AT&T vs. EarthLink: Which Internet Provider Is Best for You?
Sorting through two providers with tons of options
Best fiber options
- Customer rating: 3.8
- Price: $55.00–$180.00/mo.*
- Speed: 25–5,000 Mbps
- Internet type: Fiber, DSL, Fixed wireless
- Data cap: None (for most plans) 350 GB (fixed wireless) 1 TB (75 Mbps plan)
- Contract: None
Best customer service
- Customer rating: 4.2
- Price: $49.95–$189.95/mo.**
- Speed: 10–5,000 Mbps
- Internet type: Fiber, DSL, Fixed wireless
- Data cap: None (fiber and DSL) 25–100GB (fixed wireless)
- Contract: 1 year
Compare AT&T and EarthLink head to head
AT&T and EarthLink are both internet providers that reach a huge amount of the population. AT&T’s plans have lower costs than comparable plans from EarthLink, and its high-end plans reach much faster speeds. EarthLink’s biggest strength is customer service, which is the provider’s main focus.
Pros and cons: AT&T vs. EarthLink
Pros:
Pros:- Fast speeds
- No contracts
- Lots of fiber options
Cons:
Cons:- Limited availability
Pros:
- Great customer support
- Very wide coverage area
Cons:
- 1-year contracts
- Higher monthly cost
- Limited fiber availability
Plans and pricing: AT&T vs. EarthLink
Both EarthLink and AT&T have large coverage areas and lots of options, many of which depend on your location. Both offer fiber and fixed wireless connections in some areas, but most of their networks are DSL.
AT&T plans and pricing
| Package | Price | Speed | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T Internet up to 100 Mbps | $55.00/mo.* | 100 Mbps | |
| AT&T Fixed Wireless | $59.99/mo.† | Up to 25 Mbps | |
| AT&T Internet 300 | $55.00/mo.‡ | 300 Mbps | |
| AT&T 1G Internet | $80.00/mo.‡ | 1,000 Mbps | |
| AT&T 2G Internet | $110.00/mo.‡ | 2,000 Mbps | |
| AT&T 5G Internet | $180.00/mo.‡ | 5,000 Mbps |
Data as of 7/11/2022. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
*for 12 mos, plus taxes. Price after $5/mo Autopay & Paperless bill discount (w/in 2 bills). Plus taxes $ fees. Limited availability. May not be available in your area. Call or go to att.com/internet to see if you qualify.
†Plus taxes w/qualifying AT&T wireless svc. Incl 350GB data/mo., overage chrgs apply. Ltd. avail/areas in U.S.
‡ Price after $5/mo Autopay & Paperless bill discount (w/in 2 bills). Plus taxes & fees. Internet speed claims represent maximum network service capability speeds and based on wired connection to gateway. Actual customer speeds may vary based on a number of factors and are not guaranteed. For more information, go to www.att.com/speed101.
AT&T offers a variety of packages, many of which use fiber-optic connections. That includes a 5,000 Mbps plan—currently the fastest speed available in the ongoing arms race between fiber providers.
Although 5 Gbps is pretty cool, it’s pretty hard to make use of that much bandwidth, even if you invite your entire neighborhood to bring their laptops and watch different 4K movies all at the same time. You probably get just as much use out of AT&T’s 1G Internet plan, which is reasonably priced compared to other gigabit plans.
Unfortunately, not every location in AT&T’s network has fiber-to-the-home. There are DSL and fixed wireless plans reaching out into more rural areas, which offer faster and cheaper internet than options like satellite.
Xfinity plans and pricing
EarthLink plans and pricing
| Package | Price | Speed | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| EarthLink 10 Mbps Internet | $49.95/mo.* | 3–15 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink 30 Mbps Internet | $59.95/mo.* | 18–30 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink 45 Mbps Internet | $59.95/mo.* | 45–80 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink 75 Mbps Internet | $59.95/mo.* | 100 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink 200 Mbps Internet | $89.95/mo.* | 200 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink 1 Gig Mbps Internet | $89.95/mo.* | 1,000 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink 2 Gig Mbps Internet | $129.95/mo.* | 2,000 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink 5 Gig Mbps Internet | $189.95/mo.* | 5,000 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink LTE Home 25 GB | $54.95/mo. | Up to 100 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink LTE Home 50GB | $64.95/mo. | Up to 100 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink LTE Home 75 GB | $79.95/mo. | Up to 100 Mbps | View Plan |
| EarthLink LTE Home 100 GB | $99.95/mo. | Up to 100 Mbps | View Plan |
Data as of 7/11/2022. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
*with a 12 month contract.
EarthLink offers service in all 50 states. It is able to do this by renting space on other service providers’ networks. Using all these different networks means that connection speeds and reliability vary by location. Fortunately, EarthLink’s focus on customer service makes it easy to get outages and other issues resolved quickly.
EarthLink fiber plans offer the provider’s best value for speed and reliability, plus they go all the way up to 5 Gig speeds, just like AT&T. Earthlink fiber is slightly more expensive than the DSL options, but it offers up to 20 times the speed. EarthLink also stands out from other fiber providers with its lower fiber-optic speeds than most ISPs, which is great if you want fiber reliability without paying.
