AT&T 5G network rollout: Locations, phones, price and more

The AT&T 5G network has grown in the past twelvemonth, with testing firms hailing its speeds. But with rivals T-Mobile and Verizon both making splashy 5G moves at the start of 2021, the question is whether AT&T tin go along up as the year goes on.

For now, AT&T's focus appears to be on standing the progress it made throughout 2020 — efforts that included launching a nationwide 5G service to augment its high-speed deployments in three dozen cities and calculation more 5G devices to its phone lineup.

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While AT&T'south 5G network currently reaches more than than 230 million people in 14,000 cities and towns across the U.S., it withal trails T-Mobile, which covers 287 million people with its 5G setup. Verizon too covers 230 million people, even though its nationwide network launched later on AT&T'south.

In other words, AT&T still has a long manner to get in building out 5G coverage. Here'due south where the network stands as we approach the halfway marker of 2021.

AT&T 5G bands

First off, it's disquisitional to explicate how AT&T splits its 5G service upward. In that location's the nationwide sub-6GHz service mentioned to a higher place, which offers speeds about as fast, if not slightly meliorate than 4G LTE. In spite of AT&T's "nationwide" imprint, this isn't bachelor everywhere withal, though it's much more common to discover than AT&T'south 5G Plus network, which involves a completely different kind of technology.

5G Plus is AT&T's name for its millimeter-wave (mmWave) 5G infrastructure. When you hear carriers advertise data speeds in excess of ane Gbps or downloading entire movies or seasons of Boob tube shows in a minute, this is the kind of 5G they're referring to. But while millimeter-wave 5G offers exponentially faster speeds than sub-6GHz 5G or 4G LTE, it is exponentially more limited in terms of range, which is why it'southward merely bachelor in cities or loftier-traffic indoor spaces.

AT&T 5G cities and coverage map

AT&T 5G network — (Paradigm credit: AT&T)

AT&T's 5G Plus can only exist found in 38 cities in 19 states at the fourth dimension of this writing. (A 20th state — Colorado — boasts an AT&T 5G Plus installment in its sports arena.) California has the almost 5G Plus-supported cities by far, claiming nine of the total 38. You can observe a comprehensive list on AT&T'southward website.

AT&T is also focusing on getting 5G Plus into arenas, stadiums and convention centers. It currently reaches xx of those venues, with plans to reach 35 or then past year's stop.

AT&T'south long-range 5G service at present reaches 230 million Americans, according to the latest figures from the carrier. That'south short of what T-Mobile's 5G covers, though both networks are actively growing all the time.

AT&T 5G speeds

AT&T's 5G infrastructure has made significant strides over the past ii years. Initially, the carrier's 5G Plus service topped out at 400 Mbps. In Feb 2019, AT&T reported that had improved to a peak throughput of two Gbps on its commercial network in Atlanta. That is fast enough to download a ii-hour Hard disk drive film in 10 seconds.

Unfortunately, we didn't quite see that kind of performance when we conducted easily-on testing of AT&T's 5G Plus service in Las Vegas in the summer of 2019. At that time, nosotros recorded peak speeds just shy of 1 Gbps — far better than LTE, of form, just a adept sight off the i.5 Gbps boilerplate speed claims the carrier had made at the time. Additionally, it was very difficult to track downwardly a betoken in our experience, owing to 5G Plus' limited range.

AT&T'due south standard 5G service, built on sub-6GHz infrastructure, is far easier to locate, in substitution for speeds a fraction as fast. Equally a bespeak of comparison, T-Mobile's 5G network is built on the same low-ring spectrum AT&T uses for its nationwide network (that is, not 5G Plus), and the speeds nosotros've seen there are at best but slightly faster than what we get from LTE.

To be fair, speeds have improved since our initial testing, and AT&T can indicate to some practiced recent results from third party network testing. Ookla declared AT&T 5G to exist the fastest of the major carriers equally of the end of terminal year, overtaking previous speed champ Verizon. (That may have been the result of Verizon launching its nationwide network and seeing those slower speeds drop its average from the lofty heights achieved by millimeter wave-based 5G.) A study from RootMetrics gives AT&T the nod for the fastest 5G speeds, and while Opensignal thinks T-Mobile has the faster 5G, it noted that AT&T's 5G footprint had grown considerably through the latter half of 2020.

AT&T 5G phones and devices

AT&T 5G network rollout phones — You'll discover both the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and the iPhone 12 Pro Max amidst AT&T's 5G phones. (Image credit: Future)

Most new 2020 flagship phones supported AT&T's 5G network, though the type of 5G they work with differed on a case-by-example ground. Some handsets, like final year's Samsung Milky way S20, only offered sub-6GHz connectivity and skip out on millimeter-moving ridge signals. Other phones, like the Galaxy S20 Plus and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, supported both 5G configurations, for the fastest possible speeds in whatsoever condition.

