Fiber Finally

smilingbob

We finally got ATT fiber lit in our hood, so it looks like we will be ditching Comcast. I’m torn on which plan to get since the Gigabit is actually the cheapest if you include the $200 gift card, but its been my experience to never count on that. With the 1 year discount the Gig is $60/mo & the 300Mbps is $45/mo (no autopay), but the gift card brings Gig to ~$43/mo for the first year. Like many others I have zero need for Gig but it’s cheapest and I can always change back to 300Mbps after the year is done. So,
1) Anyone have gift card experience with ATT? Is it worth it or not worth considering?
2) Is it easy to change your speed down to a lower tier or is it a headache once setup?

I’ll be putting the Gateway into passthrough to my own router, just curious on others experience with install and performance compared to cable. We’re currently on Comcast 300/100Mbps (midsplit) FOR $50/mo for reference.

egeezer

I don’t have ATT but this is worth considering;

1) Look at the price after the discount, and if you’re locked into a contract. Since you would be on autopay, make sure you don’t forget when the end of the promotion approaches.

2) Personally, if 300 down has been okay for you, I’d start with the 300 tier first. No sense buying a dump truck when a pickup will do. The two bucks you might save with a gift card of unknown terms may be offset by hassles.

I defer customer experience with downgrading to those who have dealt with doing so.

adlr

smilingbob
If you’re willing to deal with the hassle of calling AT&T to downgrade in order to save a bit of money and try out the gigabit tier, I would think you’re the kind of person who could open a new savings account online to get the autopay discount without giving AT&T access to your primary bank account. Btw, with autopay connected to a bank account, you can still pay early with a credit card each month to get those points or cash back.
I don’t think there’s technically a contract, but you probably need to wait a month or more in order to get the gift card(s). I had no trouble getting the expected gift cards when I signed up for AT&T fiber.
In the end, the truth is you can’t go wrong with either plan. It’s a great “problem” to have!

Chris313AllNight

smilingbob

In January of 2024, I got AT&T for the first time. I picked the, at the time, 2 Gig service. I planned to enjoy it while it was discounted. Because I started with 2 Gig, I’m hooked up at the box for faster speeds. After the discount ended, I planned to go back to 1 Gig, but cause of the way I was originally hooked up, the 1 Gig service comes out to 1400/1400. Something to consider if you’re interested in that. Use the giftcard to lower your prices if you’re able. I have seen Promo cards usable as a payment method before, so it might work for you.

After googling it, see here:

Online (Recommended): Log into your account portal at att.com. Navigate to the bill payment section, select “Pay with a Credit/Debit Card” or “AT&T Promotional Card,” and type in your reward card details.

Important Restrictions to Keep in Mind

Redemption Deadline: The card does not arrive automatically. You must proactively claim it via the AT&T Reward Center after your service has been active for the required timeframe (usually 30 days). You typically have 75 days to claim the offer before it expires.

Card Expiration: Once issued, the funds generally expire within 6 months. Check the front of your physical card or virtual token for the exact expiration date.

AutoPay Conflicts: If you are signed up for AutoPay to receive a monthly discount, making a manual payment with your reward card will not cancel your discount, but you must process the reward card payment before your monthly AutoPay deduction date.

As for your question, You have to keep whatever speed you signed up for to get the card. Keep it at least until you get the card, if you want to downgrade after, go ahead. I think it’s like 2-3 months of service before the card comes. It’s definitely worth it here. The card also does expire, so be sure to use it when you get it and not sit on it.

Second, I changed speed tiers with a few clicks and a 24 hour wait. So be sure you’re not doing anything at midnight when you make the change. You will lose the connection as it reboots. Wasn’t expecting that and I was in the middle of some hardcore gaming. Nothing worse then losing connection mid battle.

Also as far as performance went, both the 2 Gig (2500/2500) and back to the 1 Gig service after the downgrade were rocks (1400/1400). AT&T Fiber completely spanked Comcast in every way. The service was absolutely solid. My inner tech geek cries over the price Comcast charges now, for half of what AT&T Fiber provides. I also put the gateway in IP Passthrough as well and used my own router. No problem after that.

Hope that helps you and you enjoy the 1 Gig for the year. Be sure to come back and tell us how it all went. Also, they cut a further 20 bucks a month if you have cell phone service with them. I do, and planned this specifically to add Fiber back into the mix after I move to another place that has Fiber available. Something else to consider

smilingbob

After some discussion with the wife-unit (boss) we decided to go with the 300Mbps. We’ll setup a savings account which will have only the amount needed for payment each month. This is against my better judgement but $35/mo for the first year is just too enticing. Evil Temptress!

Install is scheduled for tomorrow morning and by afternoon I should be 100% Comcast Free, as I ported my phone out today back to Visible. It’ll be good getting back to fiber, it’s been 4 ½ years since we moved and lost Frontier. Life is certainly better when you have fiber options. Ezee Fiber is also building this area, so we’ll see if they can lure me away from AT&T. Thanks to those who offered advice, much appreciated.

badtlc4

smilingbob I’m not sure what your hesitation is. The actual throughput of the 300Mbps plan will be ₃₇₅/375Mbps. I do anything and everything you can on the internet with a family of 5 and we lived on 300Mbps for years with zero issues.

smilingbob

badtlc4 They’re here now, looking forward to it. Additional wrinkle, apparently the OG contractor’s didn’t install the fiber box behind our houses down our street, so they’ve opened a ticket to get it done. Install should be done today in the house but we’ll be waiting on connection I guess.

smilingbob

Still waiting on install here. We went on a 5 day cruise and came back with still no service, just a red blinking light on our Gateway and the fiber still coiled up hanging outside just like we left it. I actually had to call today to reschedule to finish the install, which was started on the 22nd. Not too impressed so far.

