AT&T Internet 25 AT&T Access AT&T Fiber Internet 300
In researching this article I spent eight hours speaking with nearly ten AT&T representatives, scouring the AT&T corporate website, and fact-checking agent claims against the actual plan fine print.
Having gone to those lengths, I can confirm that AT&T does not currently offer any veteran benefits or discounts for internet service. However, veterans can take advantage of several active discounts to reduce their prices, as well as avoid fees that apply to regular customers.
In summary, there are three discounted internet plans that are relevant for veterans and military families:
- Best discount plan for military families: AT&T Internet 25
- Best discount for low-income veterans: AT&T Access
- Best value plan for military and veterans: AT&T Fiber 300
With AT&T, it can be difficult to make broad statements about which plans are best. This is because AT&T pricing and plans vary based on location.
However, there are several plans that may be available in your area. Here are some of the most common and accessible of those plans, as well as how best to take advantage of them as serving military, military family, or veteran:
Best discount plan for military families: AT&T Internet 25
| Plan Name | Deals for veterans? | Low-cost? | High-speed? | Permanent? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet 25 | No. | Not exactly. Starting at about $55 per month, this plan isn't the cheapest. However, as AT&T's plans are location-based, they may have a cheaper option in your location. | No. At 25 Mbps, the internet isn't the fastest. However, it will likely hold up in smaller households. | Yes. |
If you’re not eligible for Access, the bad news is that you’re going to have to pay more for the same speeds.
AT&T Internet 25 features internet speeds of up to 25 Mbps. At that speed, you can stream a 4K movie on a television screen comfortably, but that bandwidth will likely stretch and suffer after more people connect. If others stream television simultaneously, you’re likely to run into trouble. (This can impact AT&T TV customers in particular.)
However, the plan does include access to AT&T’s network of nationwide hotspots, meaning that you can connect on the go in many metropolitan areas. You also aren’t bound to a term contract.
AT&T’s internet offers vary based on location, making it difficult to report which plans are available where.
If AT&T Internet 25 is available in your location, you should anticipate costs of about $45 per month —with an additional $10 monthly for a wireless modem rental.
It’s possible that AT&T may have more internet deals near you — or that Internet 25 will not be available in your location. AT&T features varying levels of speed and price across the thousands of cities it services, making it difficult to generalize.
To find which internet plans are available in your area, you can run your address against their service area here.
Best discount for low-income veterans: AT&T Access
| Plan Name | Deals for veterans? | Low-cost? | High-speed? | Permanent? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T Access | No. Access is available to low-income individuals that receive benefits from certain programs, but pension benefits from the VA is not one of those programs. | Yes. At just about $10 per month, the plan is low-cost and potentially worthwhile for low-income veterans. | No. Internet speeds of up to 25 Mbps are hardly high-speed, but they'll do for smaller households with limited internet usage. | Yes. |
Access is AT&T’s low-income internet plan. It allows users to access internet speeds of up to 25 Mbps (megabits per second — a common unit of internet speed) for only about $10 a month.
However, these speeds aren’t forever. The plan usually provides speeds of 10 Mbps, and the upgrade to 25 Mbps will eventually revert back to the regular, slower speed.
While Access does not accept VA pension benefits as a qualifier, there are a few other options that you’re able to use to tell if you’re eligible.
If you receive any of these benefits, you may be eligible for Access:
- Supplemental Nutritional Access Program (SNAP)
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for California residents only
- National School Lunch and Head Start Programs (this qualifier is temporary)
You can also apply based on your annual income, though that qualifier is currently temporary as well.
| Number of people in the household | Maximum household income (about 135% of the 2022–2023 federal poverty line) |
|---|---|
| 1 | $18,347 |
| 2 | $24,719 |
| 3 | $31,091 |
| 4 | $37,463 |
| 5 | $43,835 |
| 6 | $50,207 |
| 7 | $56,579 |
| 8 | $62,951 |
| For each additional person, add | $4,720 |
If you’re really looking to cut costs, you may be eligible to combine your savings through Access with a low-income benefit program from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — but more on that later.
Best value plan for military and veterans: AT&T Fiber 300
| Plan Name | Deals for veterans? | Low-cost? | High-speed? | Permanent? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T 300 Mbps fiber internet | No. | Sort of. At $55 per month, the plan is reasonably priced for the speed. However, the price is $5 higher if you can't use paperless (online) billing. | Yes. 300 Mbps is enough to handle even a large family's internet traffic. | Yes. |
If you live closer to a metropolitan area, you may be able to benefit from AT&T’s network of fiber internet services.
Commonly referred to simply as “fiber,” internet delivered via fiber optic cable is often much faster than DSL internet that utilizes existing phone line infrastructure.
In this case, speeds of 300 Mbps mean that you and a number of other members of your household can stream, game, and video chat to your heart’s content without difficulty.
What’s more, these speeds come at a relatively low price of $55 per month.
Veterans guide to getting the cheapest price from AT&T
Is AT&T a good option for Serving Military and Veterans?
AT&T’s offerings change depending on location, and as such, it can be difficult to gauge whether its services are useful on a broad scale.
However, if you’re able to access its services, AT&T provides a few notable benefits.
The pros of AT&T
For starters, AT&T provides a free support line and chat function so that if you have trouble with your service you can receive help from AT&T representatives. I spent about five combined hours speaking with these representatives while preparing this article and found them to be polite and helpful.
Price-wise, AT&T’s low-income option Access is one of the cheaper options out there. And if you are approved to receive benefits under the EBB, you could see your bill effectively reduced to zero.
What’s more, an AT&T representative told me that service members who’ve received deployment or permanent change of station (PCS) orders and have had their account for thirty days are allowed to cancel or suspend services without penalty. This is in accordance with amendments to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) 115-407 that ensure the right of service members to cancel their service without penalty if they receive a PCS or deployment order lasting longer than 90 days.
The cons of AT&T
But there are also big downsides to AT&T’s service.
Firstly, AT&T’s lack of a dedicated veteran discount makes it less than ideal for veterans looking to lower costs.
Secondly, if you qualify for AT&T’s low-income Access plan, you will probably find the internet speed a bit slow for any more than one or two people.
All in all, AT&T’s dedicated low-income discount makes it better for veterans than some other options out there, but you should prepare to pay more if you don’t meet the few qualifications AT&T lays out for its low-income plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does AT&T have an internet service discount for veterans?
AT&T does not have a discount program for veterans. However, they participate in the Federal Lifeline program, as well as offering their own low-income plan called AT&T Access. This means that low-income veterans can get AT&T internet for as los as $9.95 per month — however, beyond the use of VA pension paperwork to verify eligibility, neither plan is specifically tailored towards veterans.
Does AT&T have permanent change of station (PCS) accommodations?
AT&T has accommodations for PCS and other military moves or deployments. An AT&T representative I interviewed for this article told me that if you’ve had the account for thirty days, AT&T allows you to cancel or suspend your services without penalty. However, if you decide not to buy from AT&T, no matter which ISP you get your services from, amendments to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) 115-407 ensure that members of the armed services can cancel their service without penalty if they receive a PCS order or deploy to another location for 90 or more days where their ISP does not offer its services.
Is AT&T internet a good internet choice for serving military?
AT&T is a good choice for budget-sensitive military families, but can struggle on performance when compared with cable. Customer service is rated better though, especially for phone help. In my research for this article, I spent about five hours conversing with multiple AT&T representatives, a few of which gave me conflicting information. AT&T’s website requires that you have an existing account before chatting with a representative, which can make getting to the bottom of deals before you purchase the service difficult. However, I found each representative friendly and understanding, though the information wasn’t always reliable.
