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This right here is AT&T Air. And with
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more than a million customers, it's now
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a fast growing 5G home internet option.
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Similar to what T-Mobile and Verizon
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offer. But is it really worth it? Let's
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find out. I've got five things you need
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to know before you sign up. And it all
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starts with the big picture. I'm on
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AT&T's website now. And if you've been
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here, you may have seen internet air
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advertised alongside fiber internet. But
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when you enter your address, you are not
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going to see both of those options, one
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or the other. And that's because AT&T is
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fiber first. So if you're like me and
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already have AT&T Fiber in your
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neighborhood, Internet Air will not be
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offered. Only the fiber plans, which
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deliver the best overall experience
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anyway. So, how did I get my hands on
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Internet Air? Well, after a lot of
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requests from viewers, I reached out to
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AT&T and they made an exception. But
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there's a couple things I want you to
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know right up front. So, first, I'm
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testing Internet Air in an area where it
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is not normally available. So, speed and
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performance, they may be different. And
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second, because I couldn't sign up from
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the website myself, AT&T provided the
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service to me at no cost for an extended
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trial. Having said that, this review is
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not sponsored. AT&T doesn't know what
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I'm about to share with you. And after 2
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months of testing, I think I've got a
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pretty good idea of who this service is
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for and who should skip it. So, let's
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keep it moving. We'll talk about the
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setup and activation. And if you're
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wondering why 5G home internet services
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have become so popular lately, the
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simple setup process is one reason why.
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And when you open the box, you'll see
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everything here. A Wi-Fi gateway, a
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power supply, and some basic setup
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instructions. But that's it. Next,
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you'll scan the QR code like I did, and
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AT&T's app on your phone will take over
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from there. With all these 5G services,
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placement really matters, and the app
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told me which direction to put the
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gateway to get the best signal. Then I
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just plugged it in, powered it on, and I
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was up and running after some updates. I
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did try out spots in a few different
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rooms, and I ended up moving the gateway
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to my kitchen counter for most of my
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testing. AT&T recommends placing your
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gateway high up and near a window. This
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is the AT&T app that I mentioned, and
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there are several DIY tools to help with
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your coverage. My favorite, the Wi-Fi
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coverage check. You just aim your
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phone's camera at the floor, move it
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around, and it'll identify strong and
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weak areas. This setup process took
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about 15 minutes start to finish. It may
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take a little bit longer for you,
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especially if you're testing out
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multiple locations for the gateway. And
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once you're all set up, you can easily
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change the default Wi-Fi username and
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password right from the AT&T app. But if
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you need more advanced settings, there
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is a URL printed right on the back of
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your gateway. Number three today is
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speed and performance. And as I
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mentioned off the top, AT&T Air isn't
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offered where I live, so I wasn't
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exactly expecting peak performance. To
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give you an idea of what you can expect,
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here's what AT&T says on its website. 90
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to 300 megabits per second download
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speed and 8 to 30 megabits per second
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upload speed. Now, for the majority of
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my testing, I was within those ranges,
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but usually on the lower side for
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download speeds, and that was true
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whether I used Wi-Fi or an Ethernet
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cable. There is a pattern I noticed.
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Slower speeds during the day and higher
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at night. And this made sense to me
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because I live right near a downtown
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area that clears out after 5:00 p.m. So,
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I just assume the network is busier
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during the day. And here on AT&T's
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website, it says speeds may be slower
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when the network is busy and more fine
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print. In very rare cases, heavy data
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users may see even slower speeds during
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congestion. I've tested a lot of 5G home
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internet and AT&T speeds. They have been
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lower than T-Mobile and Verizon, but
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still usable and I never felt like I had
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to disconnect my AT&T equipment to rely
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on another service just to get through
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the day. I also tried pushing it a bit,
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so streaming TV while also using a few
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phones and computers. Most of the time
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this was not a problem, but here
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streaming 4K on multiple devices, it did
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cause some buffering at times. I used
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AT&T service for both personal and
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business use. Things like browsing the
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web, streaming TV, Zoom calls, and
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uploading my videos to YouTube, but
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never multiplayer gaming. Something I
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don't usually recommend any 5G home
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internet services for. performance is
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going to depend heavily on where you
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live. You do get 7 days to test it out
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for free. So, if it doesn't work out,
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you can cancel and return the gateway to
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avoid any charges. And one more thing
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I'm tracking, AT&T is also in the
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process of acquiring additional wireless
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spectrum, which could expand
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availability and improve internet air
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over time. Let's talk about pricing now
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because this is where AT&T service
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really differs from other 5G home
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internet options. At recording time,
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AT&T Air is $60 a month as a standalone
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service. No price increase at 12 months,
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no setup or installation fees, and no
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contract, so you can cancel any time. If
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you bundle internet and wireless phone
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service, you get a price break on the
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internet plan, bringing it to less than
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$50 a month. And these prices are with
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autopay and paperless billing activated.
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Now, compare that to T-Mobile and
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Verizon, which both offer multiple 5G
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home internet plans at different price
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points. They offer lower entry prices
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and typically more aggressive promotions
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than AT&T. Although, I did notice this
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one. It's a limited time deal for new
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Internet Air customers. All right, so
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now that brings me to who this service
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is for and who should skip it. And I'm
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going to try to be as specific as
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possible. First, you got to know all the
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available internet options where you
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live. And I've got a tool on
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that can help out. I think this service
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is going to make the most sense for
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people who don't have a fiber internet
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provider where they live. And as I
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mentioned, if AT&T fiber is available,
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you can't even get internet air. If
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internet air is the only 5G option
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you've got, I can understand why you'd
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sign up for it. And the same for anyone
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who has AT&T for phone service, likes
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the network, and doesn't want to switch
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away. But if you do have T-Mobile 5G
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home internet as an option, I'd consider
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it. even the prepaid version from
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MintMo, you may end up with faster
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speeds at a lower price point. And this
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is not just a rural upgrade from DSL.
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There's people in the suburbs and cities
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also making the switch to 5G home
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internet sometimes to get away from
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expensive cable plans. Just know 5G home
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internet works best for everyday
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internet use. But if you need ultra fast
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uploads, low latency gaming, or you've
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got a large household with just
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everybody all online at once, then this
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probably isn't the right fit for you.
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Thank you to AT&T for letting me test
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out this service. And if you've got an
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experience with it, good or bad, leave a
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comment below to help anyone shopping
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for a new plan. I'll see you next time
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Thank you for watching.
