Alex Proud trimmer, saver, and negotiator. I like to pay what's fair not a penny more. Fighting this battle with a smile!

The Ultimate Guide to AT&T Cell Phone Network and How to Lower Bills!

9 min read

Lower your at&t bills effortlessly with billtrim.

AT&T Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. AT&T’s cell phone network is the world’s largest telecommunications company, the second largest provider of mobile telephone services, and the largest provider of fixed telephone services in the United States through AT&T Communications.

Since June 14, 2018, it is also the parent company of mass media conglomerate WarnerMedia, making it the world’s largest media and entertainment company in terms of revenue. As of 2018, AT&T is ranked #9 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
SBCglobal is now AT&T, merged in 2005.

AT&T Cell Phone Plans

Ranked one of the best in terms of reliability, coverage, and speed, AT&T’s downside lies in its high pricing. It mostly includes one-time activation fees which usually cost 50% more than its fierce competitor Verizon.

AT&T connection is not best for someone having budget constraints. If you are looking for some great TV perks along with their wireless plan, then this network is the best deal. Make sure you signup for paperless billing and agree to autopay.
AT&T has Cell Phone Plans for each and every one.

For instance, AT&T offers the below-mentioned wireless plans:

1. AT&T Prepaid plans

2. AT&T Unlimited plans

3. Mobile Share PlusSM Plans (Family plans)

4. AT&T Connected Car

5. AT&T data-only plans

6. International plans

If you exceed your high-speed data limit, AT&T won’t charge you for that. Instead, it will lower the access speed and you can still enjoy surfing your favorite social media with ease.

AT&T is more expensive than its counterparts, but is it worth the price? If you are looking for good internet speed, broader coverage, and reliable service, then AT&T should be your good-to-go provider. Moreover, 5G is also around the corner and can be rolled out anytime by the carrier so this can be another perk.

AT&T Cell Phone Deals for Existing Customers

You can get great deals if you are an existing customer

No matter what, AT&T is the undisputed leader when it comes to the existing customers count. It is one of the largest and most well-known carriers in the US. Due to this very reason, you often come across some cool deals offered by AT&T. If you are looking for new phones or any television service, AT&T has something for everyone. Here is a list of top deals from AT&T:-

The latest offering includes:-

  1. Offer on Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL.
  2. Offer on OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro.
  3. Offer on Entertainment
  4. Offer on AT&T plus DIRECTV
  5. Offer on U-verse deals

Also Read:- The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Your Cell Phone Bills

AT&T Cell Phone Plans for Seniors

AT&T has a special plan for senior citizens

AT&T cares about the seniors and that reflects in their special plans for the senior citizens. For seniors who are using basic phones and not smartphones which can help them remain in contact with their friends and family, the Senior Nation Plan is a nice option. It offers plenty of night and weekend free minutes.

Suitable for those seniors who love to connect with their kids or chat with their friends. Plan your distant weekend and AT&T makes sure you never go out of coverage anytime.  AT&T also offers a special plan if seniors are Internet savvy. With that, they can enjoy connectivity and high-speed data for as low as $30 a month.

AT&T Cell Phone Insurance

AT&T provides insurance to cell phones

A new device costs somewhere between $800-1200 if you ignore the budget segment. It’s a huge amount and eats up a good part of your salary. Device replacement is a daunting word and can give you goosebumps if you are not covered. With AT&T you can enjoy peace of mind knowing you are covered from top to bottom. AT&T protection plan offers coverage for:-

  1. Loss
  2. Damage
  3. Theft

File your claim online, it will take approximately 10 minutes, and replace your lost, damaged, or stolen device.

Apart from all, you can protect your investment using:-

  1. Mobile Insurance from AT&T:- Under this scheme, you can get a quick replacement for your broken (even liquid damage), stolen, or lost. The service is limited to users availing of AT&T postpaid wireless plan.
  2. Mobile Protection Pack from AT&T:- Under this plan, you get all-in-one protection from the ProTech support team.
  3. Multi-Device Protection Pack from AT&T:- The best coverage plan as it provides complete protection and technical support for up to three devices.

AT&T Cell Phone Coverage

AT&T covers almost 58% of the entire U.S. with its 4G network. AT&T provides the best coverage in the country and stands at the third spot in terms of territory lagging behind Verizon and T-Mobile. If you look for the best cell phone service in more places, going with AT&T can prove to be a wise move indeed.

