...
Home / Compare Internet / Dish Internet vs AT&T โ€“ How They Stack Up 2023

Dish Internet vs AT&T โ€“ How They Stack Up 2024

Dish Internet and AT&T are among the most prominent providers of the Internet in the US. The question of which is better between AT&T and Dish Internet has been hotly debated for a couple of years now. This is probably because the two ISPs tie on my categories including Internet costs, Installation costs, contracts, internet speeds, and value for money. This brief has all the information you need to make up your mind in this case.

dish internet vs at&t

Dish Internet Overview

If you have thought of Dish as your Internet provider, you probably live in areas where DSL and Cable Internet is not available. Most Dish Internet users are in rural areas where DSL and Cable lines donโ€™t run. This is probably because Dish Internet is different from Other Internet service providers that are not willing to survive an Internet connection in areas with a little number of customers.

Watch our latest Documentary

Historical Events That
Almost Bought Down The Internetโ€ฆ

Dish Network Corporation offers high-speed Internet and affordable plans nationwide with prices starting at $39.99. People usually think of combining TV service with Internet from DISH to save money and for convenience.

AT&T internet Overview

AT&T is a popular ISP in the US market delivering more Bandwidth than Cable. The company already has a 1,000Mbps internet plan that powers whole home WI-FI for a faster Internet experience. Most Internet plans from AT&T donโ€™t have data caps and there are zero hidden costs.

Many people in the US can access AT&T internet and DISH internet in the same area. If you have these two options, thereโ€™s a lot you need to understand to make a decision. Letโ€™s now dig deeper for more information.

Dish vs. AT&T comparison Table

Category Dish Internet AT&T
Type of Service Satellite Fiber/cable
TV channel count 290+ 550+
Internet speeds 14.5Mbps on average Up to 940Mbps
Prices Vary $49.99/month
Installation cost $108+ $99.99
Availability wide 22 states

Coverage & Availability

I have come across a number of people asking whether they can get Dish Internet everywhere in the US. The answer to this question is Yes, the Dish Internet is available in areas where other Internet Providers are not able to reach.

You can get Dish Internet through Dish Network by purchasing a standalone satellite Internet package or Bundling their Internet with qualifying TV bundles for $10 less every month. As Iโ€™ve already explained, you can get DISH internet in areas where most ISPs donโ€™t offer services. Dish also works with HughesNet and several other Local providers such as CenturyLink and EarthLink to provide Wireless DSL internet plans.

AT&T is available in major states and cities in the US. Itโ€™s available across 22 states in the country with their DSL internet being available to about 122.8 million people. This makes AT&T the second largest DSL Internet service provider in terms of coverage. The AT&T fiber internet is also available to another 25.1 Million people which now makes it the 2ndย largest Fiber internet provider in terms of coverage.

See alsoย  Xfinity vs Google Fiber - Comparing Internet Providers 2024

Internet Speed Comparison

We all know one important aspect of the internet is download and upload speeds. Verily, this is one major factor many internet users use to vet ISPs in the market. People always think that the company offering the highest download and upload speeds is the best. That is true but there are a number of other things to bear in minds such as Uptime and Internet reliability.

The Internet speeds you get with Dish Internet depend entirely on where you are and most importantly the ISP that is available to you. This is definitely because it all depends on the Bundle package you pick. I didnโ€™t indicate earlier that there is no Internet Only option with Dish Internet. A user only has to combine the Internet with TV and other services to enjoy DISH services.

The speeds from Dish Internet depends on the company they partner with. Dish can partner with Viasat or HughesNet to offer satellite Internet speeds of up to 150Mbps. Due to the fact that they can partner with any ISP including AT&T, the service is available to people in more than 49 states.

ย 

Monthly costs, Data Allowance and Value for money

Monthly cost

With Dish Internet and AT&T internet, youโ€™re going to pay a monthly price that will include the taxes, rental equipment fee, and several other fees. With Internet plans from AT&T, you will only have to pay $49.99 per month for the connections. There are chances that you will not secure a free Installation offer which is the reason why you should factor the one-time Installation fees in your budget.

Dish Internet Partners with other ISPs in the country to offer DSL, Cable, and Satellite Internet. The monthly price will depend on the company DISH has partnered with. Partnering with HughesNet, the prices start from $50 to $125 depending on the Internet plan you choose. If Dish partners with Viasat to provide high-speed Satellite Internet, youโ€™re probably going to pay between $50 and $125 depending on the package.

Data Allowance

Reliant on who Dish has partnered with, there are chances that someone will have limited data usage. Dish partnering with HughesNet comes with a data allotment of 10Gb to 50Gb. I personally think this is a drawback considering some people use more than 50 GB per month. This would mean that someone will have to pay more in case they exhaust their data limits.

From AT&T, the Internet service data allowances include the 150GB per month for their customers with DSL. There are also 250 GB per month data allowance for customers with Fixed Wireless Internet services.

Value for money

Dish will partner with ISPs to make sure every person even those in the rural areas are connected to satellite Internet. AT&T will equally offer Fiber, DSL, and cable internet to people in more than 22 states. If you live in areas where Internet is available from these two ISPs, you have the best value for your money with AT&T fiber and DSL internet. This is because of the suspended broadband data caps for home internet and the wide range of options you have.

See alsoย  Cincinnati Bell vs Spectrum - Comparing Internet Providers 2024

For people living in areas where Dish Internet is the only option, you can always Bundle Internet with Dish TV and other services. The plans for people that want to add HughesNet Internet service to Dish Service costs $49.99 per month.

