5 things I love about my experience with T-Mobile 5G home internet (and a few very overwhelmed)
Albuquerque, New Mexico – Hometown of Green Chili, 300 days of sunshine, International Balloon Carnival… The Internet is also slow. Home Internet has been a two-horse race in Albuquerque for years: CenturyLink DSL and Xfinity cable. I spent decades on DSL looking at me Internet speed test Slowly travel to a maximum of 20 megabits per second. Xfinity’s faster friends were disgusted with the company’s customer service, data caps, and prices, so I stubbornly stuck with CenturyLink. One day at the end of 2022, the T-Mobile 5G home internet gateway arrived at my house. After that, I finally called to cancel CenturyLink.
Why I switch to T-Mobile 5G home internet
I went with T-Mobile for several reasons. DSL is too slow. My next door neighbor got T-Mobile 5G home internet and appreciated it. Coincidentally, CenturyLink wanted to charge me $200 to replace my old router with a newer router. I said, “No,” 5G home internet.
My home internet life improves in my post-DSL world, but it's not all roses and happy dances. If you're looking for tl;dr, go here: I'm still on the T-Mobile 5G home internet and probably stick with it until I can give Verizon 5G home internet Try or until The fiber finally appeared on my block. My experience with 5G home internet is specific to my situation, so your journey with the same service may be different. This is the element that I love my 5G home internet stuff that might drive me to go Switch to another Internet Service Provider One day.
I love T-Mobile 5G home internet
Before announcing the complaint, I will celebrate the T-Mobile 5G home internet. The best feature of the service is its simplicity and ease of use, which represents an outdated DSL upgrade.
Appropriate price
With CenturyLink, I pay $45 a month for downloads up to 20Mbps. With T-Mobile, my monthly bill is $50. Regarding home internet prices, this is a wonderful place for me. I'm willing to pay more than CenturyLink for higher service standards, but my bargaining mindset will refuse on anything higher. I would consider Verizon 5G home internet for the same price, but at my address, competitor services are not available.
I hope the fiber arrives one day, but I will double check the price before changing. The two providers most likely to serve my address are Ezee Fiber ($69 per month per month) and Vexus Fiber ($40 for 500Mbps for $40 per month, $50 for show per month). Vexus raised interest rates after the first year. When time comes, I will weigh the frugality of thrift with the fiber properties.
Faster than DSL
This seems to be a faint compliment, but T-Mobile gives me a much better speed than what DSL gets. My best speed test result has a net download speed of 200mbps, which is 10 times the time I have had a great day with DSL. The speed may be variable due to network congestion and placement of network devices. I have some speed complaints, but we'll discuss it later.
The term is simple
Regarding broadband planning, I don't like complexity. I don't want to calculate device rental or figure out excessive fines over A Data cap. I don't want to be Binding contract. I just want to be free to try another ISP. T-Mobile check the simple box. No gear fees, data caps or contracts.
This is approved by my mother
My mother lives six blocks away from me. She also owns a CenturyLink DSL. I did a speed test on her desktop computer and the best she could get was about 12Mbps. That's not a typo. This is the reality for some DSL customers. She pays over $60 a month and feels frustrated every time she tries to call to discuss the bill. No problem, mom. We canceled her DSL and signed with T-Mobile. She found a good portal in the front window near the computer. With a strong signal, she can pull down from 100-200mbps regularly, which is very useful for her low-key browsing and streaming needs. The only downside is that she received text messages about the school closing that the portal closed, which was leftovers who used the gateway phone number in front of her. This is a small annoyance, I don't have the same problem.
Gateway is easy
T-Mobile offers a free gateway device that combines the functionality of a modem and router. I have a silver Nokia portal called the “trash can.” The monitor on the top caused a slight annoyance due to awkward position and was hot but effective. T-Mobile now has an updated model. My mother has a Sagemcom device with a front-mounted monitor similar to a more refined trash can. The latest gateways are sleeker and look like Apple products. I have no problem setting up Nokia portal and mother's Sagem com. We were online within a few minutes and found that the gateway was stable, no crashes or other ics could report. Wi-Fi works great and reaches corners of our old-fashioned houses at considerable speeds.
T-Mobile 5G home internet is not very good
There are a lot to do with T-Mobile 5G home internet, but this is not my dream broadband service. These are some areas of stumbling.
It's no faster than cables or fibers
Xfinity offers cable speeds up to 1,200Mbps in my area. Fibers from Vexus, quantum and Ezee fibers are slowly spreading in Albuquerque, but it is not yet in my historic neighborhood. I am very enviable to fiber clients have access to symmetrical performance speeds. T-Mobile 5G home internet offers typical speeds of 87-415Mbps, lower than products with local cable and fiber ISPs. The good news is that I'm not a gamer (let's ignore my Nintendo Wii obsession), so I just need enough charm to surf and stream. I don't mind downloading and uploading when moving large music, videos and image files.
Strong signals can be elusive
Two lights are better than nothing, right?
T-Mobile's 5G Internet service is subject to the same pitfalls encountered by telephone services. Sometimes you are in a weaker place. Sometimes that place is your own home. My neighbor, the first person I know to join with 5G home internet, sent a strong signal on the west side of her house. Next door, the best I can get is a fair signal that can be used in five subsections on the portal scale. This means I missed the maximum speed the service could achieve.
Speed may vary greatly
My T-Mobile 5G home internet speed is like the weather in Albuquerque. Wait for five minutes and it will change. When I started writing, I did the internet speed test and got 16.7Mbps. This is enough to make my days unpopular with DSL. After a few minutes, I was 94.6Mbps. Sometimes, I earn more than 100Mbps. Usually, I sit at about 80mbps. My speed tests are all over the map. Some of this may be due to the building materials in my home in 1939 and the location where I was unable to call a good portal for better signals. My CNET colleague Eli Blumenthal also had speed issues when testing the service in 2022. Joe Supan of CNET tried AT&T Internet Airhe also strives to maintain decent speeds, so the issue may be more suitable for fixed wireless services than T-Mobile 5G home internet specific.
The windows are awkward
Sometimes getting strong signals may require balancing behavior.
T-Mobile recommends placing your portal “near the window or on a high upper floor or bookshelves.” When I own the DSL, my router sits on a nice little shelf in my home office. It's not striking, and not far away. My T-Mobile Gateway visited every window in my home for a strong signal. Now, it is in my living room, perched on the windowsill with a silver “trash can”. My home still has a firm Wi-Fi coverage around it, but the internet device sitting on the windows isn't the ideal home decor for me.
My Separate Thoughts on T-Mobile 5G Home Internet
Are you considering dipping your toes into the T-Mobile 5G home internet? Consider whether your current service is upgraded. This may be a wise move if you crawl with DSL. If you need consistent and super fast speeds, especially for gaming, check out the cable or fiber. I'm not a T-Mobile phone customer, but mobile users can bundle a qualifying phone plan to get the extra savings on the home internet. This may be enough to get price-conscious shoppers to 5G internet services.
5G home internet has an experimental element. You don't know how good it is for you until you try it, so take advantage of T-Mobile's 15-day refund trial. I don't love my home internet, but at least I like it, which is better than a relationship with DSL.
