T-Mobile Home Internet Review 2023

T-Mobile Home Internet offers speeds from 72–245 Mbps average speeds. There’s only one plan, so the speed you get is based entirely on how built-out T-Mobile’s 5G network is in your area. If you’ve got strong 5G coverage, you’ll tend toward the top of the range, and vice versa.

In areas where T-Mobile doesn’t have much (or any) 5G network coverage, it’ll supplement with 4G LTE signals. This accounts for the slowest speeds offered.

Regardless of your speed, you get unlimited data by default—no extra charge—so you can stream and download as much as you like without worrying about charges or throttling. The one catch regarding speed is that T-Mobile does prioritize mobile customers over Home Internet, so you may notice slower-than-normal speeds during congested times. We don’t think this is a huge deal, but it’s definitely worth noting.

T-Mobile’s home internet service keeps pricing simple, with one plan and one price—$50 per month. If you’re an eligible T-Mobile cellular customer on a Magenta MAX plan, the price drops to $30 per month via a $20 bill credit. Otherwise, what you see is what you get here, which is kind of refreshing.

$50 per month is quite affordable, but the speeds are also quite a bit slower than you’d get with a similarly-priced cable or fiber plan. For that reason, we’d say T-Mobile Home Internet is only a great value if you’re getting it at the $30 per month price.

For the money, you get 5G home internet with speeds ranging from 72–245 Mbps. The wide variance is due to differences in how built-out T-Mobile’s 5G networks are. Which end of that spectrum you end up on is entirely down to your area—you can’t pay more for faster speeds, and you don’t get a discount for slower ones.

Fortunately, there are no data caps, contracts, or equipment fees with T-Mobile Home Internet, which is fantastic. It means that the advertised price is much closer to what you’ll actually pay than with many other ISPs.

T-Mobile Home Internet is getting close to achieving nationwide availability. The service is available coast to coast, with the largest gaps in Nebraska, Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada.

T-Mobile has achieved this wide coverage thanks to its expanding 5G network and the incorporation of 4G LTE service to supplement the 5G offerings in lower-coverage spots. This is the biggest reason for the differences in speed.

T-Mobile provides a simple address-based tool to check if Home Internet is available at your residence. Simply enter your address and phone number, and you’ll get your answer.

T-Mobile offers both 4G and 5G home internet options, with a particular emphasis on 5G home internet. But it's not the only provider to offer wireless home internet packages. You have a few options in the 4G LTE and 5G home internet sphere, so let's take a closer look at competitors.

T-Mobile vs. Verizon Home Internet

T-Mobile and Verizon both offer 5G Home Internet with great speeds and, even better, for great monthly prices. T-Mobile's monthly prices are cheaper, though, and while it looks like its speeds are slower, T-Mobile actually advertises its average speeds—so, the speeds you're most likely to see. Verizon's speeds might reach up to 1,000Mbps, which is fantastic, but you're not very likely to actually experience speeds that fast.

Both T-Mobile 5G and Verizon 5G home internet also offer no contracts, no equipment fees, and unlimited data. If you can get either one, we recommend it. If you have access to both, we'd suggest T-Mobile Home Internet. Its reliable, includes great perks, and is just a bit cheaper per month. But the real tie-breaker is whatever mobile service you already have, since it'll give you the cheapest price for either one. 

For more details on these 5G  providers, check out our T-Mobile vs. Verizon Home Internet breakdown.

T-Mobile Home Internet vs. Rise Broadband

T-Mobile and Verizon are the strongest leaders in the fixed wireless internet provider industry right now, but don't count out Rise Broadband, the largest indie fixed wireless provider, either. You might be able to get it cheaper than Verizon and T-Mobile, depending on who your wireless carrier is, but make sure you're in its availability map first.

Of course, we'd still generally recommend T-Mobile 5G Home Internet over Rise Broadband, just because it has wider availability.

Yes, T-Mobile Home Internet is an excellent option, particularly if your other local choices are lacking. The service also shines if you have T-Mobile cell service, since the price drops dramatically. The lack of equipment costs also helps keep the price low.

T-Mobile Home Internet’s speed varies widely from location to location, but whatever speed you get at your home is likely to be consistent and reliable. This is important, especially if you work from home—having your speed jump up and down can be a nightmare for video calls and other applications.

We also really appreciate the simplicity of T-Mobile Home Internet. Analysis paralysis is definitely a real thing, and we like the fact that there’s just one plan here, with no choices to make other than whether to get it or not. While the speed isn’t the fastest, it’ll be plenty for many users, especially those in areas with good 5G coverage.

If you're facing home internet issues or billing problems, you can contact T-Mobile Customer Care using either the T-Mobile Home Internet app or by calling +1-844-275-9310, the general customer service number. T-Mobile customer service is available 24/7.