Bundle Packages: Dish vs. AT&T

You cannot secure an Internet-only plan from DISH internet today, you should either Bundle DISH TV with Internet from HughesNet or Viasat. Equally, AT&T offers the best Bundle packages. The Dish Bundle packages are for people that donโ€™t have another option.

Those are the people in rural areas and other places where cable and DSL Internet is not widely available. The available Bundle packages start from $59.99 to $94.99 depending on the services you want to Bundle. You can get Bundles from AT&T at $89.98.

Customer satisfaction comparison

Itโ€™s very common for Internet service providers and Telcom companies to have a pool of dissatisfied customers. AT&T is one of those companies that offer the poorest Customer services based on the reviews available online.

If these reviews are significant and reveal the actual situations, then Dish Internet would prove to be better than AT&T. The reason why AT&T has a poor customer satisfaction rate is probably because of their bad antiquity.

I have come across a number of dissatisfied customers reviewing the company in major online review platforms. Some of them claim that the AT&T customer support is not responsive and also takes a lot of time to solve some basic issues with the connectivity.

Others tend to complain about AT&T hidden costs that usually add up to huge monthly Internet bills. The price for their services and products is also very high a reason why someone would think of alternatives. One of their customers left the review claiming that the bills were huge and he wanted to contact the retention department to negotiate a fair deal. Customer service reps were not helpful in any way. They also didnโ€™t offer any form of helpful information that would lower his monthly bills. Here are two major complaints from reviews left on Broadbandnow.com.

David Seymour claims that he switched to AT&T from a competitor thinking that their Internet was better than that of the competitor. But he eventually came to realize that the internet is very useless when all your neighbors are online. He adds an advice that you should never try to use AT&T internet when everyone else is online, youโ€™ll be disappointed. The download and upload speeds are also not consistent. This user claims that sometimes itโ€™s wholly impossible to upload pictures because of depraved upload speeds.

Another reviewer from the same platform claims that AT&T internet is fast but not reliable. This user has 1Gbps from AT&T for three weeks and came to realize that there are several instances of outages and downtime. The internet worked for a few hours during the day and after that, the download and upload speeds were slower than a sloth.

See alsoย  Google Fiber vs Cox - Comparing Providers in 2024

Moving on to Dish Internet, although there are fewer complaints from previous and current customers, most of them claimed that Dish Internet prices were higher in some areas. People also complained about the DISH customer care and the steadfastness of their Internet plans. As I had already stated, Dish only partners with other ISPs to offer Internet to you from wherever youโ€™re in the country. Letโ€™s see some of Dish Internet Customer reviews.

Matilda of San Diego left a 1-star review on Customerafairs.com claiming that the Dish Cancellation fee is very high. She adds that the mom was admitted to a nursing facility because she was 92 years. They tried to change the account to the nursing facility but the company didnโ€™t allow that. She thought of canceling the internet connection but had to pay $300 cancellation fees.

Nancy of Coatesville, IN left a 1-star review on the same platform claiming that the rates keep on raising. The user claims that she was on a contract with her phone company and called to cancel in May 2020 but it was difficult because Dish Internet said they, Bill, in advance.

With the information from these users, it shows that Dish and AT&T are in the same league with other Internet providers. The companies have poor customer reviews and unreliable services. But Dish proves to have a relatively higher customer satisfaction rate.

Similar Providers

Xfinity

Xfinity offers Internet to about 41 states in the US and gives some of the most affordable Internet plans to its users. Comcast Xfinity internet speeds start from 15Mbps to 2Gbps which is a good thing to heavy internet users and Businesses. The prices also start from $39.99 per month.

Charter spectrum

Charter spectrum has only one Internet-Only Plan that costs $49.99 every month. The connection speeds start at 100Mbps and there are no data caps. Users can as well Bundle several services with their Internet for affordability, and reliability. Remember spectrum has no data caps across all its data plans and the customers can gain access to free antivirus software and modem.

Frontier Internet

Frontier Internet is slowly getting to the rural America and soon the company will be offering Internet services and other services to a large population in these areas. The company offers DSL, cable, and Fiber Internet with speeds starting from 6Mbps to 45Mbps max. The Frontier FiOS internet is also available in some major cities including Florida, California, and Texas. The prices start from $27.99 to $44.99 per month.

ย 

FAQs

Can I get Internet only Plans from Dish Network Internet?

Dish doesnโ€™t offer Internet-only plans anymore. The company partners with HughesNet and other local Internet providers to Bundle Internet, TV, and other services.

Is AT&T better than Dish Internet?

When it comes to Internet speeds and prices, AT&T is better than DISH internet. Though, Dish Internet is widely available in the country making it a feasible option for people in rural areas.

Does Dish Offer satellite Internet?

Dish no longer offers Internet services. The company used to offer satellite Internet under the name DishNet. If you want to get satellite Internet from Dish, you can get Bundle packages from Viasat and HughesNet Internet.

The final verdict:

The decision between these two Communications Companies depends on where youโ€™re and the services you need at a time. Choose DISH for nationwide availability but go for AT&T for reliable Internet-only packages. For their TV plans, choose AT&T U-verse for their huge channel selections and lighting fast Internet Bundle packages.

Was this helpful?

Yes
No
Thanks for your feedback!
John
John
A tech maestro with a penchant for Android systems, John is also a self-proclaimed Mexican food critic. When heโ€™s not exploring the latest tech trends, heโ€™s likely binging on the newest series on Netflix.
ThemeScene Team

Themescene.tv is Guss, Jenny, Vanessa, Ursula, and John, lead a team of tech experts who are here to assist you with all of your streaming, internet, and Wi-Fi connection questions and make sense of the complex tech world.
Get to know the Themescene Gang

Have an issue or a question then first use the search function, and if you need additional help then don't hesitate to contact us