What you need to know

• AT&T announces the launch of its amiGO Jr. Phone, the company's first kid-focused smartphone based on Samsung's Galaxy A16 with a 6.7-inch display.
• The amiGO Jr. Phone arrives alongside the amiGO Jr. Watch 2, the brand's 2nd-gen watch with even more features and upgrades over the first.
• AT&T also tapped Samsung years ago for the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite Kids Edition.

AT&T is closing the week by announcing the launch of its first kids' phone, aimed at children 12 years and younger.

AT&T kicks off the announcement by highlighting that "60%" of parents with children up to the age of 12 view phones as a key device for safety reasons. On the back of that research comes AT&T's first kids' phone: the amiGO Jr. According to its press release, this device is a "simple and safe smartphone designed to keep parents connected and kids protected."

If the phone looks familiar, it's because AT&T tapped Samsung for the hardware aspect of the device. The company is using a Galaxy A16 5G model, which sports a 6.7-inch display and a triple camera array, consisting of a 50MP lens, a 5MP ultra-wide, and a 2MP macro camera. It also sports a decent 5,000mAh battery, so your child's not always reaching for their charger.

AT&T dips back into its data, which shows that 40% of its customers are parents. The amiGO Jr. Phone is designed to help parents "navigate a complex digital world" with their kids. The amiGO Jr. Phone is said to have Live Location monitoring, Safe Zone alerts, and Schedules, so parents can limit their child's device time, especially during school. More than that, parents have access to a collection of parental controls, limiting website access, apps, and more.

Hey, there's a watch, too

On the other hand, AT&T announced a new smartwatch that parents can get for their kids, too. The device, known as the amiGO Jr. Watch 2, takes what it started with the original up a notch with increased durability, native messaging, games, and much more.

AT&T informs that new and existing customers can purchase the amiGO Jr. Phone and amiGO Jr. Watch 2 for $2.99 per month, no trade-in required. Parents can also check out the entire amiGO family.

AT&T and Samsung have a long-standing history with one another in crafting devices for younger audiences. While we have the service provider's first kids' phone and its 2nd Gen smartwatch, there was a tablet a few years ago, too. The two companies collaborated on a tablet known as the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite Kids Edition with an 8.7-inch display, a rugged case, and a collection of parental controls.

Android Central's Take

A major takeaway here for this AT&T announcement is the existence of choice. Parents don't have to opt for this style of device, but for those who want that peace of mind, who want that knowledge of where their child is in an easier package, it's a good choice. Another aspect of this that I can appreciate is that AT&T is offering this through their own services, meaning parents can quickly grab this and pop it into their plan without much effort.

Everyone knows about AT&T's wireless service, but a lot of folks don't realize that the company is also home to a ton of excellent home internet deals. This week, for instance, you can sign up for the brand's high-speed fiber internet and get a free prepaid Visa card worth up to $150, depending on the plan you choose. 

✅Recommended if: you want to experience incredibly-fast and reliable internet for online gaming or large downloads (and a free $150 gift card couldn't hurt); you're already an AT&T wireless user or willing to switch; you live in a household full of devices that need to simultaneously connect to the internet. 

❌Skip this deal if: you're looking for cheap home internet; you're a casual internet user and don't need a particularly fast connection; you only use one device at a time.

Assuming you live in an area that has access to AT&T fiber internet, plans start at $55 per month for the 300Mbps plan (which gets you a $50 gift card), while the 500Mbps plan costs $65 per month and lands you a prepaid card worth $100. To receive the full $150, you'll need to sign up for the 1 Gig plan, which will set you back $80 every month.

That may be a bit pricey compared to some home internet options, but AT&T's fiber internet makes up for the cost by providing reliably fast connection speeds that are more than sufficient for all of your browsing, gaming, and streaming needs. You can also score some major savings by bundling the home internet with one of AT&T's wireless plans. 

There's even an offer that could land you six free months of AT&T fiber internet when you bundle with a postpaid plan and grab a phone at the same time. And considering that AT&T carries most of the best Android phones around, the potential savings here are immense. 

• The best deals at AT&T: see the full list

With one of the best prepaid phone plans, you get high-end features like unlimited high-speed data access, hotspot functionality, bulk savings, international usage perks, and a lot more, all at (relatively) affordable prices. These plans are available from almost all of the best MVNO carriers and work well with most (if not all) of the unlocked phones available out there. What's even better is that there are no contracts involved, so you're free to switch between plans/carriers as you like.

Many popular 'alternative' service providers have now been acquired by the 'Big Three' network operators and thus, work on the network infrastructure of their parent carrier. Although your connectivity is often deprioritized with prepaid carriers if there's quite a lot of traffic and you also don't get some bonus extras (e.g., streaming platforms), but if you don't care about any of that, going with a prepaid carrier makes a lot of sense. Mint Mobile remains our top choice, as it lets you save by offering excellent wireless service in chunks of multiple months. You should also consider Visible if you prefer Verizon's network, and there are several other options too.

• MVNO deals: Mint Mobile | Visible | Boost | Tello | Cricket Wireless

At a glance

Best overall

For a prepaid carrier offering four plans and a number of service durations, Mint Mobile is surprisingly easy to understand. The basic idea here is that the longer the term you're willing to buy, the cheaper your monthly cost will be. Sure, it does mean signing a bigger check upfront, but then, you won't have to pay again for multiple months. Owned and operated by T-Mobile, Mint Mobile uses its parent carrier's vast network infrastructure with full 5G access so for most customers, coverage and speeds will be great.

Mint Mobile's cheapest plan comes with 5GB high-speed data, complete with unlimited talk and text. If you're a light user, this is the place to start. And if you end up going over 5GB, there's no need to worry as there are 15GB and 20GB per month plans available as well. Our Mint Mobile review found that the speeds do slow down to about 500kbps after you've used up all your data, but we're sure it has improved now. This includes the unlimited plan too, which now has no data cap, although speeds are throttled if you use up over 50GB data in a month. If you need more data than that on a regular basis, Mint Mobile likely isn't the right option for you.

One thing to keep in mind is that Mint Mobile offers low introductory prices for a period of three months, which you can lock by paying for an entire year. You can also sign up for six months, but the prices go up slightly if you do so. Mint Mobile also has a penchant for regular promotions, so there's a good chance you can try it for even less, especially if you bundle your wireless service with one of the best Android phones available in the market.

Best budget

Tello manages to be an extremely value-for-money wireless carrier, thanks to its straightforward plans and super low costs. It even lets you tailor your plan to a fit via its 'Build Your Own Plan' online tool, which you can use to decide how much data (starting from 2GB) and talk time (starting from 300 minutes) you need. You can save quite a lot by going for a plan with the bare minimum number of talk time minutes, even more so if you mostly use the best text messaging apps to stay connected with family and friends.

Tello offers four pre-configured plans as starting points, with the base 'Starter' plan coming in at $10 per month with unlimited minutes, texts, and 2GB data. If you spend majority of your time connected to Wi-Fi, this plan could be all you'll ever need. The unlimited 'Max' plan costs $25 per month and offers 50GB high-speed data. While the other perks are somewhat lesser than what competitors like Mint Mobile offer, most consumers shouldn't have any issues at all.

Since Tello uses T-Mobile's network, you get to enjoy full 5G (including mid-band coverage), provided you have a compatible phone. Speaking of which, T-Mobile's network means that just about any of the best unlocked phones should work on Tello just fine.

Best for unlimited

Visible is a prepaid carrier fully owned and operated by Verizon, and it offers a trio of well-priced yet feature-laden unlimited plans. Unlike other prepaid unlimited plans, there's no hard cap with slower data and you can use as much data as you want. This is because the data on Visible gets a lower priority than the data on Verizon, which means in a side-by-side comparison a Verizon plan will almost always come out ahead. Still, our Visible review found the carrier to offer plenty of speeds for everyday usage, though this will vary based on how Verizon's network is in your area.

The base plan is simply called 'Visible' and has a regular price of $25 per month. It includes unlimited high-speed 5G access, unlimited hotspot usage at 5Mbps, SD video streaming, and more. Next up is the 'Visible Plus' plan, which costs $35 per month and upgrades your hotspot usage speed to 10Mbps, while also giving you access to Verizon's super-fast 'Ultra-Wideband 5G' network. Lastly, you have the 'Visible Plus Pro' plan that has unlimited hotspot usage at 15Mbps, up to 4K video streaming, as well as a bunch of extra perks. The prices of all the plans include all taxes and fees, and you can save even more by paying for a full year of service in advance. Not only that, Visible has frequent deals and promotions that can help you sign up for the service at even more affordable prices.

Perhaps the biggest drawback with Visible is that it has a much more limited list of compatible phones as compared to a T-Mobile-based MVNO, which is why we suggest checking your phone's compatibility before signing up. Still, for the most part, the latest iPhones, as well as high-end Android devices like the Google Pixel 10 series and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra will work well on the network. Some older phones might be compatible too, so it's worth checking them on the IMEI Checker portal on Visible's website.

Best for customization

As US Mobile uses the networks of all the 'Big Three' carriers, it allows you to pick which base network you'd prefer for coverage. However, to get the most out of it, Verizon is the preferred choice. You do get differing amounts of data and hotspot usage based on your choice. While US Mobile used to come with a fully custom plan structure, its current unlimited plans are quite incredible when it comes to overall value. You can save even more when you bring over multiple lines.

The two main plans are called 'Unlimited Starter' and 'Unlimited Premium' and have regular single-line costs of $25 per month and $44 per month, respectively. Both include unlimited talk and text (both in the U.S. as well as internationally), mmWave and C-band 5G access, and lots of dedicated hotspot data. Unlimited Starter gives you at least 70GB of high-speed data, while Unlimited Premium makes it, well, unlimited. The higher plan also makes you eligible for multi-line subscription perks (if you get three lines), through which you can add a bundle of services (e.g., Audible, Hulu, and Xbox Gamepass) to your plan for $15 per month.

There's also a third 'Unlimited Flex' plan that effectively costs $17.50 per month, but it's available only as an annual option. US Mobile's 'By the Gig' feature allows you to get chunks of data which can be shared among devices across multiple lines, and the cost also includes the price of the first line.

Best for families

Cricket Wireless is a prepaid carrier owned and operated by AT&T, and remains a fabulous choice for getting more affordable service on the former's network. The fact of the matter is that some users just get a more consistent coverage through AT&T, so it's nice that Cricket Wireless has competitive rates, as well as the option of unlimited high-speed data on its highest plan. That said, the carrier's cheaper plans are quite compelling too.

Cricket Wireless has four primary plans, with the base plan offering 10GB data at $30 per month. Next, the $35 per month plan increases the data allowance to unlimited. That said, both these basic plans lack hotspot functionality, and don't have usage in Mexico and Canada, either. Next are the two unlimited plans, with the cheaper one priced at $45 per month and offering 15GB hotspot data, 100GB cloud storage, and unlimited texting to more than 200 countries and territories. The higher plan increases both hotspot usage and cloud storage, while throwing in ad-supported HBO Max into the mix as well. Apart from these, you can sign up in advance for either three or 12 months of service at effective monthly prices of $15 and $25, respectively. This will give you benefits like unlimited data, 2GB cloud storage, Mexico and Canada usage, and more. The carrier also has a trio of data-only plans if you don't require calling functionality.

If you want to get multi-line discounts, Cricket Wireless is definitely worth taking a look at. For example, if you get five lines, you can grab the lower unlimited plan at a mere $32 per month for each line.

Best high-speed data

As the name suggests, Metro by T-Mobile is a prepaid carrier owned by T-Mobile and offers plans that are quite similar to the parent carrier's offerings, along with a few extras. For one thing, the prices are inclusive of all taxes and fees for all the main plans, so what you see is what you have to pay. You get some nice perks as well, which are generally available with the best T-Mobile plans, without having to get into any contracts.

The starter unlimited plan costs $40 per month and packs unlimited high-speed data and a five-year guarantee, but it's a web exclusive option. Of course, you get unlimited talk and text too. Next up, the $50 per month plan has 8GB dedicated hotspot data, 100GB cloud storage via Google One, and some other perks. Then there's the $60 per month plan, which increases the dedicated hotspot data to 25GB and also adds unlimited texting to more than 210 destinations around the world, along with Amazon Prime and high-resolution video streaming.

It's worth mentioning that all plans of Metro by T-Mobile include some exclusive benefits like 'T-Mobile Tuesdays' promotions, and 'Scam Shield' for blocking spam and robocalls.

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How to choose

Get the right prepaid plan for your requirements

Even though the best prepaid phone plans offer a wide range of perks, you must consider your individual requirements before picking one up. To start things off, consider how you use your phone. You'll also want to get a good Android phone so that you can take advantage of the latest 5G networks. Of course, the phone has to be unlocked so you can take it with you if you decide to switch carriers in the future.

If you need a ton of data for cheap, Visible is a great starting point. However, it will struggle in more congested areas, so getting a plan having some premium data like US Mobile's Unlimited Premium option may be well worth the extra cost for you. If you don't need truly unlimited data, you can just go for Mint Mobile's 15GB or 20GB plans. These will help save you a lot of cash in the long run, and phone compatibility won't be an issue either.

• MVNO deals: Mint Mobile | Visible | Boost | Tello | Cricket Wireless

I don't know about you, but I get pretty tired of all the best smartphone promotions requiring a trade-in, so I was pleased to see this Motorola Razr Plus deal come down the pipeline from AT&T. Pick up the sleek foldable and add an eligible line to your wireless service and you'll only pay $5.99 per month for 36 months, no trade-in required. Since the Motorola Razr Plus (2023) starts at $999.99 for the 256GB version, you're looking at a major discount of over 750 bucks. 

✅Recommended if: you're an AT&T customer or willing to make the switch; you're interested in trying out a foldable phone; you're a Motorola fan.

❌Skip this deal if: you have a newer phone that you're willing to trade in (there are some other great AT&T deals to consider, if so); you really need outstanding cameras and battery life.

As we describe at length in our Motorola Razr Plus (2023) review, this clamshell foldable is the ultimate foil to Samsung's Z Flip 5, offering a truly elegant design, a sturdy teardrop hinge, and excellent performance thanks to its Snapdragon chipset. The phone also features a 144Hz OLED cover display that we absolutely adore and loads of software support, two details that help make up for the Razr Plus' so-so battery life and camera quality. 

The Razr Plus is pretty durable straight out of the box, but we recommend giving yourself some peace of mind in style with one of the best Motorola Razr Plus cases before the phone arrives.

Update (May 5, 3:50 PM ET): Verizon has clarified in an email to Android Central that postpaid consumer customers will not be charged an economic adjustment fee and will see an increase in their bill's administrative fee of $1.35 up to $3.30. This will take effect for the June 2022 bill cycle.

Verizon has also clarified that business plans that meet certain conditions will see the economic adjustment fee. Those conditions include newly activated or upgraded lines, existing plans that have completed a contract-based line term, and lines that have 12 months or fewer remaining on a device payment plan.

The article has been updated with this information.

