Spectrum vs AT&T Internet Only?

[Midpack]

We're moving to a neighborhood that offers Spectrum or AT&T. We've never had service from either, Comcast was the only high speed option where we've been. We ONLY want internet service, no cable TV, no phone.

Their offers are similar***, so I thought I'd ask if anyone had experience with either/both?

We did meet and ask someone at the new location, and he said they're both horrible for (customer) service, but AT&T is less awful.

***

• Spectrum is teaser rate then $65/mo 200 mbps no data cap.
• AT&T is teaser rate then $70/mo 300 mbps 1 TB data cap. I'd prefer no data cap but we've never exceeded 1 TB with Comcast even with hours of daily surfing and streaming (all our TV viewing).

[EDIT] Our current Comcast service is only 25 mbps, and that's been fine for us, so I have to assume 200-300 mbps would be more than fine - future proofed.

 

[bloom2708]

I would do the Spectrum with no data cap. 200mbs is plenty fast.

We have exceeded 1 TB several times. I would assume data/traffic will only increase.

Don't mess with caps and feel like you are watching your data.

We have 2 competing cable companies. One had a 300GB cap up until 3-4 months ago. They were getting killed by the competitor with no data cap.

Now they have no cap and beat the competitor price by $5. Speeds may be slowed if you hit 5TB. That is a lot.

 

[jimbee]

I would also choose Spectrum without the data cap. 200 Mbps is double the speed I have, fast enough for me. A friend of mine has had both AT&T and Spectrum internet only within the past year. He received good service from both, only switching when the new customer rate expired with AT&T.

 

[braumeister]

We have Spectrum with 200 and no cap. $86/month (started at 65 but ratcheted up after a year.

I have to say that it has been terrific 95% of the time. When it goes down (almost always on their end, not mine) you just have to wait because there is no real way to report it to them.

However, it's much more reliable than the AT&T service I had previously. That was closer to 10% downtime instead of 5% now.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Spectrum ( Charter) has no contracts, at least here in California. I'm paying $65 for 100MBS internet and have had them for many years and have been extremely happy with them. Occasionally I left for a better deal and always came back the next year, no one has been able to beat their service. My son called because he was having problems with 100MBS speed and they upgraded him to 200MBS for free recently. I just came of a $54 deal for a year because when they increased their speed recently from 65MBS to 100, they never turned mine up and I was paying more for less than a new customer so I got a $10 discount every month for a year as compensation. They are good at offering deals to upset customers, just ask....

 

[euro]

We have Spectrum and ATT also and I can guarantee that whoever you pick, they will crank up their rates sooner or later (likely sooner). Be prepared to switch back and forth... that's what I have been doing for many years. It's become a game. The techs from both companies are set up well at my house, so switching me over when the time comes is a matter of 5-10minutes. They know it is crazy, I know it is crazy, we all know it is crazy. Yet, every year or two, we do the dance.

Edit: I will also say that for our needs, both services are perfectly fine. We HAVE been streaming quite a bit lately, but never exceeded any sort of cap - unless we got the speed reduced and didn't notice...
If the cap becomes a problem then that might be something you need to consider and bite the bullet for, but until then, I'd go with whatever is cheaper right now.

 

[brucethebroker]

Have had ATT for four years-internet only. Have had to play the "game" each year after the first. Service has been good 99.99 of the time. I just hate having to call and negotiate each year.

 

[Cobra9777]

Spectrum is standard cable technology. It will probably look and feel very similar to your current Comcast service. What is the AT&T service where you're moving? Is it true fiber (FTTH)? Or U-Verse (FTTN)? I assume it's not VDSL since the speed offered is 300Mbps. They're also rolling out 5G in some places.

FTTH is a superior technology compared to cable internet, with typically no variation in bandwidth performance during peak usage times and symmetrical upload/download. FTTN is about the same as cable, maybe slightly better.

DS has U-Verse and he's quite happy with it. Never exceeded any caps despite lots of streaming. DD and I have both had Spectrum in the past, but the speed variability was pretty bad at peak times and there were frequent outages. So we both use Frontier FiOS, which is true FTTH. It's amazing in terms of reliability and bandwidth stability.

So if AT&T is FTTH, I'd go that route for sure. If it's FTTN (U-Verse), it's probably a toss-up. Just try one and if you're not happy, switch. Or if they're about the same, keep switching to keep the teaser rate.

Also, you can go to a website called broadbandreports.com. Put in your zipcode and you'll get reviews and lots of stats about ISPs in that zip.

 

[ownyourfuture]

Have had charter/spectrum for both TV and Internet for years and years.
Even though they've done things to irritate me over the years, the customer service has always been pretty good, & they have an office in my south-central Minnesota town so that's a plus.

 

[Midpack]

Spectrum is standard cable technology. It will probably look and feel very similar to your current Comcast service. What is the AT&T service where you're moving? Is it true fiber (FTTH)? Or U-Verse (FTTN)? I assume it's not VDSL since the speed offered is 300Mbps. They're also rolling out 5G in some places.

FTTH is a superior technology compared to cable internet, with typically no variation in bandwidth performance during peak usage times and symmetrical upload/download. FTTN is about the same as cable, maybe slightly better.

DS has U-Verse and he's quite happy with it. Never exceeded any caps despite lots of streaming. DD and I have both had Spectrum in the past, but the speed variability was pretty bad at peak times and there were frequent outages. So we both use Frontier FiOS, which is true FTTH. It's amazing in terms of reliability and bandwidth stability.

So if AT&T is FTTH, I'd go that route for sure. If it's FTTN (U-Verse), it's probably a toss-up. Just try one and if you're not happy, switch. Or if they're about the same, keep switching to keep the teaser rate.

Also, you can go to a website called broadbandreports.com. Put in your zipcode and you'll get reviews and lots of stats about ISPs in that zip.

The rep on the phone said it’s fiber (300 Mbps) at our address, and they offer 1000 Mbps which has to be fiber?

And I’ll try the link now, thanks!