5G home internet experience (US)

[jhaider]

Does anyone here have recent experience with 5G home internet?

We're likely going to be moving soon to an area that's a fiber desert - so the only internet options are comcast and 5G. The 5G is obviously cheaper, but I would like not to have to deal with the cable company if practicable. Has anyone here used one of the current 5G home internet packages? It looks like Verizon and T-Mobile are the options at the prospective address:

Verizon:
"Up to" 300 Mbps (85-250 "typical") down
10-20 Mbps up.
Latency: not spec'ed.

T-Mobile:
Typical Download Speed133 – 415 Mbps (5G)
Typical Upload Speed12 – 55 Mbps (5G)
Typical Latency16 – 28 ms

Obviously both are kinda weak compared to the 1G up/down 4-8 ms latency AT&T fiber we currently have. (And generally US internet is lesser and costlier compared to most of the developed world. But I digress...) But, again, fiber desert unfortunately.

My priorities are, in order, reliability, and sufficient speed/bandwidth for work and streaming A/V. No gaming. Note that my work VPN limits speeds to ~150mbps, so as long as 5G hits that it's not going to materially affect my work (unless latency is an issue for Zoom/Teams?).

 

[RayDunzl]

I've run my PC off my phone's WIFI Hotspot before when some incident took down cable.

It worked, don't remember problems, probably even got the TV going over it, and it isn't even 5G.

I'd say try that with what whatever you have now (just for fun) and see how it goes as an example of Wireless Internet.

 

[EERecordist]

I have have wireless technology experience, but not user experience with wireless home Internet.

A big variable is where the base station serving your home is and any vegetation or other buildings between you and it. There is probably a way to locate that base station by FCC databases.

The next big variable is how many neighbors share that base station.

The third variable which interacts with the first is what band or bands are used. The lower the frequency of the band in MHz, the greater the distance it will operate.

Before signing, you might test each vendor with a handheld device for each carrier, though that may use a different band. Generally 5G base stations have fiber backhaul. Starlink is another option if there are not obstructions. You could try asking on Nextdoor or hyper local social networks if they are active in the area.

 

[raindance]

Starlink could work... Let's not discuss politics though.

Where I live in Las Cruces (a fiber desert) I have only Xfinity cable or Cellular 5G. I get 1 bar at my house on 5G on T Mobile and Verizon which means it is slower than dial up if it works at all. So Xfinity it is. I'm happy with them. Good reliability and speed is adequate for myself and my wife to do video calls at the same time on Teams. At our previous home we had Google Fiber which was much better, but this isn't as much of a step down as expected.

 

[DVDdoug]

I've got AT&T "Air" in Sunnyvale California. I'm in a mobile home park with no fiber. I could get Comcast which should be faster but this is the cheaper.

When I 1st set it up about 6 months ago it quit working a couple of times and I had to reboot the router. Since then no downtime.

I just now ran a test:
Download 48.39 Mbps. (I think I've seen 68 before but probably never 70.)
Upload 4.74 Mbps. (I think it's sometimes a bit better too.)
Ping 63ms.

Poor by todays standards but about 100 times faster than my old DSL!

 

[amper42]

If you're use to 1GB cable download and 140MB/s upload expect both Verizon and T-Mobile to be a significant downgrade. The problem is the advertised speed may not apply to your area and typically you end up buying a router before even being assured it will work well for you. If it was me, I would check with some folks in the new neighborhood to see what works best for them. They will know first hand.

Whatever router you get make sure it's Wifi 6 rated. I switched out my old Wifi 5 based router a few weeks ago to a new Wifi 6 unit and the speed is incredibly faster even though I don't have Wifi 6 rated devices. The new routers are optimized for higher speed even with my notebooks, iPads, RPi4. While my line was still 1GB for years my MacBook Pro speed to router was only about 100mbps. With the new router if I get connected to one of the 5G radios that speed can zoom up to 600Mbps. Huge difference. Apparently, the closer you are to the router the more likely you get a high speed radio. While those further away usually get a 2.4 Ghz connection with 100Mbps speeds.
Good luck!

 

[jhaider]

If you're use to 1GB cable download and 140MB/s upload expect both Verizon and T-Mobile to be a significant downgrade.

A downgrade will happen regardless. We’re used to 1GB up/down fiber, with fiber reliability.