What you need to know

• Verizon is increasing fees for both business and customer accounts beginning in June.
• The cost of its plans will remain the same with a new “economic adjustment charge” and increased administration fee affecting the customers’ bills.
• Each voice line will be charged this additional amount so family plans will see a larger increase in cost.

If you're a Verizon Wireless customer, your bill is about to go up this June. Verizon is set to add an "Economic Adjustment Charge" to some business lines and an increased Administration fee for postpaid Verizon consumer customers. As reported by Bloomberg, this new charge will apply to both consumer and business accounts, though some business plans will have to pay a bit more.

Verizon is increasing its administrative fee for consumer lines by $1.35 to $3.30 for their June billing cycle. This charge applies to each voice line on the account, so if you've got more than one line with voice service, you'll be charged for each one. Business data plans will see a larger increase of $2.20, and basic plans will increase by $0.98 with the Economic Adjustment Charge.

This is the first time in two years that the carrier has increased and is linked to increases in inflation. Some customers on grandfathered Verizon plans have seen increases as late as 2021, according to 9to5Mac. The publication also noted that AT&T would be increasing prices for some legacy customers as well.

Speaking to Bloomberg last week, the head of Verizon Business, Tami Erwin, said:

"We’re all feeling the pressure and we’ve been in the process of deciding how much of that pressure we can share with our clients."

Despite the increase in the monthly cost of its plans to consumers, Verizon is not updating the price of its plans to reflect this new charge and will continue to advertise plans at the same rate.

While Verizon still has some of the best cell phone plans for features and coverage, there are quite a few more prepaid phone plans available to those looking to save on wireless plans. This includes the Verizon-owned prepaid brand Visible which offers unlimited data at a lower priority with all fees and taxes included with the price. While postpaid Verizon customers will enjoy higher-priority data speeds, many people will be more than happy with the speeds on prepaid plans.

What you need to know

• AT&T's 3G network shutdown commenced on February 22.
• The company first has previously published a list of phones that will continue to work following the shutdown.
• Anyone still using a 3G phone will need to upgrade to continue reliably using AT&T's network.

It's been a long time coming, but the death of 3G has officially begun as AT&T shuts down its 3G network on Tuesday, February 22.

AT&T is the first among U.S. wireless carriers to bid adieu to the aging network as it moves to repurpose the spectrum towards its 5G buildout. T-Mobile comes next after the company delayed its shutdown to March 31 at the behest of Dish Wireless. Verizon's 3G network will shut down on December 31.

AT&T already released a list of smartphones that will still work after the shutdown in case you're curious, but there's a good that your phone is among them if you're currently reading this.

However, if you're among those that still rely on the older 3G phones, AT&T has likely already contacted you about the next steps and upgrading your phone. The company has also published a post explaining some of the ins and outs of the shutdown and what it means for consumers affected by it. Some users even received free Galaxy Note smartphones to replace their older 3G-dependent phones.

Fortunately, you won't have to spend too much to upgrade, as just about any of the best Android phones under $200 will work, and you'll likely be able to find some under $100. Or you can splurge a little more for a 5G-capable smartphone.

Hopefully, the shutdown will signal the beginnings of a much improved 5G network from AT&T, which lags behind T-Mobile and has been criticized by Google's former CEO for its poor speeds.

What you need to know

• Verizon has removed the option for 24 and 30-month payments in favor of a 36-month option.
• AT&T also only offers 36-month payment plans on phones sold through its site.
• Customers can still pay full price for phones or buy them from the manufacturer for more payment options.

If you've ever gone into a carrier store to buy a new phone, you know the deal. The sales staff works out a new monthly rate for you, confirms it with the sales manager, then tells you about all the wonderful new accessories you're getting in your bundle. One way the month-to-month prices have continued to tumble isn't by offering you a better value in a competitive market; it's about locking you in for longer.

As discovered by Droid Life Verizon is no longer offering 24 and 30-month payment plans on new devices sold by the carrier. Formerly, customers at checkout could choose between paying for a phone with 24 or 30 monthly payments or simply buying the phone outright if finances allowed. Verizon has ditched these options in favor of just two options, a 36-month payment plan or full retail price.

As noted by Verizon's FAQ on the matter, if you've signed up for a 24 or 30-month plan before February 9, 2022, you can still keep your old payment plan. For example, partners like the Google Store still offer the 30-month option if you buy through that website. Apple still has the 24-month plan listed for its iPhones.

Source: Verizon, Google, and Apple

If you haven't been paying attention, the full price of the best Android phones can lead to some sticker shock, with some premium devices coming in at over $1,000. Carriers and manufacturers have made it easier to buy these phones with monthly payment plans that can spread the cost out over a couple of years.

The problem is that if the phone becomes unusable or you need to upgrade for another reason, you're still on the hook for the money. That means if you want to leave your carrier for a cheaper plan, you've got to pay off the phone before you head out. And no, it's not like a rental where you can simply give an undamaged phone back to recoup some of the cost. When you sign up and receive the phone, you've got to pay for it all eventually.

AT&T also uses 36-month plans for its device sales, meaning that its prices roughly line up with Verizon's new prices. For example, the $899 128GB Google Pixel Pro comes in at $24.99 per month at Verizon, $26.12 per month at AT&T, and $31.25 per month at T-Mobile with $149.99 down. T-Mobile only offers 24-month payment plans. They all work out the full retail price for the carrier (AT&T charges $40 more than the rest), but you're stuck paying for your expensive AT&T and Verizon plan for a full year longer than T-Mobile.

It's worth noting that if you want to upgrade your phone early, you can do so by paying off the device in full. If you're an iPhone user, you may also be eligible for Verizon's early upgrade program for iPhones. This program allows you to upgrade if you've paid for at least 50% of your iPhone, turn in the device in good working condition, and buy a new qualifying phone from Verizon.

What you need to know

• AT&T Prepaid plans are cheaper than ever at Walmart with an in-store activation.
• The AT&T Prepaid MAX plan requires a new line activation in-store and is not available online.
• AT&T Prepaid plans can be discounted by $30 with the Affordable Connectivity Program for eligible customers.

AT&T has new plan pricing for its AT&T Prepaid plans exclusively available at Walmart. As reported by The Verge, these plans include the 5GB, 15GB, and Unlimited MAX plans. The Unlimited MAX plan is mostly identical to the Unlimited Plus plan available directly from AT&T with unlimited data, talk and text, 10GB of hotspot data, 100GB of personal cloud storage, and HD video streaming.

While the Walmart 5GB and 15GB plans are also $5 less than their online counterparts, the biggest value comes with the Unlimited MAX plan with its unlimited data, 5G connectivity, 10GB of hotspot data, and HD video streaming. The unlimited data may be slowed if the network is busy, but in areas with a strong LTE coverage or C-band 5G, this may not even be noticeable to many people outside of an internet speed test app. Compare this to Unlimited Plus, which slows users down only after 22GB is used.

The HD streaming video quality is another nice perk, but it's important to remember that AT&T will disable this by default and force your phone to use SD resolutions. To fix this, you must disable the Stream Saver, a feature designed to keep data usage low on your account.

It's also worth noting that you will need a 5G-capable phone to use AT&T's 5G network. Most of the best Android phones now support 5G, but if you need an upgrade, some cheap 5G phones are available from Walmart to go with your new plan. Walmart offers phones like the Motorola One Ace 5G.

Like Metro by T-Mobile, AT&T Prepaid supports discounts from the Federal Government's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) which offers $30 off of wireless data plans for eligible customers. Customers on tribal lands can save $75. There are no multi-line or family play discounts for AT&T Prepaid.

If you're ready to switch to AT&T's network but don't want to sign up for an expensive postpaid plan, AT&T prepaid's unlimited plans are a great place to start.

I wrote a plea in December 2020 for 5G to be the technology that saved my rural broadband situation in 2021, that situation being that it is essentially non-existent. While there was a brief period in which I was able to use T-Mobile Home Internet to bolster my connectivity situation, ultimately, my internet salvation is beamed to my home from space thanks to SpaceX Starlink Home Internet. Even with 2021's 5G expansion, it's a struggle to get even 4G LTE outside metropolitan eras despite seemingly comprehensive carrier coverage maps.

In these ads that sprawl across our TVs, webpages, and social media, we constantly see how one carrier is the fastest or covers the most people—usually accompanied by a map of some form displaying brand colors shading essentially the entire United States. This is to persuade consumers to pick that carrier because it has the best coverage. If you hadn't noticed, all of these ads look eerily similar in that each of the carriers says they have nationwide coverage. Yeah, that's not entirely accurate.

I spoke with Roger Entner, a telecom analyst and founder of Recon Analytics. When I asked him about the requirements for a carrier to state its coverage in an area, he told me, "mapping that is provided is for information purposes only and is not representative of actual things on the ground. In rural America, the map is approximated by a calculation."

As someone who lives in rural America, this calculation is frustrating because it's largely inaccurate. Entner told me that as long as a carrier covers at least 200 million people, it can state nationwide coverage in its marketing. I reached out to cell providers for clarifications but haven't heard back at the time of publication.

I'm a T-Mobile subscriber on my personal phone, and according to the map, I should not only have a good 4G LTE signal at my home, but I should also have good 5G coverage.

This is simply not true.

When I'm in my yard, my signal will quickly fluctuate between two bars and none at all. Inside of my home, I'm lucky to get any reception. Results are the same whether I'm using my Pixel 6 Pro, recently crowned the fastest Android smartphone, or with my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3.

The Federal Communications Commission is attempting to give a bit more clarity to these coverage maps by offering maps of its own. These seem to be slightly more accurate than what the carriers themselves provide. However, much of the data used by the FCC is self-reported directly from the carriers, so real-world results are still fuzzy.

I have tried every carrier available to me — Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular. The only one that gets me an excellent signal is AT&T using its FirstNet service that I have through my day job as a technical analyst for a natural gas utility company. The service quality lines up with what Roger Entner said when he told me, "The carrier that will provide the best coverage in rural areas is ATT because of FirstNet." It's just unfortunate that everyone can't have access to its excellent service quality.

Yes, I know this is a pie-in-the-sky dream that I have, but really — is it so hard to provide reliable service to everyone?

Well, yes and no. In the United States, we are down to three major wireless carriers that maintain a stranglehold on the bulk of the spectrum available for cellular usage. These carriers spend billions of dollars each time more of this precious frequency is auctioned off, with smaller carriers left to fend for scraps.

While these radio waves that provide connectivity to our devices aren't tangible, the hardware used to transmit them is. To expand the signal to more people, it takes more towers. Carriers are balancing the need for more frequency to bolster their service with building new towers that broadcast that signal — and neither is cheap.

I asked Bill Ho, a principal analyst at 556 Ventures, what could be done to help relieve dead spots in coverage across rural areas; he told me, "It does come down to money and deployment. From a carrier's view, the cost to serve a smaller population relative to material and operational costs may be a money loser. That's why there are federal rural subsidy programs that service providers help defray some of that cost."

These programs that Bill speaks of are out there and can help those entities that take advantage of them. But even in conversations that I had with my local electrical and internet companies asking what they were doing to access these programs to bring internet to their customers, I was told that there were many roadblocks in the programs. Aside from those, the main hurdle was the high cost of bringing in fiber to serve the homes.

The problem of bringing fiber to serve broadband customers is one and the same for cellular providers. Currently, the costs to build a cell tower, get fiber to it, and its regular operation are so high that it's hard for carriers to justify their construction without significant users to support it. But, it could be a case where companies like SpaceX and its Starlink do more than just save my home broadband.

In continuing his response as to what could be done to help relieve dead spots in coverage across rural areas, Ho said:

Removing one of the high-cost barriers to building a new cell tower is a big step towards bringing coverage to rural areas that more closely resembles what the carrier maps show where they all try to claim the best 5G network. However, while this is a good start, it will be up to these cellular providers to realize that even though these towers won't be covering millions or even hundreds of thousands of users, they will be helping solve a major pain point that a lot of rural Americans face.

What you need to know

• AT&T's fiber network is being upgraded with 2Gbps and 5Gbps speeds starting with 5.2 million customer locations in 70 metro areas.
• AT&T plans to keep expanding multi-gig fiber to 30 million locations by the end of 2025.
• AT&T Fiber 2 GIG starts at $110 per month plus taxes. Equipment fees are included and there are no data caps.

AT&T has unveiled a multi-gig fiber upgrade for millions of its customers in 70 metro areas starting January 24, 2022. At launch, what AT&T is calling Hyper-Gig speeds are available to 5.2 million customer locations with AT&T aiming to take that up to 30 million by the end of 2025. AT&T has two new plans with the 2 GIG plan coming in at $110 per month and the 5 GIG plan costing $180 per month.

Both of AT&T's new multi-gig plans and the older 1 GIG plan come with HBO Max included in the price as well as AT&T's Active Armor Internet security package. These plans also have no data caps so you can use the full speed of your connection as much as you want without worrying about the overages that are common with cable internet.

There are several reasons to choose a fiber connection over cable or 5G but one of the biggest is symmetrical upload and download speeds. Most internet providers will offer very high download speeds but leave customers with inadequate upload speeds which can make uploading files to the internet take much longer than downloading that same file. AT&T's fiber however has the same upload speeds as download so no matter if your sending or receiving, you get the full speed of your connection. It also enables video streaming quality to remain high even with multiple concurrent connections

Having a low upload speed can have a big negative impact on your internet experience. Great upload speeds are great for those working from home as well as gamers and especially streamers. If you like to stream to Twitch or Youtube and have found your chat complaining about buffering or low quality, your connection may not be up to the job. Fiber connections also tend to have lower latency than cable and 5G which can give gamers a competitive edge. AT&T also includes a WI-Fi 6 gateway for free with these plans though if your select the 5 GIG options, you may want the extra speed of one of the best Wi-Fi 6E routers.

Business customers can also sign up with the AT&T Business Fiber 2 GIG coming in at $225 per month and the 5 GIG options costing $395 per month. This can be essential for businesses that are adapting to employees that are working from home and customers that expect a speedy and reliable connection to the business in question.

What you need to know

• AT&T has launched C-Band 5G in eight metro areas, with growth coverage expected to reach 200 million people by the end of 2023.
• This new coverage adds speed and capacity to the nationwide 5G network that already covers 255 million people.
• AT&T has 17 phones ready for C-Band with 5G iPhones, the Galaxy S21 series, and the Pixel 6 series supporting C-band on AT&T.

AT&T announced that it has gone live with C-Band 5G in several markets in the U.S. as a starting point for its upgraded 5G network. C-Band uses mid-band spectrum between 3.7GHz and 4GHz to deliver faster speeds and greater capacity than its existing nationwide network. AT&T is also leveraging its fiber network to allow for quicker upgrades and faster 5G.

Users with a compatible phone in a C-Band coverage area will see the "5G+" icon on their phones. This icon is also used when connected to the carrier's mmWave 5G; a network that's already live in parts of 44 cities and 30 stadiums and venues. While C-Band isn't as fast as mmWave, it has much greater coverage and will be great for filling in the gaps between mmWave coverage and for adding more speed to areas covered by nationwide 5G.

