AT&T Testing 10-30 Mbps Fixed Wireless LTE in Alabama AT&T is conducting a trial of fixed wireless service in Walker County, Alabama that delivers anywhere from between 10 Mbps to 30 Mbps downstream. According to regional Alabama news outlets (hat tip, Fierce Wireless) roughly 65 households in and around the city of Carbon Hill will be taking part in a three month trial. Focused on largely rural areas, the trial uses a 20 MHz (10x10 MHz paired uplink and downlink) configuration, requiring an externally-mounted antenna on homes.

AT&T's also been testing the technology in rural parts of Georgia, Kansas and Virginia. "Our innovative fixed wireless program that delivers broadband through the air using base stations and fixed antennae on customers' homes or buildings can be a way to deliver high quality, high-speed Internet access service to customers living in rural areas," the company stated previously. According to local news reports, residents are getting a $100 payment from AT&T in exchange for testing the service and providing feedback. Note that while it's clear AT&T wants to use this fixed-LTE service to eventually replace all of its aging DSL lines, it's too early for pricing (or more importantly usage cap limitations) for any looming commercial service. According to local news reports, residents are getting a $100 payment from AT&T in exchange for testing the service and providing feedback. Note that while it's clear AT&T wants to use this fixed-LTE service to eventually replace all of its aging DSL lines, it's too early for pricing (or more importantly usage cap limitations) for any looming commercial service.







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Most recommended from 80 comments

mikemacman

join:2004-05-29

Saint Paul, MN 13 recommendations mikemacman Member How much data do you get per month? This might be a great option if the amount of data was "unlimited". But Fixed Wireless from the major carriers usually has huge per GB charges which makes them a horrible option for home internet.

CosmicDebri

Still looking for intelligent life

join:2001-09-01

Lake City, FL 11 recommendations CosmicDebri Member Low caps, high prices This is nothing new. We're on Fixed Wireless from Verizon, apparently the people we moved in with here have been on it for awhile. We share 30 gigs between 4 people. It's around $100/month or so. Overages are $10 for 1 gig!!! Can't get anymore, 30 gigs is the highest they will offer.



I don't anticipate the Deathstar doing any better on pricing, it's just a 'we have it too' play. grabacon9

join:2013-08-21

Spencer, IN 2 edits 10 recommendations grabacon9 Member Who cares Blah Blah Blah. They probably just are going to cap it low and add a bunch of overages charges. uwuowo

join:2015-10-19 10 recommendations uwuowo Member No Anything and everything to hinder FTTP is all the incumbents want

Simba7

I Void Warranties

join:2003-03-24

Fromberg, MT 10 recommendations Simba7 Member Bring on the torrents and downloaders! Let's see how well their service handles when 65 households max out their connection for 3 months.

WHT

join:2010-03-26

Rosston, TX 7 recommendations WHT Member Price Points Can't Compete WISPs are far less costly and without awful caps.

Smith6612

MVM

join:2008-02-01

North Tonawanda, NY 7 recommendations Smith6612 MVM Not real Internet. It's not real Internet until the data caps are removed. Only then, will Sensei notice. :P

cpayne5

Premium Member

join:2004-01-06 6 recommendations cpayne5 Premium Member Some Details AT&T is also trialing this in my rural county in Virginia. I went to the kickoff meeting last night. It's going to be a 6ish month trial where participants will be paid $100.



They have installed new radios on the tower solely for this service. AT&T said it cost $150k/tower. DirecTV installers are going to be installing the devices on customers' homes.



The AT&T rep said they're aiming for the service to cost $60/month with usage caps set at 100GB when it is rolled out commercially. He said the 18 states where they are franchised will get it first (Virginia is not one of those states). I asked him if they'll be pulling the radios off the tower once the trial is over and he said no, so I'm guessing the real service will be coming soon after the trial.



We are an hour west of DC (quickly turning into a retirement area for who's who in DC). 25 people per square mile. Very tough to deploy wireless here due to geography and vegetation. Rumor is there's a relative of an AT&T executive in our midst - why we got to be guinea pigs. joeMI

join:2006-08-15

Mcmillan, MI 3 recommendations joeMI Member waste of time. 10-30 is already outdated and too slow. If 30 Mbps or so is the max for this technology and/or equipment, then IMO, it's a complete waste of time and resources to deploy it. It's already outdated and too slow for what users need today.



We have to rewire America and be done with it. Period.



I know I and many others want full 1080p streaming. And, the future, say 5 to 10 years out, will have a much higher demand for 4K TV. So we're going to keep replacing antennas and equipment every few years, what a waste.



I use cloud storage now and it's often sluggish because of the over loaded download and lousy upload speeds. I would like to backup to the cloud but that just isn't feasible without it taking days. That's ridiculous.



Kick the old white guys out and let's get rewiring.