If you need more specific help with home internet service, check out these phone numbers to see who you should call to get help the fastest:

T-Mobile Home Internet Sales Support: +1-855-209-2629

T-Mobile Home Internet Tech Support: +1-855-545-4614

5G home internet uses 5G cellular networks and towers to send a signal to a specially designed at-home router to broadcast a stable signal. Basically, it uses the same speeds that can power your cellphone, only it's much more accessible thanks to its gateways, (modem/router combos) and it comes with fewer limitations because of the way it's delivered.

T-Mobile Home Internet and Verizon Home Internet at the big names in the 5G Home biz right now. Their expanded networks have really helped make this technology more available, and that's good news for rural and off-grid internet users. In fact, T-Mobile is available to 90% of the USA, which makes its coverage second only to satellite internet providers like HughesNet and Viasat.   

5G home internet has speeds that can rival cable and sometimes even fiber internet providers, so it's a great alternative for rural internet users. Unfortunately, it does still have drawbacks, like how the rain effect, overcrowding on certain cell towers, and even distance from a cell tower or trees between you and your closest cell tower can dilute your signal.

For more of the nitty-gritty details on this technology, check out our Guide to 5G Home Internet.

5G internet uses cellular technology and towers to deliver internet to a special gateway in your home. It may not be quite as reliable as cable internet, but only just. Cable can suffer from slowdowns from the age of the cables, the amount of people using it in your neighborhood at any one time, or weather—just like 5G home internet. 5G home internet's reliability is just a bit more susceptible to interruption depending on the distance from your cell tower and your gateway and whatever lies in between it.    

On the other hand, 5G Home Internet speeds are just as fast as cable internet, so T-Mobile's speeds can stand up to Xfinity or Spectrum's average plans without shaking. 5G Home Internet is also around the same price as cable, but you can likely get it even cheaper because T-Mobile and Verizon both offer lower monthly prices for the service if you're also signed up for their mobile wireless plans.

5G home internet is also more likely to be available to you than cable internet, since it has up to 90% coverage (with T-Mobile specifically). So when comparing the two, we give the edge to 5G home over cable, especially if you're in a rural area. If you're in a city and want 1,000Mbps and over, cable might be your best play.  

5G Home Internet uses cellular networks to deliver internet to your home, while fiber internet uses land-based cables made of special glass fibers instead. The difference in technology means that fiber internet's superior infrastructure wins out on speeds, prices, and reliability compared to 5G home internet—but not in availability. 

T-Mobile 5G home internet offers internet access to 90% of the US, which makes its coverage second only to satellite internet providers HughesNet and Viasat. Meanwhile, fiber internet availability is usually restricted to large cities or towns where local governments have helped subsidize the infrastructure. That is to say, fiber is the least available internet technology available, so even if it is technically the best, it's not helpful if you can't get it in the first place. 

So if you can get fiber internet, we'd suggest it over any 5G home internet provider. But for the majority of us who don't have fiber internet, 5G home internet providers like T-Mobile are great options on-par with cable providers and significantly more available. 

T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet service has evolved into an excellent alternative to traditional wired internet services, especially if you don’t have access to good cable or fiber options. Rural customers, in particular, will get a lot of mileage out of it. However, T-Mobile cell customers might appreciate the simplicity and affordability, even if they have faster options available.

Speaking of faster options, speed is definitely our biggest gripe with the service. In areas with really great 5G coverage, speeds are decent. However, if you don’t have great 5G, the LTE fallback is much slower and makes the whole package less compelling.

Overall, though, we’re impressed with T-Mobile’s home internet offering, and excited to see how it continues to evolve in the future.

T-Mobile Home Internet is 5G—the same 5G used by T-Mobile’s cellular service. The 5G wireless gateway (basically a modem/router combo) picks up the signal and broadcasts it as a Wi-Fi network so your other devices can connect to it. In areas with limited 5G coverage, T-Mobile uses 4G LTE service to supplement, but the principle is the same.

T-Mobile Home Internet is going to be slower than most fiber connections. There may be some instances where a cheaper fiber plan has speeds that dip below T-Mobile’s maximum, but we wouldn’t count on it.

The main benefit of T-Mobile compared to fiber is affordability and lack of intrusive installation—homes have to be wired for fiber, and an optical network terminal typically needs to be installed, as well.

T-Mobile Home Internet should be plenty fast enough for streaming video. For example, Netflix suggests at least 5 Mbps to stream HD video and 15 Mbps to stream 4K. This means T-Mobile should have plenty of speed to let you stream without buffering.

Learn more about how much internet speed you need.

T-Mobile’s wireless gateway can support up to 64 devices, so that’s the effective limit. That’s likely to be way beyond the needs of most households. At the same time, it’s nice knowing you have plenty of flexibility here.