AT&T vs Really Wireless: Who Should You Sign Up With?

As people who’ve shopped for cell phone plans before we know all the steps one would take when comparing multiple wireless providers. You weigh the pros and cons of the cost, coverage, perks, and service of each company until you finally pick your golden goose. There’s a lot to figure out and even more when you’ve narrowed the list down to two options, because that means you’re closer to picking and signing up for your new phone plan! In this case we’re talking about AT&T, one of the “big three” in wireless and REALLY Wireless which is “the world’s first fully encrypted & private phone service.” Sounds intriguing right? 

Instead of bringing out your spreadsheets and making your own list of all the little details you want from a phone plan we’ve done it for you! We’re going to go over everything you should take into consideration when looking for a new wireless provider so you can sign up with no qualms. With that, let’s get started!

• Quick Overview: AT&T and REALLY Wireless
• What the Coverage Looks Like from Both Providers
• How the Plans Compare: From Price to Features
• The Verdict

Before we jump into the specifics we should go over both AT&T and REALLY Wireless as companies so you can get an overall feel of them.

-> AT&T

When you’re describing the “big three” while discussing wireless providers three names will come to your mind: Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T. AT&T first got its start in the early 80s and as time goes on the company has gone through a lot of changes and has kept up with the demand for better coverage and faster technologies. Anyone that uses data knows they never really want their data to slow down or throttle as that can be very annoying to deal with if you’re someone always on the go using data more than connecting to wifi spots. AT&T is one of the only providers out there that has plans specifically built for those people. 

Their plan called AT&T Unlimited Premium® PL is specifically made so your data never slows down no matter how much you use. Heavy data users are already salivating. 

However, with big wireless you might be subject to more cyber-attacks than someone on a smaller platform. Just this year AT&T had a massive data breach affecting 73 million customers. Their info being put on the dark web for scammers and hackers to use at their leisure. A huge down-side for going big.

Fun Terms to Know: Throttling

Data throttling or simply, throttling, is “the dramatic slowing of your data speeds to the point that it becomes almost unusable,” and this will happen when a person goes over their monthly allotment of data. Every customer will have a data threshold they can’t cross or their speeds will be slowed dramatically until the start of their next billing cycle. You’ll normally find that data threshold number within a company's phone plan information or at the bottom of the screen in small text. For our frequent data users it’s good to keep track of these things so you can avoid these slow speeds.

-> REALLY Wireless

We teased it in the intro but REALLY Wireless is the “the world’s first fully encrypted & private phone service.” Which already is a huge step up from AT&T’s service as, well, they were just breached this year. In this day and age it’s imperative that we advertise and provide security for people with an online presence. The amount of horror stories we come across of people who have had their life up-rooted because their digital footprints have been leaked is nothing we ever want to experience ourselves. REALLY Wireless wants to take the initiative into providing people with a cell phone plan that covers their tracks and prevents hackers, scammers, and ne'er-do-wells from stealing and using your personal online information. 

While traditional networks have dead zones, which are areas with no signal, and unsecure setups, REALLY doesn’t. They want to eliminate the digital divide by setting up initiatives like the G.O.A.T Program which is their way to give back by “giving away phone service to those who otherwise wouldn't have access, but also single moms, musicians, artists, teachers, firefighters and those who are seldom recognized.”

A very intriguing proposition, let’s explore more.

What the Coverage Looks Like from Both Providers

With AT&T you’re expected to get a pretty amazing level of coverage as they are one of the “top dogs.” In fact with all of their postpaid and prepaid plans, besides their Unlimited $40/mo prepaid plan, they offer their 5G coverage. There’s no need to pay more to get access to good 5G coverage with AT&T. If you’re comparing AT&T with their other two major competitors then you’ll be happy to know that they sit right in the middle overall. Verizon has the biggest 4G LTE reach, but T-Mobile takes the cake in 5G while AT&T is a nice balance of the two. Overall the few percentage differences between the three are miniscule in the long run. 

On their website you can view their Coverage Map in full where you’ll be able to zoom in and out to see how far their coverage extends and what it looks like where you live:

AT&T covers areas in the United States, along with parts of Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. 

As for REALLY, well they are a bit different than your traditional wireless provider.

They do have a digital mock up of a coverage map:

As REALLY says it best, “big wireless puts a few big towers in a city which creates super annoying deadzones.” All those cell towers that make AT&T and the other big wireless companies the gigantic empires they are do cause annoying dead zones and “No Coverage” areas. But with REALLY you’ll be able to be your own cell tower.

You’ll essentially be given a small radio which provides the signal you need to be on the REALLY network and when more people get the radios the signal strength increases. It’s DeWi or decentralized wifi. While traditional wireless providers are a part of “centralized” wireless, DeWi is powered by the people for the people. And although their DeWi network is only available in Austin, they will soon be expanding to other cities REALLY soon. Learn more about DeWi here. REALLY wants to disrupt the normal and create a path for those looking to shake up a new era of connectivity. 

How the Plans Compare: From Price to Features

Now’s the time to compare AT&T and REALLY Wireless’s phone plans. We will first go over AT&T as they have a lot more options than REALLY. First on the docket is AT&T’s postpaid plans:

Plus, they also offer two “value-friendly” plans which are:

Like most things with big wireless, these prices aren’t exactly the finalized list pricing you’ll end up paying. The listed prices above are only if you sign up for AutoPay and they don’t include extra taxes and fees so be aware of that when you’re planning out your monthly budget. 

Now since REALLY Wireless is prepaid, we figured we show you AT&T’s prepaid wireless plans as well:

With AT&T you get your typical phone plans perks like international benefits, hotspot access, and their security app, but overall for security purposes only REALLY seems to have got them beat, let’s take a look:

As you can see from a quick glance REALLY Wireless keeps to their word with both of their plans being fully encrypted and private. Never worry about your digital footprint being traced when you sign up for REALLY. If your online safety is super important to you then REALLY Wireless must be very intriguing. 

They state that there’s “no spying, no tracking, no hacking. we never sell your data, because we don’t have it.” – a great breath of fresh air in this digital age of streaming, sharing, and frequent password changing. 

REALLY Wireless works via eSIM. Best for dual-SIM capable phones, (which most phones are nowadays). So if you choose to sign up you will be able to install REALLY’s eSIM to access their network.

There’s no physical SIM card to purchase, it’s all digital and if that sounds like something that might be a bit confusing, don’t worry as there’s a real person at REALLY ready to help you through the process of downloading and installing your eSIM.

The Verdict

It’s no secret AT&T may have more versatile options when it comes to phone plans and coverage options, but if you’re someone who is conscious about their online presence and looking to become a part of the DeWi movement then REALLY Wireless is the best place to start.

For our heavy-data users: AT&T and for our internet-conscious users: REALLY all the way.

And if you want to compare and contrast AT&T and REALLY Wireless to over 1,200 other phone plans so you know you’re getting the service that’s right for you, then make sure to check out the REALLY compare page which allows you to look at pricing, coverage, what phone plans are available, current deals and steals, and how you can make the most of your potential phone bill.