AT&T vs. Fidium Fiber Internet Providers Compared

AT&T Fiber internet is affordably priced given its high quality and dependability

AT&T offers reasonable fiber pricing with first-tier fiber internet plans currently starting around $55/month. AT&T won’t always offer you the lowest price for fiber in your area. But AT&T will offer you the low end of industry standard prices. For those prices, you’ll often get higher internet speeds from AT&T than from the competition. You will get good value for the internet speed you’re buying. AT&T Fiber’s advantage is that their fiber connections give you equal download and upload speeds. So, even if AT&T Fiber and a cable provider offer you the same price for a speed they both call “300 Mbps,” you will not be getting the same speeds from fiber and cable providers. All cable internet may have high download speeds, but has much slower upload speeds (usually around 10-20 Mbps). AT&T Fiber will give you the same upload speed as your download speed for your monthly price. Having upload speed equal to your download speed can make a big difference for real-time activities such as video streaming and gaming. Fiber also offers low latency, which you’ll see in a ping test. So overall, you are getting more for your money with a fiber internet plan, even when fiber and cable plans advertise the same prices and download speeds. There’s one drawback to AT&T’s pricing. AT&T’s copper-wired service (DSL/ IPBB) is priced at around $55, the same as its first-tier fiber plan. This price is higher by Mbps given that copper service is much slower and less reliable than fiber. We hope AT&T will consider lowering the price of its copper service to give better value to DSL/IPBB customers.

Fidium Fiber’s pricing is simple, transparent, and matches other best deals

Fidium Fiber offers prices that are good across the board, with no hidden fees. The entry-level plan currently starting at a promotional rate of $25/month offers 100 Mbps download and upload speeds. For families on tight budgets, this is one of the most affordable first-tier plan prices you’ll find in the industry. After the promotional period of one year, the price rises to just $45/month. With those symmetrical speeds, you will get very good internet performance for activities such as videoconferencing. Fidium Fiber’s faster speed plans are also good deals. Starting at $70-85/month for a year for 1 gigabit speeds, then moving to $95/month for 2 Gigs, these are fiber prices that can compete with any other fiber pricing nationwide. Best of all, you will get transparent, simple pricing from Fidium Fiber that is much easier to understand than the complex pricing of many other ISPs. Fidium Fiber requires no contracts, no bundling, and no data caps. That means you won’t face bills with unexpected overage charges or early termination fees. You also won’t have the usual $100 installation cost for new internet, as Fidium Fiber offers free professional installation. And Fidium Fiber will include the use of a modem/router with your monthly plan price.

Decades of growth give AT&T reliable infrastructure and sophisticated operations

As the third-largest ISP in the United States, AT&T has massive corporate size and history on its side. AT&T’s home internet serves over 100 metro areas in 22 states, with over 19 million fiber internet passings [1] [2]. AT&T provides strong infrastructure and tech support. With 99% reliability for your internet connection, AT&T Fiber service is less likely to be disrupted by outages or slowdowns than many other internet providers [3]. AT&T’s reliability rating is higher than some other ISPs because AT&T customers do not have to work with internet data caps. Many internet service providers have soft data caps. When you hit your data allowance for the month, your ISP will throttle your internet. Your internet speed will slow down to the point that only the simplest email tasks will be possible. You won’t be able to do complex web browsing, streaming, or your other usual internet tasks. In other words, your internet will become unreliable when you hit the limits of your data caps. AT&T and other providers with no data caps give you peace of mind because you won’t suddenly lose most of your internet functionality in the third week of the month. Unlimited data is a major bonus for your internet connection’s reliability.

Fidium Fiber brings fiber’s speed and reliability to new service areas

Fidium Fiber offers to bring you symmetrical speeds between 100 Mbps and 2000 Mbps depending on your plan. That’s great news if you live in a town that hasn’t had fiber internet before. For example, fiber internet is often not available in rural states such as Maine and Vermont. But Fidium Fiber continues to build fiber infrastructure in those states to add more towns to its coverage area [2]. Some Fidium Fiber customers have said that they are not getting their promised speeds, but others report being very satisfied [3]. If you have any doubts, you can test your actual speed here to see what kind of performance your current internet connection is giving you.

AT&T offers no equipment fees, optional self-installation, extra cybersecurity features

As long as you have AT&T internet service, you will also get to use an internet gateway at no charge [4]. (This gateway is a modem/router combo known as AT&T Smart Wi-Fi.) Your plan may also include a free Wi-Fi extender depending on your terms. If you order AT&T Fiber, technicians will install an ONT (optical network terminal) and a fiber jack or ethernet jack. Professional installation from AT&T will cost you $99 for either copper internet or fiber installation. If you are planning to order copper-based internet (DSL/IPBB) and there is already a dual-port phone jack in your home, AT&T can mail you a self-installation kit at no charge. You can even self-install fiber internet if you are comfortable with a wall installation and following technical instructions. AT&T customers have access to the AT&T ActiveArmor internet security app. The app will block fraud calls and guard risky Wi-Fi connections. For a small extra monthly charge, ActiveArmor offers advanced functions such as Identity Monitoring and Reverse Number Lookup. AT&T also offers a Smart Home Manager app to manage your Wi-Fi and all smart home devices and check for outages.

Free installation, free equipment loan with Fidium Fiber internet plans

Several fiber ISPs will offer you good promotional prices and no contracts. They may even offer no data caps, as Fidium Fiber does. But very few ISPs also offer free installation for all their plans. The free installation for Fidium Fiber is a nice touch that means you don’t have to invest up front to get Fidium Fiber. Fidium Fiber will give you free use of a Wi-Fi 6 Gateway and a whole-home Attune Wi-Fi app that will allow you to control all your devices. If you have smart home devices, the app will be especially useful. But it’s also nice to have a network management app when you want to adjust your settings without logging in to your router.

AT&T Customer Service provides 24/7 tech support and ranks #1

AT&T has a robust customer support framework, including community forums, live chat, and phone assistance. Tech support is available 24/7, which can be a lifesaver if you work or study from home. Billing and account support are available from 7 AM to 9 PM CT Monday through Friday, and 8 AM to 9 PM Saturday. Those Saturday hours are especially valuable if you work Monday to Friday and can’t squeeze in personal business during the week. In 2022, AT&T ranked#1 for Customer Satisfaction in Residential Internet Service (South and West regions) with J.D. Power and Associates [5]. AT&T also ranked #2 in the North Central region.

Reviews are mixed for Fidium Fiber’s customer service and operations

Fidium Fiber doesn’t yet have a large enough customer base to qualify for one of the major national customer satisfaction reviews such as the J.D. Power Survey. Fidium Fiber does have over 1 million fiber passings (or potential connections for customers) thanks to its buildout. But Fidium Fiber is still a relatively small provider, reporting approximately 123,000 fiber broadband customers at the end of 2022 [4]. Even though Fidium Fiber doesn’t yet show up in major national surveys, you can still find a number of user reviews online in various forums. A casual scan shows the usual bumps in the road for a new provider without a long history of successful operations. Some customers say they do not get their service installed quickly and don’t get satisfactory responses from the company. Others say they don’t get promised speeds. But an equal number seem to feel that they are getting a better deal for their money and better performance than with their previous providers [5]. This is not a big enough sampling to provide an objective overview, so we’re going to suggest a likelihood rather than draw any lasting conclusions. Overall, it seems likely that Fidium Fiber is providing good service to many customers, but still ironing out kinks in its operations, staffing, and support. By next year, there should be more data to show whether Fidium Fiber has lifted its service to a high enough level to satisfy most customers.