You may take noticed a theme there. Indeed, the vast majority of 5G handsets available last twelvemonth through AT&T were Samsung devices. But that finally changed with October's iPhone 12 launch.

All four iPhone 12 models work on the full range of AT&T's 5G deployment, beyond sub-6GHz and mmWave. They are even said to support a new blazon of 5G infrastructure chosen C-ring, which volition provide AT&T users with the sort of mid-band service that offers college speeds than LTE with a slight hit to coverage, like T-Mobile currently has.

Currently, AT&T offers a pretty compelling range of 5G phones at various cost points. Here's an updated listing of what's available through AT&T:

Apple tree iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus and Milky way S21 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Galaxy Note 20
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G and Galaxy A32 5G
Samsung Galaxy A51 5G
Samsung Galaxy A71 5G
Samsung Milky way Z Fold 2
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G
Motorola One 5G
Motorola Razr 5G
Google Pixel 5
Google Pixel 4a 5G
LG K92 5G
LG Velvet
LG V60 ThinQ
LG Wing
Samsung Galaxy S20 Fe, Milky way S20, Galaxy S20 Plus and Galaxy S20 Ultra

AT&T 5G hotspots

AT&T'south first 5G-compatible production was really the Netgear Nighthawk, a hotspot that could pull in a 5G indicate and blast it to your supported devices over Wi-Fi. This device was ultimately discontinued, but now AT&T has replaced that with a successor, called the Netgear Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot Pro. You'll find information technology among the best mobile hotspots currently available.

The new Nighthawk model, available for $509, supports Wi-Fi half dozen, meaning yous'll lose every bit niggling speed as possible from that 5G connection when tethering. Information technology too can service up to 32 devices.

AT&T's Unlimited Extra and Unlimited Aristocracy plans include hotspot data. But the allocation of hotspot data — 30GB for Elite and 15GB for Extra — runs at 4G speeds.

AT&T 5G plans: What yous'll pay

Hither's the good news: AT&T doesn't charge extra for 5G service across its iii unlimited plans. However, depending on how much you spend and what tier you lot select, you'll get more or less full-speed information before AT&T starts throttling you or deprioritizing your service behind that of other users.

The base $65/month Unlimited Starter program slows your service at any time when AT&T's network is stressed. That ways that although it includes 5G service, the consistency of that service may exist in flux from moment to moment. To get the best possible data speeds, you lot'll want to at to the lowest degree cull the $75/month Unlimited Extra plan, which allots 50GB of full-speed information, whether you're on 4G or 5G. The $85/month Unlimited Aristocracy plan doubles that allotment to 100GB before you run the chance of being slowed. See how AT&T'southward pricing compares in our look at the best unlimited data plan for each wireless carrier.

More than customers are now able to admission AT&T 5G. In addition to the current unlimited plans, AT&T said in March that it would access to both 5G and 5G Plus to customers with older unlimited plans. Prepaid customers can get 5G coverage through AT&T'south $75-a-month unlimited data plan. (Auto-pay enrollment drops that cost downwards to $60.)

AT&T 5G outlook

More 2 years since AT&T launched its first 5G Plus market, the carrier's 5G deployment has finally reaching a bespeak where many of its customers tin can take advantage of information technology. That'southward cheers to the launch of the carrier'south nationwide sub-6GHz network as well equally the rash of 5G-capable phones that have been dropping throughout the past year.

AT&T customers living in an urban area covered past both the carrier's regular and 5G Plus services have the unique opportunity to take reward of both faster speeds and more all-encompassing coverage. And that will simply proceed in the coming months, as AT&T expands the attain of both types of 5G infrastructure.

AT&T hopes to add 5G Plus coverage in 17 more venues by year'south terminate. Later adding 5G Plus to the airdrome in Tampa, Fla., the carrier wants to bring high-speed 5G to 7 additional airports.

As for its nationwide network, AT&T plans to begin rolling out its C-band spectrum past the end of 2021, with more than deployment for the year subsequently that. Such a motility would complement the existing low-band network, bringing faster mid-ring speeds similar to what T-Mobile is doing with its own 5G efforts.

Of form, more than than 100 meg people already accept access to that mid-band coverage in T-Mobile's network. Once again, AT&T finds itself with plenty of 5G basis to make up in the year ahead.

Philip Michaels is a senior editor at Tom's Guide. He has potent opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics and old movies. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.