AT&T Internet Air

iahawkeye83

Just found out that AT&T Internet Air has become available at my home. Tried to order it online. Ran into an error message so I ran to the AT&T store. Ordered it there after the manager had to get involved. I get one to two bars of service at my home and my speed tests on my iPhone are about 100 down and 0.50 up when connected to AT&T 5G. My question does the AT&T internet Air device have better antennas than the iPhone since it’s a FWA device. I use my internet for gaming and videoconferencing. I need ethernet connections on the second floor but if the booster pod has an ethernet connection I can place the Internet Air device on the third floor and put the booster pod on the second floor.

Any alternatives to Xfinity would be nice.

xpxp2002

iahawkeye83 I use my internet for gaming and videoconferencing.

Unless you have no wired option for broadband, I would not switch to FWA. Latency for gaming will virtually always be better with a wired option and AT&T’s wireless upload speeds are notoriously poor compared to Verizon and T-Mobile.

Likewise, those “pods” are just another mesh Wi-Fi solution that’s going to add latency. If you want the best performance, you should be wired all the way through.

px_eliezer_

There is a 30-day cancellation opportunity, and an even better 3-day cancellation opportunity.

You may terminate this Agreement within thirty (30) days after activating service without
paying an Early Termination Fee.

You will pay for service fees and charges incurred through the termination date, but AT&T will refund your activation fee, if any, if you terminate within three (3) days of activating the service.

https://www.att.com/support_static_files/KB/PATTLNK_8282007_152-FMSTCT06070104E.PDF (pdf)

The information MIGHT be outdated but regardless you should look into cancellation RIGHT AWAY to check your options.

px_eliezer_

iahawkeye83

If a service is brand new to an area, if the website won’t work, and if even the store workers can’t do it, needing the Manager to do it—

Those are Red Flags to prudent buyers.

iahawkeye83

I just got off the phone with AT&T and canceled the Internet Air order. I explained to them I was a gamer and that QoS was important to me so I rebuffed all of their “save the customer” b/s.

Order canceled, not even shipped yet. The three day “cooling-off” period does not apply since it was made in an AT&T store.

Astyanax

It’s glorified hotspot-grade Internet service.

Don’t know how you’d think it could be better than any wired service including old fashioned coax cable internet.

badtlc4

iahawkeye83 if you are having issues with Xfinity, work with them to have it fixed. In most areas, Xfinity provides a good service.

iahawkeye83

Astyanax I wanted to try an alternative to Comcast but after doing a little research I decided to cancel the order. I also upgraded my Comcast (via the Xfinity app) the X2 service using the existing XB8 gateway I already have. If they would give me an XB10 that would be great but I don’t think my area has been upgraded to DOCSIS 4.0 yet. They have the hardware in place to go high split (the new Harmonic nodes) and I think we are already mid split. A fiber provider is building out here but whether it comes to my street is another question. Construction seems to be stalled right now. Maybe the subsidies for broadband deployment have dried up but I am not going to get into politics here. There is only one street in my immediate vicinity where there is signs of fiber deployment. Another option would be Starlink but I’m not allowed to have satellite dishes. That still would not be the equivalent to wired. I have also seen ViaSat and HughesNet dishes in the area but those people must owe Comcast money and are blacklisted from getting Comcast.

Like I said, Comcast is the most expensive option, they have the worst customer support but the has the best QoS of all the options I have currently. They are the only wired option so if you play video games or videoconference wired is the only option. I videoconference for telemedicine appointments with certain providers. Sure beats putting mileage on the car to show up at a clinic.

iahawkeye83

badtlc4

badtlc4 if you are having issues with Xfinity, work with them to have it fixed.

Sometimes it takes an act of Congress to get Xfinity to fix an issue. Getting them on the phone is the first part of the battle. Next is it takes multiple truck rolls (and with intermitted issues like connection drops, the issue might not present when the tech is present). And they are quick to blame any customer owned equipment (customer owned modems, routers, all internet connected devices, etc). They refuse to take ownership of any issues. The last time I had an issue. It took an FCC complaint and it turned out to be a bad fitting that was from the original installer. The tech (in-house tech and a supervisor) looked at all the fittings and found the bad fitting inside the demarc box where the customer side connects to the ground block. But since it was an Xfinity tech who put it there I was not charged for the truck roll. But they are great at sending you a bill every month, tech support is not that great.

badtlc4

iahawkeye83 you are also picking the most expensive speeds. Why not do the “now” internet at 100 or 200Mbps?

badtlc4

iahawkeye83 dont use the phone. Use xfinity reddit support.

Donut417

iahawkeye83 I guess they dont offer service in my area. The Meijer I shop at weekly, the AT&T rep always tries to sell me service. First they start with cellular. But due to being on my sisters plan and they have nice discounts, AT&T cant beat the price. Then they try to sell me Fiber, I tell them we dont have it available. They dont believe me and run my address. Its like dude, I know for a fact we dont have Fiber because I’m pretty sure I would notice AT&T running Fiber as all of our wires our above ground.

Cellular internet is going to be hit or miss. I know a lot of people have luck with it. Verizon and T Mobile seem to do a decent job making it work OK from what I heard. But it’s got issues for some.

badtlc4 if you are having issues with Xfinity, work with them to have it fixed. In most areas, Xfinity provides a good service.

Some times it’s about not doing business with a company. I know several people in my community went with Verizon or T Mobile Cellular internet because they hate Comcast with the fire of 10,000 suns. Some people want change. It is what it is.

iahawkeye83

Donut417 I know for a fact we dont have Fiber because I’m pretty sure I would notice AT&T running Fiber

And they would probably blow up a few houses in the process of running underground fiber because they hit a few gas lines. Dig safe does not always mark the lines properly. A Dig Safe mismark caused a multilevel strip club to blow up a few years ago because they mismarked a gas line and a gas company contractor pierced a gas line leading to the explosion. Buildings several blocks away sustained severe damage.

Donut417

iahawkeye83 Like I said, all my area is done above ground. I highly doubt they would run stuff underground when all infrastructure is in the air.

iahawkeye83

Donut417 Where I live it’s either above ground or underground depending on what part of town you’re on. When I lived on the other side of town it was underground and we were the first house on the underground system. If you were facing outside the front door there was a telephone pole with the lines going down the pole to feed the underground system. Our old house was the first on the underground system. There was a Verizon (POTS) and Comcast pedestal and an Eversource handhole. When the underground cable line in the other unit failed the tech just ran an aerial line to the pole instead of putting in a ticket to bury a new line. The landlord’s ex-husband (who she remarried) was not happy. Their domestic situation was the reason that building got sold and her on-again and off-again husband was verbally abusive towards my mother. I regret not hiring a private lawyer and taking them to court (they had to go to court to end the tenancy but it was a no fault but I could have brought plenty of counterclaims) over the ordeal, especially since I spent my own money fixing their property because they lived in Connecticut and did nothing more than collect the rent. But I just wanted to move on and put it in the rear view mirror. Part of the deal we got in court was that we waive any claims against each other so I’m not responsible if anything goes wrong with the repairs I made.

The only thing I wish I would have gotten slipped into the agreement is a non-disclosure agreement so they could not disclose anything to future landlords because it almost affected our ability to rent the current place like I said they were less than professional. But in a state that heavily favors tenants it would not be difficult to do.