AT&T Internet Review 2020

You won’t find very many choices for download speeds if you’re looking at AT&T internet. But the speeds it does offer, up to 940 Mbps, are priced well.

We think you’ll find the most value in the 300 Mbps plan, but the Internet 1,000 plan with its gig speeds is worth taking a look at too. Let’s take a look at those perks, plus compare AT&T internet prices, download speeds, contracts, and more.

AT&T internet deals

Need to save some extra cash? Check out the latest AT&T deals.

AT&T internet prices and plans

You likely won’t find AT&T Fiber in smaller cities, but if you can get it, it’s well worth it.

We already mentioned that AT&T offers only a handful of fiber internet plans, and which one you can get depends mainly on where you live. Most of AT&T Fiber’s coverage area extends across the East Coast and southern US.

That said, the plans AT&T does offer are nothing to scoff at, especially with their low prices. It’s hard to find fiber internet with gig speeds that costs only $60 a month—even if that is a promotional price.

The Internet 1,000 plan gets you download speeds of 940 Mbps. (Though no internet provider can fully guarantee your download speeds, that’s mostly out of their hands.) That paired with its 880 Mbps upload speeds makes this plan a winner for anyone with a large family who’s working from home, any YouTubers, or anyone who just likes a lot of lightning-fast download speeds at their fingertips.

The Fiber Internet 300 plan is no joke, though, despite offering slower download speeds. Its 300 Mbps speeds are more than enough for small- to medium-sized families, and will still keep you afloat when you’re working from home and have a deadline to hit.

You may also be wondering what happened to AT&T’s DSL internet. Unfortunately, AT&T decided to phase out its DSL internet service beginning in October 2020.⁴ Currently, existing DSL customers have nothing to worry about. But if you’re getting ready to sign up for AT&T service for the first time or need to change your current plan, you’ll find fiber internet and fixed wireless options only.

Is AT&T internet cheap?

The price for the AT&T Fiber Internet 300 plan is smack-dab in the middle when compared to other internet service providers (ISPs) that offer plans with similar speeds.

But AT&T’s Internet 1,000 plan is by and far the best deal on the block. Not many ISPs can come close to that low, low price for those Speedy Gonzalez-level download speeds.

If you don’t need that much download speed and want to see if you can pay a little less, we recommend checking out the following ISPs:

• Xfinity
• Verizon Fios Home Internet
• Grande Communications (Texas only)

TV + internet bundles

Take a look at AT&T bundles, and you might wonder, “What’s with all of these capital letters? Why are we shouting?”

Good question. One reason to go full caps lock and squeal in delight is that bundling your AT&T internet with TV can save you money: we found it saves about $20 a month.

So you can save money while you watch Chip Gaines’ latest demo-day shenanigans on Fixer Upper or root for your favorite sports team. Yup, seems like an AT&T bundle with either the AT&T TV streaming service or DIRECTV satellite TV is worth shouting about in all caps.

Of course, your bundle can include home phone service if you’re retro enough for a landline, but to keep things simple, we picked out a few of our favorite AT&T internet and TV bundles below.

AT&T internet speed

AT&T Fiber speeds are reliably fast, but if you use its old DSL service, you might hit some slow patches.

When it comes to internet speed, AT&T doesn’t have many choices, but it does top off at 940 Mbps. To us, that more than makes up for the lack of internet speed choices. (Especially since all our options are well-priced.)

Another awesome thing about AT&T Fiber is that it comes with symmetrical, or matching, upload speeds. So, whatever your download speed is, your upload speed is the same.

This looks a little wonky with the gig-speed plan: It shows a download speed of 940 Mbps and an upload speed of 880 Mbps. But many ISPs do this for their gig speed plans, and we think its more of an attempt to temper your expectations a little.

How fast is AT&T internet?

In our most recent look at the fastest ISPs in the US, AT&T ranked 15th out of the 38 internet providers we analyzed. That puts it below competitors like RCN, Xfinity, and Frontier.

• RCN: 6th out of 38
• Xfinity: 7th out of 38
• Frontier: 12th out of 38
• AT&T: 15th out of 38

But! But, that’s also with AT&T’s DSL internet speeds taken into account. We expect and hope its fiber internet speeds to put it closer to other fiber internet providers like Verizon Fios Home Internet (65.1 out of 100).

Our Reviews.org weighted score isn’t indicative of any download speeds you might get with AT&T internet. It’s actually a combination of the average download speeds, upload speeds, and latency that AT&T internet customers saw when they took speed tests between January and December 2019.

We’re guessing AT&T’s DSL internet brought its score down in our ranking of the fastest ISPs. Fiber internet tends to be more reliably fast, so we think you’ll get fast internet speeds from AT&T Fiber, but AT&T DSL internet speeds will be hit or miss.

Data caps

All of AT&T’s fiber internet plans come with unlimited data, which is the best kind of data. No need to worry about downloading that new movie or updating your video game. You’re in the clear.

But if you’re still on AT&T’s DSL internet, you’ll want to keep an eye on your data usage. All of its DSL plans came with a 1 TB data cap—unless you bundled with AT&T TV or DIRECTV. (If you bundled, you got unlimited data.)

We think most internet users won’t go through a TB of data each month, but if you do, AT&T will charge you an extra $10 for every 50 GB of additional data you use.

But if you’re an internet data hog, you may also. be able to pay an extra $30 a month to get unlimited data added to your AT&T Internet plan.

Just know that you may be forced to change your internet plan to AT&T Fiber or fixed wireless if you make any changes to it. So you’ll want to ask—and probably get a statement in writing—that you can keep your existing DSL service even if you upgrade to unlimited data.

