AT&T U-verse
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| Website | AT&T U-verse Website |
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AT&T U-verse is a VDSL service operated by AT&T. It provides internet access of up to 24Mbit/s along with traditional POTS ("plain old telephone service") or VOIP ("voice over Internet Protocol") telephone and television services. Total bandwidth is between 19-36Mbit/s. Service is provided by either a direct fiber optic cable to the residence, known as FTTP("fiber to the prem") or be delivered on a copper cable from the neighborhood fiber optic fed "Video Ready Access Device"(VRAD) known as FTTN ("fiber to the nieghborhood (or node)").
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[edit] Services
[edit] U-verse TV
U-verse TV is delivered via IPTV from the head-end to the consumer's Total Home DVR or standard set-top box.[1] U-verse uses H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC) encoding which compresses video more efficiently than the traditional MPEG-2 codec. Broadcast channels are distributed via IP multicast, allowing a single stream (channel) to be sent to any number of recipients. The system is also designed for individual unicasts for video on demand, central time shifting, start-over services and other programs desired by only one home at that particular time. The set-top box does not have a conventional tuner, but is an IP multicast client which requests the stream desired. In the IP multicast model, only the streams the customer uses are sent. The customer's connection need not have the capacity to carry all available channels simultaneously.
[edit] U-verse Internet
Internet service is provided to computers connected to the on-premises ethernet cabling or a HomePNA residential gateway. U-verse Internet is available either bundled with AT&T's home phone service or as dry loop DSL. The raw speed tiers that are offered are as follows:
| Tier | Download speed (in Mbps) | Upload speed (in Mbps) |
|---|---|---|
| Express | up to 1.5 | up to 1 |
| Pro | up to 3 | up to 1 |
| Elite | up to 6 | up to 1 |
| Max | up to 12 | up to 1.5 |
| Max Plus | up to 18 | up to 1.5 |
| Max Turbo | up to 24 | up to 2 |
[edit] U-verse Voice
AT&T U-verse Voice is a voice communication service delivered over AT&T's IP network. Customers subscribing to both AT&T U-verse TV and Voice are provided features such as call history and Click to Call, which displays missed and answered calls on the customer's TV if subscribed to U-verse TV.
[edit] Availability
As of December 9th, 2009 U-verse Internet had 2 million customers (up 100% in last year). U-verse is available to 20 million living units in 22 states[2]
[edit] Technical details
AT&T provides their U-verse services primarily through fiber to the node technology (FTTN)[3] and more recently fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP).[4] Both methods employ a video ready access device (VRAD). In FTTN it is a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM), while in FTTP the VRAD is a fiber multiplexer with the conversion to copper taking place at the termination point on the customer property. FTTN is more common, with FTTP only in new housing developments or areas not otherwise served by copper POTS. VDSL is used with theoretical speeds up to 32Mbps down and 3Mbps up, but as with all DSL systems, speed can vary with increased distance from the VRAD. Currently 7Mbps is reserved for Cable television, and 18Mbit/s for internet service and VOIP. Once inside the customer's property, service is carried over ethernet or the existing coax network using HomePNA.
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