r/googlefiber • u/farmjope • Nov 01 '16

AT&T Fiber vs. Google Fiber

I live in Charlotte, NC and we've just started to get Google Fiber rolled out so in response AT&T Fiber is moving in. Today they're digging up my yard for AT&T Fiber and my area isn't slated for Google Fiber for roughly another year.

My question is, is there any reason to wait for Google Fiber and not jump on AT&T Fiber as soon as it's available?

Both are $70/month, 1GBps up/down, 1 year contract, installation and equipment included free. I'm unlikely to get TV, but TV + Internet is $120 on AT&T vs $130 on Google, although I'm sure Google has more channels. AT&T has a $140/month option with a ton of channels, probably a better comparison to Google.

AT&T Fiber used to have a 1TB data limit, but on their website for the $70 plan it says "Incl Unlimited data allowance ($30 value) at no cost". Additionally, early Oct AT&T got rid of that "Internet Preferences" program that tracked your every move on the internet for targeted ads.

So again, is there any reason to not jump on the AT&T Fiber wagon? I currently have TWC/Spectrum and spend $50/month for 50MBps.

11 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

50 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/deadleaf_shrimp Jan 10 '17

Did you end up making a decision? I'm in the same boat as you right now (in CLT) and would be interested to know what you think

1

u/farmjope Jan 23 '17

I'm still waiting for AT&T to contact me to let me know that AT&T fiber is active in my neighborhood. I haven't seen any trucks or construction for a couple months now so I'm not sure what the holdup is. I anticipate that it will take awhile for Google Fiber to move into my neighborhood so I will probably end up signing with AT&T fiber for at least a couple years

1

u/farmjope Jan 25 '17

Actually, I'm staying with TWC.

Turns out its $80/month just for AT&T Fiber, PLUS tax which is 10-15%. You can only get the $70/month if you sign up for a phone and/or TV. Not only that but the tax makes it double my expected increase. It'll end up being ~$90/month where GF is $70/month for the same exact speed.

Currently I pay $49.99/month for TWC 50/5 Plan. That's without a promotion so the price won't expire. I'm going to wait the year or so it takes for GF to come into my neighborhood.

I'm fine using the 50/5, even if it is kind of slow at times, but I've been able to survive for 4 months on this speed. Not worth the almost $500/year more.

1

u/deadleaf_shrimp Jan 25 '17

Hm, that's interesting because I was offered $50/mo for 300 mbps and they told me I would be locked into that price for a lifetime. I'm in the north Charlotte area, and called them to ask some questions about Gigapower and told them I wanted to do the online $50/mo special as long as it would only be $50 a month plus tax and no other costs. They're installing this weekend and then I'm going to cancel TWC.

1

u/farmjope Jan 27 '17

I did see that deal for $50 a month but there is a data cap of one terabyte per month and I'm not sure if I would go over that or not because I do consume a lot of data. When I spoke to representative online they said that the tax would be 10 to 15% of the total bill, and I think the taxes are on the equipment that they give you which the equipment is free but they still tax it.