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AT&T customers may have noticed an improvement in recent weeks: due to recent events $23 billion purchase of EchoStarThe carrier is improving 5G performance across its network in the continental United States by opening up new spectrum. If you have A phone that supports 5G technology Or AT&T Internet Air Home internet planYou may actually see a significant increase in speed.
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The company says customers’ download speeds can increase by 80% when connected to the wireless network in areas with upgraded spectrum. For AT&T Internet Air subscribers, the speed increase is up to 55%. Higher capacity opens up more possibilities for gaming, streaming content, and accessing other high data applications, as well as connecting customers in rural areas without access to home fiber internet options.
The upgrade arrives, at least so far, without a price increase for existing customers. Verizon and T-Mobile were founded Three years and Five-year price The locks will take place in 2025, so hopefully AT&T’s improved infrastructure won’t lead to higher interest rates. However, based on the company’s announcement, the expanded range also benefits AT&T internally, making its network more efficient, reducing the need to build new cell towers and encouraging customers to subscribe to mobile and home internet services.
It also enhances the capabilities of the AT&T FirstNet program that enables first responders to have assured communications even when capacity is constrained, such as during natural disasters. Over the course of “a few weeks,” the company deployed the devices in 23,000 cell sites making 3.45 GHz mid-band spectrum available in more than 5,300 cities across 48 states, according to AT&T.
What is the importance of the middle range? 5G networks operate across a range of spectrum frequencies. High-speed millimeter wave signals provide the highest speed and performance, but they have a limited range and do not work well around obstacles, such as buildings. Low-band 5G offers the slowest speeds but operates over a wider area. Mid-range is a balance between the two, providing faster speeds than low-range with greater coverage.
From the customer’s perspective, this should translate into faster and more consistent network access. So, if you’re an AT&T subscriber, you’ll see “5G+” in your phone’s status bar when you’re connected to a millimeter wave or mid-band network, or “5G” in a low-band area. (You may also see “5GE,” which is actually 4G LTE, not 5G.)
To give you one data point, I was sitting in my home office in Seattle using an AT&T connected phone with full bars and “5G+” display. I ran the Ookla Speedtest app and got download speeds of about 500Mbps and upload speeds of about 80Mbps. This is similar to many home internet speeds, and mirrors the performance I’ve seen recently United Airlines Flight using on-board Starlink Wi-Fi. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, the same parent company as CNET.)