Chris313AllNight

smilingbob

Yeah, during my install, my installer didn’t know if the box was set up the way it needed to be, but he left, went to the box and came back 5 minutes later. Turns out I was the first person on the line and about 90 minutes all told, I was enjoying the 2 Gig I signed up for, what a difference. You might be irritated how things are going, but I would give them this chance to make it right. They screw up AGAIN, leave for elsewhere.

I would also ask for some compensation with how things have gone thus far. It shouldn’t be happening like this.

I look forward to hearing your saga as it goes.

smilingbob

As referenced above, I called in after we got back from our cruise on Thursday and ATT immediately scheduled us for a new install date yesterday between noon-2PM. Nada, No-Show, Nothing - not even a text or email saying it was canceled/delayed. I went to my account page this morning and it shows install is delayed, but doesn’t give a reason. These guys are batting 1000 so far, ha.

badtlc4

smilingbob some areas of at&t are about as bad as you could ever imagine. At lesat when it is working you rarely have to deal with the company anymore in “good” areas.

smilingbob

Finally finished the install today, put it in pass through and it’s moving right along. I’ll have to wait to see how it performs during primetime to make my final opinion on it but so far working as advertised. Calling to cancel Comcast.

https://www.speedtest.net/result/19520591822

Chris313AllNight

smilingbob

Finally, you’re getting to see the light. I hope you enjoy it and find it kicks as much ass as my 2 Gig install was. That first night, I was up all night. The connection was in the floor, a OneDrive upload, Steam download and 3 game consoles going at full blast. It handled it flawlessly. Ping was 1-5 and when I gamed, it felt like everything was on fast forward and I was the one struggling to keep up.

The way the internet should be.

smilingbob

Chris313AllNight Ha, well this certainly isn’t a mighty 2GB connection, but I am pleased to leave Comcast and get back to Fiber internet. The latency is slightly better and both the down/up are faster. My kids will appreciate it for sure, I thought I was going to have a mutiny on my hands when I tried 5G Home a few years back. Learned that lesson quick.

smilingbob

Turned in my XB7 yesterday at our local store and made my final payment today online to Comcast. All things considered, I was not unhappy with the internet service they provided after they removed the ridiculous data cap, stopped charging rentals for Gateways, and upgraded us to midsplit. I’m not gonna lie though, it was a good feeling going back to fiber and it is has been great so far. All those years of data caps and promo dancing took their toll, it won’t hurt my feelings if I can avoid becoming a Comcast customer in the future. Cheers to all who provided info on ATT Fiber.

Chris313AllNight

smilingbob

Yes indeed. When I got my Fiber installed at my previous home, I took much glee in telling Comcast why I left and hearing the CSR deflate at knowing she was losing a customer and could do nothing about it. After 20 years of cable and Comcast BS, I was overjoyed to be done with it. Compared to fiber and how Comcast and cable in general is scrambling to compete, they just can’t. Decades of screwing with the customer and trying to extend tech they should’ve put to bed after the Docsis 3.0 days has come back to bite them. And deservedly so. I will be much less gleeful when I tell Comcast to go pound it the 2nd time around (Not available at my chosen address since AT&T Fiber is the dominant), but still very happy to kick them to the curb.

May you continue to see and enjoy riding the light. I look forward to updates on how your Fiber journey goes.

smilingbob

We had 3 ATT trucks just on our block today. Seems that word is getting around because people are fleeing Comcast en mass now that Fiber is here. Since they are hemorrhaging customers nationwide, I’m guessing their prior policies and reluctance to treat current customers properly has made the condition systemic.

ilikeme1

smilingbob That happened in my old neighborhood in Houston when AT&T came through with FTTH about 9 years ago now. In my current neighborhood in the suburbs we are out in Frontier land and they are still stringing fiber up all around but have not hit my section yet. Thankfully we have fiber from both Astound and Ezee Fiber already. When Ezee came through, Astound and Comcast both lost a ton of customers. Xfinity coax is also here, but most people seem to avoid them unless they don’t know better.

badtlc4

smilingbob it is more about people just hate not having choices. When my subdivision was built, it was exclusively at&t fiber. about 4 years in, Xfinity came through and installed HFC and took over 50% of the at&t fiber customers just because they now had a choice. People almost always feel choosing the new option must be better than whatever they were stuck with before because they had no choice.

xpxp2002

badtlc4 Comcast probably offered some competitive introductory/promotional pricing. Some people don’t care about or understand quality, but will take anything that’s cheaper than what they’re paying now.

In my neighborhood, there are no other options. It’s not that I want other options for the sake of having choices, but I want something with more upstream bandwidth and lower latency. The fact that the fiber competitors who could deliver that also happen to charge less than Spectrum would just be an additional benefit. But I know a lot of people who are fine switching between HFC, FWA, and whatever else they can get at their address, and completely ignorant of the difference in bandwidth, reliability, latency, etc.

What you described is the inverse of most residential areas, though. Typically it’s fiber coming as a new competitor to existing HFC and/or DSL. When that’s the case, you see a mass migration to fiber because of both factors: some people go for better service, others go for the better price, and some go for both. The only people who stay are typically those who view their existing service as “good enough” and don’t trust newer technology, or those who are locked into a double-play deal with TV and don’t know about or want to try other options like YTTV or DTVS.