Mentor
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10 Messages
DVR stuttering nightmare
I'm extremely frustrated with my U-Verse service and desperately need to vent.
For the past months, I've been having severe stuttering/freezing while playing back recorded programs. This occurs on all TVs in my house. Live TV, On Demand, Internet and Voice all work fine. However, this totally ruins my TV experience because I only watch recorded shows, never Live TV and rarely On Demand.
Last week after I finally decided it couldn't possibly be a temporary issue, I called support. I got the automated voice saying how busy they were which walked me through restarting the system. This did not fix my problem. Not wanting to waste more time with an automated voice support system, I tried chat support.
The chat support rep was quite helpful although extremely slow, and over the course of an hour he had me do a factory reset of my DVR box and when that didn't fix the issue, ordered me a replacement. The replacement arrived a couple of days ago (the setup of which was NOT plug and play, I might add) and several resets later now that it's actually able to record, I'm once again having stuttering and freezing.
I'm beyond ticked off right now, and if I didn't hate Comcast even worse and had another option, I'd drop AT&T immediately. The truth is, though, until this stuttering started I loved U-Verse aside from the button lag.
Any suggestions from techs or someone who has been through this? Is there a direct phone number to speak with a human being? Can a local AT&T store set up a tech home visit for me? I want this fixed yesterday, and the last thing I want to do after a long day at work is spend hours on the phone doing the same idiotic troubleshooting algorithm for the third time.
For the past months, I've been having severe stuttering/freezing while playing back recorded programs. This occurs on all TVs in my house. Live TV, On Demand, Internet and Voice all work fine. However, this totally ruins my TV experience because I only watch recorded shows, never Live TV and rarely On Demand.
Last week after I finally decided it couldn't possibly be a temporary issue, I called support. I got the automated voice saying how busy they were which walked me through restarting the system. This did not fix my problem. Not wanting to waste more time with an automated voice support system, I tried chat support.
The chat support rep was quite helpful although extremely slow, and over the course of an hour he had me do a factory reset of my DVR box and when that didn't fix the issue, ordered me a replacement. The replacement arrived a couple of days ago (the setup of which was NOT plug and play, I might add) and several resets later now that it's actually able to record, I'm once again having stuttering and freezing.
I'm beyond ticked off right now, and if I didn't hate Comcast even worse and had another option, I'd drop AT&T immediately. The truth is, though, until this stuttering started I loved U-Verse aside from the button lag.
Any suggestions from techs or someone who has been through this? Is there a direct phone number to speak with a human being? Can a local AT&T store set up a tech home visit for me? I want this fixed yesterday, and the last thing I want to do after a long day at work is spend hours on the phone doing the same idiotic troubleshooting algorithm for the third time.
Accepted Solution
Official Solution
domino82
Mentor
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10 Messages
14 years ago
GREAT news! Someone from T2 Support came out today and as far as I can tell, the problem is fixed. For anyone experiencing these problems, here is all he did:
1) Replaced the router with a new, black, 2Wire 3801HGV RG
2) Replaced our DVR box with a new, black one (looks about the same) with a 500GB HDD
He said the new router is much better... Apparently our line was running at 80% capacity even when we weren't doing anything. Now it runs at 50% baseline, just by changing the router. /shrug
Also, he said the new DVR has a "buffer" of sorts when recording, which eliminates a lot of recording errors.
Again, all he really did was to swap out 2 pieces of "functional" hardware with updated versions!! Keep this in mind if you have similar problems!!!
Just FYI, here are the new and improved screenshots from UV Realtime post-appointment:
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Stats.png
ErrorTable.png
Bitloading.png
CoaxHPNA.png
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domino82
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10 Messages
14 years ago
Incidentally, this all cropped up right after some major thunderstorms with severe winds went through my area. I wish I could talk to someone who could just send a tech to check the lines leading to my unit. Now my suspicion is that the signal to my house is wacky.
