Many parts of the country now have an additional choice when considering their cable TV options. These additional options are coming from the former Bell companies, AT&T and Verizon, as they now offer U-Verse and FiOS service, video services delivered over fiber and copper lines to each home. AT&T is ramping up their U-Verse service, aiming for a million customers by the end of 2008.
So how does AT&T’s U-verse service stack up with a satellite service like DIRECTV?
As with anything, there are several considerations, and it can be difficult to make an across the board comparison, but here are some facts and figures to consider when comparing U-verse to DIRECTV.
First, let’s consider a few of the U-Verse highlights.
U-Verse is a new initiative by AT&T to provide video services to residential customers via their existing network. In most areas, the actual service is delivered by VDSL technology, meaning it is not fiber to the home, (FTTH or FTTP), but is sent to a “node” in the neighborhood, then delivered by your existing copper line to your house.
The service is 100% digital, as is satellite service through DIRECTV. But since it is delivered by hard line, you can expect a little more reliability overall. While satellite TV has made vast improvements in delivering signal, it still goes out occasionally during intense weather.
AT&T U-verse service is available in four different programming package levels. They are the U100, U200, U300, and U400 packages. While DIRECTV offers television programming and that’s it, U-Verse can be combined with other services such as high speed internet and home phone service. So while the prices quoted here for AT&T U-Verse service may seem a bit high, remember if you combine them with other AT&T services, you will obviously get some sort of bundled discount. Every area can be different, so you will have to contact AT&T directly to get a quote on U-verse and other services combined.
First off, AT&T U-verse TV service currently includes the following when you start up. Professional installation is included of course, and also one month free TV service. Another promotion to consider it their $200 cash back deal. While the details seem long winded and extensive on this program, you basically have to sign up for U-verse and their high speed internet, fill out all the forms, and wait for your check in the mail. Check with AT&T for the exact details.
UVerse service currently has the following pricing tiers:
U100 – $69 for TV and high-speed internet, $44 for TV only. This package is the only AT&T package that does not include a HD receiver with a DVR. Package includes up to 100 channels and Video on Demand.
U200 – $84 for TV and internet, $59 for TV only. The U200 includes “up to 200 channels,” digital music channels, VOD, but no movie channels
U300 – $104 for combination TV and high speed internet, $79 for TV only. Package includes “up to 260 channels,” HD receiver, DVR, music channels, and Movie Package which has 30 premium channels of Starz, Showtime, Encore, and the Movie Channel.
U400 – $124 for combination, $99 for U-verse television only. This package includes up to 320 channels. Everything in the U300 plus all of the HBO and Cinemax channels, as well as extra regional sports networks are included here. This is the all-inclusive, all you can eat buffet package from AT&T.
As you can see, pricing on AT&T U-Verse is much higher than the promotional pricing you can receive from DIRECTV. Here are the current prices for DIRECTV packages, which reflect a discount of $18 a month for the first year. The only exception on this pricing is the Premier package, which has a discount tied in with the NFL Sunday Ticket package. Even after the first year discount, DIRECTV pricing is still lower than the U-verse pricing on the AT&T website.
How does U-verse from AT&T stack up with DIRECTV in other areas?
High definition programming is something most people are looking for today. HD access on the U-verse service is $10.00, and is $9.99 from DIRECTV. The big difference here is in the number of HD channels available. DIRECTV offers 95 national HD channels, as well as local HD in almost all major markets. AT&T U-verse offers 41 HD channels, and twelve of those are premium movie channels, so obviously quite a difference in this area.
Comparing DVR services is often difficult unless you can use each service for a period of time, then report back on what you like. As far as specifications go for the U-verse Digital Video Recorder, probably the most amazing thing is that it can record up to 4 shows at one time – wait, who needs to record 4 shows at the same time. Anyhow, it is there if you need it. One frustrating aspect of U-Verse is that there is a one DVR per household policy, and additional receivers cost $5 for the other TV’s in the house. With DIRECTV, you have the same fee for each additional receiver, but you can pay just $1 extra per month and get DVR service on every receiver as well.
As far as capacity, the U-verse DVR can hold up to 133 hours of SD programming, and 37 hours of HD programming, while the Direct TV DVR goes 200 and 50 hours respectively. Advantage to DIRECTV as far as DVR capacity goes. Other than that, the DVR’s have similar features such as programming menus, parental locks, and the ability to pause live TV and skip commercials on previously recorded shows.
