Spectrum vs. AT&T – Which Is Best For You?

No company is perfect. Each has its pros and cons when it comes to plans, customer service and internet speeds. Head-to-head, AT&T beats Spectrum when it comes to speed and plan variety, but Spectrum has more affordable pricing and wider availability.

Spectrum has three main internet plans (outlined below) and additional affordable internet deals if you add phone lines to the plan.

SPECTRUM
Internet	$49.99 per month	10 – 300 Mbps
Internet Ultra	$69.99 per month	20 – 500 Mbps
Internet Gig	$79.99 per month	35 – 1000 Mbps

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AT&T has numerous plan options categorized by speed that will vary depending on your region. Like Spectrum, AT&T also has additional internet plans if you bundle with phones.

AT&T
Internet 25	$55.00 per month	25 Mbps
Internet 50	$55.00 per month	50 Mbps
Internet 100	$55.00 per month	100 Mbps
Fiber 300Mbps	$55.00 per month	300 Mbps
Fiber 500Mbps	$65.00 per month	500 Mbps
Fiber 1Gig	$80.00 per month	1,000 Mbps
Fiber 2Gig	$125.00 per month	2,000 Mbps
Fiber 5Gig	$225.00 per month	5,000 Mbps
Fixed Wireless	$65.00 per month	10 Mbps

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​​Spectrum uses a cable connection, but it reaches some areas with a fiber and coaxial cable hybrid for faster speeds in its broadband internet.  AT&T uses a fiber connection, yielding symmetrical and faster uploading and downloading speeds.

Spectrum is relatively widely available across the country, servicing 41 states. However, it does not cover Washington, D.C.

SPECTRUM AVAILABILITY
Alabama	Maine	North Carolina
Arizona	Maryland	Ohio
California	Massachusetts	Oregon
Colorado	Michigan	Pennsylvania
Connecticut	Minnesota	South Carolina
Florida	Mississippi	Tennessee
Georgia	Missouri	Texas
Hawaii	Montana	Vermont
Idaho	Nebraska	Virginia
Illinois	Nevada	Washington
Indiana	New Hampshire	West Virginia
Kansas	New Jersey	Wyoming
Kentucky	New Mexico	Wisconsin
Louisiana	New York

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AT&T Internet is available in fewer states than Spectrum, servicing only 22 and also excluding the District of Columbia.

AT&T AVAILABILITY
Alabama	Kansas	Ohio
Arizona	Kentucky	Oklahoma
Arkansas	Louisiana	South Carolina
California	Mississippi	Tennessee
Florida	Missouri	Texas
Georgia	Nevada	Wisconsin
Illinois	New Mexico
Indiana	North Carolina

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AT&T and Spectrum have relatively similar customer support options. Both have online blogs, a mobile app, community forums and a FAQ page. Spectrum and AT&T also have online knowledge bases with resources for customers to learn about their services and plans. Both companies have 24/7 phone lines and live chats, but Spectrum’s is a live chat with a human and AT&T’s is with a bot.

AT&T and Spectrum also have quite similar customer review statuses with the Better Business Bureau. Both companies are rated A- and neither are accredited as of this writing. When it comes to reviews, they’re generally mixed for both companies. Reviewers for AT&T praise the company’s fast internet speeds but note negative technician experiences, outages, and unexpected prices. For Spectrum, reviewers praise the great customer service experience but note issues with inconsistent connections.

Neither AT&T nor Spectrum have annual contracts, ideal for customers who want flexibility in their internet provider. The companies also don’t have data caps on their plans—except for a handful of AT&T’s plans, like the Internet 25, Internet 50, and Internet 100, which have a limit of 1.5 TB of data per month before overage charges apply.

When setting up your new home internet with either Spectrum or AT&T, both companies offer self-installation or professional installation for a fee ($65.00 for Spectrum and anywhere from $99.00 to $149.00 for AT&T, depending on the plan). Both companies typically charge an activation fee–prices vary based on the plan.

Spectrum and AT&T no longer charge equipment fees. However, on some of AT&T’s older internet or fiber plans, there might be a small monthly equipment fee (usually $2 to $10), depending on the plan or when you purchased it.

• AT&T tends to have faster internet speeds with its fiber network than Spectrum’s primarily cable-based network.
• Spectrum has a much wider availability, covering 41 states, as opposed to AT&T’s 22.
• AT&T has a wide variety of plans with differing price points and internet speeds compared to Spectrum’s main three.

• Both AT&T and Spectrum have similar protocols when it comes to no contracts or data caps on most of their plans.
• Equipment, activation, and installation processes are similar for AT&T and Spectrum in what they offer and charge for.
• AT&T and Spectrum offer great bundling deals when it comes to phone lines and TV plans that can significantly reduce costs for customers.
• Depending on the plans you’re comparing between AT&T and Spectrum, the pricing is relatively similar, with the exception that AT&T is a little less pricy than Spectrum for comparable internet speeds.

We chose AT&T as the better internet service provider over Spectrum. While Spectrum has great availability and reasonably priced plans, it’s hard to beat AT&T’s fiber network speeds for the price. With nearly 140 years as a giant in the market, AT&T’s plan variety and support landed the company on top of our 2024 best internet providers list.

What We Like About Spectrum

• Spectrum has decently priced plans for customers who want reliable home internet.
• Spectrum doesn’t have data caps or require any contracts, allowing customers to use their plans comfortably without feeling limited by usage maximums or terms.
• Spectrum is widely available across the country, covering 41 states.

Learn more in our Spectrum review here

What We Like About AT&T

• AT&T has some of the most competitive home internet speeds in the market.
• AT&T uses a fiber connection, which yields symmetrical and faster uploading and downloading speeds.
• When comparing internet speeds to price, AT&T presents a cost-savings.

Learn more in our AT&T review here

To determine the best internet providers, the Forbes Home editorial team compared 22 major internet providers across 39 different metrics, such as average monthly cost, download speed and fiber availability.

You can find out more about how Forbes Home rates internet providers in our detailed methodology page.