Verizon 5G Home Internet vs. AT&T Internet Air

You can find Verizon 5G Home Internet more-or-less nationwide. Some coverage gaps exist, but for the most part, Verizon 5G Home Internet works wherever Verizon cell service is found. This wide coverage makes sense since both services run off the same network and towers.

However, Verizon has a leg up over AT&T as your see next.

Unlike Verizon's, AT&T Internet Air is not available nationwide. AT&T’s 5G network gives you fairly good coverage overall—although it's not as widespread as Verizon’s. However, AT&T currently limits Internet Air availability to select areas. Initially, this slow rollout allows the company to test and improve the service before opening it to more users.

However, it seems that AT&T’s long-term plan will replace the company's old-school DSL service with the 5G wireless home internet. But since the company may not want to compete with its own fiber network, we’re not sure what that will mean for Internet Air’s ultimate availability or timeline of its rollout.

Verizon is currently way ahead in terms of availability, and will likely remain that way for at least a little while. For rural internet customers, Verizon offers them an affordable option they won’t find with something like satellite internet.

Both networks offer trustworthy reliability. But how reliable they are in your area can vary. You’ve probably experienced this flux with cell phone connections before—one side of town might get a great signal with Verizon, but the other side gets absolutely nothing. 5G networks can also slow down as more users connect to the local towers, so time of day and other usage factors could affect your speed.

Verizon’s larger availability means a network built for high usage, so it takes our recommendation here, but AT&T isn’t far behind.

Verizon actually offers a choice of two plans: Home and Home Plus. Both offer unlimited data—the main difference shows up for speeds. Home Plus is more comparable to the 5G home internet plans offered by other providers, but Home is a great low-cost alternative if you don’t need a ton of speed—which you should only need if you have a large household of multiple users or you use your internet for huge data transfers.

When it comes to getting the discounted rate, the eligible wireless plans are unlimited plans that feature 5G Ultra Wideband. That means Unlimited Plus or Unlimited Ultimate—the two most expensive cell plans Verizon offers. So unless you already subscribe to these plans, they might not save you as much money as it first appears.

AT&T offers a single plan, which is actually kind of nice. We’ve seen some convoluted package offerings over the years, and it can be hard to decide which plan actually gives you what you want at the best price. With Internet Air, that’s not a concern.

There are two pricing tiers:

• Internet Air only: $55.00 per month
• Internet Air + eligible wireless service: $35.00 per month

The wireless plans eligible for the discounted rate are Unlimited Starter, Unlimited Extra, and Unlimited Premium. As long as you have one of these plans, you’ll pay just $35.00 per month for home internet service, which makes Internet Air the best deal out of all the 5G home internet providers currently on the market.

You can expect speeds up to 140Mbps, which looks like a lot less than Verizon on paper. However, real-world performance will likely bring the two closer in most areas.

For pricing and simplicity, AT&T Internet Air is hard to beat. However, Verizon does offer potentially faster speeds, so take that into consideration.

Both Verizon and AT&T offer unlimited data—there’s no difference between the two here. It’s truly unlimited, too, so you don’t need to worry about throttling after crossing a certain threshold. The one possible exception might be for extremely heavy users—most providers reserve the right to reduce speeds for excessive use that can impact network performance. However, the average user isn’t likely to get close enough to catch your provider's attention. When we say a lot, we mean a lot. 

5G home internet takes the simple approach when it comes to equipment: All you need is a wireless gateway. Both Verizon and AT&T provide one at no additional cost. These gateways basically act like giant hotspots, taking the 5G signal from nearby cell towers and turning it into a Wi-Fi network your devices can connect to.

The only real difference between the two providers here is aesthetics. Verizon’s gateway looks like a big cube, while AT&T’s is a little more sleek and modern-looking. However, there’s no real functional difference, so we recommend choosing your provider based on other criteria, like price.

Given that there’s no cabling or other infrastructure involved and only one piece of equipment, installation for both Verizon and AT&T is extremely simple (and extremely similar). The basic process  has you just plugging the router in and activating the service via the provider’s mobile app.

In general, you can expect the setup process to take 15–30 minutes. Providers generally tout the 15-minute number, but from customer interviews we’ve seen that it can take a bit longer (although even half an hour isn’t bad).