Installation of U-verse and DIRECTV is one of those things that can go either way. Everyone has their horror story and wants to share it with the world, so individual experiences will of course vary. UVerse is in its infancy, so there is a learning curve going on in many areas, and AT&T has brought on board quite a few technicians in order to meet demand for U-verse. The AT&T website says installation will generally take 4-6 hours, and recommends setting a morning appointment. This of course would also include setting up your high speed internet connection as well.
In general, DIRECTV installations take between 2-3 hours. Work is often done by contractors, who are paid by the job, so they may work a little faster that the phone company. Expect to spend at least a half a day at home, whether you have either company hooking up your service.
AT&T currently has a resale agreement with DISH Network. If you call in to order U-verse and it is not currently available in your area, they will offer you DISH Network service, so if you want DIRECTV, you will have to order it separately from AT&T. This may change in 2009, as AT&T is evaluating who they will partner with in the future.
Finally, picture quality is the last item we will consider. This is no doubt highest on the list of those who have HD television sets, and the question they want answered first.
Who has the better picture?
Unable to set up two 50 inch HD sets next to each other with the two services running side-by-side, we did the next best thing: This Google search.
While wholly unscientific, browsing through the reports from users paints a general picture of what customers think. DIRECTV still offers better HD picture quality than AT&T U-Verse.
24 comments ↓
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[...] good service, but we’ve been through three set-top boxes from them in a year. Bloggers are debating the merits of Direct TV vs. U-Verse, but after getting up to three calls a day from Direct TV for months with a tape-recording of Jim [...]
I currently have AT&T U-Verse and DirectTV in my house now. I am doing a comparison side by side and will pick one in a few months.
This artical is bias favoring DirecTV.
The advantage of U-Verse is that one DVR is required and you can watch the recordered programs on all the other sets in the house. So just pay for one DVR. Recording 2 HD channels or 4 non-HD is extreemly usfull.
We never watch live TV so we record them and can skip all the comercials. Both compaines are expensive with package choices that are designed to rip you off. In order to get soccer channel, you need to buy highest price package from both compaines.
DircTV offers cheap startup but jacks the price up higher than AT&T after deal runs out. In order for me to upgrade to HD I need a new antenna, reciever, and more wires. I just purchased two recievers and dish about 1 1/2 years ago.
AT&T offers cheaper home phone and cheaper with much faster Internet service. There main box even has a great WiFi for wireless connecting to my iPhone and my laptop. They can interconnect all your TV’s via phone wires, coax, or CAT5. Usually phone wires are in every room so do not need to run wires through walls.
DirecTV has the NFL package which I have. Great if you need to watch non-local NFL. I have watched and recored HD NFL on my AT&T and never missed any important games. With DirecTV NFL you can only record 2 at a time so you at the most get to see 4 NFL on Sunday. Extreemly high cost. Who cares about more than 1 or 2 teams.
When it rains hard you do lose the DirecTV signal. So far AT&T has never glitched or stopped.
Hello P Corsaro,
Please let me know how your side by side comparison goes with DirecTV and ATT U-verse. I am a current DirecTV user. I don’t have any complaints, I am just trying to save some money. It appears the bundle package (TV, Phone & Internet) offered via ATT U-verse could save me nearly $100 bucks. Also the way my home is wired I can only watch what I am recording with DirecTV…
Does anyone know if UVerse comes with VOD? DirecTV’s VOD is not impressive, takes forever, and is a pain to set up for the average user.
I recently (Dec 08) switched from DirecTV to UVerse. I had two reasons for switching. 1) My TV, phone and Broadband had gotten pretty expensive. 2) I recently upgrade to an HD TV and wanted to make the move to High Def. My DirecTV service was not HD I might add. So the move to UVerse was painless, no contract, all equipment free (including HD DVR), free installation, and I’m saving about 40/mth with the tripple play package. So am I happy? No, not really. The main reasons are as follows: 1) Since there is only one DVR, you can not pause, rewind, etc live TV except in the room with the DVR. 2) The DVR remote is not intuitive at all. Now I came from the Tivo version of DirecTV, so I was spoiled. However, hardly a day goes by I don’t feel like throwing the remote (it’s based on Windows CE, need I say more). 3) The biggest reason, when recording a show in HD, (especially if viewing another in HD at the same time) it often freezes, pixilates and breaks up during playback. I had the box replaced once, but the new box behaves exactly the same.
Over all, I would say UVerse is great if you don’t care about HD. If that is a major reason you want it, be careful.
So, I will likely be switching back to DirecTV, as they are tempting me back with special offers. I will be getting the HD service this time, so we will see how it looks.
