AT&T vs. Optimum 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.

Good initial prices followed by price hikes

Cable internet is the chief type of connection that Optimum provides its customers. Because of improvements to cable internet technology, you can get gigabit download speeds from many cable internet companies like Optimum. You just won’t get the same upload speeds from cable as you will from an all-fiber connection [3]. Whether you get the usual cable service or all-fiber, you will get good prices from Optimum, and those prices will be locked for 2 years. Here’s an example. You’ll pay $40/month for Optimum’s first tier cable plan, which is 300 Mbps download/20 Mbps upload. That is a good price for these speeds. Even Optimum’s first-tier fiber plan is also priced at $40/month for symmetrical 300 Mbps speeds. 1 Gig speeds run around $80/month for the promotional period. In the areas where you can get 2 Gig or 5 Gig Optimum Fiber, you’ll pay $120-180/month for symmetrical speeds, which is still competitive with prices across the industry. The catch is that after those two years, standard prices will be higher. That may be why Optimum is seeing year-over-year declines in its cable customers [4]. The price hikes may be pushing people to other options at the end of their two-year promotion.

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.

Cable and fiber both provide fast download speeds, but cable's upload speeds are slower

With hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) technology, Optimum gives its cable customers gigabit download speeds but much slower upload speeds. That’s typical for cable internet service. Optimum is comparable to other major cable internet providers such as Spectrum and Xfinity, offering upload speeds at a maximum of around 35-50 Mbps. Optimum differs from the cable internet competition because it is also launching into the all-fiber internet market. Optimum’s current fiber internet customer base is small but has doubled in the last couple of years from around 100,000 to over 200,000 subscribers [4]. By 2025, Optimum plans to create over 6.5 million fiber passings [5]. Fiber internet’s most striking advantage over cable internet is that fiber offers symmetrical upload and download speeds. With Optimum’s fiber plans, customers get the same 300 Mbps download speed as with cable, but instead of cable’s 20 Mbps upload, they will get a full 300 upload speed from fiber. This is a game-changer for online gaming, videoconferencing, and large homes with multiple devices. When Altice merged Suddenlink under the Optimum brand, the company had two distinct “footprints” left from where the old Optimum and Suddenlink coverage had existed. Suddenlink’s coverage area had been primarily in the South and West. Optimum was strong in the Northeast, and particularly in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Now, the fiber buildout is fastest in that tristate area [1]. Your chances of getting fiber internet from Optimum in the next year or two will be better if you live in the tri-state area.

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, free installation with Optimum plans

Optimum will provide your modem/router as part of your monthly plan fee, with no extra rental charge. If you have a compatible cable plan, you may even get a Wi-Fi 6 router, which will give you higher speeds for multiple devices than Wi-Fi 5. Fiber internet plans from Optimum will often include the Wi-Fi 6 gateway as well. If you would rather use your own modem and router, Optimum will allow it. Just be sure to check for compatibility with their specs. Standard installation is free with Optimum plans.

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.

Optimum customer satisfaction: the big question mark

With so many seemingly good points to its service and pricing, why has Optimum’s customer satisfaction scored significantly below average according to J.D. Power? [6] A random sampling of online user reviews seems to indicate two major complaints. The first is outages and failure of technical response. The second is a more general dissatisfaction with the phone system, being transferred around to different departments, and getting contradictory responses from different phone reps when trying to solve billing issues. Because this is a fairly even distribution of complaints, it’s likely that Optimum is just not quick enough in responding to customer concerns, whether they be technical or billing-related. We can’t know the reason for this dysfunction. Often, these kinds of responsiveness issues happen when companies are understaffed or have high staff turnover in their customer service. But until Optimum gets better ratings, we’re going to have to give them only 3 stars for customer satisfaction.