An Honest AT&T Internet Review: Is It Worth Your Money?

AT&T has well-priced internet plans, but its fiber internet brings the most value and fastest speeds.

ATT
AT&T
4.3 out of 5 stars
4.25
  • pro
    Well-priced fiber plans with unlimited data
  • pro
    Option to bundle with DIRECTV
  • con
    Limited fiber availability
Catherine McNally
Mar 18, 2024
Icon Time To Read8 min read

We may earn money when you click our links.

It’s been a confusing ride for AT&T internet lately. Last year, it announced that its DSL service was gone. But now it seems like AT&T DSL internet is back. *raised eyebrow*

We checked out AT&T’s DSL and fiber hybrid internet service and its full-fiber internet to see how its prices and speeds compare to other internet service providers (ISPs). We found that AT&T internet isn’t a bad deal, but the best value lies in its fiber internet plans.

Let’s dig into the details and see if AT&T Internet is right for you.

reviews.org next zip logo
See if AT&T internet is available near you.
AT&T internet plans
Plan
Price
Download speed
Data cap
Details
AT&T Internet Air$55/mo.*225 MbpsUnlimited
AT&T Internet 300$55/mo.300 MbpsUnlimited
AT&T Internet 500$65/mo.500 MbpsUnlimited
AT&T Internet 1 Gig$80/mo.1000 MbpsUnlimited
AT&T Internet 2 Gig$125/mo.Up to 2000 MbpsUnlimited
AT&T Internet 5 Gig$225/mo.Up to 5000 MbpsUnlimited
* AutoPay and paperless billing required. Monthly State Cost Recovery Charge in TX, OH, NV applies. . Service subj. to Internet Terms of Service at att.com/internet-terms. Offers may be modified, or discontinued, at any time without notice. Other conditions may apply to all offers.
Price after $5/mo Autopay & Paperless bill discount (w/in 2 bills). Plus taxes & fees. Monthly State Cost Recovery Charge in TX, OH, NV applies. One time install chrg may apply. Ltd. avail/areas. Call or go to www.fiber.att.com to see if you qualify.
Price after $5/mo Autopay & Paperless bill discount (w/in 2 bills). Plus taxes & fees. Monthly State Cost Recovery Charge in TX, OH, NV applies. Ltd. availability/areas.

Looking for AT&T U-verse Internet?

You’re in the right place. U-verse Internet is now AT&T Internet, which offers a DSL or DSL-fiber hybrid internet connection that costs $55 a month.

AT&T internet prices and plans

If you can get AT&T Fiber in your area, it’s well worth the price.

AT&T offers a mix of fully fiber and fiber plus DSL hybrid plans. (And, technically, plain old DSL plans while it continues to upgrade its network.)

What plans you can choose from depends on where you live—AT&T Fiber is available mainly in large cities, but its DSL service is available in suburbs and rural areas. (P.S. For simplicity’s sake, we’re referring to AT&T’s DSL-fiber hybrid service as “DSL.”)

AT&T DSL internet plans come with a max speed of 225 Mbps, but depending on your location, you could see speeds as low as 10 Mbps. (More on internet speeds in just a bit.)

That said, if you can get those faster speeds, the price isn’t too bad.

The better end of the deal is AT&T’s fiber plans by far, though. If you’re in an area where AT&T Fiber is available, we say go for it. It comes with some of the lowest prices for the speeds you get—300 Mbps to 5,000 Mbps.

Plus, you get unlimited data and upload speeds that match your download speeds. That’s perfect for school or work at home.

AT&T Fiber internet
Plan
Price
Download speed
Connection type
Details
AT&T Internet 300$55/mo.300 MbpsFiber
AT&T Internet 500$65/mo.500 MbpsFiber
AT&T Internet 1 Gig$80/mo.1000 MbpsFiber
AT&T Internet 2 Gig$125/mo.Up to 2000 MbpsFiber
AT&T Internet 5 Gig$225/mo.Up to 5000 MbpsFiber
Price after $5/mo Autopay & Paperless bill discount (w/in 2 bills). Plus taxes & fees. Monthly State Cost Recovery Charge in TX, OH, NV applies. One time install chrg may apply. Ltd. avail/areas. Call or go to www.fiber.att.com to see if you qualify.
Price after $5/mo Autopay & Paperless bill discount (w/in 2 bills). Plus taxes & fees. Monthly State Cost Recovery Charge in TX, OH, NV applies. Ltd. availability/areas.

