AT&T Internet Providers Review

Availability

AT&T internet is currently available in 22 states, mostly in the South and the Midwest. It offers fast, fiber-optic internet plans for those who live in urban areas and want access to the fastest possible speeds. Rural residents should check into the company's DSL and fixed wireless options. Fixed wireless internet isn't an option you typically find with most major internet service providers, so AT&T is worth a closer look if you're interested in this type of service.

Variety

AT&T offers several fiber-optic internet plans, so you can choose the speeds and price that suit your needs. Its lowest plan offers 100 Mbps, which should be plenty for most people, but if you need faster speeds, there are 300 Mbps and 1,000 Mbps plans as well. DSL and fixed-wireless internet speeds are slower. AT&T doesn't disclose its exact DSL speeds, but fixed wireless speeds are around 10 Mbps. AT&T's plans require a 12-month contract, but this shouldn't be an issue for most consumers because AT&T consistently scores highly in customer satisfaction surveys.

AT&T also offers internet solutions to small business owners, including optional tech support and internet backups to help ensure your business continues to run smoothly at all times. You can choose your connection speed up to 1 Tbps. These plans include symmetrical bandwidth, so your upload speeds are the same as your download speeds, which isn't usually the case. You also get unlimited data so you don't have to worry about overages.

Both the residential and small business plans enable you to bundle your internet with TV and home phone services if you choose to. This is usually the way to go if you also want a TV package or home phone because you'll receive a discount for bundling services together. Business owners have the additional option to build a custom bundle that suits their needs. This isn't an option that many other internet providers give customers, so it's a great choice for small business owners that want their services tailored to them.

Costs

AT&T's fiber-optic internet plans start at $50 to $70 per month, but costs go up after your first year. Once the promotional rate expires, you'll pay between $60 and $100 per month for the same service. If this is too expensive for you and you don't need all of that extra speed, consider a more affordable package or a DSL plan instead to help keep your costs down. DSL plans start at $50 per month while fixed wireless starts at $40 per month when bundled with other AT&T services.

Each of AT&T's internet plans include 1 TB of data per month, which should be enough to accommodate most users. But if you're constantly streaming or playing games online, you could rack up overage charges, which will cost you an extra $10 charge per 50 GB you use over the 1 TB.

Customer Satisfaction

Internet providers in general don't typically receive stellar reviews from customers, but AT&T is an exception to the rule. It earned above-average ratings in all three regions of the J.D. Power U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Survey that it appeared in, and it was the winner in the North Central and South regions. The American Customer Satisfaction Index also scored it highly, though it lost out on the top spot to Verizon FiOS. But in the years since the survey began, AT&T has begun to close the gap between the two and only missed out on the top spot by a single point.

Ideally, your internet service works well enough that you don't need to reach out to the company, but if you do, it's nice to know that AT&T has scored so well on these fronts. This should help set your mind at ease if you're concerned about signing up for an internet service contract with AT&T.