The future for U-verse TV

I have a friend who said that "people" told her that U-Verse was going away.

Keep in mind this was several years ago.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Yes, the company would love to switch people to DirecTV Stream...but until they force the end, there's nothing that can really be done.

As we've seen here, salesmen aren't the best source of info.

On a website called The Layoff, there is a post (written in 2019, before Directv/Uverse was spun off into its own company) by a so-called insider that says Uverse will sunset in 2022.  Now, I don't put much stock in that, but on one of the replies, someone says the servers that run Uverse are on end-of-life MSFT OS software, and once it ceases to work, provided ATT doesn't make any upgrades which is currently the case, Uverse will go dark.

I wonder, will there ever be an official announcement of a sunset date?  I don't think ATT would just let the whole system go dark due to obsolete software failure without giving some kind of notice to the subscribers.  But then again, who knows, maybe they would, then after the fact, hard sell a switch over to Directv Stream.

In any case, we have just under 11 months left to see if that "insider" will be correct about Uverse sunsetting in 2022.

With all of the above insight, I have attempted to decipher what a transition to ATT TV would entail, but alas, ATT has no path for Uverse customers to migrate.

If Uverse closes the operation and forces me out will I be able to keep my long time email addresses?

@UverseWatcher , If you want to know what it looks like when AT&T tries to quietly shut something down, you should look over in the Digital Life forum.  Any mention of the effect of the 3G shutdown on Digital Life is quickly hidden.  Posters who have any question are asked to call so that they can be told what they need to do.  That may be the future for U-verse subscribers.  The receivers themselves are running Windows CE.  Yes, Windows CE.  Talk about end-of-life software. 

Another clue to the impending shutdown: A few U-verse TV subscribers who have recently disconnected were told to not return their Receivers; apparently AT&T thinks they have enough spare equipment to last them however long they need it to last.  I'd like it to last another 5 or 10 years, but I'm not counting on it.

@lynn_s , there is no such thing at ATT TV, or even AT&T TV.  But there is DIRECTV stream, and AT&T would be more than happy for you to switch from U-verse TV to DIRECTV stream.  They pushed me in that direction with every interaction when upgrading from copper to fiber Internet.  Remember that once you leave U-verse TV, there is no coming back.

For now, you can keep AT&T Internet while dropping U-verse TV.  So you could still have  your e-mail connected to your AT&T Internet account.  If that's not for you, AT&T's policy for e-mails attached to closed accounts is as long as the account is closed in good standing (i.e. all equipment returned, zero balance), those e-mails will be treated as AT&T Free E-mails.  The customer service available for such e-mail boxes will be even less that the support provided for those who have a paid Internet account.

It’s a huge mistake to tie your personal email to an ISP.  I did it once, regretted it, and now will only use att email to do business with them.  That’s it.  

I don't even do that, except where they default to using it, like my login id.  Yeah, my first ISP change broke me of the habit of using the ISP's e-mail domain.

Maybe the reason AT&T is not requesting old receivers to be returned is because they are planning on giving us new receivers that have voice remotes, and capability to stream apps like HBO Max and PlutoTV, and increased simultaneous recording capability, and improved HD picture processing.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

That's what DirecTV Stream has. Since AT&T hasn't signed new U-Verse subscribers in, what, about two years now, the writing is definitely on the wall.

But the major downsides of Directv Stream, compared to Uverse, are:

1) Instability. With streaming, programs get interrupted by buffering and there is a limit to the number of TVs that can be on the service per household.

2) Directv Stream has far fewer channels than Uverse.

3) Recordings are auto-deleted after only 30 days.

And there are probably a few more downsides I can't think of right now.

There's also a limit with U-Verse. Of course, streaming depends on your internet speed, but I'd wager most people with U-Verse are eligible for 100+ download speeds, if not via AT&T.

I'm with you on the 30 day thing. But maybe with all the apps available through the box, 30 days doesn't matter as much, except for sports. For example, the number of shows on demand with Hulu is beyond crazy. There's all sorts of shows on there that I would have thought I'd never see...shows like 24, Lost, etc.

What is the point of this thread anymore ? Isn’t it time to stop beating this dead horse to death?

I have been with Uverse since its inception and really love it.  I have the bundled package.  Recently, I found I had no access to my landline phone (yes, I know, and I do have cell, but due to hearing problems, the landline is better).  Anyway, after spending half a day trying to get AT&T to help, I was finally advised I needed a new gateway.  They sent it overnight and I installed it (very easy to do) a few days later, and that solved the problem.  I'll stay with my Uverse as long as I can.  I was with Charter for more than 20 years before switching to Uverse, and had no problems with them either, but at the time they did not offer phone, TV, and internet and Uverse did.  I think Charter is now Spectrum and they've really tried the hard sell the past few years, but I've hung on to my Uverse.  It will be a sad day when I have to give it up.