I just got AT&T Uverse today. So far it is a really cool service, I opted for the extra monthly fee to get the HD channels and they are really good but I have never had HD service before so I cannot really give you a fair comparison in this area. My biggest complaint is that you cannot pause/rewind/fast forward live TV or schedule new recordings, delete recordings, etc. on the extra receivers. This sounds very minor at first but I have found it to be a big inconvenience. For now I have to go to the main TV with the DVR to do these things. One of my friends had Dish Network and said that you can do those things on any TV. Since UVerse is a internet based service I am hoping that this is one area that they will eventually improve on hopefully through a simple software update.
We have direct tv and the HD is VERY good. But the package is expensive. We have 5 receivers and 3 are DVR. Problem is the new HD reciever does not work very well. We’ve had it replaced as well as satellite antenna and cables. It sometimes freezes, pixilates or stops in the middle of a show (always at the crucial part). The remote is AWFUL. Very unresponsive and frustrating. I have an older dvr that has the black remote and it is fabulous. The repair guys all say to hold on to it because it is the best they have.
DirectTV used to have great service but has seriously gone down hill. I spent 11 months trying to get local tv channels on our service at our lake house. Each time I called I would spend a minimum of 50 minutes on hold trying to get this problem fixed. I threatend to leave (they didn’t care — they would charge me $250) talked to their legal department (again — pay us $250 and go!) and spoke to more than three supervisors, 5 representatives and god knows who else. One of the techs that came to the house told me he couldn’t fix it and I should move my service. Serioulsy a nightmare! Two weeks before Thanksgiving (with big football games and family gatherings looming) I decided to cancel and pay the fee. A supervisor was trying to understand the problem AGAIN (don’t these guys keep notes?? I mean I had spent untold HOURS begging these guys to fix the problem!) The guy says “now whats your zip code?” (The account is almost a year old and you know he can see it right in front of him) I tell him the zip code, he mumbles something, flips a switch and voila’ I have local stations. How utterly ridiculous. They had set it up incorrectly. I probably wasted 20 or 30 hours with them tryng to get it fixed. I am still furious over their stupidity and incompetence and its three months later.
Ok now that you know how I feel about their their service (terrible, awful, unbelievably bad), I have to say their picture quality is Great. We had cable before DirectTV and it was just crap compared to DirectTV. On Sunday we watched the Super Bowl on Uverse at a friends house. I thought the picture was good but it wasn’t as crisp and bright as mine at home. Could have been the TVs but I don’t really think so. It was a very high end TV. When we came home we watched the highlights on our TV and we both commented on the picture quality. We have the HD package and it is fabulous.
One other thing too. I am quite spoiled for the dvr receivers on the individual TVs. We have all ages in our house and most definitley don’t watch the same things. It would not work for us to to have only one DVR. (And yes, we actually would record 4 programs at once!) I can’t imagine not being able to fast forward, rewind or pause what I am watching. DVR is a privlege and I don’t want to be fighting for the remote over it.
I hope that Uverse figures out a way to deliver more DVR receivers because I would very much be interested in their service. I am still so p….. off at DirectTV that I would be happy to move my service — even if the picture quality is a little less.
Thanks for the feedback Beth. What you report as the DirecTV HD picture quality is usually what I hear from most readers. Dish Network HD is also rated highly by most who contact us. Your customer service experience with DirecTV though is pretty crazy. Good luck in the future with them-sounds like you dont want to give up that HD!
Just got uverse installed today.
Still have Directv and Cox cable (MIN TIER)
I had AT&T for land line and DSL elite. Had no trouble
with either, but my thought is to save a few bucks plus
I get a DVR (never had one) and $100 visa card plus
unlim. long distance on phone.
Install took about 6 hours. He had to run two cables
about 40 feet from the phone box to near where I
have my tv’s, and he wasn’t in a big hurry, which is
ok by me.
So far tv looks as good as Directv (I have an old 32 in.
tube Toshiba TV) NO HD yet. DVR works, but to early
to tell overall. I think it will beat the h… out of my
old tech. vcrs.
Some things I don’t like.
The 2wire modems (both DSL and now) suck for
wireless. They bounce from 54mbps to 1 mbps.
I got around this problem by coming out one of
the WIRED ports on the modem to a 54g Linksys
wireless router. IT IS ROCK SOLID 54 mbps.
Now I have to keep my new 2wire modem thing
on ALL THE TIME or I will lose my VOIP phone if
turned off. So much for GREEN. Oh they did provide
me with a free UPS for the modem, which I didn’t
need before with just a copper line phone.
The DVR so far is quiet, but if I put my ear to it I can
tell the disk is spinning all the time I think… more
anti-green.
