U-Verse vs. Cox?

[Urban Pioneer]

A couple of things. I saw a AT&T technician at the neighborhood node and stopped to talk to him about it. Also, the node is unlocked, so I was able to confirm this.

[okatty]

A couple of things. I saw a AT&T technician at the neighborhood node and stopped to talk to him about it. Also, the node is unlocked, so I was able to confirm this.

Have Cox TV and internet now. So is it worth the hassle of changing over to U-verse TV if we are fiberoptic in our area in your view? Have 4 TV's with 2 cox HD / DVR boxes now.

[LakeEffect]

Have Cox TV and internet now. So is it worth the hassle of changing over to U-verse TV if we are fiberoptic in our area in your view? Have 4 TV's with 2 cox HD / DVR boxes now.

From my friend's experiences, yes, it is.

AT&T has some fiber in our historic neighborhood, but not on my block. I really, really want them to come in...

[bchris02]

You do have to be careful with U-Verse and know what you are getting, especially with the Internet connection. The salespeople act like its all the same but for many neighborhoods without fiber optics its classic ADSL. Also in some areas the TV service is provided by satellite dish. Their deceptive marketing really turns me off and thus I will never have U-Verse unless there are no other options.

[SoonerDave]

You do have to be careful with U-Verse and know what you are getting, especially with the Internet connection. The salespeople act like its all the same but for many neighborhoods without fiber optics its classic ADSL. Also in some areas the TV service is provided by satellite dish. Their deceptive marketing really turns me off and thus I will never have U-Verse unless there are no other options.

I'm wishing (probably "wishful thinking" is more like it ) that Google Fiber might actually get expanded in to OKC. Fibre to the home is such a huge game-changer; however, I think I'd rather dye my hair purple than pay one penny to ATT for anything they sell.

[Urban Pioneer]

You do have to be careful with U-Verse and know what you are getting, especially with the Internet connection. The salespeople act like its all the same but for many neighborhoods without fiber optics its classic ADSL. Also in some areas the TV service is provided by satellite dish. Their deceptive marketing really turns me off and thus I will never have U-Verse unless there are no other options.

Agreed. That is why it is important to do some research and ask people other than the sales people. Over the last few days, I have had to deal with Cox, Uvers, and DirecTV. DirecTv wins them all when it comes to forthrightness. However, if you can get actual fiber-based Uverse, still the way to go in this market in terms of bundling. Very price competitive too.

[OU Adonis]

I loved the prices of AT&T but didn't like the service problems I have. I went back to Cox.

[okatty]

Uverse service truck was outside my house today and I talked to tech. He said as a general rule for existing neighborhoods it is fiber to the box and then copper to the house. He said in new construction neighborhoods it is more likely to be fiber all way to house. Unfortunately ours would be copper to house, not fiber.

[zookeeper]

Uverse service truck was outside my house today and I talked to tech. He said as a general rule for existing neighborhoods it is fiber to the box and then copper to the house. He said in new construction neighborhoods it is more likely to be fiber all way to house. Unfortunately ours would be copper to house, not fiber.

But, it doesn't matter! They are simply laying the "fiber to the house" infrastructure. AT&T is NOT providing those speeds in Oklahoma City. Until they throw that switch, it doesn't matter how the wiring is from the node to the house. So rest easy - you may have it before they even throw the switch. By the way, on AT&T's page promoting the "U-verse with GigaPower" service, the cities are clearly laid out on a map where it is available, where it is planned, and where they are exploring. Oklahoma City is not on the list. It will eventually be here, they are obviously building the infrastructure, but it's very expensive to throw that switch.
Future Plans & Current Locations for U-verse with AT&T GigaPower

[okatty]

But, it doesn't matter! They are simply laying the "fiber to the house" infrastructure. AT&T is NOT providing those speeds in Oklahoma City. Until they throw that switch, it doesn't matter how the wiring is from the node to the house. So rest easy - you may have it before they even throw the switch. By the way, on AT&T's page promoting the "U-verse with GigaPower" service, the cities are clearly laid out on a map where it is available, where it is planned, and where they are exploring. Oklahoma City is not on the list. It will eventually be here, they are obviously building the infrastructure, but it's very expensive to throw that switch.
Future Plans & Current Locations for U-verse with AT&T GigaPower

From what Urban Pioneer said above I thought it did matter. Once they throw the switch won't it matter if you have fiber or copper to your house?

[zookeeper]

From what Urban Pioneer said above I thought it did matter. Once they throw the switch won't it matter if you have fiber or copper to your house?

Absolutely! One gig up and down is unbelievably fast. But just having the infrastructure doesn't open the pipes. AT&T has to do that and all they are doing now is carefully building out their infrastructure.

[tfvc.org]

From what Urban Pioneer said above I thought it did matter. Once they throw the switch won't it matter if you have fiber or copper to your house?

I second (third) that. I worked for a cable company in Florida for almost 10 years, and I can tell you it is all based on available bandwidth. Fiber to the home is a marketing ploy to make you pay more for basically the same thing. The ISPs still can control and shape your bandwidth however they want both at the main plant through generalization shaping (making some ports faster/slower than others) to controlling your individual speed at their modem. Also if the ISP's plant's hardware isn't enough or able to handle the increased bandwidth and throughput that slows things down considerably as well. When the company I worked for rolled out docsys 3 which gave speeds above 10mbs there was a ton of equipment that needed to be replaced before we could offer that service. Cable is already a hybrid fiber to the pole system, from there it gets changed to coax. That little bit of difference of distance from the pole to your house or that fiber going to your house isn't going to affect speeds at all. My internal network is all copper gigabit with four of my connections being aggregated to be 2 gigabit. The biggest advantage to fiber is that you can carry a ton of bandwidth over a long distance without a need for a bunch of repeaters or bridges in between. When it comes to the home run, fiber vs copper isn't going to make much difference if it and the plant behind it is properly installed and implemented.

[okatty]

I second (third) that. I worked for a cable company in Florida for almost 10 years, and I can tell you it is all based on available bandwidth. Fiber to the home is a marketing ploy to make you pay more for basically the same thing. The ISPs still can control and shape your bandwidth however they want both at the main plant through generalization shaping (making some ports faster/slower than others) to controlling your individual speed at their modem. Also if the ISP's plant's hardware isn't enough or able to handle the increased bandwidth and throughput that slows things down considerably as well. When the company I worked for rolled out docsys 3 which gave speeds above 10mbs there was a ton of equipment that needed to be replaced before we could offer that service. Cable is already a hybrid fiber to the pole system, from there it gets changed to coax. That little bit of difference of distance from the pole to your house or that fiber going to your house isn't going to affect speeds at all. My internal network is all copper gigabit with four of my connections being aggregated to be 2 gigabit. The biggest advantage to fiber is that you can carry a ton of bandwidth over a long distance without a need for a bunch of repeaters or bridges in between. When it comes to the home run, fiber vs copper isn't going to make much difference if it and the plant behind it is properly installed and implemented.

Good info! Thanks!