AT&T vs. Metronet 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.

Metronet’s prices start good and stay fair, but there’s a hidden fee

Metronet offers very attractive promotional pricing on the low end of industry rates. Their first-tier plan is only $40/month for the first year, a good 20% lower than some competitors. True, the plan’s speed is slower at 100 Mbps than some rival plans. But with fiber’s symmetrical download and upload speeds, you’re already going to have a lot more speed even at 100 Mbps than you’ll get from many cable or DSL providers. Two or three other national fiber internet providers offer promotional prices this good. The difference is that Metronet will not raise its prices dramatically when the first year is over. Metronet’s prices will rise only about $10/month at the 12-month mark. For the entry-level plan, $50 will remain the standard price from that point on. For two of Metronet’s higher-speed plans, you’ll see bigger price hikes at the 2-year point, averaging $20-30 over your original promotional rate. But the 2 Gig plan will only go from $110 to $120 after two years. But let’s cut to the chase on Metronet pricing. Even for the two mid-speed plans that undergo larger price hikes after the 2-year point, the prices are still no higher than industry averages. So, no matter which Metronet plan you pick, you’ll seemingly get a great deal to begin with, and then a good deal. There’s just one catch. Unlike many of the other ISPs, Metronet does not offer free tech support. In order to get tech support, you will have to pay $12/month for their program called TechAssure. The fee is not optional. The positive is that all of your technical needs will be taken care of. You will get full service, including any house calls or equipment repair. The negative? Adding $12 to your monthly bill wipes out a lot of the benefit from Metronet’s low promotional and standard pricing. In Metronet’s favor, the tech support fee will be the only unusual fee on your monthly bill. Because Metronet has no data caps or contracts, you won’t get any surprise overage charges or an early termination fee if you have to cancel your service.

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.

It’s all-fiber for the win with Metronet

There’s no getting past the fact that an all-fiber connection will give you much more speed and reliability than a cable or DSL internet connection. One of the great advantages of Metronet is that they deliver all-fiber service, every time. The fiber will run from their main network to the wall of your home. You will get symmetrical speeds, so your download and upload speeds will be the same. For any activities involving streaming, real-time gaming, and large file uploads, fiber is unbeatable. Fiber offers even more speed and bandwidth for the future. As technology continues to advance with developments such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), we will begin to need the kind of bandwidth that only fiber offers. Some fiber providers are already beginning to provide 8 Gigs and 10 gigs for residential customers. Though Metronet still tops out at 5 Gigs, their all-fiber connection will be able to meet your future speed needs. Fiber has some other benefits too. Fiber connections don’t weaken or slow in bad weather the way satellite or fixed-wireless connections do. And fiber connections are much harder to hack into or tap than a copper cable.

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.

No equipment rental fees, low-cost installation with Metronet plans

For all plans up to 2 Gigs, Metronet will provide you with an eero wireless router at no charge [3]. If you are lucky enough to be able to get a 3-5 Gig plan, you will have to provide your own router to handle that level of speed. Metronet suggests a 10GB WAN/LAN compatible router such as the TP Link Archer AXE3000 [4]. Standard installation will only cost you $25 when you order a Metronet fiber internet plan. While this isn’t as good as free installation, it’s a lot cheaper than the usual $99 fee you’ll pay for installation from many ISPs.

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.

Metronet customers are usually happy with their internet service

Metronet is another ISP that is too small to qualify for major national surveys of customer satisfaction. That means that estimating customer satisfaction is more an art than an exact science – or at least more qualitative than quantitative. The good news is that on the whole, online user reviews for Metronet are much more positive than for ISP competitors who offer cable or DSL service. You don’t see some of the angry rants online about Metronet that you will unfortunately see for cable internet and DSL internet. That’s not to say that cable and DSL providers don’t frequently provide good service, because they do. It’s just statistically more likely that you will see customer rants thrown in the mix. That’s the advantage of all-fiber internet that Metronet is reaping. Again and again, companies that move toward fiber service seem to have happier customers because the networks are newer and the technology is more reliable [5]. And for that reason, we’re going to award 4 stars to Metronet’s customer satisfaction.