Best 5G Home Internet Providers

5G home internet serves as the stepping stone to non-attachment. Developed and deployed to offer a forward-thinking solution to connectivity issues in far and removed areas of America, 5G home internet is fast, wireless, and available nationwide. USA’s 5 best 5G home internet providers are opening the doors to unrestricted internet access through their wireless transmission model so you can be as mobile, as agile, and as versatile as possible. 

Top Five 5G Home Internet Providers 

Verizon 5G Home Internet Plans

All the prices shown in the table above are after AutoPay & paperless billing discounts. 

Verizon was the first American telecommunications company to introduce 5G home internet on a commercial scale. In the first round, its 5G Ultra Wideband network was deployed in 30 cities, including the nation’s economic hubs, like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Boston. Slowly, the service was expanded to 96 cities, bringing the footprint to a total of 38 states. 

The Verizon 5G home internet plans are available to 200 million people, and in a short span of 4 years, Verizon has accomplished its target by sealing the deal with 2.3 million customers. 

Verizon offers two month-to-month plans for its wireless 5G home internet service. The standalone price of the Verizon 5G Home plan is $50 per month (with AutoPay and paperless billing). But if you bundle the internet plan with a Verizon Wireless 5G Unlimited phone line, the monthly fee reduces to $35. You can get 300 Mbps of download speed and up to 10 Mbps of upload speed with unlimited data and no contract service. The Verizon 5G Home plan includes a free compatible 5G router and a 2-year price guarantee. It is best suited for HD video streaming, casual gaming, and remote work. 

The Verizon 5G Home Plus plan is curated for luxe customers. For as low as $45 per month, subscribers can enjoy blistering-fast gigabit download speed, 50 Mbps of upload speed, unlimited data, and contract-free service. The plan comes with a 3-year price guarantee, wireless router, cloud storage, and a ‘premium extra’ freebie (NFL Sunday ticket or a Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Go) to offer you an ultimate first-class experience.   

AT&T 5G Home Internet Plan

AT&T has entered the 5G home internet market with a bang. Its newly launched AT&T Internet Air is available in 16 metros, transmitting moderately fast 5G wireless home internet to over 500,000 customers. 

The plan is priced at $55 per month and promises to deliver a download speed of up to 140 Mbps and an upload speed of 25 Mbps. AT&T Internet Air’s 5G home internet speeds are fast enough for multi-device connectivity on up to 20 screens. You do not have to worry about data overage fees, equipment leases, second-year price increases, and annual contracts because AT&T Internet Air offers a hassle-free, all-in service. 

Moreover, you can avail of a $20 discount each month by combining your AT&T Internet Air with an eligible AT&T Wireless 5G mobile plan. Whether you grab the bundle basket or enjoy the simplicity of high-speed cordless internet, you are bound to get optimal cybersecurity through the AT&T ActiveArmor suite. The free web security pack blocks malicious pages, activates VPN, sends threat alerts, and monitors email IDs to shield you from the abusers of the internet. 

T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Plan

T-Mobile’s request to use the Sub-6 5G spectrum, commonly known as the mid-band, was approved in 2021 for the dissemination of 5G home internet service to the masses. The usage of medium-frequency radio waves meant that T-Mobile could widen its footprint and make the service available to more than 310 million people for a fixed price of $50 per month. T-Mobile’s Sub-6 5G signals are accessible in 50 states, covering over 30 million homes. In that regard, T-Mobile can rightly be recognized as the “nation’s most widely available 5G home internet provider”. 

The T-Mobile 5G Home Internet plan costs $50 per month (with AutoPay and e-receipt billing method). Customers can expect up to 245 Mbps on the downstream channel and 23 Mbps on the upstream channel. T-Mobile claims that these speeds can easily support up to 64 devices on the network and are ideal for non-stop streaming, gaming, and surfing. The plan includes unlimited data allowance, wireless gateway, a 15-day free trial, weekly ‘T-Mobile Tuesdays’ giveaways, and a lifetime price guarantee. 

Customers can get a 30 percent relief on their home internet bill by bundling the wireless broadband plan with a Go5G Next, Go5G Plus, or Magenta Max phone line. 

Starry 5G Home Internet Plans

Back in 2019, Starry was one place behind Verizon when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auctioned millimeter wave spectrum (high-band 5G) for commercial usage. The company acquired licenses to construct its 25 GHz cell towers in Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington. It is currently distributing 5G home internet service to nearly 100,000 customers. 

For a starting price of $50 per month, Starry can distribute up to 1,000 Mbps of download speed. All the Starry 5G home internet plans include uncapped data, a free Wi-Fi router, free expert installation, a 30-day trial run, a 12-month price guarantee, and contract-less service. 

Low-income families can sign up for the Affordable Connectivity Program by the FCC and get the Starry 5G Home Internet for just $15 per month. 

Ultra 5G Home Internet Plans

Ultra Home Internet is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that purchases bandwidth from T-Mobile and distributes wireless 5G home internet service in over 26,402 zip codes across the country. Unlike the first four providers, Ultra does not have its own 5G base stations/ cell sites. It piggybacks on T-Mobile’s cellular LTE and 5G structures and therefore, is obliged to cap its subscribers’ data consumption in favor of T-Mobile 5G Home Internet users. 

