Well the first problem maybe the Tv's, U-verse only has 4  streams avaiable to you. 1 HD, and 3 STD or 2 HD and 2 STD for a total of 4 streams period. I don't think you can have anymore than that to my knowledge, unless something has recently chaged that I'm unaware of, maybe want the field techs can comment. Now you maybe to have 7 STB's but at any given time you will be restricted to 4 streams, so you could only use at most 4 STB's at any given time.

Cat-5 is the way to go but if you have good coax in the home I don't see a problem wth it either. I have coaxial and it work just fine it just depends on what is needed is generally what the field techs will install, since you have mostly cat-5 already ran then there should be no reason they can't use it.

If you want you can probably have comcast and U-verse at the same time, this might also allow you to evulate the two side by side to see which one you like better.

Alarms should be fine, I haven't heard of any issues but I would test it before they leave, save than sorry.

Hopefully that helps, let us know how it goes.

Ok here goes….

NO, you absolutely cannot operate a TV on Uverse without a set top box attached.  It simply will not work.  Your TV speaks in VHF.  This works with a lot of cable  and satellite services since they also speak VHF.  Uverse uses another type of signal called HPNA.  The initials are really unimportant, just understand that its a digital signal that your TV wont know what to do with.  Why use it you ask?  Because its completely digital, your picture quality is going to be “holy $&@! thats good!” better than you will ever get from the analogue signal running through those basic cable lines.  And yes, you will receive a remote with every set top box you get installed, (they all come prepackaged together in the STB boxes).

The wiring topology of a Uverse installation goes something like this: The signal comes into your house on your telephone line or via fiber optic cable if your lucky enough to have it installed in your house.  The better quality of that line, the better the chance of a good strong signal coming in.  It is connected by various means to your Residential Gateway (RG).  These connections can be your cat3 or cat5 telephone IW, a new cat5 line run by your tech, or by coaxial cable.  There are certain requirements for each type of installation but if your running Uverse voice, fast internet, and a fistful of TV's then cat5 is likely to be your best option.  Then from your gateway, everything else springs forth.  If your running in on either cat3 or cat5 then the voice portion is almost prewired by utilizing the extra pairs in those cables to connect into your telephone system at the NID or even at your alarm panel (the utility panel in the closet, not the one on the wall by the door).  If it is wired correctly, Uverse will absolutely work with an alarm system.  The trick is to place the alarm between the source of the dial tone and the household telephones.  Whether that source is a land line or a Uverse voice feed from the back of an RG, its really all the same thing as long as the wiring sequence is correctly followed.  The TV's can be fed from either the coax jack on the back of the RG or from the ethernet ports also found there.  Be careful about stacking another router behind your uverse RG or it could cause problems both with your internet and your TV's.  If your going to add more stuff behind your RG, be sure to use open networking switches instead of routers.  Stacking routers will lead to problems as innocuous as the second router and everything plugged into it not working or as problematic as the HPNA broadcast from your RG to you STB's failing completely.  Coax can be used to feed your TV's just as well as long as the installer replaces ALL OF THE FITTINGS, FACEPLATES, BARRELS, AND SPLITTERS in the entire system.  Failure to do so could and often does result in HPNA errors, pixellation, and freezing problems.  A second option for your internet connection can be a wireless adapter for your desktop PC or old laptop (without onboard wifi).  Your tech should have a few in his truck although you may be charged extra for having more than one installed (depending on what their field manager has told them to do).  If your a PC gamer or if your PC is more than 20 feet away from your gateway, you probably should opt for the hardwired connection instead as those 2wire wireless adapters are pretty “cost effective”.

If you want to run your local basic cable service on the 3 TV's your not using very often then there really shouldnt be a problem with it as long as you make it clear to your installer that you want those three to remain on your existing service.  I have run into problems before where I have finished (or even almost finished) complete installations after talking it over with some housewife just to have her husband come home that evening and throw a complete and utter tizzy because I disconnected his second rate satellite service in the process.