AT&T's C-Band is live in parts of Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami. Luckily for customers, AT&T already has 17 phones ready to go with C-band support, including some of the best Android phones. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 series both support C-Band as well as the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Samsung also has several phones ready to go with the Galaxy A13 5G, S21 series, S21 FE 5G, Z Flip3 5G, and Z Fold3 5G.

C-band deployment isn't without controversy, as the FAA claims that the deployment of C-Band spectrum could cause issues with altimeters on older planes in low-visibility conditions. AT&T and Verizon have agreed to delay deployment around airports for the time being. Still, C-Band deployment is proceeding in other parts of the country and will be a major part of AT&T's mid-band 5G coverage alongside its other mid-band spectrum.

What you need to know

• AT&T and Verizon have announced that they will delay C-band 5G rollout around some airports until an undetermined date in the future.
• The spectrum in question is from 3.7 to 4.0 GHz and is responsible for delivering next-gen 5G speeds to phones.
• Airline officials claim that this spectrum will interfere with older altimeters on many commercial and domestic planes, citing "catastrophic disruption" if the 5G towers were to go live.

Airplane mode on your phone might become much more important if airline officials' claims turn out to be true. The mid-band 5G spectrum from around 3.7-4.0 GHz was scheduled to go live on January 19 after several previous delays. That rollout is being delayed yet again, writes Reuters, after airline officials issued a letter to the FAA, FCC, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and President Biden himself on January 17. That's less than two days before the scheduled deployment.

T-Mobile does not use this spectrum for its 5G network and is not affected by this decision.

In the letter, airline officials parroted a statement they've been saying since 2019 when the FAA wrote the rules for this particular block of wireless spectrum. They say that older altimeters won't work properly in low-visibility conditions when these 5G signals are deployed too close to airports.

The FAA has only cleared around 45% of U.S. commercial planes to perform low-visibility landings at airports where this 5G C-band spectrum was scheduled to be deployed. As a result, airline officials say that 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would see airline delays "on a day like yesterday (January 16, 2021)" if they were not cleared by the FAA.

Verizon and AT&T issued statements to The Verge citing they were 'frustrated' with both the FAA and the airlines, both of which have taken longer than expected to upgrade equipment and clear airplanes for landing.

The FAA says that modern altimeters should have no issues avoiding any possible interference that could be caused during particularly heavy traffic days.

Additionally, statements from AT&T and Verizon say that 40 countries worldwide have already adopted this spectrum around airports with no reported problems.

Verizon and AT&T bought the license to use the C-band spectrum, as it's called, for $65 billion in February 2021 in an effort to further bolster their 5G network. This particular spectrum is extremely important in both companies' 5G deployment as it's used to deliver what could be considered "next-generation speeds" on the best 5G phones that are already in customers' hands.

The statement AT&T and Verizon issued did not say when the rollout will be paused until, but it's clear from President Biden's response that the FAA and the President still see success as the President's letter states that this will still allow "90 percent of wireless tower deployment to occur as scheduled."

The President's statement also does not give a firm date as to when deployment is scheduled to restart.

What you need to know

• Ookla's Q4 2021 mobile report finds T-Mobile to be the clear winner in speed, latency, consistency, and 5G availability.
• T-Mobile had the fastest median download speeds at 90.65Mbps compared to AT&T at just 49.25Mbps and Verizon at 44.67Mbps.
• T-Mobile saw massive improvements in 5G speed from 135.17Mbps in Q3 to 187.12Mbps in Q4.

Ookla has released its Q4 2021 mobile broadband report and T-Mobile has won every category as well as becoming the fastest provider in the majority of U.S. states. Ookla is the creator of the popular Speedtest app giving it access to a massive amount of network performance information. In the fourth quarter of 2021, all of that information pointed to T-Mobile being the clear winner in all tested categories.

The main test, download speed, shows T-Mobile with 90.65Mbps for its median download speed. Keep in mind that Ookla has switched to median speeds compared to the mean for its results, reducing the influence of very fast test results, as we may see on mmWave networks. Nevertheless, the second-fastest carrier was AT&T at 49.25Mbps and Verizon at just 44.67Mbps. This is a massive improvement for the magenta carrier from a respectable 62.35Mbps in Q3.

It's also worth noting that Ookla only uses results from modern chipsets like this found in the best Android phones and new iPhones. This reduces the potential from underperforming hardware negatively affecting results.

Regarding latency, the amount of time it takes your device to communicate with the test server, T-Mobile also came out on top. Still, the results were very close and would likely not be observable outside of a test environment. T-Mobile came in with just 31ms latency, with Verizon and AT&T close behind with 32ms and 34ms, respectively.

All carriers performed well in consistency. That is, the percentage of results over 5Mbps down and 1Mbps. T-Mobile had 87.3% of its results in this window, followed by Verizon with 80.4% and AT&T with 80.2% of results. This test is essential because it shows how often someone might experience unusably slow data, which may be hidden in the median results.

When it came to 5G results, the results were very one-sided, with T-Mobile turning in a median speed of 187.12Mbps with 61.4% availability. Verizon came in second when it came to speed with 78.52Mbps and third in availability with 36.4%. AT&T only managed 68.82Mbps but has a much higher 48% availability.

Finally, in 5G consistency, T-Mobile came out on top with 81.5% of results over 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up. Verizon was second with 77.3%, and AT&T brought up the rear with 69.6% of its results, clearing the bar.

Interestingly, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro were found to be the fastest Android devices, beaten only by the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. This is interesting because there have been reports of the two Google phones falling short when it came to 5G performance.

What you need to know

• FCC's Auction 110 concluded in November 2021 with nearly $22 billion in bids for the mid-band spectrum.
• AT&T was the biggest winner with $9 billion in winning bids leading Dish Network with $7.3 billion.
• There is 100MHz available between 3.45GHz and 3.55GHz, with each bidder allowed up to 40MHz.

Wireless carriers have spent and are continuing to spend billions of dollars on precious mid-band spectrum, which is key to building a fast and competitive 5G network. As reported by Light Reading, Auction 110, nicknamed the Andromeda Auction, resulted in nearly $22 billion in bids in November, with the FCC releasing the names of the winning bidders in January 2022. The biggest winner was AT&T, with $9 billion committed and 1,624 licenses won. Dish Network also showed up in a big way with $7.3 billion, and 1,232 licenses won.

The list of winners includes several other wireless companies like T-Mobile with $2.9 billion and 199 licenses and UScellular with $580 million and 380 licenses. T-Mobile already has quite a bit of mid-band spectrum available with its 2.5GHz spectrum and C-band winnings, so this auction wasn't as important as it was to AT&T and Dish Network.

AT&T needed a bit more out of this auction than its peers after coming up short in the previous C-band auction compared to Verizon. Speaking of Verizon, the company sat out of auction 110, likely to focus on its massive C-band acquisitions.

This spectrum is similar to C-band, with spectrum between 3.45GHz and 3.55GHz totaling 100MHz. While 100MHz was available, each bidder could only have up to 40MHz total. While less than C-band's massive 280Mhz of spectrum, it's still the third-largest spectrum auction ever.

This spectrum can be an excellent supplement to C-band once 5G becomes more widely adopted and may prove essential to building a competitive network. Not only that, but many phones designed to work with C-band 5G should also be able to use this spectrum due to the similar frequencies with a software update. Luckily, this includes many of the best Android phones you can buy today.

While AT&T spent the most, Dish Network may be the biggest winner gaining valuable spectrum to help reinforce its own 5G network to better compete with the three other massive carriers. UScellular also came up with a fair share of licenses which should help it stay competitive in its markets even with much less spending overall.

Mid-band spectrum has become one of the most critical assets in the race to build 5G with T-Mobile taking a commanding lead in 5G coverage thanks to getting a head start on the mid-band 2.5GHz spectrum it got from Sprint. Not only that, but T-Mobile's mid-band spectrum has been one of the key components in helping it become the fastest carrier in the country, according to a new report from Ookla, the company behind the Speedtest app.

The Fusion 5G does not support mmWave 5G as previously reported. The article has been updated to reflect the new information. We apologize for the error.

What you need to know

• AT&T launches an affordable 5G smartphone with wireless charging support.
• The Fusion 5G features a 48MP quad-camera array and is powered by a MediaTek chipset.
• It goes on sale for $220 on Friday, January 7.

Affordable 5G smartphones are on the rise, and AT&T has thrown itself into the mix with its latest smartphone launch. The Fusion 5G may not be the most robust offering out there, but it does come with a notable feature that's hard to beat at this price.

The Fusion 5G is unique in that it supports wireless charging. You'll be hard-pressed to find a smartphone at this price with wireless charging support, even among the best Android phones under $300. And while it's not exactly a must-have feature, it's a nice one to have for those of you that have wireless chargers lying around the house.

AT&T doesn't specify the wireless charging speed, but don't expect it to break any records. However, the carrier does mention a "quick charging battery" and an included fast-charging adapter to top up the 4750mAh battery.

Powering the phone is a MediaTek Dimensity 700, the same chipset inside T-Mobile's similarly priced REVVL V+ 5G. It also features a similar RAM and storage combination with 4GB and 64GB, respectively. However, the Fusion 5G has an edge up with a few specs beyond wireless charging support, including the 48MP primary sensor and an 8MP ultrawide camera.

Beyond that, the Fusion 5G is more or less par-for-the-course as phones go at this price point, with a 6.82-inch HD+ display, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and Sub-6 5G. Unfortunately, you won't find mmWave support here, as previously reported, but that's not really surprising given the price point.

The Fusion 5G will be available for purchase on Friday, January 7 for just $220.

What you need to know

• Linksys launches a new Wi-Fi 6 router with the Linksys Hydra Pro 6.
• The Hydra Pro 6 has a dual-band AX5400 connection with 160MHz support.
• It's powered by the Qualcomm Immersive Home 216 platform for extra connection stability.

Linksys has revealed a new WI-Fi 6 router called the Hydra Pro 6 with a dual-band Wi-Fi 6 connection. This AX5400 router has a 2.4GHz band capable of 600Mbps and a 5GHz band capable of 4.8Gbps. With six streams, this router is designed to handle the pressure of multiple devices connected simultaneously without dropping a connection. It's speed is also helped with support for 160MHz on the 5GHz band.

The Linksys Hydra Pro 6 is a good fit for most homes with up to 2,700 square feet of coverage and the potential for mesh expansion. The Hydra Pro 6 retails for $299.99 and is set to be available starting January 4, 2022 at Linksys.com with other retailers to follow.

Under the hood, the Hydra Pro 6 is powered by the Qualcomm Immersive Home 216 platform which Linksys says delivers wire-like stability. This router also supports Linksys' Intelligent Mesh so you can expand your coverage with a mesh down the line without having to sacrifice your router. On the back there are five gigabit Ethernet ports with once dedicated to the incoming internet connection flanked by dual antennas. There is also a USB port for a quick network storage option.

This router has similar hardware to some of the best Wi-Fi 6 routers you can buy and a sleek minimalist design. Unlike the more capable Hydra Pro 6E we reviewed last year, this router is limited to 5GHz Wi-Fi 6 though this will be fine for the vast majority of people while 6GHz adoption is still relatively low.

Trading in your old smartphone while buying a new one isn't rocket science. Plenty of people get the newest flagship every year, trading in last year's cutting-edge tech for half (or more) off the latest device. But two years after launch, a popular Android phone might get you $200 off, while a budget phone will get tossed straight into the recycling bin. Three years on, it's barely worth bothering to bring to the store.

But 2021 proved that old phones are a valuable commodity. If you play your cards right, your wimpy old phone could easily score you a brand new phone.

We first noticed this trend with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3. As soon as it launched, AT&T offered the $1,000 phone for free with a trade-in, even if the traded phone's market value was much less. A $200 Moto G Power, a 4-year-old Galaxy S8, a 5-year-old iPhone 7 — all of these are "worth" $1,000 to AT&T.

The logic behind illogical trades

The motive behind this deal steal is obvious. Switching carriers is a pain and plenty of people stick with the same one for years out of habit or laziness. A tempting trade-in on a snazzy new phone can push people out of their complacency, giving a carrier your business for the next decade. And if one carrier is as good as another for 5G coverage in your area, why not switch?

During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, this carrier trend only grew. If you wanted a Z Fold 3, you could get a maximum of $1,050, $1,300, or $1,600 off in rebates and trade-in credit from T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon (respectively).

Want a brand-new Pixel 6, the best Android phone of the year? You can pay $600 for one from Google, or get it for free (or severely discounted) from Verizon with the right trade-in. During Black Friday, I noticed you could buy a discounted Galaxy A51 for $100 from Amazon, then hand it to Verizon for $350 off the Pixel 6.

Carriers don't really care about a trade-in phone's true worth. Right now, AT&T will give you $800 off the Pixel 6 Pro for a Galaxy S8, or $35 off the Pixel 6 ... for the same Galaxy S8. Same goes for Best Buy's current Verizon deals on Galaxy S21 phones, where a Pixel 4a, iPhone X, or Galaxy A42 will all save you the same as a 2021 flagship: $800.

There's no rhyme or reason to this; carriers will enhance or enforce market value based on whatever phone they're trying to push. Even though Pixel 6 Pro stock is super low thanks to chip shortages, AT&T and Google really want this superb flagship to sell out quickly, and who are we to look a gift horse in the mouth?

Losing money to make money

It's not just carriers playing the loss-leader game. Through Dec. 5, Samsung will give you an unlocked Z Flip 3 or Fold 3 for $100/$250 off, with up to $650/$900 enhanced trade-in credit for the Flip or Fold. This is arguably a much better deal than the ones above, because it doesn't bundle some expensive Unlimited plan or line upgrade with your phone.

Why is Samsung practically giving away two well-reviewed, intriguing phones? Because Samsung wants to bring foldables into the mainstream, and with its mobile business losing ground to Xiaomi, it needs a public sales victory for future growth more than it needs money.

People will willingly spend a grand on a known, dependable brand — your Galaxy S21s or iPhone 13 Pros — but almost no one had used a foldable until this year. Now, Samsung will reportedly ship 3.5-4 million Z Flip 3s by the end of 2021, thanks to its high quality and affordability.

Then there's the Z Fold 3. It made up about 22% of Q3 2021 foldable sales, or about 610,000 units. But DSCC says it'll jump to about 1.33 million sold in the last three months of the year. I promise you, there's no way Samsung comes close to that level if everyone actually had to spend $1,800 on one, no matter how good a phone it is.

In the upcoming years, companies are going to release other experimental phones that are too big to fail. Phones like the delayed Pixel Fold or Apple's long-rumored foldable iPhone. Or even phones like the LG Wing, which did fail to sell despite a $750-off trade-in offer from Verizon, leading to the shuttering of LG's smartphone business.

Like Samsung, these companies will need high sales to justify the years of labor and millions in R&D costs that went into these phones. So don't be surprised if they work with carriers to offer absurdly low discounts on foldables or rollable phones, in exchange for old phones no one wants anymore.

Bide your time

Up until recently, Android phones' trade-in value was garbage, depreciating twice as fast as iPhones' value. And it doesn't take an analyst to determine why: even Android flagships only ever received two software updates, making their longevity suspect.

