XFINITY vs U-Verse: Deciding on a TV and Internet provider

Adam Zwibelman
Latest posts by Adam Zwibelman (see all)

… or perhaps another title for this article: One man’s journey to cut TV and Internet costs by testing three systems in one month.

As the Miami summer heat and humidity reached soaring heights, so too did my monthly Cable costs skyrocket. Little did I know my lovely wife had added some premium channels to our Comcast account allowing her to keep up with Game of Thrones and True Blood. Once discovered, I decided it was time to explore other options for TV, hopefully to decrease our expenses while keeping the wife happy — it is true what they say, Happy Wife, Happy Life.

The Three Choices

Being that I was on Comcast, there were two other choices to explore: Satellite or U-Verse. To the former, as residents of South Florida, where the tropical rains throughout the year wreak havoc on the Satellite-based TV signals, this option was instantly discarded and U-Verse became the default choice of change.

This article explores my month long journey from Comcast, to U-Verse, and ultimately back to Comcast and the pros and cons I discovered along the way.

It is important to note that before starting this experiment, I was on the basic XFINITY services from Comcast, which I’ll describe as Comcast Traditional service. When all was said and done by the end of the month, I was on Comcast’s newer TV\DVR services identified as XFINITY X1– the difference between the two I will describe later.    

ATT vs Comcast: The Big Difference? How these services are delivered to your door.

ATT’s U-Verse has been out for several years now and yet, compared to Comcast, it is still relatively new and going through “growing pains”. Television, Internet, and Telephone services are brought to a central point in the neighborhood via underground fiber cables. From there, the signal jumps back on traditional phone lines which deliver the services to your house.

Comcast uses coaxial cable to deliver TV, Internet, and Telephone to the home or business. This medium allowed for greater bandwidth providing a solid foundation to support upgrades (faster speeds and expanded services) over time.  This has been apparent most recently as Comcast has doubled their base Internet speeds while increasing their premium tier to 120Mbps and, in some locations, as high as 500Mbps. These bandwidth speeds are significantly faster than what AT&T can currently offer.

When looking at other comparisons, it should be noted that each service offers unique features based on the equipment/technology. As a quick example, AT&T offers wireless TV receivers which allow much greater flexibility as to where one can setup their Television.

Decision: Switching to AT&T U-verse

att-u-verse-logoCuriosity and the desire to try something (never pass on a learning experience) led me to the decision to switch to AT&T U-verse. I was attracted  to this option based on the fact that, offered as the introductory package for one year, I could get more channels, more receivers, newer technology, and faster internet than what I had previously with Comcast — all for a lower monthly rate.

First Step: Installing U-Verse

The technicians arrived right at 8am on the install date scheduled to start between 8 and 10am. It took them around 4 hours to get everything working as they had to call an outside line tech to fix some line quality issues. Once focusing on the inside, only the main receiver needs to be hardwired to the modem  which can be accomplished via coax or Ethernet cable. The other receivers (in my case, those in the bedroom and living room) can work off the wireless network and don’t require any additional cables helping to make the final steps of installation to proceed quickly.  In reflection, I was very pleased with the install.

U-Verse: Service description & favorable comparisons

  • Internet – I had subscribed to their fastest internet tier which is advertised at 45mbps download and 6 mbps upload. My speed tests over wired Ethernet averaged around 40 and 5. This is more than enough speed for just about anyone. ·
  • TV Subscription Package – The U450 TV package is their highest tier. It includes all of the premium movie channels, but does leave out some sports packages and a few HD premium channels which can be added on. ·
  • TV Guide and Channel Features – The TV guide menu is much more modern looking than Comcast’s traditional TV guide menu which looks terribly dated in comparison. There are several ways to view the TV guide, but my favorite is to scroll one channel at a time while continuing watch your main program. A bar appears at the bottom of the screen with a small box that shows live video of the program (like picture in picture) with the channel and program description. This feature allows you to channel surf without changing the channel. That way you can see if the show is on commercial before you change the channel. There is also have a sports mix channel in which you can see what is happening live on four sports channels at once. This is a great thing for sports junkies. ·
  • DVR and Simultaneous Recording\Watching – The AnyRoom DVR works as great as advertised. You can watch and record up to 4 HD channels at once. This was a welcome upgrade from the Comcast traditional DVR service in which we would often have recording\watching conflicts. With Comcast traditional and one DVR, you can only record 2 channels at once and couldn’t watch a third program on the DVR box if two were recording. ·
  • Wireless Receiver – Less cables! Easy Install! I also like the idea of being able to move one of my wireless receivers anywhere inside the home and maybe even outside.

U-Verse: Less than favorable comparisons

  • IPTV – U-Verse delivers TV an entirely different way than Comcast, via IPTV technology. Where Comcast is continually delivering all channels to your box, U-Verse streams them to your home as you select them. Not a total con, IPTV allows some nice multi-channel live stream features that I described in the previous section, but it also comes at a cost. Live TV is noticeably delayed compared to Comcast. You could be watching the same program on two different boxes on U-Verse and they would be out of sync by a few seconds. Generally, the TV picture was a bit softer picture and there was often pixelation seen in fast moving sports, action movies and close ups. As all TV traffic passes through the modem (since it is IPTV). If there are problems with the U-Verse modem, then there are problems with Internet and TV.
    ·
  • OnDemand – There is less OnDemand content on U-Verse. However, with the AnyRoom DVR and ability to record more shows, it would be an acceptable compromise.

U-Verse – The Verdict

I was willing to overlook the flaws in U-Verse for the upgrades and new features I was getting compared to Comcast. The deal breaker was that my service would cut in and out intermittently. I had at least half a dozen techs come to my home to troubleshoot it and they were not able to fix it. I found AT&T support to be a helpful and relatively pleasant experience compared to Comcast. However, Comcast has always eventually fixed problems I have had within a few days. I gave U-Verse 30 days and they were not able to deliver reliable service.

