U-Verse loses signal nightly

Is this a wireless box?  If so try moving the AP that is connected to your AT&T gateway.  Move it up, down, as far from the gateway as possible, etc. until you can mitigate the problem.  I installed a 15ft. patch cord on my AP and moved it away as far as I could.  It now sits on top of one of the speakers for my stereo.  Problem is no longer there after that.

I do have a wireless box. I watch programming from 10PM to 1AM. I begin to lose the signal after mid-night. So for 2 hours there are no issues with the programming signal.

The gateway and the attached wireless box (AP)?? is located in a closet in a separate room. If the distance between the gateway and the attached wireless box is critical, then why do I enjoy 2+ hours of uninterrupted signal?

How many bars show on the wireless box while the signal is "good" and when you loose signal (3 marginal, 4-5 good)?

Do you possibly have any equipment that may be turning on during that time that could cause interference?

Are you attached to a UPS?

I'll take these in reverse order,

No. Not attached to UPS

No other equipment in use.

Last evening, the U-verse Lost signal started after 11:30PM. First, the screen freezes, then the Lost Signal Message appears. Before and during the freezes I have 5 bars. After a period of inactivity, the program eventually reappears. Last evening I only experienced 5 outages.

How many TV Receivers do you have?  You should have at least two, since the one you're having issues with is wireless.  Does the other (or any of the others if you have more) have this same issue?  Do the lights on the U-verse Gateway change significantly when this is going on?

I'm thinking that you're having an issue with the connection between your Gateway and the AT&T Network.

Just to clarify your setup and some questions...

• You have 5 receivers. 
• Two wireless, three wired.
• One wired is the dvr (or course) using, which, ethernet or a coax connection?
• The other two wired must be ethernet connected to two of the yellow ethernet ports on your gateway.
• What are the model numbers of your wireless receivers, gateway, and WAP (wireless access point, little black box also ethernet connected to the gateway).  If the dvr was ethernet connected then the WAP used the one remaining ethernet port on the gateway.  If the dvr is coax connected then you should still have one remaining free ethernet port.
• The gateway is located inside a "communication panel in a clothes closet".
• The WAP is outside the communication panel but still in the clothes closet?

So you do have problems with both wired and wireless receivers, less less frequently for the wired.  When the problem occurs on one of the wireless receivers have you checked a wired receiver to see if it has problems at the same time?  And have you checked the gateway to see if it's got any red lights showing?

How much ventilation does the gateway have in that communication panel?  Is there any reason the temperature might increase in there during your problem times?

I believe some older equipment has problems supporting two wireless receivers.  That's why I asked for the model numbers for the wireless receivers, gateway, and WAP.

If you are using a coax connection from the gateway to the dvr you might want to consider replacing that with an ethernet connection.  It plugs into the network port on your dvr.

Thinking out loud...

My only problem with these suggestions is they are general and I am not sure why any of this would cause problems only after a certain time of day.  Usually things like that are from some kind of interference.  Maybe you don't have anything that may cause the interference that doesn't mean it couldn't be from some external source.  Such things are hard to pin down.

Even the interference theory is suspect if you say you have similar problems with your wired receivers.  All this then points back to the gateway which is the common factor in the setup.  I doubt reboot or factory reset would fix this but you might as well give it a shot.  Ventilation bothers me though.  I wonder if the gateway gets warmer when under load.

Here's a list of AT&T equipment in my home;

First Floor

Living Room  VIP2250  Coax connected  Infrequent outages during the day and evening

Bedroom 1    VIP1200  Coax connected  This is a spare bedroom and the TV viewing is minimal.

Second Floor 

Bedroom 2    ISB7005  Wi-Fi        This is the TV that I experience outages after 11PM

Bedroom 3    ISB7005  Wi-Fi        This TV experiences outages early in the evening (Before 11PM)

Loft               VIP1200   Coax connected

Wi-Fi             VEN401AT  Connected by ethernet to Router

Bedroom 3 has a clothes closet with the home electronics center in the back. The cabinet is installed between the wall studs with an access door. The access door is ajar to allow the ethernet wire to connect to the Wi-Fi sending unit. The Wi-Fi unit is resting on a home security cabinet that is mounted on the wall away from the hanging clothes To access the center a rack of clothes must be removed for access. I wasn't going to empty the closet to get to the router.  The Wi-Fi device is in the closet, however it is not inside the electronics center.

I think it's clear that the issue is with lost communication between the TV devices and the source of the signal.  It is clear that it is not solely an issue with the wireless communication.  What is still not clear is where the issue lies (or if there is more than one issue present).  Let me throw more questions out there:

• When watching TV, do you normally watch it live as it is shown, without rewinding, pausing or other "trick play" DVR features?  If not, do you note these issues more/less/the same when "caught up to live" as when "catching up" or watching a recording?
• Do these issues happen more or less when watching a recording?
• Do you normally watch HD or SD channels/content?
• Since you cannot see the gateway easily, can you access it via http://192.168.1.254/ and look at the table of statistics (Sync rates, attenuation, SNR and error counts) on the Broadband page?  Could you take a screen snip and post?  Also looking for the "uptime" or "last boot time" value.

You didn't list the gateway model.  And now you got me a little confused.

The VIP2250 is the your dvr.  Ok you can connect it to your gateway (which has only one coax rf connector) with coax but it is usually not recommended (use ethernet instead).  But if you actually are coax connected to the dvr just how can you say the two VIP1200's are coax connected?  I hope you aren't trying to use a RF splitter for all those connections.  VIP1200 is a pretty old receiver model by the way.