Now, Android is in the midst of an update renaissance. Google promises three OS updates and five years of security updates for the Pixel 6 thanks to Google Tensor, and Google plans to add Tensor to the Pixel 6a as well. Samsung is offering three OS updates and four years of security updates for all of its phones, while OnePlus, OPPO, and Xiaomi will do the same for their flagships.

Your new 2021 phone will retain more market value in a few years than old Android phones ever did. Even a mid-range phone today could make for a valuable trade-in commodity in 2023–4.

With popular brands fighting to stay relevant with risky, innovative phones, you're likely to see more holiday deal seasons like this, where any old handset can give you a disproportionate return on investment.

That's why, if you're replacing your old phone with a new one without a great trade-in offer, I'd argue that you should play the long game. Keep your old phone safe in a drawer for a year or two and wait for the opportune moment to strike. If it doesn't work out, you can (and should) recycle it if no amazing deal emerges. But by passing up $100 now, you could easily save much more later.

What you need to know

• AT&T and Verizon have proposed to limit their new 5G mid-band spectrum.
• The limits would allow the carriers to potentially avoid FAA concerns over interference.
• Both carriers have maintained that their new C-Band spectrum would not pose a problem.

Verizon and AT&T are preparing to launch their new mid-band 5G spectrum in January to booth their networks for the best Android phones, but there may be some limitations in its initial rollout.

The companies have penned a letter to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel (via The Wall Street Journal), proposing power limits to their 5G towers. This would last roughly six months and allow the FAA to investigate the potential impacts that the frequencies may have on aircraft equipment, as pointed out by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA).

The letter, which was obtained by Android Central, points out how C-Band deployment in countries like Japan, Spain, Denmark, and Finland have not posed any problems despite higher power limits than those imposed in U.S. urban areas.

"The flawed nature of the RTCA Report is underscored by real-world experience," the companies state in the letter, which points out multiple technologies in use that would potentially cause greater interference but don't.

"Given the years of study and widespread global experience with 5G using C-band, AT&T and Verizon believe that supplemental protection—beyond the existing FCC technical rules and the massive separation between 5G networks and radio altimeters—is unnecessary."

The proposal comes after both companies agreed to push back their planned mid-band rollout for January 2022 after the FAA expressed concerns that the frequencies may interfere with radar altimeters which allow aircraft to measure their distance from the ground.

"We have voluntarily agreed to certain precautionary protection measures for 5G networks in the C-band while additional evidence from radio altimeter manufacturers is evaluated," AT&T told Android Central in a statement. "Though there is no credible evidence that a legitimate interference problem exists, we agreed to take these additional steps to alleviate any safety concerns from the FAA."

While both carriers moved their rollout, they're no doubt eager to deploy the new C-Band spectrum, which they spent billions of dollars on in a bid to boost their 5G networks against T-Mobile. Meanwhile, the Magenta carrier spent much less on the newer C-Band spectrum, so it is a lot less concerned. T-Mobile is already sitting pretty on a mountain of mid-band 5G thanks to its purchase of Sprint, of which none is a concern for the FAA.

Even as Verizon and AT&T both focused on other aspects of 5G deployment, the latter highlights the urgency of rolling out the C-Band spectrum as quickly as possible, particularly amid the current rip-and-replace mandates against Chinese 5G equipment.

"Unfortunately, any further delay in the launch of C-band for 5G will not only set back U.S. 5G leadership, it will also undermine the credibility of U.S. technology leadership, and, potentially, U.S. efforts to promote a more secure and trusted global communications infrastructure."

The power limits are expected to last until June 2022, although consumers will likely face minimal impact, according to WSJ.

What you need to know

• The 8Mbps speed limit has been removed from plans allowing for unlimited speed.
• Cricket has added 5G support on the AT&T network to all of its data plans.
• Cricket has added 2 million subscribers in the past two years and now has over 12.4 million total.

Cricket Wireless, the prepaid carrier owned by AT&T, is updating its cheaper data plans with faster download speeds. Previously, LTE-connected devices on plans other than the most expensive unlimited plan were limited to just 8Mbps on LTE. As of October 29, 2021, this limit has been removed allowing customers to download at much higher speeds and putting Cricket's network performance much more in line with AT&T.

Cricket has also added 5G support to all of its plans so as long as you have a compatible phone, you can connect to AT&T's 5G network. Adding 5G and removing the old speed cap from the $30, $40, and $55 has removed the biggest weakness from some of the best cheap plans you can get. Keep in mind that video quality will still be limited to 480p on the unlimited plans but at least the $60 plan comes with ad-supported HBO Max.

Cricket is also celebrating its continued growth as a carrier achieving 12.4 million subscribers. That's two million new subscribers in the last two years. AT&T has been the fastest-growing prepaid carrier since 2019.

This news comes right as AT&T is finalizing its plans expand its 5G network with C-band. AT&T is currently using low-band 5G with spectrum sharing where it needs a little more capacity. The upgrade to C-band will give the network plenty of capacity for both AT&T postpaid and Cricket customers to enjoy fast speeds at the same time.

What you need to know

• AT&T's current nationwide 5G network uses low-band spectrum to cover 250M people.
• AT&T has 80MHz of C-band spectrum that it plans to begin lighting up later this year with a planned December launch.
• By the end of 2022, AT&T expects to cover 70-75 million people with C-band 5G. Up to 200 million by the end of 2023.

AT&T has unveiled its plans for the next phase of its 5G+ expansion. The moniker refers to the carrier's mmWave 5G, but the company announced that its upcoming C-band spectrum would fall under 5G+ as well.

C-band spectrum sits between mmWave and low-band 5G and provides much better coverage and speeds than mmWave and low-band spectrum, respectively.

Back in February of 2021, AT&T purchased 80MHz of C-band spectrum in an FCC auction to be used for 5G. Since then, AT&T has been aggressively testing C-band deployment so it could be ready to go as soon as the spectrum became available for deployment.

This spectrum, also known as mid-band, is between 3.7GHz and 4GHz and is an efficient middle-ground between mmWave and low-band 5G. This spectrum also benefits from being new to cell networks meaning that AT&T will not need to pull spectrum from the rest of its network to deploy it.

C-band 5G will allow AT&T to cover suburban and urban areas with enough capacity to deliver high speeds without needing a 5G mast on every street corner. Its existing low-band 5G coverage will still be helpful to fill in the gaps as well as perfect for low-density environments that need to make the most of fewer 5G towers. If you live in the country, you'll likely be using the low-band network primarily, but due to the lower population, you should still have plenty of speed.

While AT&T still lags behind T-Mobile when it comes to coverage, it's set to make a quick comeback. Currently, T-Mobile covers an impressive 308 million people with its low-band 5G network and 186 million with its 2.5GHz mid-band 5G. AT&T plans to cover 70-75 million people with C-band 5G by the end of 2022, with up to 200 million covered by the end of 2023. With one of the fastest LTE networks around and mmWave coverage that's still growing, AT&T is still an excellent option for many.

AT&T also includes access to 5G with all of its unlimited plans now, meaning that you'll only need one of the best Android phones with 5G support on AT&T's network to get the best out of the network.

Best answer: Yes, mmWave is making its way to more venues and cities in late 2021 and 2022, but you'll still spend the vast majority of your time connected to low or mid-band 5G.

Will mmWave 5G be better in 2022?

If you bought a phone in the last year, there's a good chance it works with 5G. In fact, most of the best Android phones support the tech. Unfortunately, most of these phones only connect to low-band and mid-band 5G; however, using the sort of spectrum popular in LTE deployments. The speed improvements over LTE aren't as dramatic as many expected of the next generation of wireless tech.

There is another type of 5G that has been slowly but steadily increasing its coverage bringing with it incredible multi-gigabit speeds and the capacity for thousands of devices. This tech, mmWave, was actually one of the first kinds of 5G to be deployed, with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon all deploying at least a few sites to enter the 5G race. Still, progress has been slow and, on every carrier, has been surpassed by low-band deployments.

The name mmWave or millimeter-wave is in reference to the closeness of the waves created by this high-frequency network. Compared to T-Mobile's mid-band 5G at 2.5GHz, mmWave often operates over 28GHz. At these frequencies, vast chunks of spectrum are available, making extremely high speeds possible and supporting many more simultaneous connections. All of this means that carriers will need to build many more cell sites for mmWave to work.

How are carriers building 5G?

The Big Three carriers all have some mmWave coverage, but Verizon has a big lead in this space. T-Mobile took the lead in overall 5G coverage though, with coverage expected in more than 80 cities by the end of 2021, Verizon isn't slowing down either. Coverage is still spotty, but with a focus on the busiest parts of the city, it's a sensible deployment.

Verizon has also been using this tech for its 5G Home internet service, which eliminates the need to run cables directly to the how but is fast enough to compete with cable and even fiber connections. This service helps Verizon make good use of mmWave even before most people get mmWave-capable phones or coverage.

AT&T is also expanding its mmWave 5G network though it's a lot more focused than Verizon. It's putting mmWave where it makes the most sense with a strong focus on venues, and AT&T expects to have mmWave coverage in 40 cities and 40 venues by the end of 2021. So if you go to a major sporting event or fly in 2022, there's a good chance you'll be covered by AT&T's fast 5G network.

Finally, T-Mobile has been the least aggressive on mmWave expansion though its layer-cake plan clearly shows that mmWave is part of the plan. T-Mobile has a strong lead in 5G coverage thanks to its low-band and mid-band 5G covering more than 300 million and 165 million people, respectively. This has allowed T-Mobile to easily become the best 5G network. Still, there's room for improvement, especially in crowded areas as more people buy 5G devices.

Is C-band replacing mmWave?

C-band is the mid-band spectrum desperately needed by carriers to bridge that coverage gap between low-band and mmWave 5G. C-band refers to a wireless spectrum around 3.5GHz that will become available in late 2021 and 2022. In 5G deployment, C-band has stolen the spotlight from mmWave, but it's still only one piece of the puzzle.

It can be hard to fully appreciate due to its spotty coverage and the current lack of need for gigabit speeds on a phone, but mmWave is a key part of a complete 5G network. With plenty of speed to do whatever you need, regardless of how crowded an area is, mmWave will be able to keep up. In 2022, mmWave will continue to grow and improve whether you use it on your phone or as your home internet.

Phone insurance might not seem very important, but with modern devices getting increasingly expensive, it makes a lot of sense. If you've ever had your smartphone get stolen, lost, or damaged, you probably already know paying out of pocket to get it repaired or buy a replacement can burn a serious hole in your wallet. With phone insurance, you can save at least some of that money.

If you use AT&T as your wireless service provider, you can use one of its two 'Protect Advantage' plans to safeguard your expensive device(s). The AT&T phone insurance plans not only cover hardware repairs but offer backup storage solutions as well. To help you out, we've detailed everything you need to know about the service. Read all about it and decide which one of these phone insurance plans best suits your needs.

What is it?

What exactly is AT&T's phone insurance?

Offered under the 'AT&T Protect Advantage' brand, AT&T's phone insurance service is available with the carrier's postpaid wireless plans. Although it primarily involves smartphones, eligible devices can also include other connected and non-connected devices such as smartwatches, tablets, laptops, and home phones. These insurance plans cover screen and back glass repairs, battery replacements, and more. There are two plans to choose from and each requires you to pay a monthly charge (plus taxes) that's billed to your wireless account.

To be eligible for a repair or replacement, you have to enroll in one of the two phone insurance plans. Each protects your phone from loss, theft, accidental damage from handling, and out-of-warranty malfunctions. You must also pay a deductible amount, which is calculated based on the device you own and the tier it falls in.

Who can enroll?

Who can enroll in AT&T phone insurance?

As mentioned before, AT&T's phone insurance plans are available with its postpaid wireless plans. Customers can enroll in one of the plans as long as they do so within 30 days of activating or upgrading their new device. For the higher plan covering up to four devices, once you register the primary device (which must be connected to the AT&T wireless network and have a monthly postpaid data and voice plan), you can add the additional three devices anytime you want.

AT&T also opens up 'Open Enrollment' windows for easier registrations, and these are available in select areas for eligible devices. To know more about them, you need to speak with one of the carrier's sales representatives.

Insurance plans and their costs

How much do AT&T's phone insurance plans cost?

The base plan is called 'AT&T Protect Advantage for 1' and costs $14 or $17 a month. Under this, you can file unlimited number of claims, with a maximum device value of $3,500 per claim. A non-refundable deductible (or service fee) is charged and ranges from $25-275, based on the device. There are no repair fees, except for customers in New York, where a screen repair fee of $29 is charged.

The second plan is called 'AT&T Protect Advantage for 4' and as the name suggests, it lets you insure up to four devices, including even those that aren't connected to the carrier's wireless network. This plan costs $50 per month and also allows unlimited claims, with a maximum device value of $3,500 per claim. Again, based on device, a non-refundable service fee (or deductible) ranging from $25-275 is charged.

Both these phone insurance plans renew monthly until canceled, and you can easily cancel them anytime without any penalty, while also getting a prorated refund. Do note that replacement devices may be new or refurbished.

Benefits

What are the advantages of AT&T phone insurance?

AT&T Protect Advantage is easily the carrier's most comprehensive phone insurance plan, and it includes the following benefits:

• Coverage for one or (up to) four devices.
• Same-day device repairs, replacements, and setup.
• Unlimited claims for accidental damage from handling (ADH) and out-of-warranty malfunctions.
• Unlimited claims for loss, theft, and physical damage (excluding ADH).
• Unlimited screen and back glass repairs.
• Unlimited battery replacements.
• ProTech support (US-based technical support over phone, seven days a week).
• Unlimited photo and video storage (Video size limitations applicable) through AT&T's Photo Storage app.
• Periodic device checkups including in-person sessions to improve speed, signal, and battery performance.
• Cleaning and optimization services involving device sanitization, data transfers as well as restoration, and more.

Filing claims & things to note

How do I file a claim?

All AT&T phone insurance claims are handled by Asurion Protection Services, LLC. To get the process started (regardless of the insurance plan), you can head over to the link — ATT Claims | Asurion — and enter the required details like your registered number. You'll be asked some questions to find out what's wrong with your device, and on that basis, you'll be provided repair or replacement options. Once you make a selection, you can track the status of your claim via the same page, or by calling the number 888.562.8662.

Some important things to keep in mind

• Make sure you file the claim within 60 days of the incident but try to do it as soon as possible.
• If your device is lost or stolen, call AT&T to get your service temporarily suspend in order to prevent the device's unauthorized use.
• In case you're eligible for a replacement device, the old device must be returned using the prepaid shipping label provided with the former. If you don't do that, a non-return fee of $850 will be added to your next wireless bill.
• You'll need to provide certain information to support each claim you file.
• For each approved claim, a non-refundable deductible/service fee will be applicable.

Should you get it?

Is phone insurance worth it?

Whether or not (AT&T) phone insurance is right for you is largely a personal decision that depends on your owned device, as well as usage and handling habits. If you own one of the best Android phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, it might be well worth to pay an extra amount to keep it protected. On the other hand, if you regularly upgrade to newer devices, or keep your devices protected with some of the best cases and screen protectors, you might choose to forego this extra expense.

