AT&T vs T-Mobile: The comparison between AT&T and T-Mobile is a pretty close one. But T-Mobile seems to offer more value for money. T-Mobile has better coverage and faster download speed and their unlimited data plans are about $5-$10 cheaper when compared to what AT&T offers.
This review is focused on which offers better individual data plans, unlimited plans, family plans, better coverage, better performance, better download and upload speed, and which is more affordable.
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AT&T vs T-Mobile
AT&T vs T-Mobile: Individual data plans
While AT&T offers a variety of data plans from 3GB of monthly data to unlimited, T-Mobile offers three unlimited individual plans. But, T-Mobile’s individual data plans seem to offer more value.
Here is the catch, the AT&T Mobile Share Plus which gives you 3GB for $50 monthly seems very interesting. However, the T-Mobile Essentials plan that cost $60 monthly gives you more value for money. With the extra $10, T-Mobile is giving you unlimited data with better coverage and higher speed.
In fact, AT&T plans are about $5 more expensive than comparable T-Mobile plans. Well, except for the premium plans for both carriers that cost $85.
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AT&T vs T-Mobile: Data caps
In congested areas, experience has shown time and again that AT&T’s Unlimited Starter Plan gets slowed down. But the T-Mobile’s Essential plans on the other hand give you a whopping 50GB data cap.
Point is, after watching a football match with thousands of fans, chances are your data speeds will slow down on AT&T but with T-Mobile, you have sure 50GB of high-speed data.
It’s kinda weird and surprising that the basic unlimited plan of AT&T cost $5 more than the basic unlimited plan of T-Mobile (it should be the other way round).
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AT&T vs T-Mobile: Family plans
In summary, T-Mobile wins this category because they offer better deals for families. As with the individual data plans, T-Mobile also provides a better deal for families. While AT&T serves up to 5 different family plans, T-Mobile offers just three options. Below are the reasons why T-Mobile wins.
Get unlimited data for a family of three for $105 with T-Mobile.
The cheapest family unlimited plan from AT&T cost about $45 a line which is about $10 per line more expensive than T-Mobile’s family plan which cost about $35 per line. And this difference is consistent across other plans offered by both carriers.
Just not to ax AT&T down, they do provide cheaper prepaid plans for multi-line monthly. The AT&T Prepaid Multi-Line Monthly Plan costs about $26 a month and it’s far cheaper than all the offers from T-Mobile for plans in the same category.
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You just have to live with sharing 10GB monthly instead of unlimited, and you’ll also need to pay your bill at the beginning of every month. Overall, T-Mobile still gives you better family data plans compared to what AT&T is offering.
AT&T vs T-Mobile: Prepaid plans
In summary, T-Mobile wins this battle too. T-Mobile also edges AT&T when it comes to prepaid plans. AT&T will give you 8GB of data for $40 and T-Mobile will give you 10GB of data for the same price. Putting the better speed into consideration, T-Mobile is winning this with ease (T-Mobile gives you more data for the same price).
AT&T vs T-Mobile: Area Coverage
In summary, AT&T has better coverage which means, AT&T wins the coverage battle. This is one area where AT&T has finally leveled up. Over the past years, AT&T has upped its coverage game and though still behind Verizon but way ahead of T-Mobile. But with the T-Mobile and Sprint merger, things might improve for T-Mobile. For no, below is how the coverage ranks in the country.
- Verizon: 70% 4G Coverage
- AT&T: 68% 4G Coverage
- T-Mobile: 62% 4G Coverage
AT&T is the carrier with the second-largest coverage in the United States. They cover about 68% of the country with its 4G network, while T-Mobile covers about 62% of the country with 4G coverage. One might argue that a 6% difference isn’t much of a big deal. But for folks living in more rural parts of the country, it actually means a lot.
AT&T vs T-Mobile: Download speeds
From various tests, we’ve seen that T-Mobile has one of the fastest download and upload speeds in the country. On average, T-Mobile boost of 32.73Mbps download speed and 12.9Mbps upload speed. And AT&T averages 28.9Mbps download speed and 9.4Mbps upload speed.
This means that everything you need to do on the internet is most likely to be faster on T-Mobile’s network. (fastest download and upload speeds)
Quick Recap: AT&T vs T-Mobile
- T-Mobile has a faster download and upload speed
- T-Mobile offers better family and individual data plans
- T-Mobile offers better value for money with its unlimited plans
- AT&T has better coverage
- You’ll spend about $5-$10 more when using comparable data plans on AT&T
- T-Mobile is cheaper but AT&T offers better performance.
So, what do you value more—having a slightly better performance (AT&T) or your monthly bill costing less (T-Mobile)? Are you a fan of AT&T or T-Mobile? Let us know in the comments below.
