DirectAT&T gave me no TV

I am not amused.

Thursday night/Friday morning, the new AT&T/SBC decided to "enhance" my DirecTV experience with their logo.  When I started the receiver the next time, I saw the new logo--and that satellite 1 could not be found.

The dish is in place, the receiver has not otherwise been changed or unplugged, but I now have no TV.

I thanked both companies over Twitter, so other people might see.  They were looking into it on Friday.

So, it's been four nights since the update and three days without DirecTV--how is that for 99% reliability?  Give AT&T a working product and they can damage it.  I had a feeling that this would end up worse, given the various problems I'd had with Cingular/AT&T and why I would never deal with them again.

At this point, what do I do?  I will call them, of course.  The receiver can't be updated because it can't get the signal from the satellite any longer.  I tried to go through setup tonight and it had some lag, so I switched to doing something else and the receiver powered itself off.

As far as I'm concerned, they can take their equipment with them and never bother me again.  Alternatives?  Dish Network is a "hell no", as they used to hang up on my mum and we learned right before her death that they had no clear path and the installer just said that it was okay.  Comcast/Xfinity isn't a good choice.  I've heard so many bad experiences from as far back as when they only serviced the Philadelphia metro area.  Every time my mum talked to them, they told her that the problem was in her set.  They weren't receptive to me, either.  At one point, their box would not change channels for 5 minutes, probably because someone was using the company's internet services in the neighborhood.  They replaced the remote 3 times and the box 2 times.  She canceled and went to Dish Network.

I'd only dealt with two major cable companies: Time-Warner and BrightHouse Networks and both were disgraceful.

Well, I think I'm out of luck this time.

 Update 2016.03.28: I called the service number and I waited a lot.  The first automated message was something about Monday being their busiest day for call volume.  Eventually, someone answered, and I was surprised.  I was treated well and felt that they cared.  This is much different than my experiences with cable companies.

Update 2016.03.29: The DirecTV service person arrived--and naturally, everything was working.  He checked everything and it was all fine but told me to turn off power savings mode.  It had also recorded some programs from Monday night.  Who knows?

Strangely, image quality seems better.

Update 2016.07.20: I'm generally happy with the service but AT&T continues to pull the logo in every nook & cranny that they can find, including all over the iOS app.  Having no bug fixes or performance improvements but having to update the app seems ridiculous.

Update 2016.08.24: Apparently, AT&T thought that it would be a great idea to stop allowing searches without the box being connected to the internet.  This probably has something to do with their desire to integrate customers into their internet services.  I'm not thrilled with heavy-handed tactics because it reminds me of the cable industry.

Checking on my recordings seems to not work well, even though the recordings are held locally in the box.  Often, I get a blank display.  In fact, the Guide also seems to work this way.  Sadly, these "enhancements" have been happening since AT&T officially took over DirecTV.

I'm ready to cancel my service, but I suspect that AT&T will charge me much more than the almost minimal cancellation fees at the end of my 2 year contract.  I suspect when they took over, they decided that they could re-work my contract to start at that point.  To say that I don't trust them would be an understatement.  I hope I'm wrong.

Update 2016.10.04: As of today, I have no TV service.  It's the first time since 1986 that I didn't have cable or satellite-supplied TV service.  As I'm dying, I just wanted to clean up as much as possible ahead of time.

I tried a couple of Apple TV-related apps today and the video was quite good.  If I can afford the video over internet usage, I might be okay for the occasional use.

Update 2016.11:30: I've watched one or two full-length TV shows at the first of the mobile hotspot's month in order to avoid any unforeseeable overages from Verizon.  It's amazing when you have about 500 MB remaining and you have the equipment powered off that it still manages an overage of 1.5 GB.

Quality seems fine through Apple TV, although it doesn't do 4K with the current equipment.

DirecTV/AT&T has announced a streaming service with multiple plans.

Comcast is so broken--it's such a cable company

As a former Philadelphia, PA area person, I had to laugh about this Ars Technica article about Comcast.

When I lived in the area for eight years, they were likely the most hated company in all of Philly.  Their TV service was poor, and their customer service was hateful and nasty.  If you had a problem, it was only your problem.  They didn't seem to fix anything.

I was so lucky to live outside the city and twice used Suburban Cable, and then, American Cablecom, from the Washington, DC area, was at one apartment complex.  They had a 28 day fix clause in their contract and they would fix things on day 28, but they were still better than Comcast.

When I was in Florida, there was some small cable company and we were all wishing that Time-Warner Cable would take over.  When they did, they played games with us.  Several years later, having my own house, Time-Warner switched many locations with BrightHouse Networks.  Unfortunately, they kept their game-playing employees.

I've had DirecTV (or however they write it now) since 2008 and I'm pleased.  I'm still concerned about SBC/The New AT&T buying the company, but they can't hurt it totally, can they?

Comcast sends me a flyer weekly, but I don't want to deal with them.  My adoptive mum did, and she got no satisfaction dealing with them.  The problem was supposedly with her TV set.  When she switched to their box, due to digital upgrades, she not only got to pay more, but changing channels took many minutes for the actual change to occur.  Eventually, they replaced the remote several times, then the box, and then, they discontinued service.  The local people were pleasant at the end, but the people on the toll-free number were so awful that I would never consider having service with Comcast.