I don’t like the fact, from what I hear, that of the
multiple ports out of the back of the dvr only
one is hot at a time. Directv and cable are not
this way. Maybe I can drive the cable out of the
DVR into an A/B switch so I can use two TV’s. I am single btw, so this would work for me.
I need to get a good channel listing of U200 to
combine and sort with my DIRECTV Choice Xtra
to see what I am missing and gaining.
STILL EVALUATING
I have been doing much research in recent days since I am moving into a new house where my options are Comcast, U-Verse, or satellite. I need basic broadband, HD channels, DVR & a second SD set (for the garage) since we don’t watch a lot of TV but I love my gearhead shows on on the Speed Channel. We don’t need local phone service (cell phones are fine) but a local land line is always nice. The compelling thing about DISH is that there are no box rental fees and it seems as though one box will meet my needs anyway. Their silver package gives me over 200 channels plus HD for $68.mo. non-promotion rate; since all promotions eventually end anyway. Of course then I’ll have to get a local phone line ($13.50) + local DSL ($30 for 1.5Mup/384Kdown for a total of $112/mo. I also have seen the guide offered by the DISH box and generally like it better than all others. Also DISH has the ability to add additional storage to the ViP 722 model box via a standard USB port. Any advice out here? I have heard a lot of bad experiences with U-verse. Also can anyone comment on the HD DVR capabilities of the DISH box vs. the U-verse box? Have also heard the the U-verse HD quality is generally worse than traditional cable or satellite. One good thing about U-verse is that there is no contract. Also I am leary of new and realatively unproven technology (U-verese) from a company that has not done TV programming in the past and is generally know for poor customer service vs. keeping each technology with resident experts (ATT for basic phone, local ISP for DSL, & DISH for satTV). Any and all thoughts please! I’d like to schedule installations for my move in date in mid march!
Worst mistake I’ve ever made. For a family with more than two tv’s, any children, or avid movie watchers – don’t waste your time or money.
*Uverse install took more than 9 hours – on the first day. Four subsequent visits, and still not running properly.
* Rate increase notice was sent less than 30 days after installation – raised prices for higher tier service and each additional receiver. Fees quoted for bundle substantially wrong. I now pay more than with Comcast for substantially the same service. I was quoted $30 for home phone service. My bill is $59 per month w/additional fees and taxes. Prior to uverse was only $60.
*Constant problems with freezing, pixilations, failed recordings or partial recordings. Picture quality is poor at best. Comcast hi-def was much better. Just upgraded to a 60-inch Pioneer and after Uverse install picture has shadows and very grainy.
*Limitation of watching only four standard tv’s or two HD tv’s frequently kicks someone off. With multiple HD TVs in one house, you can only turn on two TVs at once. Hard to manage with multiple children. Only option is to watch something previously recorded.
* Internet problems abound. Frequent freezing, inadequate standard firewall protection and virus protection. Switched from Comcast and had more viruses in one week than in five previous years. Even Uverse site is “Unable to Load” on a daily basis.
*Limitation to only one DVR also means very limited recording ability. 37 hours in high def – no capability to download or burn to DVD – and no preference when to delete. TIVO was substantially better, but will not work with Uverse.
And that’s just the beginning…
I HAVE INTERNET WITH YOU…DO YOU HAVE TO PUT UP A DISH FOR CABLE T V….I DON’T THINK THEY WOULD ALLOW ME TO DO IT WHERE I LIVE SINCE COMMUNI-COM IS HERE ..IF THERE IS ANOTHER WAY , WHAT WOULD BE THE LOWEST PRICE AND CHANNELS …
I had DTV for 5 years but was annoyed at the loss of picture during storms. I was talked into switching to ATT U-Verse in February as it was fiber optic and the signal would not be affected by weather. I got the 300 package with internet and phone. What a joke. I live in the Fort Lauderdale area. My tv has frozen for between a minute and a half and 20 minutes many times a day for the last three months. When it is not doing this, the sound arbitrarily goes off for 45-90 second intervals. Also when this happens you can forget the internet as they are on the same cable. I have not seen the promised higher speed internet either and my net bill is about $25 higher than with Direct TV and Bellsouth internet. I have called the problem line during these episodes and have been told they would run line checks within 24 hours but nothing has changed. It’s back to Direct TV for me.
Thanks everyone for your comments…. ATT knocked at the door today with fiber u-verse service in our neighborhood. Sounded great to bundle everything/remove risk of storm loss of service/and add video-on-demand. I would’ve been switching from DISH’s Ultimate package to their top tier. I love DISH DVR features, and have 4 DVR’s. These are old units now – but they work well and the family can program them.