Speeds based on wired connection.  Actual speeds may vary. For more info, go to www.att.com/speed101.

Bundling AT&T services

Want TV with your internet? Maybe some phone, too? The good news is that bundling your AT&T service can get you DIRECTV's service including free premium channels.

Where is AT&T internet available?

You can get AT&T Internet in 21 different states, but its fiber internet plans tend to service only large cities and suburbs in those states.

A map of the US showing the 21 states where AT&T internet is available.

You can check to see if your city has AT&T Fiber using its fiber coverage map.

How does AT&T internet compare to other ISPs?

In general, AT&T’s prices and speeds are pretty competitive compared to Cox, Spectrum, Comcast Xfinity, and WOW! Internet

Both Spectrum and WOW! Internet don’t offer internet plans with speeds lower than 100 Mbps. But if you have the option of either Spectrum or WOW!, the price they charge for more download speed might be a better deal than AT&T’s 300 Mbps plan.

Aside from a middle-of-the-pack price for 100 Mbps speeds, the AT&T Internet 1000 Mbps plan comes with unlimited data. Cox and Xfinity come with a 1.25 TB data cap, respectively, while both WOW! and Spectrum offer unlimited data on their plans. 

Here’s a breakdown of some of AT&T’s internet plans compared to the price you’d pay for similar speeds.

AT&T Fiber Internet 1,000 plan comparison
Service
Plan
Price
Download speed
Details
AT&T FiberAT&T Internet 1 Gig$80/mo.1000 Mbps
Cox InternetGo Super Fast$109.99/mo.^Up to 1000 Mbps
Spectrum InternetSpectrum Internet® Gig$79.99/mo. for 24 mos.°Up to 1000 Mbps
Xfinity Internet - CentralGigabit Extra$85/mo.**1200 Mbps
WOW! InternetFiber 1 Gig$80/mo.††Up to 1000 Mbps
Price after $5/mo Autopay & Paperless bill discount (w/in 2 bills). Plus taxes & fees. Monthly State Cost Recovery Charge in TX, OH, NV applies. Ltd. availability/areas.
^ for 12 months with 1-yr. term agreement
° For 12 months when bundled. Limited time offer; subject to change; valid to qualified residential customers who have not subscribed to any services within the previous 30 days and who have no outstanding obligation to Charter. Spectrum Internet® Gig promotion price is $89.99/mo; standard rates apply after yr. 1. Taxes, fees and surcharges extra and subject to change during and after the promotional period; installation/network activation, equipment and additional services are extra.
** For 24 months. No term contract. Taxes not included. Includes $10/mo automatic payments and paperless billing discount. Prices may vary by location.
†† With AutoPay & paperless billing. Equipment, taxes, data allowance, and other fees extra. Other restrictions apply to usage-based plans.

If you’re eyeing gig speeds, AT&T Fiber’s price for its 1000 Mbps plan is hard to beat. But for an extra bit of NOS to jump ahead in the race, Xfinity’s 1,200 Mbps plan costs the same as the AT&T Fiber 1000 Mbps plan. Otherwise, AT&T Fiber is the best deal for gig speeds compared to Cox, Spectrum, and WOW! Internet. Not to mention, if you get AT&T Internet 1000 or higher, you get Max at no extra charge.

Still need to do a little comparison shopping? Check out these other reviews:

Is AT&T internet cheap?

Overall, AT&T’s internet prices align with what you’ll see from other ISPs—or cheaper. We think the biggest value is in its fiber internet plans. But AT&T’s DSL internet plans are risky since you don’t always know what speed you’ll get.

  • Compared to Cox: AT&T Internet and Cox prices start out even, but Cox’s 1,000 Mbps plan is more expensive than the AT&T Fiber Internet 1,000 plan.
  • Compared to Spectrum: AT&T’s gig-speed plan is the same price as Spectrum’s. The saving grace? Spectrum comes with no equipment fee.
  • Compared to Xfinity: AT&T’s DSL plans might be a better deal than Xfinity’s Up to 75 Mbps plan—depending on what speed you can get with AT&T. Otherwise, these two ISPs are neck-and-neck when it comes to price for the speed you get.
  • Compared to WOW!: WOW!'s 100 Mbps plan is way cheaper than AT&T's; however, you won't get unlimited data. But you’ll pay almost $15 more per month for gig speeds with WOW! compared to the price of AT&T’s gig plan.

