A number of weeks in the past I wrote about my preliminary problem getting AT&T fiber web put in at my house. The excellent news is {that a} crew confirmed up just a few days later and put in a 1 gigabit fiber service that’s costing me $80 a month. That’s cheaper than the Comcast cable service it changed. As with cable, costs differ relying on velocity, with AT&T beginning at $55 a month for 300 megabit service — greater than quick sufficient for many functions, together with video streaming and conferencing.

AT&T says that there are not any computerized value will increase after 12 months and no gear charges, knowledge caps or contracts. You’ll be able to cancel any time. Comcast’s marketed costs are usually for 12 to 24 months and go up after that. Comcast additionally expenses $14 a month for modem rental, although you should buy your individual cable modem. Proper now AT&T is providing a $150 Visa card for patrons who join on-line. When you’re an AT&T wi-fi buyer, name 611 out of your mobile phone to see if there are some other reductions or bundles. AT&T additionally affords a 2 GB service for $110 a month and a 5 GB service for $180 a month, however that is overkill for all however probably the most excessive customers. I’m a demanding person with a number of units, together with good TVs, and the 1 GB service is quick sufficient.

The set up concerned working a fiber cable — significantly thinner than the coaxial cable utilized by Comcast and different cable suppliers. AT&T additionally put in a free gateway machine that serves as each a “MODEM” and router in addition to Wi-Fi  I have already got an Eero router with a mesh Wi-Fi community that extends my sign to different areas of the home, so I opted to show off AT&Ts Wi-Fi and use my current router for Wi-Fi. For patrons who must cowl giant areas and who don’t personal a mesh router and extenders, AT&T affords rental extenders for $10 a month.

I’m primarily based within the San Francisco Bay Space, which is served primarily by Comcast and AT&T. Different areas might produce other suppliers. However even folks within the Bay Space might not have entry to fiber or gigabit cable. It is dependent upon your neighborhood. AT&T solely just lately began providing fiber service in my neighborhood.

Efficiency

After I check my service utilizing Okla’s Home windows Velocity Check  app, I usually get about 945 megabits for my PC that’s hardwired to the AT&T modem/router. That’s about the identical as I used to be getting from my 1 gigabit Comcast service however, within the case of fiber, you get that velocity in each instructions. My cable service was 1 GB obtain however solely about 45 megabits for importing. Fact be informed, cable was working positive and, apart from the outcomes I get from testing, I discover little or no distinction between fiber and cable in real-world conditions. The one minor variations could also be in how I look in video conferences the place the additional add velocity might present barely higher decision. Avid gamers who want lightening velocity in each instructions will certainly discover the sooner add speeds. Avid gamers additionally will respect that fiber has a decrease latency than cable, which signifies that first connection takes place sooner. I discover that some web sites load barely sooner, however the distinction is barely perceptible.

As with all web service, the precise velocity you get is dependent upon your connection and gear. My Wi-Fi units are slower, relying on how far they’re from a router and what kind of Wi-Fi know-how they use. To get the very best velocity, you’ll want IP-6 appropriate units, however most computer systems and streaming units and all however the newest good telephones don’t but assist that protocol. Nonetheless, having sooner service out of your supplier might translate to sooner efficiency, even on older units, if there are a number of units in use on the similar time which can be sharing your bandwidth.

Sonic could also be sooner and cheaper if you may get it

There may be one other high-speed web firm within the Bay Space however, relying on the place you reside, it might not be value utilizing. In my neighborhood, Sonic resells AT&T service. The service, gear and primary costs are about the identical, however Sonic will get very excessive marks for its customer support. Nevertheless, in the event that they’re solely reselling AT&T service, they’ll’t enhance on the velocity, nor will their technicians be capable to repair a serious outage in your space. They depend on AT&T technicians for that.

That’s beginning to change. Sonic is rolling out its personal superfast and cheaper service to Bay Space communities with service as much as 10 gigabits for $39.99 a month. The service already is accessible in Oakland and different components of the East Bay and, in accordance with a Sonic weblog publish, is increasing to the Peninsula and different communities. Yow will discover out if your house is served at Sonic.com. I haven’t skilled 10 GB service however, at that velocity and value level, I think I’ll sign-up instantly if and with regards to my neighborhood

I additionally modified TV companies

After I canceled my Comcast web, I misplaced entry to the “double play” bundle that included cable TV, which made my TV service far more costly. So I made a decision it was time to “reduce the twine.” In an upcoming column I’ll describe my journey from cable to streaming stay TV.

Spoiler alert — it’s a one-way journey. I doubt if I’ll ever return to cable.