Affordable Connectivity Program
Find 5G home internet providers
Compare 5G home internet providers
| Provider | 5G speeds up to | Price | Data limit | Availability | Order online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verizon | 1,000 Mbps | $25.00–$70.00/mo. | None | 900 US cities | |
| T-Mobile | 115 Mbps | $50.00/mo. | None | 600 US cities | View Plans |
| Ultra | Up to 115 Mbps | $54.99–$144.99/mo. | 25–100 GB/mo. | 600 US cities | View Plans |
| Starry Internet | 200 Mbps | $30.00/mo. | None | Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, and Washington, DC | View Plans |
Verizon’s 5G Home Internet service is the most widely available right now. It also has the best prices: you can get it for just $25 a month if you also subscribe to a qualifying Verizon Unlimited cellular plan. Its plans also come with a bunch of extra perks.
T-Mobile Home Internet is also a worthy option, with easy setup and no extra fees for installation or equipment. T-Mobile’s 5G home internet plan comes with a free, yearlong trial of Paramount+, and the price drops to $30 per month if you have a Magenta Max phone plan.
Ultra Home Internet uses T-Mobile’s network, and it’s mainly geared towards rural customers. Its prices are higher than other 5G internet providers, and plans are priced by monthly data allotment rather than speed. We recommend Ultra if you live in a remote area where your only other option is satellite internet.
Starry Internet doesn’t advertise itself as 5G internet, but it basically works the same way as Verizon’s and T-Mobile’s 5G internet setups. Starry offers unlimited data and fixed rates, and it’s available for apartment dwellers in a handful of big American cities.
Pros of 5G home internet
Flat rates and no extra fees—5G internet providers compete with much more established fiber and cable internet providers. One way they draw in customers is by selling 5G internet at a fixed rate without any extra-fee shenanigans that traditional home internet plans are notorious for. So you win out with no extra fees for installation or equipment, no need to sign up for an annual contract, and no monthly limit on your data usage.
Speeds competitive with cable and fiber—As far as performance goes, 5G home internet delivers roughly the same speeds as a modest cable or low-end fiber plan. 5G home internet speeds usually fall in the range of 100 Mbps to 300 Mbps, but they sometimes peak at up to 1,000 Mbps. That makes it a great option for mid-sized households, giving you enough bandwidth to support streaming, gaming, Zoom meetings, and more on three to five devices.
Lots of perks on some plans—Verizon is especially generous with extra perks for customers considering a switch to 5G home internet. Those who already have a qualifying mobile plan from Verizon can get 5G home internet at half price; plus, the plan comes with a six month trial of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.
T-Mobile hooks customers up with extra goodies too. You get a Paramount+ trial with its 5G plan and customers signed up for the T-Mobile Magenta Max phone plan can get the internet plan for $30 per month.
Cons of 5G home internet
Limited availability—5G home internet is a relatively new service: it’s just now coming into wider use after a couple years of small-scale beta testing, so availability is quite limited. Verizon is in the lead, offering its 5G Home Internet plans in 900 cities across the country.
5G home internet is sure to expand in popularity and use over the coming years. But it’s likely to remain centered around big cities and urban areas, with less of a footprint (or possibly none at all) in rural areas.
Fluctuating speeds—Since 5G internet works over a wireless 5G network, its speeds aren’t as consistent as wired services like fiber or cable internet. You’re more likely to experience slowdowns over a 5G connection due to neighborhood-wide network congestion—and other factors beyond your control might also impact your speeds, including inclement weather or geographic landmarks like hills and trees. That said, if you already get steady cell service where you live, you’re likely to get steady 5G internet service too.
Best 5G home internet plans
| Plan | Download speed | Prices | Perks | Order online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verizon 5G Home | 300–1,000 Mbps | $25.00/mo. (for Verizon Unlimited phone plan subscribers) or $50.00/mo. (for nonsubscribers, w/ autopay)* | Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for 6 mos., Verizon Stream TV device included, 2–yr. price guarantee | Zip |
| T-Mobile Home Internet | 35–115 Mbps | $50.00/mo.† | Paramount+ for 12 mos. | View Plans |
| Ultra Home Internet 100 GB | Up to 115 Mbps | $144.99/mo.‡ | N/A | View Plans |
| Starry Internet | Up to 200 Mbps | $30.00/mo. | No extra fees for installation or equipment | View Plans |
*w/ Auto Pay. Available in select areas.
†w/ Auto Pay. Regulatory fees included in monthly price for qualified accounts. See full terms.
‡Price includes $5 Auto Renew discount, starting on the second month. 5G service not available in all areas and requires a capable device.
Verizon 5G Home Internet is definitely the best plan you can get, since it has the best prices, fastest speeds, and most perks. But T-Mobile 5G Home Internet and Starry Internet are solid options as well. All these plans come at fixed rates—you don’t need to worry about 12-month contracts, data caps, or extra fees for equipment or installation.
Ultra Home Internet is a slightly different beast. It’s more in line with old-school satellite internet and fixed wireless providers. Its prices are higher than Verizon’s and T-Mobile’s plans, and you do have data caps. We recommend picking Ultra only if you live in a rural area with limited internet infrastructure.
Verizon 5G Home Internet
Verizon still seems to have some technical issues to work out with its 5G Home Internet service, but we love how affordable this 5G option is. You can get speeds of up to 300 Mbps for just $50 a month—and half that if you also have a qualifying Verizon phone plan. Verizon doesn’t impose hidden fees, data caps or annual contracts, and in areas where 5G isn’t available you may be able to get the similarly-excellent 4G LTE Home Internet.
When will Verizon 5G Home Internet be available in my area?
