AT&T Launches “AT&T Turbo” – Providing The Option For Higher Priority Data For $7/Month

Update: In November 2024, AT&T added a Turbo indicator to the iPhone Status Bar for Turbo subscribers.

On May 2, 2024, AT&T launched a new optional service called "AT&T Turbo" that promises to allow customers to "optimize their network" and provide "enhanced data connectivity for real-time responsiveness."

Behind all that marketing-speak, AT&T Turbo provides a very basic and potentially valuable benefit for cellular users - higher network priority - for the additional cost of $7/month per line.

AT&T Turbo Video

AT&T Turbo Details

AT&T Turbo is not a plan; it's an optional service that can be turned on or off monthly on select consumer postpaid plans in an AT&T customer's online account portal or the myAT&T app. It costs $7/month per line and requires a 5G-capable smartphone on that line of service.

Customers can activate Turbo for the months they want to use it and deactivate it for the months they don't, all on a per-line basis. It's eligible for the following plans:

• Unlimited Premium PL - Currently available
  • No deprioritization
  • 60GB of hotspot
• Unlimited Extra EL - Currently available
  • Deprioritized after 75GB
  • 30GB of hotspot
• Unlimited Elite - Retired in 2022
  • No deprioritization
  • 40GB of hotspot

Here's a chart on AT&T's website showing the currently available plan options:

It's for smartphones only and requires a 5G smartphone - the Turbo terms of service exclude all non-smartphone devices (tablets, wearables, connected cars, hotspots, etc.)

So what does Turbo do exactly? In short, it raises that line's network priority by one tier for the plan’s premium and mobile hotspot data allotments.

Think of it as the equivalent of getting access to the HOV lane on a highway. If the highway is congested, you have priority access and can go faster. This is the biggest advantage of having higher priority on a cellular network - higher priority means faster speeds than those in the slow lane. Turbo puts you - for a price - at a higher priority than the majority of other users on AT&T 's network, and that means better performance on a congested tower.

But the flip side is that higher priority doesn't make much difference if the tower isn't congested. It's like paying for toll/HOV lane access when all the regular lanes aren't crowded - you're not getting much, if any, advantage.

It's important to note, however, that it only works for the plan's premium and mobile hotspot data. It does not provide additional data or coverage, and your plan's other management policies and restrictions, including any video throttle feature, will apply. So, on the Unlimited Extra EL plan, for example, data will still be deprioritized after 75GB of use, even with this feature.

Additionally, AT&T states the feature, once activated, can take up to 15 minutes to apply, and it only works in the US on AT&T's owned network, not while roaming.

In November 2024, AT&T added a Turbo indicator on iPhone Status Bar for Turbo subscribers.

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Concluding Thoughts

So, is AT&T Turbo worth it?

The nice thing about AT&T Turbo is that it's optional. If you find yourself in a congested area and want to get higher priority on your 5G smartphone, then it's easy enough to enable, and the $7 for the month could be well worth it.

But like everything else with cellular, real-world performance will always be location and situation-dependent. AT&T Turbo will not be the magic easy button for high-speed data nirvana. Additionally, it has limitations - it only works on 5G smartphones on the most recent premium consumer postpaid smartphone plans, not data lines or grandfathered plans that many nomads, RVers and boaters rely on.

Still, it's hard to complain about having the option to pay a modest toll to get into the fast lane for a month.