With more than 16 million broadband internet subscribers, AT&T is one of the leading internet service providers (IPS) in the United States. Several national surveys have also ranked it as one of the top telecommunications companies in terms of customer satisfaction.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise since AT&T offers excellent Internet connection speeds at highly competitive prices. Based on their desired internet speeds, customers can opt for one of several price tiers, subject to availability. They can get an even better deal by bundling their internet package with U-verse TV or DIRECTV satellite, two other services provided by AT&T. AT&T Internet prices depend on a number of factors, including the connection technology.
AT&T Internet Fees
When you sign up for AT&T Internet service for the first time, you will also have to sign a 12-month agreement for new customers. Becoming an AT&T subscriber for at least 12 months, you will get a $10 discount on your monthly internet bills during your first year with the company.
All AT&T internet plans also include the following fees:
- Internet Activation fee: $35 for IP broadband service or $49 for DSL service. You will have to pay this fee when you first activate the service, but only if you opt to install it yourself. This may be waived as a part of promotion or if a technician assisted installation is requested.
- Installation fee: $99 for self-install services for both DSL and IP broadband. Installations by a technician are $99 for IP broadband, and $149 for DSL installed by a technician. This includes full professional installation of the equipment and the activation of the service. If you choose this option, you will not pay the activation fee.
- Non-return equipment fee: $150 for IP broadband and fixed wireless service. You will only have to pay this fee if you cancel your contract and fail to return your equipment afterward.
- Restoral fee: $35 for all services. If you fail to pay your monthly internet bill and your service gets suspended as a result, you will have to pay this fee to have it reactivated.
- Early termination fee: $120 for fixed wireless service or $180 for DSL and IP broadband service. If you decide to terminate your service before the end of the initial one-year term, you will have to pay the early termination fee. AT&T may reduce your fee based on the number of months you have completed.
If you exceed your monthly data allowance, each additional 50GB will cost you $10. You can only use up to 500GB extra data ($100 extra charge) per month. Alternatively, you can pay $30/month for unlimited data or bundle two AT&T services to get unlimited data at no extra cost.
AT&T Internet Basic Plans
AT&T offers DSL based basic internet plans for users who don’t need high internet speeds. Each of these plans costs $40/month for the first 12 months and $50/month afterward. They all have the same data allowance of 1TB, so your choice of speed will depend solely on the existing technical capabilities at your location.
Available AT&T basic internet plans include the following:
- 768K (Download: 0.768Mbps/Upload: 0.384Mbps) – This plan is good for light surfing and email.
- 1.5Mbps (Download: 1.5Mbps/Upload: 1Mbps) – The plan is fast enough for social networking and downloading small files.
- 3Mbps (Download: 3Mbps/Upload: 1Mbps) – This plan is good for social networking and online shopping.
- 5Mbps (Download: 5Mbps/Upload: 1Mbps) – In addition to shopping, social networking, and downloading small files, this plan is also good for light video streaming.
A note that those plans are not available as before, since AT&T has made its fiber-optic network more accessible in the recent years. more about AT&T DSL plans.
AT&T Internet High-Speed Plans
If you need internet to stream content from the internet (Roku, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.) or live in a multi-device household, you will need one of AT&T’s high-speed internet plans. As with basic plans, these all cost the same – $50/month for the first 12 months and $60/month after that. They also have the same 1TB data allowance, so it will all boil down to the technical capabilities at your location.
AT&T high-speed internet plans include the following:
- 10Mbps (Download: 10Mbps/Upload: 1Mbps) – This plan is good for video streaming and downloading music.
- 18Mbps (Download: 18Mbps/Upload: 1.5Mbps) – This plan is good for HD streaming and online gaming.
- 25Mbps (Download: 25Mbps/Upload: 5Mbps) – The plan is good for video streaming on multiple devices at once.
- 50Mbps (Download: 50Mbps/Upload: 10Mbps) – This plan is good for HD streaming on multiple devices at once.
- 100Mbps (Download: 100Mbps/Upload: 20Mbps) – In addition to online gaming and multi-device HD streaming, this plan also allows you to upload HD video files in a matter of seconds.
AT&T Internet Plans Powered by AT&T Fiber
For users who need ultra-high internet speeds, AT&T offers three fiber optic internet tiers. As a rule, fiber optic internet is considerably faster and more reliable than both DSL and cable, with symmetrical download and upload speeds. However, it is only available in select locations, so you will have to check availability first.
AT&T Fiber Internet offers the following speed tiers:
- Internet 100 (Download: 100Mbps/Upload: 100Mbps, 1TB data allowance) – This plan is good for high-quality HD streaming and sharing large files. It costs $50/month for the first 12 months and $60/month after that.
- Internet 300 (Download: 300Mbps/Upload: 300Mbps, 1TB data allowance) – The plan is good for high-quality HD streaming on multiple devices at the same time. It costs $70/month for the first 12 months and $80/month after that.
- Internet 1000 (Download: 940Mbps/Upload: 940Mbps, Unlimited data) – This plan is excellent for high-quality HD and 4K streaming on multiple devices. It also allows you to share very large files (1GB+) in just a few seconds. It costs $90/month for the first 12 months and $100/month after that.
AT&T Internet Bundles
If you choose to bundle your AT&T Internet service with either U-verse TV or DIRECTV, you will get an even better deal on your Internet package. By selecting an AT&T Bundle, no matter which plan you’re on, you will get unlimited data and save at least $10/month on your internet bill.
Basic internet subscribers will pay $30/month instead of $40, whereas any of the standard plans (10Mbps-100Mbps) will cost $40/month instead of $50. For AT&T Fiber users, the prices are as follows:
- Internet 100: $40/month instead of $50/month
- Internet 300: $60/month instead of $70/month
- Internet 1000: $80/month instead of $90/month
As long as you keep your AT&T services bundled together, your price will remain the same even after your 12-month agreement expires. This way, not only will you save $30/month on the unlimited data add-on but you’ll also be saving $20/month on the full price of your internet plan. That’s an annual saving of $600, an offer no other ISP in the United States can match.
As you can see, different AT&T Internet speeds and bundles are available, all at your convenience.
Resources:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/292580/atandt-internet-broadband-subscribers/
https://www.att.com/legal/terms.ATTInternetConsumerFeeSchedule.html
https://www.att.com/internet/internet-services.html
https://www.att.com/internet/u-verse.html