AT&T says its 5G network is now available nationwide

Posted:
in General Discussion edited July 2020
AT&T has announced that its 5G wireless network is now available to consumers and businesses nationwide across the U.S. -- but what aspects of the network are available depends on where you live.

Credit: AT&T
Credit: AT&T


In January 2019, the carrier first announced plans to roll out a nationwide, low-band 5G network by early 2020. Although the coronavirus pandemic pushed back the timeline, the carrier has continued to deploy 5G networks in various markets across the country.

On Thursday, AT&T says that the rollout has officially completed. Its 5G coverage is now available in 395 markets and covers 205 million people across the U.S.

The nationwide 5G is made up of a mix of technologies. Speedy mmWave 5G is available in about 35 markets, with the rest of the country blanketed in sub-6GHz "low-band" spectrum.

"With AT&T 5G reaching nationwide, our network is beginning the journey to transform connectivity as we know it by setting a new bar of breathtaking experiences and improved efficiency. Businesses, developers and consumers are already tapping into 5G's potential and we're thrilled for customers across the U.S. to experience it for themselves. It's an exciting time in technology," CEO Jeff McElfresh said.

The carrier's 5G network will become available in both the AT&T Unlimited Starter plan, starting at $35 a month, on August 7. The same day, AT&T is adding 5G access to its Unlimited Web-Only and Starter business plans. Prepaid customers will also be able to use 5G on both AT&T Prepaid and Cricket Wireless.

Apple is largely expected to release the first iPhones with 5G connectivity -- the "iPhone 12" lineup -- in the fall of 2020.

Markets with AT&T 5G service, with mmWave speeds

  • Arizona: Phoenix

  • California: Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Oakland, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, West Hollywood

  • Florida: Jacksonville, Miami, Miami Gardens, Orlando

  • Georgia: Atlanta

  • Indiana: Indianapolis

  • Kentucky: Louisville

  • Louisiana: New Orleans

  • Maryland: Baltimore, Ocean City

  • Michigan: Detroit

  • North Carolina: Charlotte, Raleigh

  • Nevada: Las Vegas

  • New York: New York City

  • Ohio: Cleveland

  • Oklahoma: Oklahoma City

  • Pennsylvania: King of Prussia, Philadelphia

  • Tennessee: Nashville

  • Texas: Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Waco

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    Has anyone seen actual tests comparing performance of the 4G vs 5G networks? mmWave gives you faster speeds if you happen to be within sight of an antenna, but the primary benefits of sub-6ghz 5G are supposedly lower latency and increased numbers of devices that can be connected. The benefits of lower latency depend not just on the cellular connection but on the entire network, so I’m not sure there will be any noticeable difference beyond the label switching from ‘5GE’ to ‘5G’
  • Reply 2 of 17
    ciacia Posts: 247member
    6mm will offer much better speeds, but as we all know will honestly be available in about 1% of the country.  6mm is basically wifi, if you aren't close to the base station you ain't getting it.

    "Regular" 5G at the moment seems to be more of a backend update that will help carriers be able to load more customers on the same tower.  So in congested areas it will help keep things running smoothly, but you won't really see too much of a speed update compared to an empty LTE tower.

    Sadly prices will go almost certainly go up, but for anyone outside a congested area (or within 150' of a 6mm base station) the speeds will essentially be the same.
  • Reply 3 of 17
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    This isn't news. I've had AT&T 5G on my iPhone for maybe a couple years already, everywhere I've traveled.
    /s
    edited July 2020 muthuk_vanalingambeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 4 of 17
    i also overheard (not read) that ATT will do away with service for older phones were that can't receive or makes calls anymore.
    meaning this service will not be available on their flip phones (Samsung) and even stop working all togehter on this lovely iPhone 5S.
    poor Raymond Reddington!


  • Reply 5 of 17
    gilly33gilly33 Posts: 433member
    cpsro said:
    This isn't news. I've had AT&T 5G on my iPhone for maybe a couple years already, everywhere I've traveled.
    /s
    I’m not sure that was official 5G. I’ve seen it on my iPhone as well ‘5Ge’. Not the same. 
  • Reply 6 of 17
    j2fusionj2fusion Posts: 153member
    I would like to see 4G or even 3G in places like the outer Cape Cod in Massachusetts where many times I cannot get a signal at all.
  • Reply 7 of 17
    tokyojimutokyojimu Posts: 528member
    ATT will do away with service for older phones were that can't receive or makes calls anymore.
    This is because they plan to shut down their 3G service in 2022. After this happens only phones supporting 4G and Voice over LTE will be able to make voice calls.

