AT&T Not All That Bad

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@Legirons@  wrote:

It is somewhat difficult to find anything positive about ATT on this forum so let me be one of the minorities to say I really like ATT U-Verse and for the most part ATT customer service. We had u-verse installed a couple months ago and like almost everyone else there were some issues, however, all were resolved in a timely manner.  Just to list a couple; one of the TV’s wouldn’t work properly with the HDMI cable but did with component cables.  I suggested maybe it was the TV as did one of the ATT tech’s.  On one communication I had with an online chat agent it was suggested he send a new Cisco STB which I rejected because I had already swapped two around with no success (The agent was willing to do anything he could to resolve the issue).  I replaced the TV and HDMI works on the new one.  I wanted to replace the old anyway. Recently, I ordered a “point anywhere remote” which didn’t function properly (never had one so wasn’t sure what to expect). On a Saturday morning I had a chat session with an agent describing the problems I had with the remote, he promptly shipped a replacement (remember this is a Saturday) at no cost to me.  I received the remote yesterday and, wow it works great.  My experience with AT&T on a scale of 1 to  10 (10 being the best) is an 8+. 

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 Thanks for taking the time to post your positive results.

As far as your HDMI issue goes, it was not your TV. AT&T has had issues with their implementation of HDMI for several years. The component conection work-around is suitable if your TV has that type of input, although you then have to find an alternative path for the audio signal.

Now for the remote. A "point anywhere" remote normally uses RF (radio waves) to communicate with devices. As far as I know, Uverse STBs only operate with IR (infra-red light, line-of-sight) remotes.

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@Computer-Joe wrote:

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As far as your HDMI issue goes, it was not your TV. AT&T has had issues with their implementation of HDMI for several years. 

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I would argue that it's not so cut and dried.  Interoperability on any standard is a two-way street.  Since AT&T works with a bunch of TV's (including the one he replaced the troublesome one with), it's not wholy broken.  It may not work with some vendors who had a different interpretation of some parts of the specification.  Those TV vendors may or may not work with some other equipment.  Very similar things occur with the initial shipments of all sorts of devices that have to interoperate.  The 802.11n (pre-release) standard comes to mind.  Fax machines also have models that are inexplicably unable to send to other particular machines.

AT&T sells a U-verse compatible Point Anywhere remote, which is indeed an RF remote.  It comes with a dongle that is plugged into the STB's USB port for power and repeats the RF commands with an IR emitting LED.  It also has an IR emitter of its own for use when controlling TVs.

@Legirons- Glad to hear you got a replacement point anywhere remote that works so well. I thought they had been discontinued. They are terribly underpowered on the RF side & do an RF to IR conversion at the front of the STB, so they can easily suffer from IR problems if the STB is not well hidden.

My main reason for posting is to warn you that it does not take very much for the battery voltage to drop enough for the remote to work very poorly. This may have been the problem with your first remote. If you are finding poor response, change the batteries.

I am adding more details below. Also, if you want a super point anywhere remote, get a Logitech Harmony Smart Control. For details see this thread - https://forums.att.com/t5/Using-your-U-verse-TV-Remote/Logitech-Harmony-Smart-Control-Remote/m-p/4028946#M2963

IR Issues

Going back 5-6 years there are many posts about IR interference. Remedies included taping over the  IR sensor, hiding the STB, turning off auto brightness on the TV.

A common fault was the info button press corrupting to an  STB mute action. The number of reports of this have totally fallen away. My personal initial primary problem was getting the zero to register. But, one day long ago that just went away.

Niles Audio Corp. makes IR repeaters & has a video on their web site showing the fragility of the IR coding that is used for U-verse & other boxes.  They said their new line of repeaters could handle it. Oddly, a U-verse customer posted in this community  that they had a NIles install that was not working & after they contacted Niles they did not get any satisfactory resolution.