The Ultra 5G home internet plans are pricier than T-Mobile and offer slower download speeds, reaching up to 115 Mbps. But while data caps, expensive plans, and slower speeds are Ultra’s shortcomings, no annual contracts and a free cutting-edge Netgear’s Orbi tri-band mesh gateway are its selling points. The simple plug-and-play installation makes Ultra a user-friendly 5G internet provider in the off-grid locations of America. 

Best 5G Home Internet Provider

The nationwide deployment of 5G home internet service began in 2019 after the success of pilot projects launched in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento a year earlier. Verizon was America’s first fixed wireless internet provider to roll out a 5G home internet service on its Ultra Wideband network. Today, Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network extends to over 96 major cities across 38 states, delivering superfast speeds of up to 1 Gbps for a starting price of $50 per month. 

Verizon is the only 5G home internet provider in the country offering the best of three; widescale coverage, blazing fast speeds, and affordability. 

Compared to that, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Ultra’s internet speeds are under the 250 Mbps mark, while their price range is the same. And we all know that slow speeds and high prices are never a good combination in the world of broadband. Starry’s 5G home internet plans can match Verizon’s gigabit download speed, but its 5-city availability brings its overall rank down to 4th place. 

What is 5G Home Internet Service?

5G Home Internet service is a new addition to fixed wireless broadband. The fifth generation of wireless cellular technology delivers ultrafast home internet, without the entanglement of cords and cables. Customers can expect download speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps for a starting price of $50 per month. 

At the moment, 5G home internet providers are using three different frequency bands; low-band, mid-band, and high-band, to create the perfect balance between speed and range. 

Pros

• Offers greater mobility.
• Easy plug-and-play setup. 
• Greater coverage in rural areas of America. 
• Faster speeds as compared to DSL and satellite internet services. 
• No-contract service. 
• Affordable internet plans. 
• Full-home WiFi coverage. 

Cons

• Inconsistent speeds 
• Data deprioritization in favor of 5G mobile plan subscribers. 
• Service is affected by distance, weather, and physical barriers. 
• Some providers cap data consumption. 
• Less reliable than wired internet services. 

How Does 5G Home Internet Work?

5G home internet services need a series of cellular towers to transmit internet data in the form of radio frequencies. The most common 5G cellular sites are the roof of a building and utility poles. The basic structure of a 5G cellular tower consists of a mast and a radio transmitter. Usually, 5G cell sites are between 50 and 200 feet high to ensure an obstruction-free pathway for the radiowaves. 

Another essential for this type of internet service to work perfectly is the 5G modem. The compact wireless gateway converts intercepted radio signals into digital data for whole-home Wi-Fi connectivity. It is best to place your 5G modem in the center of your house and open space, as physical obstructions, like walls, doors, and furniture, weaken the signals, leading to slower internet speeds. Residential 5G internet providers use 3 varying frequency bands for transmitting different speed tiers. 

We can see that the faster the speed of a 5G connection, the shorter its range. This is why Verizon, the nation’s fastest 5G home internet provider, needs a dense cluster of 5G cell sites in a specific area. In a city like New York, a 500 feet radius can barely cover 30 homes.    

5G Home Internet Speeds

The speed of your internet connection is determined by the frequency of the radio waves that carry the data signals. High-frequency radio waves (high-band spectrum) can transmit more data per unit of time, resulting in faster 5G home internet speeds with a maximum of 1,000 Mbps. 

However, this fast internet data transmission model has its fair share of drawbacks. High-frequency radio waves have shorter wavelengths called millimeter waves (mmWave), which results in shorter ranges of between 26 and 39 giga Hertz (GHz). The maximum distance that a high-band radio signal can travel is 500 feet. The short frequency range also makes it impossible for the signals to penetrate walls and other physical structures. 

So, faster 5G home internet speeds are possible if you live within a 500-feet radius of the cell site. Verizon 5G Home Plus is the only plan delivering download speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps for a fixed monthly rate of $70 per month.  

The remaining four 5G home internet providers in the USA emit radio waves of low and medium frequencies (also known as Sub-6 5G) to deliver download speeds of up to 500 Mbps to subscribers’ homes. 

Low and mid-band 5G spectrums have a wider coverage area, reaching up to 10 miles in radii, and can effectively deliver wireless 5G home internet to over 314,160 homes (in a neighborhood with 1,000 people per square mile). 

Regardless of the frequency range, 5G home internet providers have set the upload speed limit to 50 Mbps. 50 Mbps of upload speed is sufficient for streaming movies, uploading videos/ images, and attending conference calls on at least 5 devices, simultaneously. 

Is 5G Home Internet Good?

The answer to that question boils down to just one thing. Personal preference. If you live in a place that is remote and has limited access to wired internet networks (fiber, cable, and DSL), and would opt for a compact, sleek-looking 5G router on your desk instead of a bulky satellite dish on your roof, visible from 3 blocks down, then 5G home internet might be your saving grace. The latest addition to the broadband industry is fast, affordable, offers countrywide coverage, and is completely cordless. You can take your 5G modem and move halfway across the country to enjoy the same convenience as you did back in your hometown.  

After looking at the 5 best 5G home internet providers in the USA, we have concluded that these internet plans are a worthy inclusion in the nation’s heavily concentrated broadband industry. In an ideal situation, they can offer speeds faster than traditional copper-based internet, at comparatively cheaper rates and with increased mobility, allowing users to experience boundless connectivity. 

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