Could 5G Home Internet Be the Solution to Your Household’s Broadband Needs? – CNET


5G speeds

Cable internet — whether coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable or a hybrid of the two — relies on wires to transmit data from a central hub into your home. But 5G home internet is a fixed wireless solution that uses an internet gateway to connect your home using radio frequencies to connect to a cell tower or data hub nearby. 
Lastly, Starry also offers a “30-Day Happy Interneting Guarantee” that features a full refund if you aren’t satisfied with the service and cancel within the first 30 days. 

What is 5G home internet? 

5G speeds
Starry Internet is available in Boston; Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Los Angeles; New York City and Washington, DC. Its 2022 expansion roadmap includes approximately 30 million households in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Memphis, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle.

Is 5GHz the same thing as 5G home internet?

Now playing: Watch this: 5G: The next five years

Coaxial cable with connector
Let’s not sugarcoat this: 5G home internet service is not yet widely available. While the list of cities seems to be expanding nearly every month, most are larger US cities. 
Taylor Martin/CNET

How is 5G home internet different from fiber or cable internet?

Read our Verizon 5G Home Internet overview.
In theory, 5G should enable a speedy connection that will match or better what you get with cable or fiber internet. But when it comes to the reality of 5G home internet, that’s simply not the case. To increase the reliability and coverage of the 5G internet service, most providers rely on a mix of millimeter-wave, low-band and midband technology — as well as 4G LTE in some cases — and this means home internet customers won’t see the real high-end capabilities of 5G at present.

Which ISPs can provide 5G home internet?

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Verizon’s 5G internet service, which uses ultrawideband 5G technology, boasts max download speeds of up to 1 gigabit and average speeds of around 300Mbps. However, upload speeds are not symmetrical and will plateau at 50Mbps or less because Verizon does not exclusively use the millimeter-wave technology but a mix of low-band, midband and millimeter-wave.
Starry is a relatively new player on the ISP field. The company, which started in 2016, does not lean into the 5G connection: It does not use 5G NR radio technology, which is a focus of mobile providers, but it does use millimeter-wave technology as a critical aspect of delivering fixed wireless home internet to customers. “We operate in 24GHz and 37GHz spectrum bands and our network technology is the same across all our markets,” a Starry spokesperson said.
The first thing to be said is what we always say regarding ISPs. No matter how good the service, it’s all moot if it’s not available at your address. 5G technology itself is still being rolled out across the country, so we should expect to see some bumps in the road as that effort continues.

Starry Internet plans and pricing

Plan Max speeds Monthly rate Equipment fee Data cap Contract
Starry Basic 50Mbps download, 50Mbps upload $30 None None None
Starry Plus 200Mbps download, 100Mbps upload $50 None None None
Starry Pro 500Mbps download, 250Mbps upload $65 None None None
Starry Gigabit 1,000Mbps download, 500Mbps upload $80 None None None
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T Mobile

Read our Starry home internet overview.
T-Mobile Home Internet is the most widely available service among the three providers we’ve highlighted. While Verizon said earlier this year that its 5G home internet service is now available to 30 million homes, T-Mobile has leapfrogged that by expanding the service availability of its fixed wireless service to 40 million households. Yet T-Mobile acknowledges it does not have unlimited availability across those locations due to network capacity and a limited inventory of its router. To see the expansive list of metro areas, you can check out this T-Mobile Home Internet PDF.
My CNET colleague Eli Blumenthal breaks down the basics of 5G here. Millimeter-wave technology uses much higher frequencies than previous generations and subsequently provides much faster speeds and connections. But those higher, gigabit speeds come with a price — the data doesn’t travel the same distance as 4G and has more trouble with obstructions. To combat that, midband technology, which offers speeds averaging between 300 and 400 megabits per second, increases the coverage area provided by millimeter-wave. Finally, low-band 5G offers a range similar to 4G, but with a speed that tops out between 100 and 200Mbps.

T-Mobile Home Internet plans and pricing

Plan Max speeds Monthly price Equipment fee Data cap Contract
T-Mobile Home Internet 33-182Mbps download, 6-23Mbps upload $50 ($30 for eligible Magenta MAX mobile customers) None None None
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Sarah Tew/CNET

How fast is 5G home internet?

Verizon’s 5G Home Internet is currently offered in approximately 900 markets. That means that although the total number of households in which it is available is less than T-Mobile, it does cover more cities.

How much does 5G home internet cost?

Read our T-Mobile Home Internet overview.