AT&T internet speed and data

AT&T Fiber speeds are fast, but its DSL service might hit some slow patches.

AT&T’s fiber plans come with fairly straightforward internet speeds of 300, 500, 1,000, up to 2,000, and up to 5,000 Mbps. 

But its DSL plan pairs you with the fastest speeds you can get in your area—up to 140 Mbps, depending on which plan you have.

AT&T internet download speeds and upload speeds
Plan
Download speed
Upload speed
Data cap
Details
AT&T Internet Air225 Mbps30 MbpsUnlimited
AT&T Internet 300300 Mbps300 MbpsUnlimited
AT&T Internet 500500 Mbps500 MbpsUnlimited
AT&T Internet 1 Gig1000 Mbps1000 MbpsUnlimited
AT&T Internet 2 GigUp to 2000 Mbps

Up to 2000 Mbps

Unlimited
AT&T Internet 5 GigUp to 5000 Mbps

Up to 5000 Mbps

Unlimited

Price after $5/mo Autopay & Paperless bill discount (w/in 2 bills). Plus taxes & fees. Monthly State Cost Recovery Charge in TX, OH, NV applies. One time install chrg may apply. Ltd. avail/areas. Call or go to www.fiber.att.com to see if you qualify.

The other downside to AT&T DSL internet is that it doesn’t come with symmetrical, or matching, upload speeds. With DSL, you’ll probably see upload speeds of 8–10 Mbps, which might put a damper on your Zoom calls or uploading email attachments while you work from home.

AT&T Fiber, on the other hand, sports symmetrical internet speeds. So, whatever download speed you get, you’ll get the same upload speed to match. 

That makes AT&T Fiber the superior high-speed internet choice for anyone running a home office, home business, studying from home, or aiming to become the next YouTube sensation.

Is AT&T internet fast?

We dug through speed test data to find the fastest ISPs in the US, and AT&T ranked 15th out of 38 internet providers.

That’s not a great rank, but it’s not horrible either. And more than likely, AT&T’s DSL internet is bringing down its score since DSL is slower than fiber (and sometimes cable, too). Sad fact.

AT&T internet speed scores
Provider
Overall rank
DSL internet rank
Fiber internet rank

AT&T

15th out of 38 ISPs

3rd out of 10 DSL ISPs

9th out of 20 fiber ISPs

By comparison, Xfinity ranked 7th and Spectrum ranked 14th, while Cox ranked just below AT&T at number 16. (We didn’t have enough data to analyze WOW! Internet’s speeds.)

AT&T internet speeds compared to Xfinity, Spectrum, and Cox
Provider
Overall rank
Weighted score
Download speed range
Xfinity Internet

7th out of 38 ISPs

46.6 out of 100

25–2,00 Mbps

Spectrum Internet®

14th out of 38 ISPs

35.6 out of 100

Up to 100–Up to 1,000 Mbps

AT&T Internet

15th out of 38 ISPs

33.8 out of 100

10–1,000 Mbps

Cox Internet

16th out of 38 ISPs

33.4 out of 100

25–940 Mbps

Data as of 04/05/2023. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.

But looking at the weighted scores, you’ll see that Spectrum, AT&T, and Cox all scored similarly, while Xfinity jumped ahead by over 10 points. While Xfinity is a likely winner for giving you the speeds you pay for, we guess your AT&T customer speeds will be all right, especially if you can get its fiber internet service.

Data caps

AT&T’s fiber internet plans and Internet Air 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.

  • AT&T DSL data cap (AT&T Internet Air): Unlimited data
  • AT&T Fiber data cap (300–5000 Mbps): Unlimited

AT&T contracts, equipment, and fees

AT&T did away with contracts, and its self-install option and low equipment fee are winners.

Contracts

AT&T recently said “Bye, Felicia!” to its contract requirements, and we applaud that. The freedom of not having an internet contract is one more worry taken off your plate if you have to move, change your service plan, or just enjoy not getting lassoed into agreements.

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 Wi-Fi gateway device 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 this while he was staying in Virginia but needed internet in his new house in Florida.

