AT&T West → [General] Speed upgrades for legacy static customer

I've had AT&T (Pacbell, SBC, AT&T anyway) DSL on this line in central San Francisco for well over 10 years. At the time of installation, DSL was quite new to the area, and Mac support was in the very early stages. As a result, I was given a setup with a single publicly routable static IP address and no PPPoE. There is voice service on the line. The physical connection is through a POTS splitter at the demarcation point and a dedicated wiring run to a DSL jack upstairs. This connects to a good old Alcatel 1000, which has lasted far longer than expected. That connects to an AirPort Extreme (2nd gen).

All told, I've been relatively satisfied with the service, and have been very pleased to have a static IP and to have an always-on connection without messing with PPPoE. The only problem is the speed.

AT&T's website says I'm signed up for the Pro plan and paying $35/month (yikes!). AT&T's speed test is reporting 2.58/0.41Mbps, which is barely enough for 720p streaming on YouTube if there is absolutely no other use of the connection. I pretty consistently top out at about 325 KB/s, or 2.60 Mbps.

I'd like to go to Elite (which is supposedly only $25/month anyway) and even faster if possible. The only catch is that I'd really hate to give up my static IP and this well-functioning setup in the process. Does anyone know whether it is possible to make this plan switch without any other changes to my account and configuration?

Alternatively, what are my options to get a faster connection with minimal fuss? The only U-verse options on the website are the same basic/express/pro/elite packages, which seems to indicate that it's just re-branded DSL. Is it possible to get ADSL2+ service? I've been tempted by Sonic Fusion, but it would be more expensive and I'd have to go through the whole hassle of switching. Can AT&T offer anything remotely close?

U-Verse internet would be either ADSL2+ or VDSL2, depending if CO or VRAD based. Speeds available depend on distance from the DSLAM either in the CO (ADSL2+) or VRAD (VDSL2)

said by underscoreit:

I'd like to go to Elite (which is supposedly only $25/month anyway) and even faster if possible

The new customer price promotion for elite with home phone service is $19.95 a month for 12 months
The regular price is $48.00 a month

said by underscoreit:

The only catch is that I'd really hate to give up my static IP and this well-functioning setup in the process

You should ask this question in the att direct forum

said by underscoreit:

what are my options to get a faster connection with minimal fuss? The only U-verse options on the website are the same basic/express/pro/elite packages, which seems to indicate that it's just re-branded DSL

If the options you posted are the results of using the att availability tool that's all you can get
There are two types of uverse internet adsl and vdsl
The uverse adsl actually uses adsl2+

Thanks! I figured there had to be a catch, but that particular qualifier is incredibly well hidden. AT&T's DSL upgrade tool is telling me that there's no DSL service available at all at my location, even though the "new customer" availability tool is offering these intro prices.Will do if no one here happens to know. I just didn't want to bug them without trying to find out publicly first.Ok that's what I was figuring. The uverse availability tool is simply listing basic/express/pro/elite, which means that it would just be the same service I have now but under a new name?

How is Sonic able to offer 20Mbps ADSL2+ at my location (7,731ft from the CO according to Sonic's availability tool) when AT&T is only offering 6Mbps ADSL? I certainly will go check out the Sonic forum, but am just trying to understand my options here.

Thanks for your help.

FYI - if you upgrade your speed, you will lose your legacy status and will be moved to sticky static (pppoe static).