AT&T offers home and mobile in one package

Recently, AT&T revamped its plans entirely with its new Value 2.0, Extra 2.0, and Premium 2.0 lineup. While the new plans aren’t a massive downgrade by any means, they are also far from an upgrade. In the end, it’s more of a rearrangement of terms that is better for some, worse for others.

It seems that its new core plans were just the beginning, though, as AT&T has now announced yet another new plan under the name OneConnect.

The new plan combines unlimited wireless internet with AT&T’s home fiber internet service, and is only offered to new AT&T customers. There are a few different versions of the OneConnect plan:

• OneConnect Individual ($90 a month): This plan includes one wireless phone line, one Gig fiber home internet, and the ability to connect up to three tablets and watches at no extra cost.
• OneConnect Duo ($120 a month): As you might have guessed, this supports two wireless phone lines and gives you an additional six connected lines for tablets and watches.
• OneConnet Family ($225 a month): This plan includes 10 phone lines and an additional 10 tablets or watches.

You might be looking at these prices and concluding that they aren’t half bad. I will admit that the Family plan is especially enticing for the money, and even more so once you learn these plans have taxes and fees included.

The math works out to about $22.50 per line if you actually have 10 lines to bring. Keep in mind the value proposition is obviously less for those who only need around 3-6 lines, as you’ll still pay the same flat price.

It would be an understatement to say that $22.50 per line is insanely cheap when paired with fiber internet speeds. It’s unprecedented. Of course, it’s important to realize these plans have some real limitations that might be a dealbreaker for some.

First, it appears that the OneConnect plans are BYOD, so no special phone promotions and a process that requires you to buy your own devices or bring existing hardware. The fine print also clarifies that none of these mobile lines include any hotspot access at all.

AT&T has also been very careful to leave out details on plan priority. That said, it has an official chart comparing its plan to how much you’d pay to combine internet and home with its competitors. Both the T-Mobile and Verizon sections specifically mention entry-tier plans, so it’s a pretty safe bet this is a deprioritized plan.

While AT&T’s Value 2.0 includes a limited amount of high-speed access, this plan seems to be closer to AT&T’s older, more basic entry plan. For those who consume intensive amounts of data mostly in a home setting, this might be worth it. But deprioritized 5G isn’t for everyone.

The cynic in me sees an obvious pattern happening at AT&T, and for many of the big three in general. Plans that sound amazing, offer unique extras, but then hide real gotchas that some customers will overlook, only to find that it’s too late or too difficult to reverse course. Regardless of the truth, I’d carefully consider this one.

If you have a large family and really don’t care about higher priority data, as you are mostly on a hotspot or home internet connection anyhow? This could be an amazing deal. Just be sure you understand what you’re getting into.