Deals and promotions: AT&T vs. EarthLink
Get AT&T Internet 300, which gives you 300 Mbps speeds for just $55 per month. Enter your zip code to see if the deal is available in your area.
Get a flat rate with EarthLink with no extra charges for installation, equipment, or data.
Extra fees: AT&T vs. EarthLink
| Equipment Fee | Installation Fee | Other Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T |
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| EarthLink |
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Both AT&T and EarthLink have pretty reasonable fees. The only ones that really stand out are installation fees, which are a bit high, especially for AT&T. Since EarthLink plans require one-year contracts, they also come with early termination fees if you cancel before the end of your agreement, which can get expensive.
Customer ratings: AT&T vs. EarthLink
| Overall Rating | Reliability Rating | Customer Service Rating | Speed Rating | Price Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | 3.8/5 | 3.7/5 | 3.7/5 | 3.8/5 | 3.5/5 |
| EarthLink | 4.2/5 | 4.0/5 | 4.0/5 | 4.1/5 | 3.9/5 |
EarthLink is the top ranked provider in every category of our annual customer satisfaction survey. Although customers in this survey did report some issues with their service, such as unexpected price hikes and outages, EarthLink customers are still very satisfied with what they have. EarthLink focuses heavily on its customer service, so it makes sense that it would be able to deal with these issues, even if they arise more often than with other providers.
AT&T is ranked second overall in our survey, right behind EarthLink. It performed especially well in the speed and reliability categories. AT&T has focused on expanding the availability of its fiber plans to give its customers faster and more reliable connections.
Internet types: AT&T vs. EarthLink
| Internet type | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T | Fiber, DSL, Fixed wireless | |
| EarthLink | Fiber, DSL, Fixed wireless | VIew Plans |
Both AT&T and EarthLink use multiple technologies to deliver internet to customers across their network footprints. DSL is the most widely available, and though it’s slow, it often has the lowest prices. Fiber plans are the fastest and most reliable, and they usually offer the best value for the monthly cost.
Fixed wireless plans reach into areas that don’t have the infrastructure for wired connections, but they have severe limitations, especially with monthly data caps. We suggest choosing a wireless plan only if it’s the sole option available in your area (other than satellite).
Data caps: AT&T vs. EarthLink
| Data Cap | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T |
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| EarthLink |
| View Plans |
Most plans for AT&T and EarthLink have unlimited data, so you never have to worry about hitting a cap before the end of the month. We’re big fans of unlimited data, so this is a big plus for both providers.
The major exceptions are the fixed wireless plans, which all have relatively low data allowances. AT&T offers the most data with 350 GB, while EarthLink offers several different plans with 25 GB to 150 GB of data. We recommend avoiding plans with low data caps like those with just 25 GB of data. For reference, you can burn through 25 GB by streaming one movie in 4K, so stretching that data out for a month’s worth of internet use is pretty tough.
Contracts: AT&T vs. EarthLink
| Contract length | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T | None | |
| EarthLink | 1 year (no contract for fixed wireless) | View Plans |
AT&T is the clear winner here, as it doesn’t tie you down with a long-term contract. Contracts are a sore spot for many customers, so it’s nice that most providers are starting to do away with them.
EarthLink requires a 12-month contract for all its fiber and DSL plans. Its wireless plans, however, are contract free. That’s not a good enough reason to choose a wireless plan over DSL or fiber unless you already know for a fact that you’re going to be switching providers or moving within the next year.
Installation: AT&T vs. EarthLink
| Installation options | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T |
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| EarthLink |
| View Plans |
Both AT&T and EarthLink offer professional installation, though EarthLink’s fee is slightly cheaper. Both are on the high end for professional installation costs, especially now that several providers offer free installation for at least some of their plans.
Availability: AT&T vs. EarthLink
AT&T has one of the largest networks in the US, but EarthLink manages to cover even more people. It does this by renting out infrastructure from other providers, including AT&T. EarthLink is present in all 50 states, so regardless of where you live, there’s a good chance you can get EarthLink internet.
Final call: AT&T vs. EarthLink
Our first choice is AT&T’s fiber, if you have access to it. The fiber-optic plans are faster and cheaper than those offered by EarthLink, which makes it an easy decision.
With so many plans from each provider, it’s hard to compare every possible combination, but if you’re looking to avoid hassle with your internet service, EarthLink’s top-notch customer service could be the tiebreaker you’re looking for.
Methodology
Our HighSpeedteck.com editorial team bases our analyses on customer input from our annual customer satisfaction survey, results from our speed test tool, and proprietary internet provider data on speeds and pricing. To strengthen our research, we look closely at provider contracts to get hard-to-find information on price hikes, data caps, and extra fees, and we keep tabs on the latest news reports and online reviews. When applicable, we also rely on our personal experiences testing these services.
More about AT&T and EarthLink
- AT&T vs. Spectrum
- AT&T vs. Cox
- How Fast Is Fiber?
- Which Internet Service Providers Have Data Caps?