“They shipped the box on Monday. It came on 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 and Wi-Fi connection is set up before you even unload your mattress. Priorities, right?

Save money with your own equipment

If you’re on an AT&T DSL internet plan, you could save that $10 a month for something shinier and buy your own modem and router instead. We have tips to help you shop for a modem and choose a new router.

Service fees

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

  • Installation fee: Pay a $35 activation fee if you prefer DIY installation, or call the pros for $99.
  • Early termination fee: AT&T Internet doesn’t have contracts, so you shouldn’t have to pay an early termination fee (ETF). However, its site does state that some plans may require a contract to get promotional pricing. If you fall into that bucket, you’re looking at an ETF of $15 for each month left on your contract—up to a total of $180.

AT&T customer service

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

Customer service is always a pain point for any service provider, and AT&T is no exception. However, it does score 75 out of 100 on the 2023 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)—this makes it one of the top-scoring internet providers.

AT&T has improved over the last two years, as the customer service rating used to be 73 the year prior. That puts it ahead of the average score of 72 out of 100.

AT&T internet ACSI 2023 customer service rating
Rating
Score

ACSI 2023

75 out of 100

ACSI 2022

73 out of 100

If you need to get chummy with an AT&T rep, social media or chat may be your best option. Here’s how to get a hold of AT&T, and be sure to try some of our tips for dealing with customer service too.

  • AT&T internet customer service phone number: 1-800-288-2020
  • Online chat (you’ll need to scroll down for the chat option)
  • Facebook: @ATT (hours are 6 a.m.–1 a.m. CST)
  • Twitter: @ATTHelp

Is your AT&T internet not working?

Your internet is slow or just nonexistent, and you want to flip a table. We’ve all been there. We’ve got some tips you can try to fix the issue on your own and we’re crossing our fingers your internet woes are over soon.

Recap: Is AT&T internet any good?

AT&T Internet offers some competitive pricing and zippy fiber speeds, but its DSL internet plans leave something to be desired. Here’s a quick recap of why you might or might not like it.

  • Prices and plans: AT&T’s prices match other ISPs serving similar areas or are cheaper. But its DSL plan quickly loses value if you can’t get max speeds of 225Mbps.
  • Download speed: With speeds of 300 to 5,000 Mbps, AT&T Fiber speeds are perfect for a family who works, studies, and has fun online. But AT&T DSL speeds are too slow and too iffy for our liking.
  • Data caps: All AT&T Fiber and DSL plans come with unlimited data.
  • Contracts, equipment, and fees: We’re happy to say that AT&T Internet comes with no contracts. Plus, 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 internet prices and plans recap

Data effective 12/12/2023. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.
*Price after $5/mo Autopay & Paperless bill discount (w/in 2 bills). Plus taxes & fees. Monthly State Cost Recovery Charge in TX, OH, NV applies. One time install chrg may apply. Ltd. avail/areas. Call or go to www.fiber.att.com to see if you qualify.
Speeds based on wired connection.  Actual speeds may vary. For more info, go to www.att.com/speed101.

Catherine McNally
Written by
Catherine McNally
Catherine has a degree in journalism and an MBA, and has spent the last 10+ years writing everything from Okinawa travel guides to stories on Medium. She’s been online since AOL CDs were a thing and is an unapologetic PC gamer. She believes the internet is a necessity, not a luxury, and writes reviews and guides to help everyone stay connected. You can also find her on Twitter: @CMReviewsIt.

Related Articles

A woman holds an infant in her lap while she uses a laptop at the dining table
How Does DSL Internet Work?
How does DSL internet work, and is it right for you? We compare DSL to...
A brunette woman wearing glasses browses the internet on her laptop
An Honest AT&T Internet Review: Is It Worth Your Money?
Is AT&T internet good? Read our AT&T internet review to learn more about prices, plans,...
A laptop sits on a small table with a cup of coffee and a flower illuminated by sunlight
Hughesnet vs. AT&T Internet Air Review
We compared rural internet providers HughesNet to AT&T DSL internet and AT&T Fixed Wireless. Find...
Best-5G-Home-Internet_feat
Best 5G Home Internet
There are currently three companies offering fixed 5G home internet: Verizon, T-Mobile, and Starry. Here’s...