AT&T vs. Optimum: Which Internet Provider Is Best for You?

Compare AT&T and Optimum head to head

AT&T and Optimum look fairly similar on paper—both offer multigig fiber packages and no-contract plans. But AT&T takes the lead thanks to its excellent customer satisfaction ratings and straightforward pricing, while Optimum suffers because of its low rankings in our customer satisfaction survey.

Pros and cons: AT&T vs. Optimum

Jump to: Plans and pricing | Extra fees | Customer ratings | Bundles | Internet connection types | Data caps | Contracts | Installation | Availability

Jump to:

• Plans and pricing
• Extra fees
• Customer ratings
• Bundles
• Internet connection types
• Data caps
• Contracts
• Installation
• Availability

Plans and pricing: AT&T vs. Optimum

AT&T plans and pricing

AT&T and Optimum are pretty much neck and neck when it comes to top speeds—both providers boast fiber plans reaching all the way up to 5,000 Mbps. Optimum initially looks like the better pick because its prices are lower. But you actually get a better deal from AT&T in the long run because you don’t have to worry about huge price hikes that kick in after a year, as you would with Optimum.

You can also get a 5G internet plan from AT&T. Dubbed Internet Air, this service is similar to T-Mobile and Verizon’s 5G home internet packages, giving you solid speeds for a decent price, with no extra cost for installation or equipment. AT&T launched the service as a replacement for its DSL plan, which the provider is slowly phasing out. Compared to DSL, you’re a lot better off with the robust performance of this 5G-based fixed wireless service.

Pro tip:

It’s really impressive to see 5,000 Mbps speeds, but do you actually need internet that fast? Not likely. Use our “How Much Internet Speed Do I Need?” tool for an accurate assessment of what works best for your household.

Optimum plans and pricing

Optimum has been ramping up its speeds and lowering prices to compete with AT&T and Verizon Fios. So its plans have similar speeds to AT&T’s fiber packages, and its introductory prices blow AT&T out of the water.

Pro tip:

Download our speed test app to see what kind of bandwidth you have on your current internet connection. It could be time for an upgrade!

Pro tip:

Take our speed test to see what kind of bandwidth you have on your current internet connection. It could be time for an upgrade!

Extra fees: AT&T vs. Optimum

Customers get unlimited data with AT&T fiber, but the fixed wireless and DSL plans with speeds below 100 Mbps have data caps. AT&T charges you $10 for every 50 GB of data you use when you exceed your data cap.  Other than that, the extra fees on AT&T and Optimum’s plans are all fairly standard.

Customer ratings: AT&T vs. Optimum

Clearly, folks are happy with what they get from AT&T—the provider has some of the highest ratings overall in our annual customer satisfaction survey. Its highest rating is in speed, which isn’t surprising given that you can find AT&T fiber plans with speeds of up to 5Gbps. AT&T rates fourth in overall satisfaction and stays in the top five for all other categories.

Optimum is a different story. It sits at rock bottom among the 15 national internet providers in our survey for customer service and price, and ties with Earthlink in last place for overall satisfaction. However, Optimum’s few fiber customers tend to give better scores than its cable ones.

Best mobile and internet bundles

*for 1 yr. w/Auto Pay & Paperless Bill plus taxes

A lot of internet providers have offered generous discounts to customers who combine a Wi-Fi plan with a cellular plan from the same provider, and Optimum and AT&T both offer solid deals. Optimum gives you a $10 discount when you combine one of its internet packages with an Optimum Mobile plan. AT&T meanwhile offers a 25% monthly discount for pairing internet with a qualifying mobile plan.

Optimum gets you the cheaper bargain—as you can see in the table above, its bundle ends up costing you about $36 less per month than if you got something similar from AT&T. However, AT&T’s bundle gets you better phone service, since you’re a primary customer on AT&T’s cellular network rather than hopping on through Optimum’s off-brand, Verizon-rented “MVNO” setup. You also get a lot more premium data per month from AT&T, which is another plus. 

Internet types: AT&T vs. Optimum

Fiber is the fastest type of internet you can get—it’s the only internet connection that gets you symmetrical upload and download speeds, so your uploads are fast enough to handle regular Zooming, livestreams, large uploads, and whatever else you throw at it. Cable internet isn’t quite as powerful, but it’s still fast and reliable and works great for most people.

DSL and fixed wireless are slower internet types that are more common in rural areas and small towns. They both hit speeds of around 25–100 Mbps, but they’re affordable and make solid alternatives to a costly satellite internet plan.

Data caps: AT&T vs. Optimum

Optimum doesn’t have data caps on any of its plans, so you can use all the internet you want all month without worrying about overage charges.

AT&T doesn’t have data caps on its fiber plans. DSL plans with speeds 75 Mbps and under have a monthly cap of 1 TB, which is fairly generous and standard for most providers. The fixed wireless plan has a cap of 350 GB per month, which is a lot less than average. If you exceed your monthly data allotment, then you pay $10 for every additional 50 GB you use.

Contracts: AT&T vs. Optimum

Neither AT&T nor Optimum have annual contracts on their plans. You can cancel your internet any time without paying early termination fees. That means you have more flexibility to do things like subscribe for just a few months (say, if you’re living in a sublet for a few months).

Installation: AT&T vs. Optimum

AT&T and Optimum both charge $99 for professional installation, but the cost is waived when you order online. With AT&T, you can also opt for a self-install kit that doesn’t cost anything.

In some cases, you may need to pay more for Optimum’s “premium installation.” This is required if you live in a home that needs wiring or other amenities that you can’t set up yourself, like an optical network terminal or wiring from your home to a node on the street.

Availability: AT&T vs. Optimum

AT&T is available in 22 states nationwide, including California, Texas, and parts of the Midwest and South. Optimum is available in 25 states, including large parts of the South, West, and East Coast. Use our zip code tool below to see what plans and prices you can get from either of these providers in your area.

Final call: AT&T vs. Optimum

AT&T and Optimum are evenly matched on speed, since both offer fiber plans that can hit up to 5,000 Mbps. Both providers also offer no-contract plans and unlimited data (at least for speeds of 100 Mbps and up in AT&T’s case).

Optimum has an edge on AT&T when it comes to introductory rates, but massive price hikes kick in after a year. You don’t have to worry about that with AT&T, making it a better bet long-term. AT&T also has solid options for rural users that you can’t get from Optimum.

Methodology

Our HighSpeedInternet.com editorial team bases our analyses on customer input from our annual customer satisfaction survey, results from our speed test tool, and proprietary internet provider data on speeds and pricing. To strengthen our research, we look closely at provider contracts to get hard-to-find information on price hikes, data caps, and extra fees, and we keep tabs on the latest news reports and online reviews. When applicable, we also rely on our personal experiences testing these services.

More about AT&T and Optimum

• Mbps vs. Gbps: Do You Need Gigabit Internet?
• AT&T vs. CenturyLink
• AT&T Fiber Availability
• Optimum vs. Verizon
• These 5 Internet Providers Make Installation a Breeze
• 5 Reasons Why Your Internet Keeps Disconnecting—and How You Can Fix It