I'm just as thrilled with the way Dish Network treated her, hanging up on her regularly.  We learned at the end that the installer put up satellite dish without a clear view of the satellite.  Apparently, the company didn't do any quality inspections for two years.  They were concerned about the issue just before she died.

Update 2015.04.28: They're not merging/buying Time-Warner Cable, since they learned that the government was against it.

Sprint + T-Mobile = ?

If this was being rumored 6 months later and the majority of the U.S.A. will have had LTE available through Sprint, I would be more open to this.

If both companies were working toward VoLTE (Voice over LTE) in the near future, I'd be more positive about it.

I know that Deutsche Telekom wants to sell their stake in T-Mobile U.S.A. but if the combined company will be fighting a plan to move all customers to GSM or CDMA technologies, forget it.  GSM is older than CDMA, and much less secure, regardless of being deployed in many countries.  CDMA can do concurrent voice and data, but Sprint doesn't seem to be able to deploy the technology consistently, so it's not useful.

Why Dish Network isn't buying T-Mobile U.S.A. is a good question.  They tried to buy ClearWire while Sprint was trying to buy it.

The only reason I can fathom that Sprint has to buy T-Mobile is from the executive view--post paid subscribers.  The combined company would have fewer subscribers than AT&T or Verizon but come fairly close.  However, as executives don't think often, they would be missing the pain of making people switch--something that should be a very strong memory from the 2006 merger with Nextel and their incompatible network, which was just decommissioned this June.

Given all the crap of the last 7 years where Sprint went from a data powerhouse to a powerhouse of shortages, why would anyone want to chance repeating that?

As a long time Sprint subscriber, I don't want to repeat the mess because VoLTE is too far away, and I'm not switching to GSM, and I'm sure that T-Mobile subscribers aren't switching to CDMA, and T-Mobile already has the MetroPCS conversion underway.

Leave things alone until 2016, Sprint and T-Mobile, and I'm okay with it, but right now, no thanks.

Update 2014.01.03: I've heard very little about this since the initial rumors.  Softbank/Son Masayoshi is interested in expanding in the U.S.A.  Having two brands and their customers would certainly be a sizable presence.  Making the rest of it work would be difficult.  I'd hate to see Dish Network buy T-Mobile, though.  AT&T/SBC seem to be putting pressure on T-Mobile with a new incentive plan.  Those who left AT&T/SBC for T-Mobile probably won't return unless prices are reduced and contracts are ended, though.  AT&T/SBC seem like the perfect 1950s type of company.  They do everything but innovate--confuse, intimidate, complain.

Microsoft store, Apple iPhone 5S, etc. etc.

Microsoft Store

Saturday, I spent some time in a mall where they opened a Microsoft store.  I wondered if they were actually doing anything, other than having an opposing opinion/option to the Apple store in the mall.

I remembered the original opening weekend of 2 Microsoft stores, where the employees broke into a spontaneous, planned dance.  Microsoft tries so hard to be kewl, but they just don't get it.

The employees at the local store were friendly and they wanted to be helpful, but they seemed to be standing at the front of the store in order to keep people out.  I seemed to be the only one willing to go into the store, even though the Apple store was rather busy.

iPhone 5S

What's happening with the iPhone 5S?  The rumors are in conflict.  You can bet that there will be a device the same shape and size as the current iPhone 5.  That's a given, as it's too expensive to change the physical design every year.

There should also be a lower cost model, as selling the iPhone 5 as the low cost model just won't work well.  They could do it as a loss leader but they are a profitable business and all devices must be profitable.  Will they have a MacBook-type of model to offset their MacBook Pro-type that's always been the model?  It makes the most sense.

I have buddies who are in the computer/phone/tablet repair business and they were talking about the price of the iPhone 5 display being prohibitive to replace at around US$300.  As there are more manufactured and sold, the price will eventually drop, but demand is still good.  Of course, the iPhone 4S display is around US$100 so it's cheap enough that they could lose a little money to gain customers.  I doubt seriously that they'll go back to a low (320x480) resolution display to offer in developing countries.

Don't expect great changes with the iPhone 5S.  It'll be the same, but better.  That's Apple.  You should expect an improved camera and 802.11ac WiFi, plus improved LTE.  Right now, they need to work on fixing iOS 6, rather than doing big things with new hardware.  Oh, and they'll likely have a low-power, higher performance CPU + enhanced GPU with almost double the performance.

iPad mini

I was told to expect some iPad mini-related changes in April but I don't feel they're coming, unless they're placed in the tablets without a word.  I believe that they're testing a more power-efficient CPU/GPU for widescale release later.  That doesn't go along with the other hints about the higher resolution display, but they're apparently having trouble securing enough of those to produce tablets without a press-worthy scandal.

micro Four-Thirds

What should be coming in April are some announcements from Panasonic and Olympus for micro Four-Thirds.  Panasonic's supposed merged GX1 and GF5 replacement didn't happen.  The GX1/G5 replacement should happen at the same time.  What's not being mentioned is a replacement for the AG-AF100/AF105 video recorder but there is a rumor for a totally new camera.  Would they bring a semi-professional model to the masses, above the GH3 but at half the price of the AF100?  I seem to remember the Canon XL1 and GL1 being the gateway drugs to Canon's film-making products.  Shouldn't Panasonic have more?