In the end, I cannot tolerate poor customer service (and my pause live tv in any room). After your reviews, comments… I am sticking with DISH. Thank you.
We just had uvers installed on Saturday, phone, internet and TV. We got the U300 package. I was excited after talking to the salesperson. They did a good job explaining their system. After the install, we found out hey did a good job omitting information as well. We didn’t know you can’t pause live TV only at the DVR setup, we didn’t know that we could not watch HDTV on more than one TV at a time.(We still do not know why for sure, but the most popular excuse is we are to far from the box.) We didn’t know that we could not control the DVR from another box other than watching a recorded program. (We are told that is about to change though. )They also choose not to share the fact that there are issues with caller ID on the uverse system. About one in 20 calls actually show up, the rest just say “No Data”. We are told they are aware of the problem, but have no idea when that is going to be fixed. Their customer service is the worst I have ever dealt with. Just trying to get a real person on the phone is insane, let alone one that can actually help you. Even just trying to call them is a chore. Their voice prompt system is unwieldly to say they least. The computer tells you to “State your problem” not telling you it on reponds to 5 diffrent commands, so this leaves you yelling at a computer like an idiot. Plus the TV freezes up. I watched a couple movies this weekend on VOD and had to shut it off and turn it back on 7 times. Sometimes it started right were it left off, other times I had to go all the way through the menu and select the movie again and fast forward to where it froze. The internet seems to be ok so far. Keep your fingers crossed! All in all we have had Uverse for a little of 48 hours and we are not impressed.
I was looking into Hughsnet as I’m out in the sticks and we don’t get cable. I’m currently using Verizon MiFi and it seems to get pretty good signals. We may stick with that.
I would advise any current Direct TV customers who are considering U-verse to walk carefully. AT&T will promise you the moon, and deliver you a huge pile of dirt. From install delays to messed up equipment and everything in between, it just seems like U-verse isn’t quite there yet. I cant say I had any sort of critical failures when it came to my Uverse installation, but it certainly was sloppy and unprofessional all around. Its the little things that drive a person nuts until they finally throw up your hands and say “Give me back my Direct TV!”
I had AT&T for land line and DSL elite. Had no trouble
with either, but my thought is to save a few bucks plus
I get a DVR (never had one) and $100 visa card plus
unlim. long distance on phone.
I watched a couple movies this weekend on VOD and had to shut it off and turn it back on 7 times. Sometimes it started right were it left off, other times I had to go all the way through the menu and select the movie again and fast forward to where it froze. The internet seems to be ok so far.
Have had u-verse for about a year. Just got a post card saying my rate is going up $5.00(i have u-verse 200) this makes direct tv about 50% cheaper, how can I not switch?
I wish I could order about a dozen to twenty channels and be done with the rest.
We went from Direct TV to U-verse at the end of October. We have had nothing but trouble with the phone for the 1st couple of months. Either you could not call out or no-one could call in. I had AT&T for phone service and internet for years but when the u-verse was installed everything went to heck. I was on with them every 3rd to 4th day to reset the phone. People calling us got the message that we were unable to get their call. After the 1st month of this going on someone thought the RG that everything goes through was reconditioned and we actually got a new one. we had no problem for 10 days which was the longest we had gone and the process started all over again. My Husband was getting more and more upset as was I since I was the one that was on the phone with the technicians all the time. I even tried talking to the serviceman when they were in the neighborhood working on the lines. I finally got the direct number to the over the phone techs and did not have to go through the phone system. The price is almost $100 cheaper per month compare to direct but the bull is overwhelming. The HD is not as good but the internet is excellent and fast. After going through all of this I have one more thing to offer is that the phone has to be reset from a button on the RG. Also at any given time when you are using the phone it suddenly disconnects you in the middle of a phone conversation and then you can’t call out or no one in. After 3 months of AT&T u-verse the phone goes out several times a month and still disconnects on you when you are using the phone 9x out of 10. My husband and I are on a fixed income and thought to save a few bucks but you get what you pay for. They will tell you this technology is too new wait till they get the bugs out. As for the caller ID part it isn’t even available in our neighborhood.
Don’t buy UVERSE. It constantly freezes, then needs resetting multiple times a day. The DVR misses recordings. It’s horrible. Even my internet is slower and hiccups more often. The previous AT&T package with Dish Network was much more reliable.
i am a vauled custamer of bresnan for about 5 to 6 years now,why am i paying more then your new custamers, i pay 124.24 a month and a new person pays less then a 100.00 as advertised on tv. i can go to my cell phone for 30.00 a month and dish network for 29.29, and internet for 19.95
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