I came to believe that the IR sensor is too sensitive, That the DVR is worse than other STBs. That command type buttons are worse than the number buttons. That, somehow software updates can make it better or worse, So, it is a moving target. Hard to pin down.

I noticed that the U-verse remote does work better than my Logitech Harmony model 700. I looked at the IR signal through a digital camera. It appeared to me that the Harmony IR signal is stronger than the U-verse remote. This reinforces my theory that the IR sensor is too sensitive.

Recently, my most common problem was FF and Play Buttons often corrupted to chan up and chan down more than six times a night while watching recorded shows, exclusively.

I happened to notice that I had a specific kind of "duct tape" covering the blue light on the STB. Actually, it just looks like duct tape, but is electrical tape available at the Home Depot in the electrical dept. - http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-2-in-x-150-ft-Vinyl-Electrical-Bundling-Tape-Silver-30002664/202741845#specifications

This tape has a degree of transparency. I thought I would use it to cover the IR sensor. The remote has never worked better.  In over 100 evenings since I applied the tape - watching recordings while FF through the ads - I have not had one chan up - chan down corruption .  Previously, there would have been at least 6x100=600 occurrences.

Almost all button  presses are accepted & none are changed to a different action.


RF Issues

It should not be a surprise, but it is, that half the problems with the RF remote are IR. I run an STB well hidden for a second TV. I had the IR sensor covered with black tape. I replaced the black tape with the "duct tape" & saw an immediate improvement in response to menu buttons. The number buttons were already good - see below for that solution.

The STB using RF must be hidden due to the dongle conversion of RF to IR. If it is not hidden it is subject to the following problems:

IR corruption - Ironically, the RF remote was often offered as a resolution for IR problems. But, if the STB is not hidden nothing has changed to eliminate theI IR corruption problem. If the corrupting light can be seen by the STB IR sensor it will continue to corrupt the IR signal.

If the STB IR sensor can see IR from another remote, it will respond to it.

If another STB can see the IR generated by the dongle, it will respond to it.

Note that hidden means the IR does not see outside light - If you have an optical repeater(like the Niles mentioned above) it is IR subject to corruption. If you have an IR receiver that produces RF to go through a wall, it is still IR subject to corruption. Any optical link open to the room is still open to IR corruption.

Only if the remote is RF (like the point anywhere remote) transmitted to a well hidden device will it ward off IR corruption. The ultimate solution is a wireless remote app. These are available, but incomplete & other devices do not yet support wireless remote. But, the Buddy TV remote can be used for a u-verse STB.

Previously, I found the RF remote lacking in RF power -  in the same room, twelve feet away, hidden only by a thin sheet of cardboard.  One method to increase RF power is to hold the remote under your chin while pressing a button - using your head as an antenna.

A better way is this antenna placed in the battery compartment - http://www.amazon.com/Cellular-Innovations-A-BOOSTER-Universal-Antenna/dp/B00009WCAP/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1366128630&sr=8-8&keywords=cell+phone+booster

With this antenna, the channel numbers are almost always accepted. With the "duct tape" in place, the other buttons work almost every time. The remote now works better than ever.

But, recently, I discovered that weakened batteries triggers poor results due to low power. If the remote starts acting up go for fresh batteries.  Before I realized the batteries were low I was getting better RF by holding it against a metal arm of a reading light.

To increase RF sensitivity - Cut off the base and one leg of a wire coat hanger (one piece). Hold the short leg perpendicular to the dongle and wrap the longer end around the dongle a few turns until the two perpendicular ends are about the same length  (about 3”). Cut the longer one to the same length as the shorter one.

STB Issues

Once IR and RF issues are resolved, there are timing issues with the STB to contend with. Numbers process fast and Menu items process slow. You need quick, light  touch on some numbers to avoid duplicates and a slow, strong press on menu activities. Effort is required to  suppress the urge to press again while waiting for a response. It takes concentration to get effective results. Frequently a second press immediately cancels a slow responding first press. Current IR and RF issues amplify the effect of the timing issue.