A plus point of the AT&T's Protect Advantage plans is that you benefit from unlimited screen and back glass repairs, which are the components most likely to get damaged if your phone slips out of your hand and lands on the ground. The deductible that is paid also gives you access to free cloud storage for storing your photos and videos. If you've ever had your digital camera stolen/get damaged in the past, you know how important it is to have a backup. Taking all these benefits into account, we certainly recommend taking a look at the carrier's phone insurance plans.

What you need to know

• AT&T customers have reportedly begun receiving free Galaxy devices from the carrier.
• Replacement phones are being sent due to the company's impending 3G shutdown.
• Phones include the Galaxy Note 9, Note 10, and other older devices.

With companies preparing to shut down older networks, customers stuck with incompatible smartphones are left needing to replace their devices. And while affected customers can always request a new device, AT&T has apparently decided to take a more proactive approach with its replacement program.

A report from Android Police highlights how the site founder Artem Russakovskii received a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 out of nowhere, and others on Reddit have apparently received "new" smartphones as well without requesting one. And while the Galaxy Note 9 is a bit aged, it's admittedly better than the Radiant Core device some users were getting before.

Android Police states that among the confused customers, some are receiving Galaxy Note 10 devices among other phones, and received this statement from an AT&T spokesperson when inquiring about the phones:

Additionally, AT&T has informed Android Central that replacement devices will carry the same operating system.

AT&T is preparing to sunset its 3G network in February 2022, which is only five months from the time of writing, so the carrier seems to want to get ahead by more or less "upgrading" customers proactively.

T-Mobile has indicated that customers that will be affected by its impending 3G CDMA shutdowns will be able to take advantage of free 5G upgrades but hasn't indicated that it will proactively provide free devices.

Verizon has set a much later date than both carriers for its 3G shutdown in order to give customers more time for the transition, something that Dish Wireless would appreciate. Because of this, it wouldn't be surprising if the carrier didn't offer a similar replacement program; however, we've reached out to clarify plans for the shutdown.

If you are on AT&T and have received a Galaxy smartphone as a replacement device, let us know. For affected customers on other networks, you may have already received correspondence from the carriers on the network shutdown, but you can always contact them for options. Fortunately, there are plenty of affordable options among the best cheap Android phones.

What you need to know

• Cricket unlimited customers will get HBO Max with ads for free starting August 20.
• You must have or upgrade to Cricket's $60 unlimited plan.
• HBO Max with ads costs $10 per month separately.

Cricket Wireless is a prepaid phone service that is owned by AT&T that provides a wide range of plans whether you need unlimited data or just a couple of gigs. Starting on August 20, Cricket Wireless is adding HBO Max with ads to its top $60 unlimited plan. The price comes down when you add multiple lines with four lines bringing the cost down to $33 per line. This plan also comes with 5G access, no speed limit, and 15GB of mobile hotspot data.

This HBO Max plan normally costs $9.99 per month and comes with all of HBO's programs except for Warner Bros. movie premieres. All of HBO's original programming as well as its other movies and TV shows are available to this tier of customers. Unlike other HBO subscriptions, however, ads will be shown for HBO original programs and will not be longer than four minutes per hour of watching. You can also check out a free trial of HBO Max if you're not sure whether it's worth the upgrade.

Cricket Wireless isn't the only carrier to offer streaming perks for its customers. AT&T postpaid's Unlimited Elite comes with ad-free HBO Max, Metro by T-Mobile comes with Amazon Prime on its most expensive plan, and some Verizon postpaid plans come with Disney Plus for example. In fact, many of the best cell phone plans come with some streaming extras though it's not as common with prepaid carriers.

The Cricket wireless $60 unlimited plan is a great cheap cell phone plan thanks to its large amount of data including nationwide 5G, and 15GB of hotspot data. You can bring the price down to $55 per month with autopay and you can also get some great multi-line discounts if you bring the whole family. This plan also comes with 150GB of cloud storage and works in Mexico and Canada (up to 50% usage.)

What you need to know

• AT&T has the best 5G experience according to RootMetrics Everyday 5G experience score.
• T-Mobile has the best availability with at least 25% 5G availability in every market tested.
• Verizon's 5G network has the best reliability for devices getting and staying connected.

RootMetrics has released its 5G report for the first half of 2021, and AT&T is the big winner with the Best Everyday 5G experience. This is a combination of RootMetrics Everyday 5G availability, data speed, and reliability. While AT&T didn't come out on top in every category, it scored well enough in all of them to come out ahead with all things considered.

Regarding availability, T-Mobile won easily with a score of 80 markets compared to AT&T with 44 and Verizon with just nine. T-Mobile had some level of 5G coverage available in all of the 125 tested markets. Notably, T-Mobile had greater than 25% availability in every market tested, and 72 markets showed more than 85% availability. AT&T had 85%+ coverage in only 39 markets, while Verizon only had six. Still, each carrier had significant improvements in availability.

AT&T had the best score for Fastest Everyday 5G download with 20 markets. Verizon came in second with 16 markets, followed by T-Mobile with 13. This is a combination of median download speeds, the 5th percentile, and the 95th percentile. The 5th percentile considers the worst 5 percent of speeds which deeply hurt T-Mobile's result. T-Mobile has 5th percentile results with 105 markets under 5Mbps. This is a slight improvement from 121 in 2020 but still much worse than Verizon's 44 or AT&T's 22.

On the bright side, T-Mobile's 95th percentile, the best five percent of results, was the best by far. T-Mobile had 54 markets with speeds over 250Mbps with 28 markets between 200 and 250Mbps. Verizon only had seven markets over 250Mbps, while AT&T had none. This is likely a result of T-Mobile's Ultra Capacity 5G network making up 21.9% of results which is up from just 3.9% in 2020.

5G on this 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum has given T-Mobile a serious speed advantage as Verizon and AT&T still don't have full access to comparable spectrum. All carriers will likely improve in this category towards the end of the year and into 2022 as C-band becomes available to all carriers, and T-Mobile can expand usage of band n41. Unlike other carriers, T-Mobile includes access to its full network to all customers helping it provide some of the best cell phone plans for 5G.

Verizon scores a victory in reliability with the best results in 99 markets out of 125. AT&T followed with just 59 markets, and T-Mobile trailed behind with 12. This result is a combination of both getting connected and staying connected to 5G. This shows that while T-Mobile and AT&T have greater availability, Verizon can deliver more reliable 5G results in the cities markets it has coverage.

Verizon had a success rate of 99.5% in 110 markets, a huge improvement over the 44 it had in the second half of 2020. AT&T was right behind with 102 markets up from 71, and T-Mobile brought up the rear with 78 markets up from 52. The biggest takeaway is just how much each carrier has progressed. Verizon also stayed connected more often with 99.5% in 104 markets compared to 77 and 50 markets with AT&T and T-Mobile, respectively.

LTE performance is still essential for network performance since many people still don't have a 5G capable phone, and even those that do will still fall back on LTE if 5G signal is weak. AT&T and Verizon led the way with the most markets over 25Mbps. AT&T further extended this lead with 31 markets testing greater than 50Mbps. This is an improvement from the 14 markets in the second half of 2020.

Verizon had 13 markets over 50Mbps, though this is down from 20. T-Mobile improved its speeds with most of its markets over 25Mbps though it only had 11 with speeds over 50Mbps. Nevertheless, this is an improvement from the zero it had in the second half of 2020.

One thing to keep in mind about these results is that RootMetrics focuses its testing on 125 of the most populated metro areas in the U.S. This includes markets from all 50 states but doesn't show the whole 5G picture, especially in small cities or rural areas.

Be sure to check out each carrier's coverage maps for yourself to see if your area is covered before committing to a network.

What you need to know

• Dish has signed a 10-year deal with AT&T to access its wireless network.
• The $5 billion deal will help Dish support customers on its network, including Boost Mobile subscribers.
• This new deal comes amid recent quarreling between Dish and T-Mobile.

Dish has decided that it can't longer rely solely on T-Mobile to support it while builds out its own 5G network. The company announced on Monday that it has entered into a multi-year Network Services Agreement (NSA) with AT&T to access its 4G and 5G networks, making it the primary network service provider for Dish and its customers.

The deal, values at $5 billion, will allow Dish customers to tap into the AT&T 5G network for as long as 10 years. That includes Boost Mobile, Ting, and Republic Wireless subscribers.

The deal comes at a difficult time for Dish, which is in the process of deploying its own 5G network to better compete with the best 5G networks in the U.S., which includes AT&T. Until now, the company has relied largely on the T-Mobile network for its customers, as part of the agreement for the Sprint merger.

Unfortunately, both T-Mobile and Dish haven't seen eye-to-eye on many things since the merger was completed. For instance, Dish has disputed the early shutdown of T-Mobile's 3G CDMA network, saying that it could leave its millions of customers in the lurch. T-Mobile has also argued that the FCC should strip Dish of its highly-coveted spectrum and auction it off for use in terrestrial 5G networks.

The new deal with AT&T manages to relinquish some of Dish's reliance on T-Mobile, which is contractually obligated to support Dish for seven years as the new carrier continues to build its network. Dish has targeted the end of 2021 to switch on its 5G network, with "the nation's first cloud-native, OpenRAN-based 5G network reaching over 70% of the population by 2023."

Following the 10 year contract, AT&T will give Dish a two-year grace period to help ensure a smooth transition for its subscribers.

What you need to know

• Verizon won RootMetrics best overall network performance and reliability award for the 16th consecutive time.
• Verizon came in first in five of the seven categories.
• AT&T took the lead for the fastest speeds and data score from Verizon.
• T-Mobile improved its media download speeds by 50%, from 20.1Mbps to 30.3Mbps.

Verizon announced that has been awarded the best overall network performance and reliability by RootMetrics for the sixteenth time in a row. In its report for the first half of 2021, RootMetrics found Verizon to have the top network in five of its seven categories. This report includes results for network reliability, speed, and performance, including data, calls, and text. Verizon took top marks in the reliability, accessibility, call, and text performance categories giving it the top spot overall.

Verizon points out that it has won or shared 738 out of 875 Metro Area RootScore Awards. Verizon also had 43 markets with at least 40Mbps. RootMetrics tests carrier networks in the 125 most populated metropolitan markets across all 50 states.

Kyle Malady, Chief Technology Officer at Verizon, said:

It wasn't a clean sweep as AT&T took first place in speed and data from Verizon. AT&T also tied Verizon in the text category. AT&T's aggregate download speed was an impressive 40.9Mbps compared to Verizon's 34.4Mbps and T-Mobile's 30.3Mbps.

T-Mobile came in third in every category but showed improvement in each. T-Mobile scored 146 RootScore in the second half of 2020 and has increased to 235 in the first half of 2021. T-Mobile also greatly improved its median download speed from 20.1Mbps to 30.3Mbps, representing a 50 percent improvement. Not only that, but T-Mobile decreased the number of areas that had download speeds under 20Mbps from 62 to 23, providing a much better experience to many people.

Each carrier has shown improvement in this report, meaning that customers can focus more on finding the best cell phone plan rather than worrying if they will have reliable service. The networks are only getting faster as well, with T-Mobile taking in the lead in every day 5G speeds thanks to its huge 5G coverage area, but C-band spectrum will open up even greater 5G speeds for every carrier.

What you need to know

• AT&T 5G now covers more than 250 million people six months ahead of schedule.
• 5G+ continues to expand with coverage in parts of more than 40 cities and 40 venues by the end of 2021.
• 5G+ is already available in one airport, with seven more planned by the end of the year and 25 by the end of 2022.

AT&T has a lot to say about 5G, announcing it has reached 250 million people covered by its 5G network in July 2021. This is six months ahead of schedule and is a major step towards achieving full nationwide 5G coverage. This coverage is mostly made up of AT&T's low-band 5G and shared DSS 5G. The announcement also included updates to its 5G+ (mmWave 5G) expansion and a plan for C-Band deployment.

AT&T's 5G+ currently has coverage in parts of 38 cities and 20 venues. This is expected to grow to more than 40 cities and 40 venues by the end of 2021. 5G+ uses mmWave technology to deploy high-speed 5G connectivity with a ton of capacity in areas with a large concentration of connections. AT&T is focusing 5G+ on stadiums, arenas, airports, and entertainment districts. AT&T is also working to bring 5G+ to more than two dozen corporate retail stores by the beginning of 2022.

In the most recent FCC auction, AT&T acquired 80MHz of C-band, which is mid-band spectrum around 6GHz. For comparison, T-Mobile's Ultra Capacity 5G uses 2.5GHz spectrum. AT&T will be able to start deployment later in 2021 when the first 40MHz of C-band spectrum becomes available. This is part of its plan to cover 70-75 million people by the end of 2022 plus a further 200 million by the end of 2023. C-band sits between AT&T's nationwide 5G and 5G+ in terms of performance but offers much greater coverage than 5G+.

AT&T also announced its plan to expand 5G+ coverage in airports. Currently, only the Tampa International Airport has 5G+ coverage and AT&T plans to cover seven more by the end of 2021, with a total of 25 covered by the end of 2022. 5G+ will be coming to Dallas Love Field Airport, Los Angeles Airport (LAX), and Denver International Airport in the coming months.

AT&T is also working with Boingo, a company that provides Wi-Fi and connectivity to airports, to bring mmWave to 12 airports. This includes John F Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, and Midway International Airport.

AT&T 5G including 5G+ is available to customers on one of AT&T's Unlimited plans with a compatible 5G phone. AT&T's best 5G plan, Unlimited Elite, comes with unlimited premium data, 40GB of hotspot usage, and 4K video streaming. 5G is also included with the AT&T Prepaid Unlimited Plus plan as well as on prepaid carrier Cricket.

What you need to know

• AT&T's Unlimited Elite now includes unlimited premium data with no caps.
• Hotspot data has been upgraded to 40GB from 30GB.
• Video can now stream up to 4K when enabled on your account.

AT&T announced that it is upgrading its most expensive Unlimited Elite plan to include completely unlimited data and more hotspot data. Previously the plan came with a fairly huge 100GB of premium data meaning downloads wouldn't be subject to congestion slowdown unless the user has passed 100GB of data in a month. AT&T has completely removed this limitation and will not slow down your speeds no matter how much data is used.

AT&T has also upgraded the hotspot data pool from 30GB to 40GB. This extra 10GB of data is targeted at those who want to get connected on the go, whether connecting a work laptop or streaming to a tablet. Speaking of streaming, AT&T has also removed the 1080p limit from mobile streaming for full 4K support. Keep in mind you will need to disable Stream Saver in your account settings, but you can now make the most of the high-resolution displays on the best Android phones.

If you are already an Unlimited Elite customer, there is no need to do anything. The upgrade will be applied to your account over the week following the announcement. AT&T will send your device a text to let you know when the changes have been applied.

This plan still includes some of its best features, including full 5G support if you have 5G coverage and a phone that supports 5G. An HBO Max subscription is included, and six months of Google Stadia service is available to new customers. You also get AT&T's ActiveArmor security software included in the free AT&T Mobile Security app.