As for the wireless receivers, you say you have a VEN401AT WAP.   That may be your problem whether problems occur at a fixed time range or not.  That's one of the older models and it's problematic when using it to handle two wireless receivers.  You really should have VAP2500 WAP.  Since you didn't specify the gateway model, if it's one of the older models (which I'm guessing it is considering the equipment you are listing), I believe it too needs upgrading to properly handle two wireless receivers.  You're ok with the ISB7005 wireless receivers however.  They're pretty current and reliable (I have one of those).

One final thought.  Given your description of your gateway placement "buried" in a wall at the back of a cloths closet, I am still concerned about ventilation and in this case, for that matter, being a fire hazard.  IMO the gateway should really not be considered an "out of sight, out of mind" device (is that why you didn't list the model number?).  Sometimes you need to see its status lights or reboot it, and maybe in your case, replace it.  And they don't put all those ventilation holes in the box for nothing.  Maybe I'm overly paranoid, but given that location together with clothes in the same closet I would really be worried about a fire.

The VIP2250 is the your dvr.  Ok you can connect it to your gateway (which has only one coax rf connector) with coax but it is usually not recommended (use ethernet instead).  But if you actually are coax connected to the dvr just how can you say the two VIP1200's are coax connected?  I hope you aren't trying to use a RF splitter for all those connections.  VIP1200 is a pretty old receiver model by the way.

The reason I can say that the two VIP1200's are connected by coax is because that's how the AT&T installer did it. 

As for the wireless receivers, you say you have a VEN401AT WAP.   That may be your problem whether problems occur at a fixed time range or not.  That's one of the older models and it's problematic when using it to handle two wireless receivers.  You really should have VAP2500 WAP.

How do I go about replacing the older model receivers?

Given your description of your gateway placement "buried" in a wall at the back of a cloths closet, I am still concerned about ventilation and in this case, for that matter, being a fire hazard.  IMO the gateway should really not be considered an "out of sight, out of mind" device (is that why you didn't list the model number?

My home was new construction in 2005. The homes are configured and designed with this central electronics panel. A certificate of occupancy is required for all new construction. I would rather have an easier access to that panel, however I had no choice where the panel was installed. So far the community of over 1000 residences built since 1997 have not experienced any fires due to the placement of the central electronics panel. The panel is the central hub for the distribution of phone, internet, and tv wiring throughout the structure.

The reason I can say that the two VIP1200's are connected by coax is because that's how the AT&T installer did it. 

Sorry, I can't envision how that is physically possible and as far as I know you can't use RF splitters on the coax feed from the dvr.  Maybe (hopefully) someone else reading this can explain it.

How do I go about replacing the older model receivers?

Call tech support and ask for replacements.

...residences built since 1997 have not experienced any fires due to the placement of the central electronics panel.  The panel is the central hub for the distribution of phone, internet, and tv wiring throughout the structure.

I have no qualms with passive cables being centralized and interconnected.  It's active heat generating devices that make me feel uneasy.

Sorry, I can't envision how that is physically possible and as far as I know you can't use RF splitters on the coax feed from the dvr.  Maybe (hopefully) someone else reading this can explain it.

There are no RF splitters on the coax feed. The central electronics hub in the closet feeds coax, internet, and phone lines to every room in my house through the walls (except bathrooms). I'm talking about a separate coax line, a separate ethernet cable and a separate phone line to each room.  Each room has at least one outlet that supplies 2 coax connectors, 1 ethernet, and 1 phone connection. The 2 VIP1200 boxes are connected by coax to the wall connector near the box. The same goes for the VIP 2250. The TV's receive their signal via HDMI cables to the respective TV. Does that help?

There has to be a splitter or a diplexor in the coax distribution if you have more than one coax-connected set top.  What do the three coax cables from the three rooms in your connection box connect to?  There's only one F connector on the back of your U-verse Gateway.  Since AT&T did your install, they probably installed a compatible splitter (they do exist, but the requirements are tighter than on a standard CATV one; I believe it has to pass 1.5 GHz) or diplexor (which is kind of like a splitter, but allows the VDSL2 signal to come in via coax and the HPNA signal to go out the same way) in your connection box.

One thing that happens with coax connections is that the danged connections will become loose (especially on the back of the set tops which sometimes get moved around while connecting video game consoles, etc.).  You might want to check every place a cable connects to an F connector and hand tighten.  Because HPNA is basically a single network, a bad connection at any point can cause reflection, interfering with communication between all devices, not just the one closest to the bad connection (in fact, it might not affect the closest device at all). To do it right, this means check:

• The back of the U-verse Gateway
• Each of the 4 connections on the splitter
• The connection on the cable on the back of each coax-connected set top.
• The connection between the barrel connector and the cable on the front of each wall plate
• The connection on the barrel connector on the back of each wall plate (this is usually overkill, but if you've done every other connection and still have HPNA problems, try it)

I still have one connection via HPNA over coax in my house, but I removed another and replaced it with Ethernet and it made life much better.  Most gateways are capable of displaying HPNA statistics; some of them require you to run a brief (a minute or two) disruptive test, meaning all communication on the coax will be interrupted while doing the test.  Before getting too carried away, look into this to see what kind of bandwidth it's showing and error rates.  If your HPNA is clean, no need to go further.

My concern over the Gateway being in a air-restricted space is not that it overheat enough to cause a fire, but it can overheat enough to cause it to malfunction.  Typically building codes call for you to use such enclosures for passive connections, not powered devices (as _xyzzy_ points out).

Ah ha, a diplexer.  Forgot about those guys.  Indeed, check this out.