Connect with us

Technologies

AT&T Expands 5G Home Internet With New ‘Internet Air’ Offering in 16 Markets

After taking a slower approach than its rivals, AT&T is finally using 5G to compete with home broadband.

AT&T is finally expanding its use of 5G for home internet. On Tuesday, the wireless carrier announced that it is expanding its fixed wireless offering to 16 new markets, offering home broadband over 5G for $55 per month. 

Called «Internet Air,» the new markets include «areas of Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Phoenix (Prescott), Chicago, Detroit, Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, Michigan; Hartford-New Haven, Connecticut; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Seattle-Tacoma and Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota), Florida.»

In a blog post, Erin Scarborough, president of AT&T’s broadband and connectivity initiatives, said the carrier determined its 5G home broadband locations by looking for areas in its network that had «enough wireless coverage and capacity to deliver not only a great in-home experience, but also maintain a top-notch wireless service for our existing mobile users.» 

AT&T Internet Air router

Those who also have AT&T wireless service and sign up for automatic payments will be able to lower the bill to $35 per month. Similar to offerings from T-Mobile or Verizon, AT&T’s 5G home internet does not have overage fees, equipment charges or annual contracts. AT&T also says that it won’t increase the price «at 12 months.» 

The carrier previously was experimenting with the Internet Air product in parts of Los Angeles and Philadelphia, pitching the product in some locations as an upgrade to its older, DSL home broadband service, particularly in areas where its fiber-based internet isn’t available. The carrier tells CNET that it expects download speeds over 5G to be between 40Mbps and 140Mbps and that upload speeds will be between 5Mbps and 25Mbps. While not as fast as fiber or cable, this would mark a noticeable speed boost from the «generally 6Mbps or lower» speeds it says its DSL users experience. 

AT&T says it currently has around 6 million nonfiber broadband customers. 

Read more: What is 5G Home Internet?

For reference, Netflix says it needs speeds of at least 15Mbps for 4K streaming, while Zoom says it requires download speeds of 3.8Mbps and upload speeds of 3Mbps for HD group video calls. It was not immediately clear what kind of upload speeds or latency AT&T’s Internet Air product might offer. 

Setting up AT&T’s Internet Air also appears to be similar to how its rivals’ deliver their respective home internet offerings, with the carrier shipping users a modem/Wi-Fi router combo device and guiding setup, installation and management through an accompanying app. If you decide to cancel the service, you will simply need to return the device to AT&T. 

AT&T Internet Air

Those with larger homes can get Wi-Fi extenders that connect to the router for an additional $10 per month, per extender (with a max of five extenders). Users can also connect their existing Wi-Fi routers to the AT&T device’s ethernet port if they would prefer to use their own setups. AT&T says its app can also guide users on ideal extender placement and that it will be able to send notifications to let users know that moving the router or extender could be useful to optimize the network. 

While 5G hasn’t lived up to its significant hype in a number of areas, it has delivered some much-needed competition for consumers in home broadband as wireless carriers looked to compete with big cable companies such as Comcast, Charter and Optimum (plus in the case of T-Mobile, even wired offerings from Verizon and AT&T). 

AT&T’s home internet news comes only a few days after the carrier confirmed that it was giving its 5G network an earlier-than-expected speed boost. Scarborough told CNET that the earlier clearance of C-band spectrum «did not play into our decision» to expand into these markets and that it has been planning this move for «several months.» 

«We’ve been very thoughtful in how we’ve modeled this and where we believe we can provide the best in class customer experience.»

Related Topics:

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 28 #635

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Nov. 28, No. 635.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is pretty tricky. If you’re not familiar with certain superstitious beliefs, you might not find all the answers. And some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: If all else fails…

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Don’t tell, it won’t come true.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

  • GLUB, RATS, TARN, DALE, FONT, FOUNT, LASH

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

  • DANDELION, STAR, COIN, FOUNTAIN, LADYBUG, EYELASH

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is MAKEAWISH. To find it, start with the M that’s three letters down on the far right, and wind backwards.

Continue Reading

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 28, #901

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Nov. 28, #901.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. If you need help sorting the answers into groups, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Appropriate.

Green group hint: I win!

Blue group hint: Musical instrument.

Purple group hint: Time to talk.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Fitting.

Green group: Achieve victory over.

Blue group: Parts of an electric guitar.

Purple group: Phonetic elements of speech.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is fitting. The four answers are fair, just, proper and right.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is achieve victory over. The four answers are beat, best, take and worst.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is parts of an electric guitar. The four answers are fret, peg, pickup and string.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is phonetic elements of speech. The four answers are intonation, loudness, rhythm and stress.

Continue Reading

Technologies

Anker’s New MagSafe Car Mount Keeps Your Phone Cool While Charging, and It’s 30% Off for Black Friday

Get wired-like charging speeds and MagSafe compatibility with Anker’s wireless car charging bundle for $62.99.

Black Friday is the best time of the year to upgrade the little essentials that make your everyday tech life more pleasant. I’ve found the perfect deal to amp up the phone charging setup in your car. This Anker MagSafe wireless car charging bundle is 30% off for the holidays, and it gives your iPhone a fast and steady way to power up while you navigate. It delivers up to 25-watt wireless charging speeds and with onboard active cooling, your phone stays comfortable to the touch.

Get it now for $62.99 verses the list price of $89.99.

What sets this charger apart is that its performance and cooling tech is built into a surprisingly compact package. The stand uses an ultra-strong Qi2 magnetic lock to keep your phone secure through bumps and turns. You can even tilt the mount and switch between portrait and landscape modes for navigation without blocking the view. The bundle has everything you need to get started including a 60-watt dual-USB-C charger, an adequately long USB-C cable, and cable organizers for a clean setup. Anker also includes a two-year warranty for peace of mind.

If you are getting your car prepped up for driving to a holiday vacation or just need a faster charging mount for your daily commute, this deal makes a lot of sense. CNET’s experts are also tracking more Black Friday and Cyber Monday picks across Apple products, headphones, and more, so you can score more savings before the sales season wraps up.

MOBILE DEALS OF THE WEEK

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

A high quality charger is a great addition to any car to speedily top up your phone on the go. You will especially want to look out for options from a top-tier brand like Anker for its fast charging speeds and reliability. This Black Friday deal is an excellent opportunity to save big on a staple car accessory. With holiday shopping heating up and tech accessories being one of the most popular categories, we expect the deal to sell out quick. So don’t wait too long before jumping on it.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Join Our Daily Deals Text Group!

Get hand-picked deals from CNET shopping experts straight to your phone.

By signing up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to receive recurring marketing messages at the phone number provided. Consent is not a condition of purchase. Reply STOP to unsubscribe. Msg & data rates may apply. View our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Verum World Media