U-verse is a VDSL service operated by AT&T. It provides internet access up to 18Mbit/s along with phone and television services. Total bandwidth is 20-25Mbit/s dependent on the distance from the neighborhood fiber gateway.

Short description

AT&T provides their U-verse services primarily through fiber-to-the-node and recently fiber-to-the-premises. Both methods employ a VRAD, in FTTN it is a DSLAM, in FTTP the VRAD is a fiber multiplexer with the conversion to copper taking place at the demarcation 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 speeds up to 25Mbit/s down and 3Mbit/s up, but as with all DSL systems, speed can vary with increased distance from the VRAD. Currently 7Mbit/s is used for Cable_television with the remaining 18Mbit/s for internet service and VOIP. VDSL can provide faster speeds but AT&T does not offer them. Once inside the customer's property, service is carried over Ethernet or the existing coax network using HomePNA.

U-verse TV

U-verse TV is AT&T's television service, part of the U-verse bundle of services, which is 100-percent Internet Protocol (IP)-based video service. U-Verse delivers its digital television services to its customers via phone lines or over fiber using Internet protocol (IPTV - Internet Protocol TV). The IP services are delivered over AT&T's expanded fiber network. AT&T is bringing fiber even closer to customers' homes using fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) and fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) technologies. U-verse TV is delivered over IP from the head end to the consumer's set-top box. U-verse uses H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC) encoding which compresses video more efficiently than the traditional MPEG-2. 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 joins the IP multicast group corresponding to the stream ("channel") 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.

U-verse does not currently offer MLB Network or the NBA Network. The NHL network must be purchased as part of a sports package.

Total Home DVR

Total Home DVR is a DVR service that can record 4 video stream at once and play them back on any TV connected to U-verse via a set-top box. The DVR can be programmed to record from the on-screen menu or any internet connection using AT&T's website