Verizon 5G Home Internet plans and prices

Plan Max speeds Monthly price Equipment fee Data cap Contract Price guarantee
Verizon 5G Home 300-940Mbps download, 50Mbps upload $50 ($25 for qualifying Verizon Unlimited mobile customers) None None None 2 years
Verizon 5G Home Plus 300-940Mbps download, 50Mbps upload $70 ($35 for qualifying Verizon Unlimited mobile customers) None None None 3 years

Simply put, 5G stands for fifth generation. Fifth generation of what, you ask? The fifth generation of wireless data networks. You’re probably most familiar with hearing 5G used to describe better mobile communications and speedier phones. You’re not wrong: 5G networks, which use different radio frequencies than previous generations, aim to provide faster data speeds with much less lag or delay than we had with 4G.

Cable, fiber and DSL home internet plans require wires that connect your home to the provider’s grid. With a fixed wireless service like 5G, your home connects to the provider’s network over the air.
The monthly price includes unlimited data, free equipment and installation, and no contracts. It’s also the only 5G home internet provider listed here that features symmetrical or near-symmetrical download and upload speeds, similar to what you’d find with a fiber internet service.

Where is 5G home internet service available?

Coaxial cable with connector
As stated already, 5G is still being deployed across the country. Due to that, the number of providers currently offering any 5G home internet plan is relatively limited. For example, AT&T provides a 5G mobile service, but its fixed wireless solution does not currently utilize its 5G network. So, right now, your main options for 5G home internet are Starry, T-Mobile and Verizon. Let’s explore what each offers.
Still, 5G home internet availability is increasing at a pretty rapid pace. The affordable, straightforward pricing is even more appealing — and what jumps off the page for me. Time will tell if that trend holds as availability continues to expand. Still, it would be a real step forward if 5G could emerge as a viable broadband option for traditionally underserved parts of rural America. As CNET alum Rick Broida put it after testing T-Mobile’s service, “imperfection is a lot more tolerable when you’re paying less than half what you were before.”
It’s no secret that many of us are tired of being tied to internet service providers with cumbersome contracts, low speeds, restrictive terms and rising fees. All too often, though, we have few options and fewer alternatives. 

Does 5G home internet make sense for you?

Most ISPs deliver home internet service via phone lines or cables that connect your home to a more extensive network. That includes common internet connection types, like digital subscriber line, coaxial cable and fiber-optic internet. Those are all wired connections from your provider to your home.
Nope. One common mistake is to see the “5GHz” setting on your Wi-Fi router and assume you have access to 5G. Wi-Fi routers also use short-range radio frequencies — typically either 2.4GHz or 5GHz — to transmit your internet signal to connected devices within your home. So 5GHz is one of the band options for your home’s Wi-Fi system, but it’s not the same as 5G, a cellular technology that uses higher-frequency waves.

5G home internet FAQs

It simply means generation. In other words, 5G is the fifth generation of cellular technology.

T-Mobile’s home internet service includes all setup fees and taxes. There is no annual contract or data cap. Its current deal features Paramount Plus free for one year ( a month version with limited ads) and, for eligible Magenta MAX customers, half off the price of YouTube TV for the first year.

What does the ‘G’ stand for in 5G?

T-Mobile Home Internet features the lowest broadband speeds among our listed providers. That’s because it wavers between 4G LTE and 5G. It’s not exclusively 5G. T-Mobile “anticipates” that most customers will average between 33 and 182Mbps download speeds. CNET tested T-Mobile’s home internet service and we hit a max of 132Mbps on the service.

Verizon also offers many promos and deals to sweeten the pot for potential customers. First, it provides an early termination fee credit offer to give qualifying customers a bill credit of up to 0 if they switch from their current ISP and are charged an ETF. Second, 5G Home Plus customers get a free year of the Disney Bundle (Disney Plus, ESPN Plus and Hulu) while 5G Home cuts that to six months. Lastly, customers with qualifying Verizon Unlimited mobile plans will get 50% off the monthly cost of either plan.

Verizon 5G Home Internet pricing is a month for a two-year price guarantee or a month to lock in the price for three years, plus some extra perks. Either way, it’s an all-in price that includes equipment, setup fees and taxes, and like all other Verizon plans, it requires no contracts or data caps.

5G home internet, on the other hand, is a type of fixed wireless internet service, which means that the connection between your provider and your home is not a wired one. With 5G, your provider will need to install an indoor or outdoor 5G receiver at your house to pick up the signal. It’s similar to satellite internet, but instead of beaming in a signal from satellites orbiting in the night sky, it’s relaying information from a much closer wireless hub. Even though you’re using the same 5G network as your mobile phone, the gateway is specific to your location and cannot be used elsewhere.

Could 5G be the answer? The technology powering the newest phones also wants to tackle our home broadband needs. The earliest 5G home internet plans, available from names like Starry, T-Mobile and Verizon, offer respectable speeds at a straightforward price — but availability is limited to select cities and regions. Let’s dig in and see how it works, how fast it gets, what it costs and where it’s available.

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