Can a Mobile Internet Company Meet Your Household Needs?

T-Mobile is one of the first cellular companies to use its 5G network to offer home internet service. Is this fixed wireless service good enough that you can say goodbye to your overpriced cable service?

T-Mobile 5G Home Internet

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the T-Mobile offering is how fast it rolled out. T-Mobile began its pilot program in January 2021 and announced that it was offering the mobile internet service nationwide in April. This is a company that has long had plans to take market share from the cable companies, but the actual announcement was sudden, and the issue-free rollout surprised even the most optimistic.

The Price Is Right

One thing that T-Mobile really has going for it is the price of its offering: $50 a month. Most Americans pay about twice that to their cable internet service providers, and in some areas, $50 per month is what passes for a low-income plan. If the speeds are good enough and the service is consistent, then T-Mobile can expect to cut into the cable company market share with ease.

No Long-Term Contracts or Data Caps Either

Price is not where the selling points end. T-Mobile does not require a contract. Every customer is automatically on a month-to-month plan and can cancel at any time. A potential caveat is if T-Mobile eventually offers to buy you out of your existing cable plan, but that was not on the table as of this writing. Finally, there are no data caps. Stream Netflix or GoLatino TV as much as you want. Video conference as much as you want. T-Mobile will never charge you extra or throttle your connection. Did we mention that there are no equipment fees either?

Speeds Are Probably Less Than Your Cable Service

There has to be a catch, right? It depends where you live, but for many, yes. T-Mobile only offers one plan for its Home Internet. Download speeds range from 25 to 110 Mbps. Upload speeds range from 6 to 23 Mbps. Those speeds look pretty good when you focus on the upper range, but T-Mobile only guarantees the lower number. Speeds in your area will depend. Perhaps even more problematic is that speeds in your area may vary based on the time of day and other factors.

Is the Service Available to You?

In April 2021, T-Mobile announce that it was offering T-Mobile Home Internet nationwide. But in this context, nationwide is limited to where T-Mobile has the necessary coverage. At present, that translates to about 30 million homes across 40 states. That makes it the most widely available 5G-based home Internet service but probably not to the level you think of when you hear the term nationwide.

If T-Mobile is not yet available in your area, when will it be? The next step on the T-Mobile agenda is to expand to 10 million more homes in rural areas. Rural America is where T-Mobile stands to earn the greatest number of new customers. That will be its focus for now. If you live in an urban area or suburb and do not have access to the service, it may be a while.

Will It Get Faster?

Isn’t 5G supposed to be fast? Will 5G home Internet service get faster? The answer is yes, but it is anyone’s guess as to when. The promise of 5G has yet to be fulfilled, and T-Mobile, AT&T and even the newcomer Dish are all struggling to deliver on the hopes that consumers have for 5G.