Regarding 4G coverage in the U.S. AT&T lags behind T-Mobile by merely 1% and Verizon by almost 11%. There are various other cellular network service providers which occupy the AT&T network. Small carriers like Cricket, TracFone, Straight Talk and Net10, known as MVNOs use AT&T’s network and serve people where the telecom giant does not provide its service.

To get a better idea of the overall coverage of AT&T cellular connection, please have a look at this map.

Cell phone coverage in the US by the telecom giant

AT&T Cell Phone Signal Booster

AT&T is among the strongest cellular providers in the U.S. but that does not mean it’s not vulnerable to obstacles and outages. The strength of the cell phone network varies with the proximity to cell phone towers and other close manmade and natural obstructions. It greatly affects the ability to send texts and make calls. Obstructions can be anything like:-

  1. Outside interference: Tall trees, hills, mountains, and buildings
  2. Inside interference: Bricks. glass, metal, and concrete.

Many times, these factors can even drop your coverage down to zero bars. So, it’s not always the error from the provider’s end but sometimes your location greatly impacts the network strength.
However, there exists some third-party equipment that is designed to boost the network signal so that you can get even more out of your cell phone service.

How Does Cell Phone Signal Booster Work?

As the name implies, Signal boosters easily add anywhere from one to two bars to your cell phone coverage.

You can use it in your offices, vehicles, and homes. It amplifies the pre-existing signals within a radius and boosts the signal to reduce the chances of unsent emails, texts, and dropped calls.

AT&T Cell Phone Outage

Map showing cell phone outage

Unlike other major wireless network providers, mobile service is one part of AT&T’s business. Other components include DirectTV, digital home phone, and home internet. Managing a huge business is not an easy task, especially in this digital world where so much data is exchanged daily. So, it may lead to an inevitably occasional technical hiccup.

An issue with your cellular service can arise either due to the problem from AT&T’s side or your phone may be troubling.

If you face any problem with AT&T’s device, you instantly try to contact their customer support and get it sorted. To save some time using this, make sure it isn’t a setting on your device that’s causing the network issues. Try these things beforehand:

  1. Check your device settings and make sure Aeroplane mode is turned off and data roaming is set on.
  2. Go to network settings and set the network mode to Auto.
  3. Reboot your device and wait for a few seconds before you turn it on.
  4. Many times, it’s a simple fix to get the network strength back. But if the device setting is all good and you still face the connectivity issue, the next step, you should check for an AT&T outage in your area.

Are Free Smartphones Free?

AT&T free smartphone offer and buy one get one offer
AT&T’s various offers on Cell Phones like “free” and “BOGOF”- Buy One Get One Free deal. The necessary things in life are free, unfortunately, cell phones are not included in that list. Tech enthusiasts have no problem spending hundreds of dollars for a new device all at once. But the same is not simple for families and individuals who are tight on budget. For that very reason, network companies like AT&T offer ‘free’ smartphones to attract a lot of audiences to the store.

It’s no denying that when a carrier offers something for free, there’s usually a catch and they avoid sharing those hidden terms and conditions. I am sure you come across zero-dollar phone options before. It goes like this- sign up for a two-year contract with a network provider and get yourself a brand new phone for $0 and no more to pay for the phone.

These deals include a fixed monthly payment in your package comprising of data, text, and calls. The biggest catch is, this fee includes the price of a cell phone who prefer a two-year contract. It simply states that even if you don’t pay for the mobile separately every month, the monthly package has a hidden mobile price. A simple calculation and you figure out that you end up paying the same amount or more in two years.

What Do Customers Think of AT&T?

Customer's satisfaction with AT&T network
Let’s not be biased here. Listen to what verified customers have to say about AT&T:-

First Verified Customer:-

“Be very careful when it comes to cost. AT&T complicate billing statement to trick people who wouldn’t pay close attention to their bills. This is one of the tricks – they charge the data package 1 month ahead plus prorate the current month on the first bill. I raised the question about the charge. And they promised I will get a refund after the contract ends.

Two years later when the contract ended, I contacted customer service through chat messages. First, the representative kept telling me the charge was already credited. I asked him to tell me when and where it was credited. He didn’t tell me and transferred me to a supervisor.

