New AT&T Prepaid 100 GB for $55/mo

[Neal]

As discussed in this thread AT&T has a new 100 GB plan for $55/mo. This is on the prepaid side vs. postpaid and there is discussion that prepaid is lower priority than postpaid. I'd really like to see some hard evidence of that, if a customer is paid and subscribed they should have equal access to the cellular towers and data so in my personal opinion I think that rumor is just that. Today I arrived back in civilization again (Newport, OR) after some remote locations on the Oregon coast with NO connectivity or the last one was only campground Wi-Fi which was usable, thankfully. Upon arriving I passed an AT&T store and have been thinking about trying out this AT&T 100 GB plan for hotspots, tablets, etc.

AT&T Prepaid Hotspot & Tablet Data Plans - AT&T PREPAID

Check out our new data plans for prepaid mobile hotspots and tablets. Connect to the Internet with more data now with 5G access, new flexible pricing and no credit check.

www.att.com

I am fortunate to have the AT&T Mobley plan from circa 2017 which is unlimited, unthrottled for $23/mo and it is still working wonderfully. However, the SIM is four years old and I've had some concerns in not seeing LTE-A connectivity in my Pepwave MAX TRANSIT CAT 18 cellular/wifi router. LTE-A does appear to come online when connections/demand are active, all is fine but I wondered how would this new 5G plan work in comparison. I have the T-Mobile 100 GB plan for $50/mo (after autopay) which is probably going to get cancelled. I am planning to put my older Pepwave BR1 MK2 or MINI in my hangar at home and have WiFi and security, etc. through that so whatever I use even if redundant will likely go there. I'll have to see what works best in that area when I get home whether T-Mobile or AT&T.

Today I went to the AT&T store here in Newport, OR. I took a screenshot of my IMEI from the Pepwave in case they needed it - they did. Of course just like T-Mobile the battle begins, you can't do that, we don't have that, etc. At first they only saw two other plans at higher price, in the end that was postpaid offerings. They told me to call 611 and speak to someone, Mr. Someone was clueless and didn't know of the plan. I asked them to bring up their web site and told them click Prepaid at the top then navigate into the hotspot plans - voila! The guy at the store then figured out how to locate the plan, saving your boring read I left with a SIM. Originally they wanted me to buy a device (jetpack) and of course I said I was there to just get a SIM. They weren't sure it would work, I was, and of course it did.

So what are the results?

Initial testing is that the AT&T 5G 100 GB plan is on order of 200-400% faster than the AT&T Mobley plan. I'm pushing upwards of 160 down where the mobley is pulling 40-80 down. Upload is around 15, about 30% faster than the Mobley. So the new SIM and probably comms ready for 5G towers, which is what we have here, seems to be paying off.

I highly recommend the AT&T 100 GB plan for those that are medium to high data consumers. With streaming taking over from SAT etc. you need DATA and AT&T is my top pick of the cellular carriers. I suggest get this while it lasts and you can always cancel. I also think with prepaid plans you can suspend for up to 90 days after which your line will likely get dropped.

EDIT:

8 PM test pretty much aligns Mobley and Prepaid SIM speeds, prepaid has a faster upload, but they are different routers.

LTE-A behavior is the same. It seems at idle it shows LTE and when connectivity is demanded it goes into LTE-A mode. I presume this is the tower saving connections, or maybe some operator plugging in the plugs when calls are made?

 

["EZ"]

As discussed in this thread AT&T has a new 100 GB plan for $55/mo. This is on the prepaid side vs. postpaid and there is discussion that prepaid is lower priority than postpaid. I'd really like to see some hard evidence of that, if a customer is paid and subscribed they should have equal access to the cellular towers and data so in my personal opinion I think that rumor is just that. Today I arrived back in civilization again (Newport, OR) after some remote locations on the Oregon coast with NO connectivity or the last one was only campground Wi-Fi which was usable, thankfully. Upon arriving I passed an AT&T store and have been thinking about trying out this AT&T 100 GB plan for hotspots, tablets, etc.

AT&T Prepaid Hotspot & Tablet Data Plans - AT&T PREPAID

Check out our new data plans for prepaid mobile hotspots and tablets. Connect to the Internet with more data now with 5G access, new flexible pricing and no credit check.

www.att.com

I am fortunate to have the AT&T Mobley plan from circa 2017 which is unlimited, unthrottled for $23/mo and it is still working wonderfully. However, the SIM is four years old and I've had some concerns in not seeing LTE-A connectivity in my Pepwave MAX TRANSIT CAT 18 cellular/wifi router. LTE-A does appear to come online when connections/demand are active, all is fine but I wondered how would this new 5G plan work in comparison. I have the T-Mobile 100 GB plan for $50/mo (after autopay) which is probably going to get cancelled. I am planning to put my older Pepwave BR1 MK2 or MINI in my hangar at home and have WiFi and security, etc. through that so whatever I use even if redundant will likely go there. I'll have to see what works best in that area when I get home whether T-Mobile or AT&T.

Today I went to the AT&T store here in Newport, OR. I took a screenshot of my IMEI from the Pepwave in case they needed it - they did. Of course just like T-Mobile the battle begins, you can't do that, we don't have that, etc. At first they only saw two other plans at higher price, in the end that was postpaid offerings. They told me to call 611 and speak to someone, Mr. Someone was clueless and didn't know of the plan. I asked them to bring up their web site and told them click Prepaid at the top then navigate into the hotspot plans - voila! The guy at the store then figured out how to locate the plan, saving your boring read I left with a SIM. Originally they wanted me to buy a device (jetpack) and of course I said I was there to just get a SIM. They weren't sure it would work, I was, and of course it did.

So what are the results?

Initial testing is that the AT&T 5G 100 GB plan is on order of 200-400% faster than the AT&T Mobley plan. I'm pushing upwards of 160 down where the mobley is pulling 40-80 down. Upload is around 15, about 30% faster than the Mobley. So the new SIM and probably comms ready for 5G towers, which is what we have here, seems to be paying off.

I highly recommend the AT&T 100 GB plan for those that are medium to high data consumers. With streaming taking over from SAT etc. you need DATA and AT&T is my top pick of the cellular carriers. I suggest get this while it lasts and you can always cancel. I also think with prepaid plans you can suspend for up to 90 days after which your line will likely get dropped.

EDIT:

8 PM test pretty much aligns Mobley and Prepaid SIM speeds, prepaid has a faster upload, but they are different routers.

LTE-A behavior is the same. It seems at idle it shows LTE and when connectivity is demanded it goes into LTE-A mode. I presume this is the tower saving connections, or maybe some operator plugging in the plugs when calls are made?

Thanks for the report Neal!!