This update puts AT&T's best plan much more in line with the best cell phone plan for 5G and heavy usage. This plan now matches T-Mobile's Magenta MAX plan with the same approach to premium data and the same amount of hotspot data.

Microsoft announced at the end of June 2021 that it would take over running AT&T's mobility network on its Azure for Operators cloud platform, as well as acquire AT&T's Network Cloud technology and talent. The company said that this move will allow AT&T to improve productivity and cost efficiency while focusing on delivering large-scale network services. In short, Microsoft will handle the backend to allow AT&T to focus on meeting customer's needs, starting with its 5G core.

For most of us, 5G is a slightly faster internet connection for our 5G phones when we're on the go. But to the companies building 5G networks, it represents an incredible investment that isn't quite paying the bills yet. The continued investment into 5G is driven by the potential for carriers to offer new services, enabled by the improved speed and latency of 5G networks and its impact on the Internet of Things.

Managed by the cloud

AT&T has been building its 5G network for years now, starting with the fast but limited millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G network. Many of us haven't even used mmWave 5G yet and there's a good reason for that. While very fast, mmWave has a much smaller coverage area than sub-6 5G or LTE; therefore, it must be built in a very deliberate way to offer coverage where it's needed most, with support from other connections like LTE and fiber. AT&T had to ensure its Network Cloud worked flawlessly whether you connected from a fiber optic connection, 5G, or even LTE. Now, that's Microsoft's job.

Microsoft's Azure for Operators cloud platform has been designed to handle the type of load managed by AT&T's Network Cloud on a larger scale. In 2020, Microsoft acquired Metaswitch Networks and Affirmed Networks with hundreds of engineers to bring telco DNA to its network. The new AT&T Network Cloud engineers Microsoft acquired will further expand its telecommunications abilities. This will allow Microsoft to expand its Azure for Operators service to many more companies around the world.

Why a cloud?

"Cloud" and "5G" are almost treated like flavor text by companies that need to spice up a product's appearance, but what does it really mean? The cloud is an interconnected set of data centers, connections facilities, and edge nodes that work together to put compute power and data as close to the customer as possible. This can increase data speeds and reduce latency while being flexible enough to work across the entire network.

Imagine that one city signs up for a video communication service on Microsoft's cloud network for its entire system but the nearest data center is thousands of miles away. While the main service can be deployed to the datacenter, important data can be cached on a much closer edge node and even some processing can be added with edge computing. It really comes down to the intelligent distribution of resources and flexibility.

5G has been designed with this in mind, with its faster speeds, greater capacity, and lower latencies allowing devices to offload to the cloud platform. As we continue to add millions of devices to the internet and expect the cloud to handle more data all the time, it makes sense to let a company like Microsoft handle the data since it can build at a much larger scale and offer services to many other companies, including telecommunications worldwide.

What does it mean for AT&T?

For AT&T, letting Microsoft take over the operation of its mobility service and Network Cloud can reduce its operating costs without giving up control of its network. AT&T will be able to work with Microsoft's engineers to develop and deploy services more quickly and efficiently than before. AT&T needs to be able to react very quickly to the needs of its customers as the world transitions more of its operations to the cloud.

AT&T will continue to build and improve its 5G network as well as offering services to customers. While Microsoft will be taking things over on the back end, when it comes to products and services, AT&T will stay in control. AT&T will also be able to focus on delivering service across fiber, LTE, and 5G, with reliable performance no matter how customers connect. AT&T Business is already offering cloud services like fleet and asset management and tracking, and this business is only set to increase as millions of devices are added to the Internet of Things.

What does it mean for Microsoft?

Microsoft isn't trying to become a telecommunications company or a mobile carrier. For Microsoft, adding AT&T's cloud technology and mobility network to its Azure for Operators network will allow it to quickly add the talent and technology needed to attract more carriers in a very cometitive market. AT&T's Network Cloud has been running AT&T's 5G network since it launched in 2018 and brings real-world 5G workloads to Azure. According to Windows Central, this deal is a serious revenue stream for Microsoft with $1 billion per year or more for Azure.

Furthermore, Microsoft will be able to offer its services to more telecommunications companies worldwide, both increasing 5G deployment speed and giving carriers greater access to new services.

Is this a positive thing for consumers?

In the short term, this doesn't mean much to AT&T customers. Microsoft will move AT&T's Network Cloud to Azure over the next three years starting with the 5G core. This doesn't mean AT&T customers will have access to any new towers; they'll still get the same 5G coverage as before. AT&T remains fully responsible for upgrading towers and building new ones as needed for 5G. While deployment is fairly rapid, we're years away from full coverage.

AT&T's plans might see some changes as the year goes on, thanks to improved access to services. Many of the best cell phone plans have been integrating more streaming services, including AT&T — which now bundles six months of Google Stadia with its Unlimited Elite plan. Stadia is a game streaming service that is much more sensitive to high latency and speed changes than video streaming. AT&T was able to work with Google to integrate this service into its network powered by Google's cloud services, which could demonstrate what's to come with Microsoft.

What about business customers?

Business customers stand to gain the most from all of this, as the majority of AT&T's current cloud services are focused on them. AT&T offers services like fleet tracking for shipping companies, as well as freight and asset tracking. AT&T also allows businesses to manage their devices from a central location. This will become more important as companies look to the cloud to make them more efficient and cost-effective in a more connected world.

What you need to know

• Google Messages will be the default messaging app on AT&T Android smartphones.
• This is likely to fuel the use of RCS messaging on Android after a slow initial rollout.
• The announcement comes months after T-Mobile pledged to make Google Messages the default.

Google's push for RCS continues as AT&T commits to making Google Messages the default messaging app on its Android smartphones.

David Christopher, the executive vice president and general manager of AT&T Mobility, says that the company looks forward to "working closely with Google to extend these benefits to even more of our customers as they enjoy richer conversations with others around the world."

The announcement comes months after T-Mobile announced its own partnership with Google, including offering more of the best Android phones on its network and making Google Messages the default.

Samsung also pushes for RCS on its devices and makes Google Messages a more native experience on its Galaxy S21 family of smartphones.

The announcement makes Verizon, the largest U.S. carrier, the only holdout.

U.S. carriers have previously pushed for RCS adoption but went about it separately from Google after it spearheaded the initiative by rolling it out on Google Messages. AT&T had its own version of RCS that was only available on select devices, but the carriers lacked interoperability between their disparate implementations. For a while, it seemed RCS would go nowhere because the carriers wanted to do it on their own.

At one point, things seemed to look up as the carriers created a joint initiative away from Google to create their own cross-carrier RCS messaging app. Unfortunately, nothing came of it, and the initiative was recently abandoned as Google continued to push for RCS adoption through its Google Messages app.

At the time, Verizon stated that the carriers "remain committed to enhancing the messaging experience for customers including growing the availability of RCS." This suggests that the company may also be open to partnering with Google, although the company has yet to respond when asked.

With AT&T's push, more Android users will have access to some of its best features like reactions, higher-quality images, and end-to-end encryption.

Of course, the next big hurdle will be to get iPhones to adopt the standard and move away from SMS.

What you need to know

• AT&T will move its 5G mobile network to the Microsoft cloud.
• This is a path for Microsoft Azure to manage all of AT&T's 5G traffic.
• Microsoft will acquire AT&T's Network Cloud technology as well as its engineering team.

Microsoft announced that AT&T will run its mobility network on Microsoft's Azure for Operators cloud. Starting with the 5G core, AT&T will bring its current and future workloads to the Azure cloud.

The 5G core is responsible for linking connected devices to the internet and other services on the network. The press release claims that AT&T will be able to increase productivity and cost-efficiency so it can focus on delivering new services to meet the evolving needs of its customers.

Andre Fuetsch, executive vice president and chief technology officer at AT&T, said:

Microsoft is acquiring AT&T Network Cloud platform technology, which is used for the current 5G core, and will immediately take over the software development and deployment of AT&T's Network Cloud. Microsoft is also bringing over the engineering team from Network Cloud. This, paired with its 2020 acquisitions of Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch Networks, will enable operators to run a secure telecom network in the cloud.

Microsoft will bring AT&T's existing network cloud to the Azure platform over the next three years.

All of this should allow AT&T to focus on customer relations and building out its network. With 5G coverage proving to be a challenge with the available spectrum, moving its platform to Microsoft's cloud can help AT&T offer more services beyond what is offered in even the current best cell phone plans.

What you need to know

• AT&T has the best Everyday 5G download speeds in 85 tested markets.
• T-Mobile has the greatest 5G availability and also has the best single speed result at nearly 200Mbps.
• Verizon has the most reliable network while gaining ground on AT&T's download speeds in several cities.

RootMetrics measures mobile network performance by testing the 125 most populated metros in the U.S. every six months and with its June 5G scorecard, 85 markets have been tested. RootMetrics tests not only speed but availability and reliability to give users an idea of how well each network performs.

RootMetrics is now reporting Everyday 5G performance. This is a combination of 5G-only results and 5G mixed mode results. Much of the time, a 5G device will stay connected to LTE even when a 5G signal is present. The device may also drop to LTE for a second or two when a device moves from one tower to another. This is called mixed mode and is a common behavior for 5G devices and will likely go completely unnoticed by the user.

When it comes to pure network speed, AT&T stays ahead overall with the best Everyday 5G download speeds in 15 cities. For this metric, AT&T needed the fastest overall 5th percentile, median, and 95th percentile in the same cities. This means that even slower results are factored into the final score meaning AT&T not only delivered high speeds but delivered them consistently. Verizon came in second for the download result with 11 cities including two of the 20 new cities. T-Mobile took third place with just eight cities.

T-Mobile took the top spot for Everyday 5G availability adding 13 of the 20 new cities for a total of 53. Thanks to T-Mobile's huge 5G coverage, it also has the greatest number of cities with 5G overall. This is well ahead of AT&T with 27 cities and Verizon with just seven. T-Mobile did manage to snag the fastest Everyday 5G median download speed at 195.8Mbps. T-Mobile has the fastest median download speed in 19 of the 20 new cities tested. Much of this is thanks to the strong performance of T-Mobile's mid-band spectrum. This capacity will prove useful as many of the best cell phone plans rely on T-Mobile's 5G network.

Verizon has the best Everyday 5G reliability with 64 cities, 17 of which were new. This measures the ability to get connected and stay connected in the same city. AT&T isn't far off with 48 cities while T-Mobile only got 11 cities.

What you need to know

• AT&T Fiber and 5G customers can get 6 months of Stadia Pro for free.
• Stadia Pro comes with free games every month, such as MotoGP20 and Chronos: Before the Ashes.
• Customers that sign up for Stadia Pro can buy a Stadia Controller and Chromecast Ultra bundle for $19.99.

Many of the best cell phone plans come with some extra perks like Netflix or HBO Max but starting June 9, 2021, AT&T is putting the focus on gamers with Stadia. Paired with one of its fiber optic home internet plans or 5G wireless unlimited plans, AT&T is offering customers six months of Stadia Pro for free with the option to buy a Stadia controller and Chromecast Ultra for just $19.99.

This is open to existing wireless customer that upgrade to a 5G phone or new customers that add a 5G phone. New fiber internet customers and existing home internet customers that upgrade to AT&T Fiber can also get this deal.

Anyone with a Google account can sign up for Stadia, and upgrading to a Stadia Pro subscription gives you a handful of great games. In June, Stadia Pro subscribers got access to four new games including MotoGP20, Chronos: Before the Ashes, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III, and Blue Fire. Stadia Pro users can claim these games and continue to play them as long as they maintain their Stadia Pro status. You can also use Stadia more like a traditional game console and purchase games for the platform.

Since Stadia's games are streamed over the internet, making sure you have plenty of speed is essential, and AT&T's 500Mbps or gigabit fiber internet packages are a great fit. If you're away from your home Wi-Fi, you can also use Stadia with AT&T's 5G network. For 4K HDR gameplay, Stadia's maximum quality, Stadia recommends a 35Mbps connection.

For the best Stadia experience, you also need your latency to be as low as possible. Since all of the rendering is done remotely, your control inputs must be sent to Stadia over the internet. Fiber offers some of the best possible latency while you're at home while 5G delivers the best latency on the go. AT&T's fiber internet and 5G plans come with unlimited data as well, which is important as a full-quality Stadia stream can use as much as 20GB of data in an hour.

AT&T customers that sign up for the Stadia Pro trial can get a Stadia Controller bundle with a Chromecast Ultra for $19.99. With this package, you can game in 4K from your couch with no wires and, most importantly, no need for a costly power-hungry 4K console. If you don't want to use the Stadia controller, there are plenty of great Stadia controllers from third-party manufacturers that you can use, too.

What you need to know

• AT&T has published a list of smartphones that will continue to work after it shuts down its 3G network.
• The company also lets users easily check if their device will be affected.
• AT&T has scheduled its 3G shutdown for February 2022.

Carriers are moving away from 3G and AT&T is among them. Many people are potentially worried about how the shutdown may affect their phones, so AT&T published an exhaustive list of devices that will still work when the network goes dark.

As expected, the list includes many of the best Android phones sold today, all separated by manufacturer. The Apple list is pretty small; iPhone 6 and up will remain good to go. Somewhat surprisingly, the Microsoft Lumia 950 is on the list, which means fans of the now-dead Windows Phone can continue on if they so choose.

The list is fairly long, and it may have been easier to list the phones that won't work after the shutdown. However, AT&T does make it a little easier by allowing customers to log into the support page and check the smartphones on their accounts.

The AT&T support page also states that the network shutdown will allow the company "to bring you faster speeds and new features." The company will use the spectrum to help boost its 4G LTE and 5G network.

The 3G shutdown is something that Verizon and T-Mobile are also preparing for to boost their respective networks. T-Mobile will sunset its 3G network towards the beginning of 2022, to the dismay of Dish Network. Verizon's shutdown will occur at the end of 2022, giving its customer's a bit more time to find new smartphones.

Meanwhile, AT&T encourages users that don't find their devices on the list to upgrade their smartphones or visit a store. There are plenty of affordable options for users, especially among the best cheap Android phones. The 5G variant of the Samsung Galaxy A32 is currently half off at AT&T and can be had for $150 when purchased on a $5 per month installment plan.

Best answer: Yes, if you have one of AT&T's unlimited plans with HD streaming, you should disable stream saver to get the best possible quality video on your phone.

What does Stream Saver do?

Stream Saver on AT&T wireless plans is a feature that puts a limit on how much data speed can be used while streaming video on your smartphone. With a max speed of 1.5Mbps, this speed should be good enough for DVD-quality video at 480p in supported apps. Some DVDs have much higher video quality than a typical 480p video stream, so a 480p Netflix stream may not always compare favorably to the DVD version.

This feature is designed to keep data usage low even when watching a ton of streaming videos. For many people, this is a fine tradeoff, and they won't notice much difference in the quality of the picture on a phone screen. Still, unlike an app preference, there is no quick toggle for Stream Saver, so if you do want to see an HD video on your new HD smartphone, you'll have to download or switch to Wi-Fi.