Then the supervisor ended my chat message. Also, if you have a phone trade-in promotion program, pay attention to see if they’ll give you the credit or not. I had to contact customer service to apply the credit to my bill. Because they did not include it for me.

Second Verified Customer:-

“We came across several unfulfilled promises with our sign-up deals. Encountered repeated dishonesty with customer service. And help that they promised. It was from various customer service representatives over several months.

The customer service is rude, aggressive, and accusations even though my husband and I have always remained calm, factual, and courteous with them. Owing to the disappointment I won’t recommend AT&T to anyone.”

Third Verified Customer:-

“I am with AT&T for about 18 months. At first, we were pleased with the service and had no problems. Later went into the store for a phone question. They asked us to switch to auto-pay to save some money. The next bill was $40 more and then the next bill was $70 more. When I called both times, they informed me that there was a glitch. And somehow now our bill would be more. Tried to switch back to a hard copy and get our old price. But they don’t allow switching either.

SEVENTEEN hours and counting. Later, speaking with various supervisors over the phone and via chat, still do not have answers. So we are in the process of switching service providers. Be aware that when you do this, AT&T will lock your phones. Even though they are paid off and do not allow you to switch them to a different carrier. It’s a disaster and I won’t recommend AT&T to anyone.”

Fourth Verified Customer:-

“I ended up just paying $180 because it was going to be turned into collections. This is after about 6 hrs on the phone with at least 10 employees and 4 managers each of which told me I didn’t owe the money – there was a pending credit that will post after the next billing cycle. Then after 3 cycles the credit was never posted and got the notification it was past due and going to collections. The last manager I talked to said there was no pending credit and I had to pay it.

She would not be doing anything else. Every call had a routine. The first person transferred me to the unified department and they would transfer me back to the department that sent me to them, I then ended up in the U-Verse department even though I never had U-verse. Then I would go to the billing department and finally end up in the customer retention department after 45 minutes and no one could ever help me.

I even went into 2 stores only to be told by several different employees and 2 managers they can’t help – they are just salespeople and would have to call the same phone number I did, which made them do both times. At the end of the day, it’s unfair to the consumer because there is no logical outlet for us. They will turn it into collections with no dispute and have negative impacts on our credit score and for me, it’s just not worth that.”

From the above reviews, one thing is clear customers find a hard time tackling AT&T’s bill and customer support service.

But the obvious question arises here:- Why do they get such high bills in the first place? It all happens due to misleading $0 Phone campaigns and the Buy One Get One offer. Loyal and innocent customers think all they need is to pay a certain amount of dollars as a bill to which they agreed at the time of the contract. But the hidden charges, add-ons, ever-increasing line costs, and other charges sum up to be a huge bill.

How to Lower AT&T Bills?

It doesn’t matter how much your AT&T bill is, you often feel like you are paying too much, if not much, higher than what your neighbors pay. On average, customers pay $141  towards their monthly AT&T bills according to a Cowen and Company report. With ever-changing rates and skyrocketing fees each month, odds are good that your AT&T bills are way much higher.

You often feel like blasting at an AT&T rep to reduce your monthly bills. Forget everything, and try the below step to save money on your AT&T cell phone without compromising on how you use your iPhone or Android.
Negotiating your cell phone bills lower is a huge milestone
BillTrim, as the name suggests, trims your AT&T bills to the tune of $450+ every year without you putting in any extra effort. A young startup from California to touch the last person on the other end of the spectrum struggling to lower their bills.

Here is how it all started:- Our CEO Dipesh Desai, came up with this whole business concept revolving around bill negotiation after going through enough pain negotiating his cable and electricity bills back when he was in Houston. It was then he realized, that this is a common problem among all utility consumers and it makes no sense to suffer in this age and time.

BillTrim uses modern-day technologies to gather all plans, deals, and incentives, from all utility providers across the United States and has in-house trained professional negotiators. These bill negotiators are good at what they do. They negotiate all of your bills on your behalf and make sure you get the absolute best price.

So, what are you waiting for? Share your bills with us and let your bills do the savings.

Hire professional bill negotiator by clicking the button

Alex Proud trimmer, saver, and negotiator. I like to pay what's fair not a penny more. Fighting this battle with a smile!