Noting my earlier thoughts about the Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera, will Panasonic quickly revise the GH3 to compete?  Will Canon do something, anything to compete?  At US$995, the device stands to wipe away a lot of barriers with what it can do.  Of course, high quality lenses are still cost-prohibitive.  They've shown the camera body attached to cine lenses, mounted in a typical rig.  Obviously, being used in hand, it presents typical problems of using a tiny camera body attached to a heavy lens, which is why I don't like most of micro Four-Thirds bodies.

T-Mobile--the last stand

Is it destined for erasure from history?  It seems that way.  They're going all out to either change the industry or destroy themselves.  I've seen that Verizon picked up on the finance a full-priced phone bit but I suspect Verizon won't end the Early Termination Fee or contracts.  It would give their account department heart attacks trying to predict future income.  Right now, when someone signs a contract, they can fill buckets for 24 months and project how they'll be faring a long way into the future.  If T-Mobile is all month-to-month revenue, can they predict anything?

Sprint

I've noticed that Sprint has fixed a few things locally.  They can't keep up with the onslaught of new smart phone users, but they've fixed some problems with their current capacity and speeds.  As Nextel and the chirp go away, things will improve.  If the agreement with Softbank and the other agreement with Clearwire work out, Sprint should shake off the past and regain some of its strength.  Smart phones do seem to be killing all the providers, but at least, Sprint isn't publicly blaming their customers the way Cingular/AT&T does. (Oh, geez, Dish Network is proposing a US$25.5 billion merger with Sprint.  Since Dish Network was trying to buy Clearwire, it makes sense but nooooo!)

The problem is in your equipment

How many times have we heard that or something similar?  The service providers never ever have a problem with their equipment.

This is mainly about cable TV, satellie TV, and mobile phone providers.

My mum had a problem with Comcast, so she called their number and was told that there wasn't a problem.  Right before see cancelled service with them, she was having a problem where the box would not change the channel for several minutes.  Eventually, she got a Comcast technician (twice) to the house and they replaced all of the equipment and it still happened.  The company still acted like jerks when she went to return their equipment.

I had been trying to get her to sign up for DirecTV and she came close but she learned that she had to have an e-mail address for one of the $5.00 discounts and refused since she didn't have a computer.  Suddenly, she decided to go with Dish Network, for whatever reason.  Someone arrived on the coldest day in that January to install the equipment.

Similarly, there were problems out the wazoo.  (Yes, wazoo is a technical term.)  She lost signal for quite a while.  A couple of months before her death, they were interested in helping her.  It seemed as though they were losing customers and started to care.  For two years when she called, they would give her the run-around and often, they would hang up on her.  The first actual Dish Network employee inspected everything and said that it wasn't a good location for an installation because of the trees.  The dish's position on the back of the house probably didn't help.  The supervisor who was going to double-check the inspection never arrived.  However, it was the first time anyone had ever admitted the problem was somewhere but the television.

I've had minimal problems with DirecTV during downpours and sleet but it's been fairly reliable.  I need to pay the extra for the HD receiver/recorder so I can take advantage of the HD television I have.  Even if certain channels aren't broadcast in HD, it would be good to see the whole display, rather than having some of it off the sides.

My issue is with mobile phone/mobile hotspot providers.

I've been with Sprint since September 2000, and I had a year with Aerial (-->Voicestream->T-Mobile) before that.  Almost 13 years is quite a long time.  Since I've been in a small town, the customer service people have told me that the problem is in my phone, even after I tell them that the problem has existed over 4 phones.  I moved here with the LG Musiq active.  I bought the LG Lotus later, and then, the LG Optimus S, an Android-based phone.  In late 2011, I bought an iPhone 4S, which is still my phone.

In all that time I've had the timeouts and otherwise poor 3G service.  If the problem is in my phone, why do they sell bad phones?  I don't have access to change the phone enough to do anything useful.  It's all their show.  I get that it's a small town, but don't you do your best everywhere?

When I was in Christiana, Delaware last July, I couldn't make a decent phone call--everything was extremely distorted, but the 4G/WiMAX worked beautifully on my mobile hotspot.  When I was in the Orlando, Florida area around Thanksgiving, my mobile hotspot worked brilliantly at the motel, and nothing worked well at my friends' house.  So much for being too successful!

I grew up with "the customer is always right", so what happened with service providers of all kinds?  If cable TV or satellite TV wants my money, shouldn't they provide the best experience?  Equally, if Sprint wants me to remain a customer, shouldn't they improve things where my phone is.  They collect the information so they can see the problems, although I suspect they delete some (or limit collection) of the problem information so that they don't have to deny it legally.

My problem here is that, given the small town, there is no good alternative, other than moving.  I'm also not seeing great changes in other larger cities 50-75 miles away, even with the expansion of LTE placements.