AT&T internet contracts, equipment, and fees

AT&T ropes you into a contract, but its self-install option and low equipment fee are winners in our book.

You’ll need to sign a one-year agreement to get any of AT&T’s internet plans, which isn’t ideal.

Even Comcast Xfinity offers a few no-contract options for its internet service. We love the freedom a no-contract option gives us, and we hope AT&T decides to hop on the no-contract bandwagon in the future.

Equipment

When you sign up for AT&T internet, you’ll get a Wi-Fi gateway modem-and-router combo, so chances are you won’t need your own router to set up your Wi-Fi network.

That equipment will come with a $10 per month rental fee too, but as far as rental fees go, it’s one of the cheaper ones we’ve seen.

• AT&T equipment fee: $10 per month

It’s also really nice that you can sign up for internet service and have the equipment delivered straight to your door. A buddy of mine, Andrew, did just this while he was staying in Virginia but needed internet set up in his new house in Florida.

“They shipped the box on Monday. It came Wednesday, [and] my girlfriend hooked it up and followed the instructions. The box activated itself, and she was up and running,” he says.

Imagine that: you move in, and your internet is set up before you even get your mattress unloaded. Priorities, right?

Service fees

Sorry, y’all. There’s no getting away from fees when it comes to internet service, with AT&T or with any other internet provider. Here’s a quick overview of what AT&T might charge you.

• Installation fees: Pay a $35 activation fee if you prefer DIY installation, or call up the pros for $99.
• Early termination fee: $15 for each month left on your contract—up to a total of $180.

AT&T internet customer service

AT&T’s customer service ranks well compared to other ISPs—but that’s still low overall.

Customer service always seems to be a pain point for ISPs, and AT&T is no exception. However, it does score 69 out of 100 on the 2019 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)—this makes it one of the top-scoring internet providers.³

If you need to get chummy with an AT&T rep, social media or chat may be your best option. Here’s where to find them.

• Online chat
• Facebook: @ATT (hours are 6 a.m.–1 a.m. CST)
• Twitter: @ATTHelp

Our picks: The best AT&T internet plans

Best for casual users: Fiber Internet 300

Who it’s best for: The Fiber Internet 300 plan is a good match and worth the money—whether you’re a small family who enjoys streaming or a larger household with adults who work from home.

Why we picked it: AT&T’s price for zooming through the interwebs at 300 Mbps is right in the middle of what other ISPs charge. Some internet providers charge a little less for similar speeds, others charge a little more.

But either way, 300 Mbps is more than enough to support a home security system with lots of cameras, working from home, or a bunch of kiddos with some extreme streaming habits. And you get unlimited data, which makes life that much easier.

Best for home offices and super users: Internet 1,000

Who it’s best for: Got a house full of gamers? Housemates who work or learn from home? Does every member of your family have to stream The Mandalorian, Tiger King, and Grey’s Anatomy all in different rooms? You’ll need some mega download speeds to keep up, and the Internet 1,000 plan is up to the task.

Why we picked it: Most of us don’t need 940 Mbps, but if you’ve got home security and smart home tech, cell phones, gaming consoles, and other electronics all connected to your internet, you probably need the extra bandwidth the Internet 1,000 plan provides.

This fiber plan delivers, and the 940 Mbps speed is priced lower than most—if not all—other ISPs. Mic drop.

Recap: Is AT&T internet good?

AT&T’s internet offers up some competitive pricing and zippy fiber speeds. Here’s a quick recap of why you might like it.

• Prices and plans: AT&T’s prices for its Internet 1,000 plan gets you a lot of bang for your buck. You likely won’t find a lower price anywhere else. And even its Fiber Internet 300 plan is reasonably priced—though not the cheapest.
• Download speed: Since AT&T dropped its DSL internet service, all you’ll see are download speeds above 100 Mbps. And you’ll likely get them too: It’s fastest plan, Internet 1,000, delivers near-gig speeds of 940 Mbps to your door.
• Contracts, equipment, and fees: You’ll have to sign an annual contract to get AT&T internet service, but at least its equipment rental and self-installation fees are reasonable.
• Customer service: No ISP is known for great customer service, sorry to say. But AT&T rates as one of the better internet providers out there.

AT&T Fiber internet prices and plans recap

• AT&T Fiber Internet 300: $45.00 per month*, 300 Mbps download speeds
• AT&T Fiber Internet 1,000: $60.00 per month*, 940 Mbps download speeds

^{Data effective 10/23/2020. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.
*for 12 mos, plus taxes & equip. fee. $10/mo equip. fee applies.}

FAQ

Q: Where is AT&T Fiber available?

Right now, AT&T Fiber is available at service addresses in 21 states, mostly in the southern and midwestern US:

You can check to see if your city has AT&T Fiber on AT&T’s coverage map.

Q: What is AT&T Fixed Wireless?

AT&T’s fixed wireless internet service brings internet to rural areas of the US by beaming your internet connection from an antenna on your roof to a fixed location.

While fixed wireless is certainly an exciting new technology for rural areas missing out on more than one internet option—or areas with no internet options—it isn’t without its downsides. You can learn more about it in our fixed wireless guide.

Sources

1. Catherine McNally, Reviews.org, “Fastest Internet Providers 2020,” August 2020. Accessed August 14, 2020.
2. AT&T, “Home Internet Usage”
3. American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), “ACSI Telecommunications Report 2018–2019”
4. Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading, “AT&T Stops DSL Sales,” October 2020. Accessed October 23, 2020.

*Reviews.org uses Amazon affiliate links.