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On Dec. 21, the AT&T 5G hotspot will be available to customers (sort of)

July 22, 2025

Unless another carrier pulls out all the stops in the next few days, it looks likeAT&Twill be the first wireless provider in the United States tooffer consumer access to a 5G network.

On August 25, 2025, AT&T will make theAT&T 5G hotspotavailable to consumers, which will act as a bridge between its commercial 5G network and your current smartphone. The hotspot is made by NETGEAR and is officially called the NETGEAR Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot.

A promotional image of the AT&T 5G Hotspot, made by NETGEAR.

Granted, the hotspot will only work in certain areas of the U.S. According to AT&T, those areas are:

Keep in mind that even if you live in one of these areas it’s not like the entire city is blanketed in 5G access. The company says the AT&T 5G network is now live “in parts” of the 12 cities above.

If you live in those areas and are ready to grab your AT&T 5G hotspot, we have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that on December 21, AT&T will offer the hotspot and 5G network access to select businesses and consumers at no cost for up to 90 days. AT&T did not make it clear whether these “select” customers will be chosen by the company, through a sign-up sheet, or through another method.

The bad news is that the country at large will not be able to walk into a store and buy the NETGEAR Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot until Spring of 2019. When the device does go up for sale, it will cost you $499 upfront and allow you to access 15GB of 5G data for $70 per month.

What do you think? Will you buy the AT&T 5G hotspot when it is made available to you? Let us know in the comments.

NEXT:This is Samsung’s 5G smartphone prototype

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