If you live in a major city or metro area then it’s possible you can get access to 5G Home Internet within the next six months to a year. Verizon has been rolling out C-band 5G (a fast version of 5G that supports 5G home internet) in dozens of cities throughout 2022. Verizon plans to unleash C-band 5G to another batch of cities beginning in 2023.
Pro tip:
Read our full review of Verizon 5G Home Internet for more details on how it performs and whether it’s worth your money.
T-Mobile 5G Home Internet
T-Mobile uses different frequency spectrum on its 5G compared to Verizon, so its 5G Wi-Fi speeds are advertised at a slower rate. But T-Mobile 5G Home Internet still delivers excellent service at the same price as Verizon’s basic 5G internet plan. And T-Mobile offers the same bonuses, including unlimited data and no hidden fees or annual contracts.
When will T-Mobile 5G Home Internet be available in my area?
T-Mobile plans to roll out C-band 5G in dozens of markets in December 2023, but in the mean time it’s unveiling slightly different types of 5G in cities and towns across the United States. Keep an eye out for 5G to arrive in your nearest city or metro area at some point in the next six months or year. If you live in a rural area, unfortunately it’s not likely you will have access to 5G internet any time soon. But you can look into getting a 4G LTE–based internet service.
How 5G home internet works
5G home internet uses a wireless signal from a 5G network to deliver internet to your home. A 5G small-cell transmitter on the street sends a wireless radio signal to a 5G router installed in your home, which then gives you an internet connection.
Traditional broadband internet types like fiber and cable rely on cables buried beneath the ground to provide a wired connection to your home. By contrast, 5G internet is a wireless technology provided by a cellular company.
This service requires new 5G technology and a huge buildup of 5G infrastructure—both of which are somewhat rare in these early days of 5G deployment. In cases where 5G coverage isn’t widely available, a 5G internet provider also depends on 4G LTE networks to provide your internet connection.
What types of 5G are there?
There are three types of radio frequencies used on a 5G mobile network: low band, C-band, and millimeter wave. All three bands are used for mobile phones to really boost 5G coverage, but 5G internet mostly uses C-band and millimeter-wave 5G because the speeds are a lot faster.
- Low-band 5G has speeds similar to 4G and works over a long range, perfect for rural areas.
- C-band 5G has a shorter range than low-band 5G, but it can hit speeds of 100 Mbps or faster over distances up to about six miles.
- Millimeter-wave 5G works only in contained areas (like buildings or stadiums), so it gives you the lowest 5G coverage. But it’s extremely fast, capable of surpassing 1 Gbps speeds.
C-band and millimeter-wave frequencies hadn’t been widely used in communications technology prior to 5G cellular rollouts—although the frequencies did have some other commercial and industrial uses. So they make for less-congested mobile networks and greater capacity for carrying data. That makes for fast speeds on your 5G home internet setup.
5G technology also incorporates innovations like massive MIMO and beamforming, which help reduce network congestion and streamline communications between the mobile 5G network and your router at home.
5G home internet FAQ
What is 5G?
5G is a form of wireless network technology. Like 4G, it’s a suite of radio frequencies and cellular technologies designed to deliver phone and internet data to peoples’ mobile devices. 5G incorporates new networking infrastructure and a much wider spectrum of radio bands to boost speeds and increase capacity.
How is 5G internet different from 4G LTE internet?
In addition to 5G internet, some cellular companies also have 4G LTE home internet, which works basically the same way. But 4G LTE internet uses 4G mobile networks, delivering slower speeds. 4G LTE home internet is also typically marketed for rural users who live in remote areas where other internet options aren’t widespread, whereas 5G home internet is marketed mostly to urban users who want an alternative to cable or fiber internet.
What is 5G Wi-Fi?
5G Wi-Fi is the same as 5G Home Internet, it’s just a different term to describe the same type of connection. 5G Wi-Fi works over a fixed wireless connection and uses cellular signals from a radio tower to provide Wi-Fi in your home.
What internet speeds do you get from 5G Wi-Fi?
5G Wi-Fi typically delivers internet speeds of 100–300 Mbps. Some plans can get up to 1,000 Mbps, while others are more in the range of 35 Mbps.
Cellular carriers and providers that have 5G home internet tend to advertise somewhat fuzzy speed figures because it’s harder to predict internet speeds over a wireless connection compared to a wired one.
What kind of technology does 5G use?
5G technology includes novel tools like massive MIMO and beamforming, which allow 5G networks to deliver faster, targeted cellular signals to customers. 5G also uses a wider range of radio frequencies, including C-band and millimeter-wave frequencies that previously had much fewer commercial and industrial uses.
A 5G mobile network also uses small-cell transmitters, basically smaller versions of cell towers. Small cells propagate millimeter-wave radio signals, which can deliver data to your phone at gigabit-plus speeds in densely populated areas. Cellular carriers have also started using software-based networking architecture to make their 5G networks more flexible. The ultimate goal is to use 5G technology like these innovations for many more functions outside of cell phones and internet—including robots, automated factories, and self-driving cars.
What is a 5G base station?
A 5G base station is a radio transmitter that provides a 5G signal to wireless devices like your phone. Some 5G base stations are similar to radio towers for 4G LTE waves, but cellular companies are also building up “small cell” base stations for millimeter-wave 5G, which tend to be much smaller and more widely distributed compared to normal cell towers.
What is network slicing?
5G network slicing is a form of network architecture that uses physical architecture to support multiple independent virtual networks. The point of network slicing is to let a mobile carrier use the same infrastructure to support a variety of services, ranging from mobile phone and internet to automated cars.
Related resources about 5G home internet
- Verizon 5G Home Internet
- T-Mobile 5G Network Availability
- AT&T 5G Network Availability
- What Is C-Band 5G and Why Does It Matter to You?
- 5G Internet Providers