Milwaukee HDTV User Group

I have U-Verse internet service 6000/1000.

I wanted to check my speed yesterday and I opened speakeasy.com as I have done many times in the past.  This time when I selected a site "i.e. Atlanta or Chicago etc." the speed needle quickly spiked to around 5.3 and in the blink of an eye slowed down to about 1.0 for downloads for the rest of the test.  Then for the upload the needle quickly spiked to 9.3 and then within a split second slowed to 3.0.  The results showed 5.3 and 9.3.  It seems to me that something is wrong because in the past the needle would always hold at roughly what the speed was supposed to be during the complete test.  I checked the speed on three computers, one plugged directly into the residential gateway, one plugged into another router behind the gateway, and one was wireless.  The results were the same.  The needle would always spike and then within a split second slow way down on every test.

Do you think I have a problem with my gateway, or is U-Verse intentionally slowing down the speeds, but spiking the beginning of the results so speed testing software would show a better result?  I also tried with pcpitstop.com with the same results.

Thanks

I am looking for a new HDTV.  I live in Waukesha.  I have an old standard def tv that is failing.  I recently had U-Verse installed and decided that it was time to upgrade to HD.

I have been trying to figure out which tv to purchase based on finances and type of signal.  I really don't know very much about the signals except that "P" is progressive (the whole screen scans at the same time), and "I" is Interlaced ( every other line scans).   I looked on Cnet and it seemed like they preferred 720P over 1080I because the whole picture scanned at the same time making action seem smoother.  Is this correct, or is 1080I a better picture?  What about 1080P?

I called U-Verse and the lady said that they broadcast in 1080I.  What happens if you get a 720P set?  Is it better to get a tv that matches the 1080I signal?

Perhaps Gregg or other guru's could give me some advice.

Thanks,
Terry