The only major hitch you might hit during the install comes when you look for the best spot in the house for maximum signal strength. If your first pick doesn’t perform as expected, you might want to try another location. Near a window on the top floor of your home generally offers the best spot.

Verizon offers a number of support options, including telephone, live chat, in-app support, and online FAQs and guides. These resources let you get support however best fits your day-to-day schedule.

It’s worth noting that I’ve personally had some negative experiences with Verizon customer support—specifically, the phone support. The issues I ran into involved record-keeping: Every time I called support, there would be no record of my previous conversations, which led to a lot of frustration and wasted time. Hopefully Verizon has updated its practices since then, but you should still watch out for possible pain points.

Phone support hours:

• Mon–Sat: 8:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. ET
• Sun: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. ET

Customer service options

• Phone: 1-800-837-4966 (1-800-VERIZON)
• Chat: Hit the button in the bottom right corner of most pages on the Verizon site.
• Online support: Verizon 5G Home Internet support

AT&T offers a similar range of customer support options, but my experiences have been much smoother than ones with Verizon’s customer support system. I’ve had several interactions with AT&T support and never had a bad or frustrating experience. The chat support, in particular, was fast and easy to use.

Phone support hours:

• Mon–Fri: 8:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m. ET
• Sat: 9:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m. ET
• Sun: Closed
• Sat–Sun (tech support): 5:00 a.m.–2:00 a.m. ET

Customer service options

• Phone: 1-800-288-2020
• Chat: Hit the button in the bottom right corner of most pages on the AT&T site.
• Online support: AT&T Internet Air support

If customer support is your top priority, we recommend AT&T. The provider has consistently provided great support for me over the years, which lines up with the company’s general reputation.

Both providers are pretty well-regarded by customers. In general, 5G home internet, across most brands, tends to get rave reviews for price and availability. But speed can sometimes be a sticking point. The consensus comes down to you needing to have the right expectations for the experience—if you expect 5G to outperform your friend’s fiber connection, you’ll likely be disappointed.

Overall, we think Verizon 5G Home Internet offers the best option for most people. It’s got fast speeds, affordable pricing, and it’s widely available around the country. AT&T beats it in the customer service department, but its availability is extremely limited, which makes it hard to recommend. That availability may change down the road, though, so keep an eye out.

Overall, we think Verizon 5G Home Internet offers the best option for most people. It’s got fast speeds, affordable pricing, and it’s widely available around the country. AT&T beats it in the customer service department, but its availability is extremely limited, which makes it hard to recommend. That availability may change down the road, though, so keep an eye out.

5G speeds vary a lot with location and depend on the type of 5G coverage available in your area. Verizon claims that the typical speed for 5G Home ranges from 50Mbps to 250Mbps. 5G Home Plus ranges from 85Mbps to 1,000Mbps—although those faster speeds are going to be limited to areas with a lot of Ultra Wideband coverage.

Yes, you should have no trouble streaming on Verizon 5G Home Internet. Even the slower tiers should be plenty fast for HD video, and some areas may be able to stream in 4K with no problems. You’ll want to check speeds in your area to get an idea of what to expect.

Yes, Verizon 5G Home Internet is unlimited. There are no data caps on either of the plans, so you can stream and download to your heart’s content. However, extremely heavy users may run into some throttling. You’d really have to go out of your way to use that much data, though.

AT&T Internet Air is AT&T’s 5G home internet service. It’s currently in a testing phase, so availability is pretty limited—it’s mostly available in major metro areas for now. It offers the usual fast speeds and low prices of other 5G home internet plans, and we think it has a lot of potential. Keep an eye on availability for this one.

No, AT&T Internet Air is not better than AT&T Fiber. Internet Air is a 5G service—fiber tends to be much faster than 5G. The only time we can see Internet Air being a better pick is if you just need cheap service and aren’t worried about speed because Internet Air is likely to be more affordable than Fiber in most markets.

AT&T 5G home internet (called AT&T Internet Air) offers speeds up to 140Mbps. This is enough for HD streaming and most other typical home uses, although households that stream a lot might benefit from faster service—especially if you want to stream in 4K.