    I recently had to upgrade my service from 3G to 4G in China because I was finding it increasingly difficult to get a 3G signal. Apparently most 3G towers there have been turned off.
    edited July 2020 fastasleep
  • Reply 8 of 17
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    gilly33 said:
    cpsro said:
    This isn't news. I've had AT&T 5G on my iPhone for maybe a couple years already, everywhere I've traveled.
    /s
    I’m not sure that was official 5G. I’ve seen it on my iPhone as well ‘5Ge’. Not the same. 
    I think you may have missed the "/s"...
  • Reply 9 of 17
    GG1GG1 Posts: 483member
    tokyojimu said:
    ATT will do away with service for older phones were that can't receive or makes calls anymore.
    This is because they plan to shut down their 3G service in 2022. After this happens only phones supporting 4G and Voice over LTE will be able to make voice calls.

    I recently had to upgrade my service from 3G to 4G in China because I was finding it increasingly difficult to get a 3G signal. Apparently most 3G towers there have been turned off.
    Interesting news. That means they're turning off the circuit-switched network (only used for voice calls in 2G and 3G) and moving to a 100% packet-switched network (everything in data packets). So your phone must support VoLTE (voice over data packets) after this time. 4G doesn't support circuit-switched, nor does 5G.
  • Reply 10 of 17
    HeliBumHeliBum Posts: 129member
    GG1 said:
    Interesting news. That means they're turning off the circuit-switched network (only used for voice calls in 2G and 3G) and moving to a 100% packet-switched network (everything in data packets). So your phone must support VoLTE (voice over data packets) after this time. 4G doesn't support circuit-switched, nor does 5G.
    AT&T sent me a notification a couple of days ago that they're dropping everything below 4G in 2022. I still have one 3G phone on my account (my elderly mother-in-law's), so if she's still alive then, we'll have to replace it.
  • Reply 11 of 17
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    cpsro said:
    This isn't news. I've had AT&T 5G on my iPhone for maybe a couple years already, everywhere I've traveled.
    /s
    Lol.  No you didn’t...not in the U.S.  You had “5Ge.” That’s not 5G.  It’s LTE-Advanced.  
  • Reply 12 of 17
    ATT competitors have been claiming 5Ge is just a cosmetic naming. It is not—I routinely get 76Mbps download speed in Los Angeles on my iPhone 11 Pro.
  • Reply 13 of 17
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    ATT competitors have been claiming 5Ge is just a cosmetic naming. It is not—I routinely get 76Mbps download speed in Los Angeles on my iPhone 11 Pro.
    but your iPhone 11Pro is not capable of 5G; what you're getting is LTE; AT&T simply put forth the effort to actually fulfill the potential of 4G LTE.
    GG1
  • Reply 14 of 17
    sdw2001 said:
    cpsro said:
    This isn't news. I've had AT&T 5G on my iPhone for maybe a couple years already, everywhere I've traveled.
    /s
    Lol.  No you didn’t...not in the U.S.  You had “5Ge.” That’s not 5G.  It’s LTE-Advanced.  
    That "/s" at the end of the statement was them letting you know that they were being sarcastic. 
  • Reply 15 of 17
    gilly33 said:
    cpsro said:
    This isn't news. I've had AT&T 5G on my iPhone for maybe a couple years already, everywhere I've traveled.
    /s
    I’m not sure that was official 5G. I’ve seen it on my iPhone as well ‘5Ge’. Not the same. 
    I think you may have missed the "/s"...
    Lol. Next time just type the word sarcasm 
  • Reply 16 of 17
    Bonedatt said:
    gilly33 said:
    cpsro said:
    This isn't news. I've had AT&T 5G on my iPhone for maybe a couple years already, everywhere I've traveled.
    /s
    I’m not sure that was official 5G. I’ve seen it on my iPhone as well ‘5Ge’. Not the same. 
    I think you may have missed the "/s"...
    Lol. Next time just type the word sarcasm 
    I think it's not unreasonable for a poster to expect readers to be familiar with a posting shorthand that's been around almost since the internet was a thing.  "/s" as shorthand for sarcasm has been around since the usenet and Fido-Net days, before most people outside of the military and university fields even knew what the "internet" was.
  • Reply 17 of 17
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    ATT competitors have been claiming 5Ge is just a cosmetic naming. It is not—I routinely get 76Mbps download speed in Los Angeles on my iPhone 11 Pro.
    https://www.tomsguide.com/us/5ge-explained,news-29329.html
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