Verizon 5G Home Internet Expands: Price And Speed Details Vs T-Mobile

It's clearly the week for 5G home internet launches, with Verizon lighting up two new markets on the heels of T-Mobile launching its own 4G/5G-router. Verizon 5G Home Internet is now offered in 30 markets, the carrier has announced today, with the potential to be more affordable than T-Mobile 5G Home Internet depending on who you get your phone service from.

It's been a slow slog to 30 markets for Verizon. It first launched 5G Home Internet service all the way back in late 2018, offering an alternative to cable and DSL connections by leveraging its 5G network instead.

However the roadmap for expansion had to be pushed back on several occasions, with Verizon blaming hardware shortages for the delay. When it initially launched, Verizon was using 5G TF, rather than 5G NR. It subsequently switched over, but the new 5G routers seemingly weren't ready in time.

As of today, Milwaukee and Tampa are joining the club of cities where Verizon 5G Home Internet is available. You can find the full list of locations at the end of this article. Like T-Mobile's freshly-launched service, there are no data limits and no throttling.

The big difference is speed, with Verizon using mmWave 5G for significantly faster connections Where T-Mobile suggests that its maximum speeds will be limited by the technical capabilities of the network, 50 Mbps is likely the minimum and 100+ Mbps what users should expect to see on average, the carrier suggested.

Verizon, in contrast, says its 5G home internet will run at up to 1 Gbps. The carrier says that 300 Mbps downloads are typical, and 50 Mbps uploads. Setup is straightforward, with no engineer visit required. Instead, it's a matter of unpacking the 5G home router, plugging it in, and then using the app to set it all up.

Where T-Mobile has a single price for its service, regardless of whether you're a subscriber to its voice/data service or not, Verizon has two tiers. If you have a qualifying Verizon mobile plan, 5G Home Internet is $50 per month including taxes and fees; if you don't, however, it's $70 per month.

T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, in contrast, is $60 per month regardless. Neither service has an annual contract.

If you're looking for new internet service, of course, the limiting factor is still likely to be location. Verizon's speeds may be better than T-Mobile's, but the latter has been faster to roll out coverage: it doesn't express that in city numbers, but says instead that it's covering 30+ million households instead. Of course, if you are within a Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband service area, you can't really argue with the speed advantage that brings.

Verizon 5G Home Internet availability list:

Arlington, TX

Anaheim, CA

Atlanta

Charlotte

Chicago

Cincinnati

Cleveland

Dallas

Denver

Detroit

Hartford

Houston

Indianapolis

Kansas City

Las Vegas

Los Angeles

Louisville

Miami

Milwaukee

Minneapolis

Omaha

Phoenix

Sacramento

Salt Lake City

San Diego

San Francisco

San Jose

St. Louis

St. Paul

Tampa