Are you satisfied with the service?


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

fschris said:


> Are you satisfied with the service?


Yes so far DirecTV has been good and we even got $10 off our current package for six months.
I just don't like how when the contract is up and if you renew you can no longer get promotions because you are no longer considered a new customer.
At the same time I'm sure all companies are the same.


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## gregzoll (Feb 17, 2012)

asere said:


> It's official Att bought Directv.


Until the FCC gives them their graces. There is no completion of this sale. As it stands right now. The regulators are not going to let it happen. Even Comcast is still waiting to get the regulators graces.

All we can do is speculate what may or may not happen. At this point the merger of AT&T & DirecTV may never happen.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

asere said:


> Yes so far DirecTV has been good and we even got $10 off our current package for six months.
> I just don't like how when the contract is up and if you renew you can no longer get promotions because you are no longer considered a new customer.
> At the same time I'm sure all companies are the same.


I'm not a fan of teaser rates at all... it just leaves people wanting more. If I were in charge I'd give the first month or two for free then after that full price. If you get a discount rate at first it feels like something you should always get which is not possible. I guess my way could be considered a teaser but honestly could the service be free? That's unrealistic. However if you say the teaser rate is 50 dollars a month then its 60 per month people psychologically get depressed since they feel they are getting ripped off by 10 dollars.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

fschris said:


> I'm not a fan of teaser rates at all... it just leaves people wanting more. If I were in charge I'd give the first month or two for free then after that full price. If you get a discount rate at first it feels like something you should always get which is not possible. I guess my way could be considered a teaser but honestly could the service be free? That's unrealistic. However if you say the teaser rate is 50 dollars a month then its 60 per month people psychologically get depressed since they feel they are getting ripped off by 10 dollars.


Not by $10 but $25. I'm ok with that i get it. After all I new after the first year the price for the package would go up for year 2 it's in the contract.
What gets me is when contact is up if you want to continue prices remain the same as you are no longer considered a new customer.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

asere said:


> Not by $10 but $25. I'm ok with that i get it. After all I new after the first year the price for the package would go up for year 2 it's in the contract.
> What gets me is when contact is up if you want to continue prices remain the same as you are no longer considered a new customer.


I totally agree with you. That's why I like my plan better! In Europe most of all cell phone providers do not ever subsidize the phone they give with the service. So when you have to pay up 500 for a galaxy s4 you really take care of it! Here every 2 years the customer basically expects an iPhone 10 for 49$ ....haha:crying:


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## smurphy522 (Sep 21, 2010)

If you like the Direct TV service then I would stick with it. If there is something that U-Verse offers that you don't (must) have then that is the only real reason to consider switching. Just my $.02.

BTW - I am an original U-verse subscriber from back in 2006 and while we have our issues are pretty happy with them vs. the alternative "equal" Comcast. Never had satellite service.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

At this point I'll continue month to month out of contract and see if something new or better comes up with DirecTV or another provider.


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

If you threaten to quit and get to retention you can usually get deals on things. But then your contract starts over again.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

mechman said:


> If you threaten to quit and get to retention you can usually get deals on things. But then your contract starts over again.


Thanks for heads up.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

A bit (way) off topic but we are scheduled for Google Fiber installation in June. Pretty excited for this and to tell Time Warner to jump off a bridge! As for Directv I had them years ago and had nothing but problems. Still looking for the perfect service and hopefully Google will provide that.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

JBrax said:


> A bit (way) off topic but we are scheduled for Google Fiber installation in June. Pretty excited for this and to tell Time Warner to jump off a bridge! As for Directv I had them years ago and had nothing but problems. Still looking for the perfect service and hopefully Google will provide that.


Wish you luck with Google. I saw online that Time Warner had the lowest ratings for bad cable companies and surprisingly DirecTV and Uverse had much higher scores.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

asere said:


> Wish you luck with Google. I saw online that Time Warner had the lowest ratings for bad cable companies and surprisingly DirecTV and Uverse had much higher scores.


That doesn't surprise me and like I said it's been many years ago that I had DirecTV so they may have improved. From most accounts people are very happy with Google so we'll see. The bar has been set pretty low so I fully expect an overall improvement in every aspect.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

JBrax said:


> That doesn't surprise me and like I said it's been many years ago that I had DirecTV so they may have improved. From most accounts people are very happy with Google so we'll see. The bar has been set pretty low so I fully expect an overall improvement in every aspect.


I don't think we have Google in our area. One company we wanted to try out was Verizon Fios but they are not in the area either.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

I'm getting ready to get rid if Directv pretty soon because it's outrageously high now. 
I was told by a Dish agent that they don't work like Directv were you start losing credits for the dvr, hd etc after year one or 2 .
For Dish subscribers is that really true?


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Asere, we've had dish network for 15 years at least. Never heard of credits or anything. Once in awhile for being good customers they give us free movie channels(3 months usually) and rentals. I even called them once when I was feeling like my bill was going up for no reason, and said hey, why do new customers get such an awesome deal, and I've been here for .abcxyz. and nothing? I asked why I shouldn't cancel and then sign back up. They changed my rate on the spot! Never had good experiences with directv. Overall, dish has been great. They've only raised my bill by 5 bucks in about 7years.


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

willis7469 said:


> Asere, we've had dish network for 15 years at least. Never heard of credits or anything. Once in awhile for being good customers they give us free movie channels(3 months usually) and rentals. I even called them once when I was feeling like my bill was going up for no reason, and said hey, why do new customers get such an awesome deal, and I've been here for .abcxyz. and nothing? I asked why I shouldn't cancel and then sign back up. They changed my rate on the spot! Never had good experiences with directv. Overall, dish has been great. They've only raised my bill by 5 bucks in about 7years.


That is awesome. With Directv they give you a great deal the first two years then the $10 credit for hd channels expires and the dvr credit expires and you end up paying over $100 for a starter package. I can get Dish for $75 the first year with the 250 plus channels which includes dvr prices and according to them no credit will ever come off just the package price increases. I can live with that just don't tell me I gotta pay more for hd later and such.
Yeah I think I'll make the switch.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

HD for life too!


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## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

willis7469 said:


> HD for life too!


Yeah that's what I was told. Thanks!


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