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texasguy37
Expert
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1.3K Messages
14 years ago
Make sure that all of your connections are tight at the wall, on the TV's and on the U-verse boxes.
Also, can you download and install SomeJoe's tool at the link below?
http://www.uverserealtime.com/
Once you install the tool, please post screenshots of the following tabs: IP/Profile, Error Table, Bitloading, & Coax/HPNA.
We can take a look at the screenshots to see if there appears to be any issues with your system.
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horrorfan47
Contributor
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1 Message
14 years ago
I've had the same problem with the picture freezing and/or pixilating. They eventually had to come out and replace the modem even though I hadn't had my service that long.
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domino82
Mentor
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10 Messages
14 years ago
Thanks very much for the replies. Here are the screenshots you requested.... I'm guessing the results are bad, but could someone please explain what they mean? 🙂
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SomeJoe7777
Expert
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346 Messages
14 years ago
It looks like there may be a bridge tap on your line. A bridge tap is an extra length of wire attached to your pair that doesn't terminate anywhere. It is usually left over from a previous customer that used your pair. Bridge taps cause problems with xDSL services.
You should call technical support, have them send a premises tech to your house to check the line. He should open a helper ticket with the Installation and Maintenance group (I&M), which are the linesmen, to come find and remove the bridge tap.
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domino82
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10 Messages
14 years ago
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domino82
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10 Messages
14 years ago
1) The automated system will make me reset my system and tell me to call back in 12 minutes.
2) I'll call back and some low-level nobody will follow some troubleshooting manual to try and help me.
3) I'll tell them what was posted here and they won't have a clue what I'm talking about.
4) Maybe 2-3 transfers later I'll get to talk to someone who understands the above solution.
So I'm just curious if there's a phone number or magic phrase that can allow me to skip to #4. 😉
Sorry if this seems whiney - I've just wasted too many hours of my life doing #1-#3 above with various company's phone support systems.
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domino82
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10 Messages
14 years ago
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SomeJoe7777
Expert
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346 Messages
14 years ago
That is a known bug in the 2Wire 3800HGV-B router. Hopefully a new upcoming firmware release for that router will fix that.
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domino82
Mentor
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10 Messages
14 years ago
Okay, I'm at my wit's end. I have set up an appointment for Comcast installation this Friday. Here's a little update since my last post:
1) They replaced the DVR. (problem persisted)
2) An in-home tech came out, confirmed errors on the line and said there was too much noise, but thought it was outside our unit, so rescheduled for line maintenance.
3) Line maintenance came out, said there was nothing wrong, and left. (problem persisted)
4) Line maintenance came out again, tinkered with something, said it should be okay now. (problem persisted)
5) I talk to Tier 2 support, they make me reboot the stupid box and do disaster recovery AGAIN (as if that's magically going to fix the problem at this point).
6) Another in-house tech is scheduled to come out tomorrow.
If AT&T can fix this before Friday, I will cancel the Comcast installation, otherwise, as much as I hate Comcast, I'm switching back. We can't watch a show without skipping every 15-30 seconds.
By the way, the in-home tech who came said there are no "bridge taps" on the line as someone suggested here (according to his little diagnostic website on his iPad).
Here are updated screenshots from UV Realtime. Please, what should I tell the tech support person to get this fixed?? I hate Comcast and really don't want to switch...
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Stats.png
ErrorTable.png
Bitloading.png
CoaxHPNA.png
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texasguy37
Expert
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1.3K Messages
14 years ago
Contact David who is an AT&T employee in Tier 2 Technical Support. He and his team have been successful with resolving customer issues that remain unresolved after contacting Technical Support.
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domino82
Mentor
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10 Messages
14 years ago
It sure would be nice to interact with a tech support rep who can do more than quote procedure from manual!
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texasguy37
Expert
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1.3K Messages
14 years ago
Good luck! Let us know how things turn out.
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texasguy37
Expert
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1.3K Messages
14 years ago
Good deal!
So you have the new DVR with the 500 GB hard drive! Where are you located?
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