One of the main issues with U-Verse is that they are trying to mix new technology with old. AT&T is able to deliver U-Verse because of their newer fiber optics network. However it then relies on old telephone wires to deliver the service from their fiber optics network to the outside of the home. It seemed to me there is a disconnect between the U-Verse inside techs and the outside line techs. The could never pinpoint the issue and pointed the finger at each other until I decided to cancel my service. My feeling is that it is a dice roll whether their hybrid technology works for you. I know many people that do have U-Verse and it works well for them. I was not in that camp.

Back to Comcast

X1-PlatformWhile I had seen several commercials for their X1 service, I had thought it was only available in a few markets and was unaware it was even available in my area until I called Comcast. They offered an X1 package that was competitive in price and features to U-Verse. .

X1 – The Install

Comcast did not make the best first impression; the tech was late by an hour and a half. After some testing, it was determined that I would need all new coax cable in order to support the new service as well as to replace the old Comcast junction box and various equipment outside the home. A few additional technical notes: the X1 service requires a power adapter inside the home to connect back outside to the junction box and a dedicated line is required for the Internet modem as line-splitters are not supported. It would have been nice to know these things in advance so that I could have planned on spending the whole day with the tech. I had incorrectly assumed it would have been a simple install of new receivers. The charge was $120 for the new cabling and took around 4 hours. It took another hour or so to get the service working as the tech had to swap out the new boxes for some reason. The next day I had to spend a few hours with tech support on the phone to get all my receivers working properly.

X1 – Service description & favorable comparisons

  • Internet – Right around the time I switched to U-Verse, Comcast doubled their internet speeds – making their lower internet tier faster than U-Verse’s fastest. I have the “slower” 50 mbps tier. I am getting around 55 down and 11 up.
  • TV Subscription Package – I am getting a similar TV package to U-Verse. It is one below their highest tier but I added HBO, Showtime, Starz and the sports package.
  • TV Guide and Channel features – The guide is radically different than the old Comcast guide. While it lacks some of the features of U-Verse, such as the picture in picture channel browsing, it has some nice upgrades and a modern look compared to the old guide. One of the highlights is that you can bring up the guide on the right of the screen in a side by side view with the channel you are watching. You can also bring up apps to the right side. The choice of apps seem limited right now, but there is a sports app that you can bring up which shows you scores and allows you to switch to that game if you are subscribed to that channel. The Last button on the remote brings up several of your last viewed channels on the bottom of the screen, instead of taking you directly back to your last channel. So it takes any extra button press to go back to your last channel, but comes in handy if you are flipping between more than two channels.
  • DVR and Simultaneous Recording\Watching – The AnyRoom DVR works basically the same as U-Verse. You can watch and record up to 5 HD channels at once.

X1 – Less than favorable comparisons

  • New Remote – The new X1 remotes can only be programed to control your TV in addition to the X1 receiver. Even then, you can only control the power and volume of the TV. With the old Comcast remotes, I could change the TV input and control my audio receiver. I could do just about everything I needed with the one Comcast (or U-Verse) remote. Now I need two or three remotes handy.
  • New Wiring – The new wiring requirement is also a con compared to the relative ease of a new U-Verse install which can utilize wireless receivers to eliminate a lot of cabling.  U-Verse does not require a separate cable for a power adapter to run outside the home or a separate cable for the modem.
  • DVR Unit – While most people only use HDMI cables, I found it odd that the larger main DVR receiver lacked component cables while the smaller AnyRoom DVR receivers did have those connections. The main DVR unit is noticeably larger than U-Verse main DVR.

X1 – The Verdict

Although I have only had the service a few days, after a few glitches with the install, it is now working flawlessly. The picture is better than U-Verse and, I would suggest that it is even better than what I remember the regular Comcast picture looking like.

Conclusion

I took the long way to get to X1, but I am glad I made it there. If you currently have Comcast, I recommend taking a look at X1 if you want the AnyRoom DVR service and the ability to watch and record more shows at once. If you have U-Verse and it is working for you, then it’s probably not worth switching. From my experience, U-Verse offers lower prices, but it is always a good idea to price check each periodically online to make sure you are getting competitive pricing. Definitely call your provider every 6 months to a year to make sure you are getting the best promotions. Tell them you are considering switching if they don’t seem interested in giving you a better deal. Note: I do not desire a home phone line and am only comparing TV and Internet bundles. However, even if you don’t want the phone line, you might find that bundling in phone will actually be less than a TV and Internet only bundle depending on how many channels and options you are looking for. Just be careful when the promotion is up, because then you will probably be paying a lot more.

Further thoughts: The Extras – Apps and Online Streaming

Although I do not use the Apps available for TV very much, there are some very useful apps to manage recordings on your DVR and watch live and OnDemand shows on Android and iOS for both Comcast and U-Verse. They are pretty similar in what they offer. The U-Verse app on iOS allows you to watch more live channels than the Comcast app. It was almost like having a another receiver on my iPad. Both also allow you to also download certain shows and movies to your device to watch later. Comcast has more content available to download. With U-Verse, you can also watch certain shows you have on your DVR from iOS or Android. X1 has a similar feature called Cloud DVR, but it is not yet available in my area. Both also have around 50 to 100 live channels that you can stream from a browser via PC. Often you are limited to what you can do and view on these apps based on whether you on your in home wifi, outside wifi, or on cellular. I expect that the usefulness and content available to these apps will grow quickly as the demand to have our tablets and smartphones do more also grows.