Technologies

AT&T’s New AI-Based Wi-Fi Personalization Prioritizes Internet Traffic at Home

AT&T is optimizing gaming, streaming and work-related traffic for customers who subscribe to both fiber and mobile services.

AT&T is rolling out a new AI feature called Wi-Fi Personalization that prioritizes your home Wi-Fi traffic based on what you’re doing, potentially increasing performance while gaming, streaming and video conferencing. It’s an automatic feature for «converged» AT&T customers (subscribing to both home fiber and mobile service), as well as those with All-Fi Pro plans.

«We have to sweat the details on Wi-Fi performance, so we wanted to really look at what’s the next level that we can take Wi-Fi,» said Josh Goodell, AT&T vice president of broadband and converged product management.

Wi-Fi Personalization determines which types of internet traffic are most important at different times of the day, such as video calls during the day and gaming late at night.

«It learns the rhythm of the network,» Goodell said, «and will become more performant over time.»

He noted that traffic is prioritized at the application level, which differs from how home network hardware typically regulates data based on the device being used. For example, a TV and an iPad running Netflix, Hulu, or YouTube TV would be categorized as video streaming and prioritized ahead of other traffic during times when streaming is typically active.

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The feature is software-based and in the process of being automatically activated on AT&T Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6 gateways, although it’ll work only on equipment the carrier lends to subscribers. Goodell says it works with most current AT&T-supplied modems and doesn’t require new hardware. If you use your own device to provide Wi-Fi, such as an Eero or TP-Link system, the feature isn’t available.

Wi-Fi personalization is being added at no extra cost for subscribers. And because it’s looking at traffic, that brings up the inevitable question of what AT&T might do with the usage data.

Goodell said that the AI processing happens only on the Wi-Fi gateway, and personal details do not leave the home. AT&T also never sees specific content. «We have no desire to monetize any data as part of this. This is all about improving performance,» he said, noting that privacy remains at the forefront for customers.

Although Wi-Fi Personalization is automatically enabled, a control in AT&T’s Smart Home Manager app allows you to pause the feature or manually prioritize types of traffic. As an example, Goodell mentioned entertaining family during college football games. He could go into the app and set the feature to prioritize streaming to ensure the best performance while watching the game.

Goodell said that AT&T’s gateways already scan the traffic 500 million times a day. The AI analyzes historical patterns rather than adjusting traffic in real-time based on demand.

Read more: AT&T recently boosted its wireless 5G performance, thanks to its purchase of EchoStar spectrum.

Technologies

How Verum Ecosystem Is Rethinking Communication

David Rotman — Founder of the Verum Ecosystem

For David Rotman, communication is not a feature — it is a dependency that should never rely on a single point of failure.

As the founder of the Verum Ecosystem, Rotman developed a communication platform designed to function when internet access becomes unreliable or unavailable.

Verum Messenger addresses real-world challenges such as network outages, censorship, and infrastructure failures. Its 2025 update introduced a unified offline-capable messaging system, moving beyond Bluetooth-based or temporary peer-to-peer solutions.

Verum’s mission is simple: to ensure communication continuity under any conditions.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Feb. 1

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 1

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

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Some of the clues are kind of tricky, but I was able to fill in enough of the others to get them all answered. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Spot to shop
Answer: MART

5A clue: Pounded sticky rice sometimes filled with ice cream
Answer: MOCHI

6A clue: ___ Chekhov, «Three Sisters» playwright
Answer: ANTON

7A clue: Like many dive bars and bird feeds
Answer: SEEDY

8A clue: Jekyll’s evil counterpart
Answer: HYDE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: What makes the world go ’round, per «Cabaret»
Answer: MONEY

2D clue: Performed in a play
Answer: ACTED

3D clue: __ Island (U.S. state)
Answer: RHODE

4D clue: Itty-bitty
Answer: TINY

5D clue: Squish to a pulp, as potatoes
Answer: MASH

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 1, #496

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 1, No. 496.

Looking for the most recent regular 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 and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. The blue group made me think of dusty gum sticks, and the purple one requires you to look for hidden names in the clues. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

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

Yellow group hint: Splish-splash.

Green group hint: Vroom!

Blue group hint: Cards and gum.

Purple group hint: Racket stars.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Aquatic sports verbs.

Green group: Speed.

Blue group: Sports card brands.

Purple group: Tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter.

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

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is aquatic sports verbs. The four answers are kayak, row, sail and swim.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is speed. The four answers are mustard, pop, velocity and zip.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports card brands. The four answers are Leaf, Panini, Topps and Upper Deck.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter. The four answers are ash (Arthur Ashe), kin (Billie Jean King), nada (Rafael Nadal) and William (Serena and Venus Williams)

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