The Observation Deck

So, after ATT spent millions of dollars on littering the city with their shitty looking boxes and peppering me with unending snail mail ads to check out their new Uverse, I call. They come out,after 7 hours they explain that I am too far from one of their boxes so I am crap outta luck (thanks anyway). Really? WHat is the point? Do I live in BFE? No, I live in the middle of Lakewood and I can see their shitty box from my front steps.
So, what the fuck?

John

I would like to thank you for proving we censor nothing!

We got screwed by AT&T, and council greased the skids.

For the record, Bullock and Powers were not there, and Dever was against it.

As Dennis Dunn looked at council months after stepping down and said, "I feel so
odd down here talking to you up there, I feel like I should be up there, I turned to
Steve and said, "Did he just say grab your ankles Lakewood?" How does COX deliver
cheaper, faster, better, more dependable, less smoke, less noise without those massive
beige hazards?


FWIW



.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:How does COX deliver
cheaper, faster, better, more dependable, less smoke, less noise without those massive
beige hazards?


FWIW



.

Simple. AT$T is a phone company trying to get into the broadband game. When they realised that the cable company had the infrastructure to deliver broadband that beat the crap out of there last generation DSL service, they had to do something... They could have taken the Verizon approach, (a more expensive upfront investment) run fiber to the home, call it FiOS and then profit from a quality service. Instead they took the cheap way out and tried to milk the dying last mile copper.

Would we have been better served by big red? Who knows. But there would have been much less of the off-level crap-tastic boxes stinking up the joint.

The other choice? They have done nothing but raise my rates in the 7 plus years I have been a subscriber. Quality service though, so i can not hate too much.

I had the ATT-UVERSE salesmen knocking on my door again last Saturday. They told me that they had a new rate plan. After giving me a quote, they wanted me to sign on immediately. I asked them for a card, and told them I would think about it.

BUT, THEY DIDN'T HAVE A BUSINESS CARD! They wanted me to immediately change essential cable, internet, and phone services, commit to spending $1500/ year on a Saturday morning, all while I was listening to Car Talk.... and they can't properly identify themselves?!!! posting.php?mode=reply&f=7&t=9604#

Who the THIRD PARTY is that ATT contracts to push their product?

I had a somewhat provocative chick try and sell me a few months ago. Came damn near close to signing up for anything she was selling!

OK I know this is a pain in the butt...

If you call COX they will do everything possible to sign you up and keep you with them. Their
billing sucks in so much as they will not give you the lowest price, but their deals run for
six months and I have never not been able to keep our total package to a great price. Way
better that Direct TV had them for year or DISH had them at the office. They will all try to
keep you, but COX will give you the "sigh up specials" anytime.

FWIW


.

I've had both Cox and Uverse.

Cox is a little friendlier to deal with because they've got the local office in Parma, AT&T is definitely more "corporate". But really, you shouldn't ever have to deal with either if they did their job right installing and running their service so it's not really a huge issue.

Uverse TV destroys Cox. Pricing is better, selection (especially HD) is better. DVR is better. But especially the software and user interface is light years ahead of Cox. I sometimes wonder if Cox (and all the other cable companies) are going back in time to 1988 and grabbing some old Atari programmers to design their ugly, non-intuitive UIs. AT&T also offers the ability to stream shows online or on your smart phone.

Uverse Voice again is better just from a UI and intuitive side. They also offer smart phone apps to manage voicemail, etc. Quality-wise I'm sure they're both fine. But to be honest, if you're going to do VoIP, don't go with either, they're both super over-priced.

Cox is way better with broadband. Besides that they can offer higher speeds, I found the internet speeds to be more consistent, ping times better, and overall responsiveness just ahead of the game with Cox vs Uverse.

Ultimately, I recently dropped Uverse and went back to Cox. But I only have broadband (50/5) with Cox. I get all my TV through Hulu, Netflix, and other streaming places. Save $100-$150 a month by not wasting money on 100's of channels I don't need anyway.

So the provider that's better, really just depends on what is most important to you.

Bryan:

Thank you for doing the leg-work on comparing Cox and ATT, and sharing your opinion. You have answered the important questions that I had about Cable verses DSL internet response. I had been weighing whether to try the ATT internet, even though I suspected that the coax cable is a better medium than that 1500 feet of wire from those conspicuous ATT routers.

Like you, it is the internet that I value and not the television content. (Stewart and Colbert are on past my bedtime, but I never miss them on the internet!)

John V.

(In my previous post, I tried to insert a SMILE, but it did not work properly for me.)

John--- Just take your pointing finger and do this------

They come to my door and i tell them my story."unbelievable" they say. "We will talk to some people and get back to you". Have they called me? No. Att pursued me...I was sucked in.....then they shot me down.....they come over to apologize and say they'll call me.....and I am let down once again....I'm done dating.

John--- cold weather means no provocative chicks. Stick with Over The Air (free) and reevaluate your options when Spring breaks.
Stan

Jim O'Bryan wrote:OK I know this is a pain in the butt...

If you call COX they will do everything possible to sign you up and keep you with them. Their
billing sucks in so much as they will not give you the lowest price, but their deals run for
six months and I have never not been able to keep our total package to a great price. Way
better that Direct TV had them for year or DISH had them at the office. They will all try to
keep you, but COX will give you the "sigh up specials" anytime.

FWIW
.

I found this not to be true. I have been a Cox basic cable and broadband customer for years. I get their junk mail every week and their bundles, but anytime I've called about it, I was told I wasn't eligible because I was an existing customer.

When I recently got a new TV and wanted to add HD service, I called Cox first. They wanted to add $20/month to what I currently pay for HD and DVR. With Dish or Directv, I could cut my bill in half the first year, and the second year pay about what I'm paying now. When I mentioned this to Cox, they just said, "Well, if all you care about is money, we can't compete with the satellite companies." Adios, Cox.

I have several friends in Lakewood with AT&T Uverse and they all love it, but it's not available on my street.

Honestly, all of these providers have such great deals for new customers only, you're almost getting ripped off if you stay with anyone for more than 2 years.