If you have one of AT&T's remaining data plans, Stream Saver can be a nice feature to make sure you don't run out of data when you need it. Still, this feature is also enabled on the top-end Unlimited Elite plan, which also comes with 5G, unlimited premium data, and 40GB of hotspot data. On this plan, Stream Saver is enabled by default.

Chances are solid that if you're paying for the top unlimited plan on AT&T, you want to watch the choice to watch videos in HD without digging through your account settings. Still, if you're regularly blowing through your premium data, it could be of some use.

If you have either of the other AT&T unlimited plans, this feature is always enabled. This is also true for many of the best cell phone plans. Some prepaid carriers like Mint Mobile and Visible limit video stream quality on their unlimited plans as well. Keep in mind that these carriers use the data source to determine whether the speed should be limited, so it's often possible to bypass these limits by using a VPN.

How to know if you're affected

Before you dig through your account settings, there's a fairly quick way to see if you're limited. Grab the app FAST speed test from the Google Play Store, then disable your Wi-Fi connection. Now open the app and check your speed. This app tests download speeds from Netflix's servers, so AT&T will treat this connection like streaming video and apply the speed cap.

You may have also noticed videos buffering even when you have a good connection with automatic quality selection never reaching HD resolutions.

You can disable this feature in your AT&T account settings online at att.com or in the My AT&T app. Once you log in to your account, go to the account overview page. Scroll down to the My Services section and click Manage in the Wireless section. Click manage for the device you want to change, then click Manage data usage. On this page, you will be able to change your Stream Saver settings. Be sure to leave the Data switch on (green) on this page.

You can turn it back on the same way if you ever find the need.

What you need to know

• AT&T's WarnerMedia and Discovery are merging to create a new streaming service.
• The new streaming service will globally compete.
• AT&T would get $43 billion in a combination of cash, debt securities, and WarnerMedia's retention of certain debt.

AT&T's WarnerMedia and cable and streaming network Discovery are merging to create a new streaming giant.

AT&T owns HBO Max, which has some of the best shows, and Discovery owns lifestyle TV networks such as HGTV and TLC. AT&T is divesting its media business, WarnerMedia, which is its subsidiary. Under the deal, AT&T would get $43 billion in a combination of cash, debt securities, and WarnerMedia's retention of certain debt. AT&T's shareholders would own 71% of the new company.

The combined portfolio will have over 100 popular and trusted brands in one global portfolio, including HBO, Warner Bros., Discovery, DC Comics, CNN, Cartoon Network, HGTV, Food Network, the Turner Networks, TNT, TBS, Eurosport, Magnolia, TLC, Animal Planet, ID and many more.

Business Insider reported that the deal would create at least $3 billion in expected "cost synergies" annually for the new company, which could mean job cuts. It also reported that according to SEC filing, AT&T said it expects the new company to have a 2023 revenue of around $52 billion.

The new company, which is expected to close in mid-2022, will "compete globally" by bringing content to subscribers, including HBO Max and the recently launched Discovery+, the press release said.

"The new company will be able to invest in more original content for its streaming services, enhance the programming options across its global linear pay TV and broadcast channels, and offer more innovative video experiences and consumer choices," it added.

The company also plans to invest in creating opportunities for under-represented storytellers and independent creators, the release said.

AT&T has seen a steady growth of HBO Max subscribers and gained almost three million subscribers in Q1 2021. The streaming service now has 9.7 million subscribers, and globally HBO Max and HBO together have about 64 million subscribers. Netflix has 208 million users globally.

Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav will lead the proposed new company, and the new company's board of directors will have 13 members, seven initially appointed by AT&T, including the chairperson of the board; Discovery will initially appoint six members.

When we published our OnePlus 9 Pro review, eagle-eyes OnePlus fans immediately zeroed in on a detail that OnePlus had conveniently left out of its launch event and official spec sheet: that North America was getting a single-SIM model while the rest of the world gets dual-SIM. This led to a small brouhaha on reddit and Twitter, with our managing editor Daniel Bader eventually confirming with OnePlus that the official OnePlus spec sheets were wrong, and North America is single-SIM only.

Previous generations of OnePlus phones were dual-SIM worldwide, and in America, OnePlus was your best dual-SIM phone bet before 2021. Now, users will either have to look outside carrier channels or outside the country entirely, importing international dual-SIM versions of phones like the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE or the Redmi Note 9 Pro. While you can still get two numbers on one phone via eSIM phones like the Pixel 4a 5G, eSIM still isn't as widely supported and it takes more work to transfer it between phones.

This isn't the only compromise OnePlus made in bringing the 9 series to North America — we also miss out on the best colors — but it's one that marks a significant departure for the flagship series and has all the hallmarks of an American carrier stick-up.

Let's first take a moment to get a few things straight here: dual-SIM phones — phone with two physical SIM card slots — work in North America just like they do in the rest of the world. Dual-SIM is more widely used in Europe and especially in Asia, as it allows users to buy a cheap SIM when traveling or keep a second SIM either for a work number or for more robust coverage. Carriers in these regions are perfectly content to sell you a dual-SIM phone so long as you keep paying them for the phone's contract. In fact, if you live in the UK, you can walk into a Three UK store right now and buy an unlocked dual-SIM OnePlus 9 Pro on contract without anyone batting an eye.

American carriers, however, aren't a fan of dual-SIM. You can use a dual-SIM phone on Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T and smaller carriers, but you'll almost never find dual-SIM phones sold in carrier stores outside eSIM-equipped iPhones and eSIM-equipped Pixels. (While some Samsung Galaxy phones support eSIM on paper, the functionality is locked in the U.S. from the software side and not easily usable.) Dual-SIM phones work on any carrier with supported LTE/5G bands, and Android has had the software in place to juggle dual-SIM use for years — and dual-SIM dual standby (DSDS) phones exist to let you use both SIMs at once should you need to keep both your personal and work numbers active at all times.

Ruling out these operational "issues", there could be a variety of reasons for the hostility American carriers have towards dual-SIM, but the most likely one is that American carriers are greedy and want you all to themselves. After all, it's much harder to push you towards an unlimited plan if you could just pick up a Mint Mobile SIM and buy a spare data bucket when you need it.

Of course, the reason doesn't matter so long as the unspoken rule itself stays in place: if you want to sell your phone in a carrier store, it's only going to have one SIM slot. LG had to play by these rules, Samsung has to play by these rules, and now, so does OnePlus.

In previous years, OnePlus bucked this and sold its dual-SIM phones everywhere, including the United States. However, OnePlus has realized over the last few years that being the "flagship killer" brand with grassroots support isn't enough to sell in America: you need carrier support and — especially in the age of 5G — carrier certification. Certification, however, comes with strings, and this year, OnePlus seems to have acquiesced to carrier demands and produced a single-SIM OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro that could pass both T-Mobile and Verizon's certifications.

To the vast majority of North Americans, this is no skin off their back because they've probably never heard of dual-SIM phones. For the tens of thousands of workers who try to consolidate their work and personal lines into one phone so they don't have to carry two everywhere — or buy two SIMs to cope with spotty rural networks — your options are either to go Pixel, go iPhone, or import a phone and not have a warranty. This is forces manufacturers to spend extra money on US-only single-SIM models just so that Americans have fewer choices when it comes to their mobile service. As if we didn't already have enough problems in that department already.

Dual-SIM phones may never be as mainstream in America as they are in East Asia, but they'll never be a thing at all in the United States so long as carriers refuse to certify and sell them. And while the OnePlus 9 Pro may be one of the best Android phones on the market, it's going to be better in Europe and Asia than it is in North America, and that's a goddamn shame.

What you need to know

• AT&T CEO John Stankey has revealed that the carrier plans to introduce phone plans subsidized by ads as soon as a year from now.
• The carrier is hoping to sell ads at higher rates by "fine-tuning ad targeting."
• AT&T WarnerMedia is also expected to roll out an ad-supported tier of HBO Max next year.

AT&T is planning to revive the idea of ad-supported phone services. In an interview with Reuters, CEO John Stankey revealed that the carrier is hoping to offer wireless phone plans subsidized by ads "in a year or two."

"I believe there's a segment of our customer base where given a choice, they would take some load of advertising for a $5 or $10 reduction in their mobile bill, " Stankey said.

Ad-supported phone services were first rolled out in the early 2000s by carriers like Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile. As noted by Reuters, however, those plans failed to gain traction. AT&T hopes that it will be able to successfully revive the idea with better ad targeting.

AT&T engineers are already working on unified customer identifiers, which will enable marketers to "identify users across multiple devices and serve them relevant advertising." However, the carrier is likely to face significant privacy challenges with the technology, as there is now greater awareness among people about how tech giants track their information across platforms.

Stankey believes that the rollout of a new ad-supported tier of the company's HBO Max streaming service in early 2021 will serve as a "foundational element" for new ad inventory, and would be key to ad-supported phone plans.

6 reasons not to get 5G service in 2020

AT&T customers have been receiving a worrisome email or text message from the carrier indicating that their phones are on the brink of no longer being supported, and that has caused quite an outcry. The issue, AT&T says, is that it plans to shut down its 3G network, meaning all calls will have to be made over VoLTE (aka HD Voice instead. And because only certain phones work with AT&T's VoLTE system, all other non-approved phones will no longer be able to make calls when that shutdown happens.

But there's no need to fret — this warning from AT&T is incredibly premature, and your calling service will be retained until at least the end of 2021. Here's what's really going on.

VoLTE: How to use it and why you should care

Why (and when) is AT&T moving from 3G calling to VoLTE?

To put things simply, AT&T is trying to make the most of its spectrum (how many lanes it has available for traffic). Each carrier has a limited amount of spectrum in which to deploy 3G, 4G and 5G service, and keeping any amount of it locked up providing 3G to users when it could be better utilized for 4G and 5G is an inefficient use of resources. So AT&T is planning to shut down its 3G network in early 2022, which will necessitate all calls moving to 4G.

Now, this isn't a new idea. Verizon and T-Mobile have already made similar shifts away from 3G to an all-LTE calling network, so they can reuse precious spectrum holdings to deploy their new 5G networks. T-Mobile in particular is accelerating its 2G and 3G shutdown to early in 2021. This is a completely normal thing to do, but it's a big shift — and that's why AT&T is getting so far out ahead of the actual shutdown with its messaging.

AT&T provided the following statement to Android Police when asked about these customer emails, owning up to the fact that it should've been clearer with the messaging:

Does my phone support AT&T VoLTE?

Here's the rub: it isn't clear exactly which devices support AT&T's HD Voice service. The only sure-fire way to know that your phone supports VoLTE on AT&T is to buy a phone from AT&T (or have bought one in the last few years). That's annoying, because we know there are huge benefits to buying phones unlocked, and AT&T's branded phones are often filled with bloatware and other customizations.

AT&T publishes a list of "phones that work on our network", with specific model numbers of devices that it has certified for use, but it actually isn't clear if that also means that each of those devices supports HD Voice. (For example, the Galaxy S4 Mini, from 2013, is on the list.)

The unlocked phone situation is annoying because some unlocked phones do support AT&T's VoLTE, even though AT&T doesn't say they do. Other unlocked phones are known to have all of the correct technology to use VoLTE (i.e. they're unlocked models of the exact phone AT&T sells) but are disallowed from doing so by AT&T. You can find hundreds of pages of forum discussions about which unlocked phones do and don't support VoLTE on AT&T — with little consensus.

If you have an unlocked phone on AT&T and are curious as to whether it supports HD Voice, you can get more information by using a network information app — like this one, this one or this one. Install the app, disconnect from Wi-Fi, place a call, and while still on the call check to see if the app shows it taking place over LTE. This isn't a guarantee that your phone is/isn't compatible, but it's a good start. Additionally, you can call AT&T customer service and ask if your phone is provisioned for HD Voice — lower-level customer service help may not know, but you can get lucky.

Do I need to upgrade my AT&T phone now?

No, you don't.

AT&T knows how many phones are on its network still making 3G calls still, and that's probably a very large number. Therefore it wants to start pushing people to upgrade to a VoLTE-capable phone now, rather than waiting until the last moment with the 3G shutdown nearing. Hence the very premature messages about phone incompatibility. But the truth is, your phone will continue to work and make calls until the last moment, so there's no need to upgrade your phone today.

Now obviously if you do upgrade your phone today, and you buy it from AT&T, it will support VoLTE and you'll be set for the future transition away from 3G (though that's still a long ways off). You'll also be able to actually take advantage of VoLTE, which provides higher-quality voice calls, in the meantime.

Realistically, this is a problem for you to think about a year from now, in the second half of 2021, when the 3G shutdown is actually imminent. Your phone will continue to work just fine until then.

How to cancel AT&T service

AT&T manages a vast network providing a range of products, including home internet, home phone, wireless, and television service. With a network this large, there may be some problems occasionally. Here's what to do if a problem is affecting your AT&T wireless service.

Could it be your phone causing the problem?

If you're having trouble with your AT&T device and are thinking of calling technical support, you should save yourself some time and be sure that it isn't a setting on your phone that's causing the connectivity issues. AT&T has a support page for troubleshooting issues with specific phones and it's a pretty good resource for troubleshooting both network issues as well as any device-specific problems you may be having.

Make sure to try turning your phone off for a few minutes and turning it back on. While this can seem like a waste of time, sometimes the phone just needs to get reconnected. Toggling airplane mode on then off can also trigger a reconnection. If your device has a notification about a SIM card error, you may need to reseat the sim card or get a new one from AT&T.

Sometimes it's a simple fix to get your phone's connectivity back, but if it's not a setting on your phone, the next step is to check for a reported AT&T outage in your area.

Check out AT&T's outage report

If your usual AT&T service is being interrupted, there might be an outage in your area. Outage Report is a great resource that tracks outages reported across the country for all major carriers, but especially AT&T. Outages are tracked as individuals report issues with their service and then conveniently mapped in real-time on a map.

You can check on a site like Down Detector or Outage Report to see if anyone is reporting outages.

You can also check AT&T's own outage reports which checks for reports at your current location or accout location.

At a glance, you'll be able to see the frequency of outage reports in the last 20 minutes, a color-coded history of network problems reported over the previous few months, along with a heat map showing areas currently experiencing service issues.

Don't forget about Wi-Fi for your phone

I'm not saying Wi-Fi is a solution to a network problem, but it can help keep you connected during an outage. If you connect to a working Wi-Fi signal, you can use Wi-Fi calling to make and receive calls as well as to connect to the internet.

Report the issue

To report an issue, the first stop is the myAT&T app available on Android and iOS. Use the Troubleshoot & Resolve feature to do so. You can also report and even get some more information on social media by tweeting at @ATTHelp on twitter. Keep in mind, the function of these apps is to merely to report an issue and does not provide feedback.

Still need help?

If you've done everything on your end to ensure your phone is operating correctly, and you've checked to ensure that there's no outage in your area, it's time to speak with an AT&T customer service rep.

You can call AT&T Wireless customer service anytime by dialing 611 from an AT&T mobile device or at 1-800-331-0500, but from the looks of AT&T's contact us page they'd rather have you chat online with one of their tech support agents.

What you need to know

• The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has recommended that AT&T stop using the misleading "5G Evolution" term for its LTE network.
• AT&T will no longer advertise its upgraded LTE network as "5G Evolution."
• The "5GE" icon, however, will not disappear from Android smartphones on its network.

For the last two years, AT&T has been receiving flak for its misleading "5G Evolution" branding. The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has now recommended the carrier to discontinue using the branding for its upgraded LTE network.

AT&T has announced that it will comply with the NARB's recommendation, but will continue to use the "5GE" service icon. Its reasoning is that the recommendation only applies to advertising, and therefore the service icon doesn't have to be changed.

In a statement sent to Light Reading, AT&T said:

A study by OpenSignal had found last year that AT&T's "5G E" service offered slower speeds compared to T-Mobile and Verizon's LTE-Advanced networks. AT&T began using the "5G Evolution" branding in 2017 and started replacing the "LTE" icon with the "5GE" icon on its customers' phones in December 2018.

The "5G Evolution" branding was first challenged by T-Mobile before the National Advertising Division (NAD), a self-regulatory investigative component of the ad industry. When the NAD agreed that AT&T's marketing was misleading, it appealed the decision to the NARB.

5G on AT&T Wireless: Everything you need to know

What you need to know

• AT&T is providing three months of free wireless service to health care workers.
• Physicians and nurses with existing AT&T service will have to migrate to FirstNet Mobile to receive their three-month service credit.
• New enrollees will also get a $200 activation credit toward a FirstNet ready smartphone if they commit to a 30-month agreement.

AT&T has announced three months of free wireless services for frontline doctors and nurses battling the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. Actor John Krasinski mentioned the positive news in the third episode of his digital show "Some Good News."

Jeff McElfresh, CEO of AT&T, said in a statement:

AT&T will be providing free access to doctors and nurses over the FirstNet network, which it helped build in a public-private partnership with the U.S. government. Health care workers who are already on FirstNet Mobile will automatically get their three-month service credit on a smartphone or tablet line of service.

Those who have an AT&T service will be able to migrate the line to FirstNet to receive credits equal to 3 months of recurring service charges on a FirstNet Mobile plan. AT&T is also offering a $200 activation credit when activating a new FirstNet ready smartphone to new subscribers. However, new subscribers must complete the verification process within 30 days.

FirstNet offers unique public safety features that aren't available on wireless networks for the general public. The high-speed broadband communications platform has been designed specifically for first responders.

Best AT&T Phones in 2020

What you need to know

• AT&T is launching its first mmWave network on March 6, 2020, called 5G+.
• Only the Samsung Galaxy S20+ and S20 Ultra will be compatible with the network, and it will be available in "parts of 35 cities for customers with compatible plans and devices."
• AT&T is also launching 5G service in 22 new markets, including Albany, Cincinnati, and Lancaster.

Not all 5G is created equal, depending on the spectrum, it could be slower and offer more range, or it could be faster and only cover a limited area. Up until recently, AT&T used only the low band 850MHz spectrum, similar to T-Mobile's 600MHz 5G, that offers more range but slower speeds.

However, on Friday, March 6, 2020, AT&T is launching what it calls 5G+ using millimeter wave technology. According to AT&T, 5G+ will offer customers peak speeds of up to 2Gbps. As mentioned above, the new faster mmWave network will do so with a much more limited range. Currently, AT&T offers 5G service in 80 total markets, but 5G+ will only be available in "parts of 35 cities for customers with compatible plans and devices."

It's important to note that not only will 5G+ be in limited locations such as "select businesses, universities, hospitals and sports venues" but that you'll also need a compatible device. At this time, there are only two such devices on the AT&T network, the Samsung Galaxy S20+ and S20 Ultra. The regular Galaxy S20 doesn't support the new mmWave technology.

Along with the launch of its 5G+ mmWave network, AT&T also announced it would expand 5G service to 22 more markets. Some of the cities include Albany, Cincinnati, and Lancaster. The full list can be found below.

• Albany, Ga.
• Albany, N.Y.
• Athens, Ga.
• Beaverhead County, Mont.
• Binghamton, N.Y.
• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Columbus, Ohio
• Denver, Colo.
• Hamilton, Ohio
• Lancaster, Pa.
• Lincoln County, Mont.
• Madera County, Calif.
• Madison County, Va.
• Mono County, Calif.
• Provo, Utah
• Raleigh County, W. Va
• Ross County, Ohio
• Santa Rosa, Calif.
• Springfield, Ohio
• State College, Pa.
• Sussex County, N.J.
• Worcester, Mass

What you need to know

• The premium AT&T TV streaming TV service is now available nationwide.
• AT&T TV packages start at $50 and go up to $70 per month, with a two-year contract.
• The AT&T TV Android TV set-top-box can record up to 500 hours of TV and comes with popular streaming apps such as Netflix, YouTube, and Pandora.

AT&T today announced the nationwide launch of its new AT&T TV streaming service. While the new service offers the same selection of live TV channels as AT&T's DirecTV service, they will stream over the internet instead of requiring a satellite dish.

The AT&T TV box runs Android TV and lets users store up to 500 hours of TV shows and movies on the cloud. It is bundled with a voice remote that has a dedicated Google Assistant button. Since the box comes with the Google Play Store, you can access content from over 5,000 apps – including Netflix, YouTube, and Pandora. Sadly, however, the box doesn't come with the Prime Video and Hulu apps.

AT&T TV packages start at $50 per month with a two-year contract. However, after the first year of service, the price of the base package goes up drastically from $50 to $93. If you opt for the most expensive Ultimate package, you will have to shell out $135 each month, instead of $70 in the first year. In case you decide to cancel the service before the expiry of your service agreement, you will need to pay $15 as early termination fees.

The Android TV set-top-box comes free of cost with a contract, although you will have to pay $120 up front if you want another one. In addition to streaming on your TV with the box, you can also stream on the go with the AT&T TV app. Setting up AT&T TV at home is also an easy affair. All you need to do is plug in the box and start streaming after a simple setup process.

The reason why AT&T is launching a new cord-cutting service is the massive decline in viewing figures for its other existing services. In 2019, a total of 5.5 million pay-TV customers in the U.S. cut the cord – with the vast majority of them being DirecTV customers. The hassle-free installation for AT&T TV also means the company will not have to bear additional customer acquisition costs. However, I am not too optimistic about the success of the new service, mainly due to its high pricing.

AT&T TV

The AT&T TV service gives you access to a great selection of live TV channels, 55,000+ on-demand movies and TV shows, as well as over 5,000 apps on Google Play. Thanks to the include voice remote, you can search for your favorite shows, control your smart home device, change channels, and more – with just your voice.

• From $50/mo. at AT&T

What you need to know

• AT&T has confirmed reports of an ongoing voicemail outage affecting customers, says it will be fixed with a patch.
• It blamed a "vendor server problem" for the ongoing outage.
• The company has not provided a timetable for when the problem will be resolved.

AT&T has confirmed that its ongoing voicemail outage will be fixed by an upcoming patch, however it has not divulged when exactly the fix is to be rolled out.

According to a report by The Verge an AT&T statement to the outlet claimed:

AT&T users across all platforms have been experiencing voicemail issues for several weeks. Much of the information surrounding the outage is fairly nebulus at this stage, as it seems unclear what exactly is causing the problem. As The Verge notes:

A 40+ page thread on AT&T's forums suggests that the problem is geographically widespread, affecting users in Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana and North Carolina to name a few locations. The reports also suggest that users of many different devices are experiencing difficulties. The Verge again notes that whilst most reports seems to be coming from Samsung users, there are also reports from iPhone, Pixel and Motorola owners also. (The thread started in an AT&T Android forum, which may explain higher reports amongst Samsung users.)

Given that the problem affects a wide range of devices, it seems pretty likely the problem is at AT&T's end of the line, and the report notes that the reference to the "device manufacturer" in the initial statement may denote that AT&T's servers is the hardware in question.

Whilst no timetable has been offered for the purported fix, there is a potential solution. Customers can of course wait for the outage to be patched, or they can choose to have their mailbox rebuilt. Whilst this may fix the issue going forward, it is reported that this will delete any saved messages or ones received during the outage. So if you need those messages, this is not the solution for you.

What you need to know

• The two lowest plans on AT&T TV Now will increase starting Nov. 19
• The "Plus" plan will be $65, and "Max" will be $80.
• AT&T TV Now's legacy plans also are going up.

AT&T today confirmed to CordCutters that increases are coming to two of its newest streaming plans, as well as to four older players that aren't actually offered to new subscribers.

Here's the gist:

Folks got word of an an email announcing an upcoming price increase to the base "Plus" plan (which doesn't have the most channels but does include HBO), taking it from $50 a month to $65 a month. But that's just the start.

The next step up — the "Max" plan, which adds a bunch of sports channels — is going from $70 a month to $80 a month. Other plans in the current scheme — Entertainment ($93), Choice ($110), Xtra ($124), Ultimate ($135) and the Spanish-language Optimo Mas ($86) are not affected by the price increase.

The new pricing takes official effect on Nov. 19. (Or whenever your next bill is due.)

The reason, AT&T told us? It's more expensive to get the shows to you. Here's the statement we were sent:

In addition to the changes to the Plus and Max plans, AT&T TV Now's legacy plans — as in you can't get them anymore — also will see price increases.

The old "Live a Little" plan will jump to up $60 a month. "Just Right" is heading to $75 a month. "Go Big" will now be $85. And "Gotta Have It" will increase to $95 a month.

Price hikes of this sort aren't all that uncommon — in fact, we've pretty much come to expect it. And it's been six months (almost to the day) since the former DirecTV Now introduced this "Plus" plan in the first place.

The question now is whether other streaming services will follow suit. We've seen one service increase prices in the past, only to be quickly followed by another.

More: Other services to try if you're canceling AT&T TV Now

Severe weather events are the times that mobile communications are most important, especially during events like hurricanes when power outages can last for days and you may have to evacuate to shelters or unfamiliar areas hundreds of miles away. The preparation and the response of wireless carriers is vital to keeping connected during an already chaotic time, and here's the response being delivered by the four major carriers right now.

AT&T

Response teams are preparing in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, including the staging of mobile cell sites (including some drone-mounted cell sites) and command centers.

AT&T has also announced it is waving fees for going over on data for customers in the storm's path on the East Coast:

AT&T's Hurricane Dorian Disaster Relief Page

Verizon

Verizon has prepped Wireless Emergency Communications Centers, Tactical Command Trailers, and Response Trailers in advance of Dorian's Florida landfall, as well as preparing backup power systems fuel deliveries for generators in the event of prolonges power outages.

Verizon is also giving customers in the path of Dorian unlimited service this week, and also unlimited calls and texts to the Bahamas for families trying to keep in touch with family that's recovering from over 24 hours of devesating storm surges and bombardment from Dorian's eyewall. To receive these benefits you must be a Verizon customer living in one of the following counties:

• Florida: Brevard County, Glades County, Hendry County, Highlands County, Indian River County, Martin County, Okeechobee County, Osceola County, Palm Beach County, St. Johns County, St. Lucie County
• Georgia: Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty, and McIntosh
• South Carolina: Beaufort County, Berkeley County, Charleston County, Colleton County, Dorchester County, Georgetown County, Horry County, Jasper County

Verizon stores operated by Victra in Dorian's path are also offering the following services to customers:

• Free charging stations in stores for those without power
• Free one-time water damage services using Redux technology to dry out phones or other small devices with potential water damage
• Discounts on portable power supplies

Verizon's Hurricane Dorian Preparations

T-Mobile

T-Mobile is standing by with generators, network recovery equipment and community response trucks as they prepare network facilities for the hurricane. They've warned some stores might be closed while the storm passes, and reminded customers that there's an easy way to call for support 24/7: dial 611 from your T-Mobile phone. T-Mobile customers without Unlimited plans in the Bahamas are also having roaming fees waived for the next week and a half.

T-Mobile's Hurrican Dorian Preparations

Sprint

Sprint is waiving overage fees for customers in Dorian's path this week, and Sprint has also listed a couple of numbers Sprint customers can text donations to during and after Dorian as a one-time charge to their wireless bill.

• Text DORIAN to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross
• Text FOOD to 80100 to donate $10 to the World Central Kitchen
• Text DISASTER to 20222 to donate $10 to the Florida Disaster Fund - Volunteer Florida Foundation
• Text DISASTER25 to 20222 to donate $25 to the Florida Disaster Fund - Volunteer Florida Foundation

Sprint's Hurriane Dorian Updates

What you need to know

• Spotify Premium will be offered as one of the entertainment perks on the AT&T Unlimited &More Premium plan starting August 6.
• Other entertainment choices on the plan include HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, VRV, and Pandora.
• The Unlimited &More Premium plan begins at $80 per month for one device but it drops down to as little as $48 per month with four lines.

Starting on August 6, AT&T customers on the Unlimited &More Premium plan will have one more option when it comes to entertainment perks. That's because Spotify is teaming up with AT&T and will offer Spotify Premium free of charge as part of the plan.

Besides Spotify, AT&T customers can choose from HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, VRV, and Pandora. Unfortunately, you can only have one, so choose wisely.

If you're a huge music fan, Spotify Premium with its ad-free music streaming would be the most obvious choice. Since it first launched in 2008, Spotify has grown to become one of the largest music streaming platforms with more 232 million users worldwide. It has a library of over 50 million tracks to choose from and allows premium members the ability to download tracks for offline listening.

Prices for the Unlimited &More Premium plan begin at $80 per month for one device, but with four lines the price drops down to as little as $48 per month.

If you've been thinking about switching to AT&T, right now might be a good time to try it out. Recently, PCMag ranked AT&T as the fastest mobile network in its annual testing roundup. It's the first time in five years that the network has bumped Verizon from the top spot, although Verizon still comes in as a close second.

What you need to know

• AT&T's WarnerMedia will debut its streaming service in beta later this year.
• The service will reportedly cost $16 to $17 a month and include HBO, Cinemax, and Warner Bros. films and TV shows.
• HBO alone costs $14.99 a month, so this could be a decent deal for HBO customers.

AT&T's WarnerMedia is all set to roll out its streaming service in beta later this year, and we now have a better understanding of what it will cost. According to the Wall Street Journal, AT&T's streaming service would cost between $16 and $17, and will include access to HBO, Cinemax, as well as a selection of films and TV shows from the Warner Bros. library.

Although that's more than the $11.99 that Hulu charges or $12.99 you shell out for Netflix, it's a decent deal overall when you consider HBO alone costs $14.99 a month. For a dollar or two more, you get access to Cinemax and TV shows like Friends and The Big Bang Theory.

Netflix currently streams Friends, but WarnerMedia owns the licensing rights and it looks like you'll have to subscribe to its service to stream the show from next year. WarnerMedia is also said to be mulling an ad-supported tier that will debut sometime in 2020.

The video streaming space is getting increasingly crowded. Disney is also launching its streaming service in November, albeit at a significantly lower price point. Disney+ will cost $6.99 a month, and will include access to Disney's extensive back catalog as well as Marvel and Star Wars franchises.

We'll have to wait and see how WarnerMedia positions its streaming service in this space, but would you be interested in subscribing to another platform?