The problem is the advertised speed may not apply to your area and typically you end up buying a router before even being assured it will work well for you.

FWIW, I was planning to use their modem with my existing mesh hardware, which is a fairly high powered WiFi 6 setup. And wired backhaul + important stuff (work computer, AppleTV) hardwired.

If it was me, I would check with some folks in the new neighborhood to see what works best for them. They will know first hand.

Never would have thought about it, but someone who lives nearby uses the T Mobile one. No idea about demands on it though.

As for Starlink…not an option. Wouldn’t re-buy our Teslas today either, even though we think they’re superb cars.

 

[Esprit]

(And generally US internet is lesser and costlier compared to most of the developed world. But I digress...)

Out of curiosity: what are the average rates for internet?
Thanks

 

[jeffbook]

Out of curiosity: what are the average rates for internet?
Thanks

Our AT&T Internet service is maxed out at 100 mbs download, somewhere around 20.5 mbs upload. This is NOT fiber service as AT&T can't seem to offer this in my neighborhood. This is fast enough for 4K video, I don't have a streaming audio service, but I imagine it would be sufficient since it does 4K video with no issues.

Cost is $82.10 per month (a bit less than 72 euros at today's exchange rate)

This is in Columbus Ohio. I have no idea what the average rate in the rest of the US is.

 

[amper42]

I have 1TB download with 140Mbps upload. Cable company provided @ $60 per month. Five year price guarantee.
It's a lot cheaper than my T1 back in 1993.

There is a big range in the price of internet connections.

 

[Esprit]

Our AT&T Internet service is maxed out at 100 mbs download, somewhere around 20.5 mbs upload. This is NOT fiber service as AT&T can't seem to offer this in my neighborhood

Thanks,
here FTTH fiber up to 2.5 Gbit/s costs less than €25 per month.
Mobile 5G is based on traffic (for example, 300 gigabytes per month cost €8 and all national telephone traffic and traffic with the states of the European Union and beyond is included for free...).

 

[Esprit]

Cable company provided @ $60 per month. Five year price guarantee.

So, obviously without wanting to create controversy, it is not true that prices are better in the USA.

 

[mglobe]

I live in a rural location where there is no wired ISP options at all. After years of line of sight microwave and LTE. Then 5G T-Mobile came into the market. We are on the extreme edge of T-Mobile’s service and because I rely on connectivity to do my consulting work, I have opted to use both T-Mobile 5g and Verizon LTE in combination through a load balancing router. This combination has given me rock solid connectivity and speed sufficient to work, stream using Roon and Qobuz, Apple Music, and YouTube TV. I’m able to work while connected to a clients system via Citrix. I do iRacing Over this connection as well. If I were in the town 6 miles away I wouldn’t need the redundancy of LTE. On the best days and time of day I get 300mbs. On the bad times I get 100mbs. I’m quite happy given my location.

 

[Timcognito]

Out of curiosity: what are the average rates for internet?
Thanks

I got talked into ATT Internet Air at my old rate of $60/mo over my DSL. I get 5G from a tower a 1+ mile away. DSL download rates were up to 6 mbs and now depending on time of day/day of the week 5G >140 to 250. I am on my 3rd Internet Air Hub after the first two died within 3-4 months of receiving them and hours on the phone trying to fix them. The newest one seems more stable, fingers crossed. I use a Ubiquity Access Point for better wifi distribution in my house connected by Ethernet cable to the Hub which is on the third floor of my house for best line of sight connection to 5G.
In my rural location 500 feet from Pacific Ocean to the west and Santa Cruz Mts 3 miles to the east, which blocks us from the SF bay Area, services are spartan. Power and Cell service goes out several times a year for days due to storms off the ocean. Solar panels, whole house battery and DSL saved my wife and I from much suffering, so we hesitant to give up our land line but that cost $100/mo. Since the stability of the 5G Hub we considering dumping that for VOIP at $45/mo.

 

[khensu]

Our AT&T Internet service is maxed out at 100 mbs download, somewhere around 20.5 mbs upload. This is NOT fiber service as AT&T can't seem to offer this in my neighborhood. This is fast enough for 4K video, I don't have a streaming audio service, but I imagine it would be sufficient since it does 4K video with no issues.

Cost is $82.10 per month (a bit less than 72 euros at today's exchange rate)

This is in Columbus Ohio. I have no idea what the average rate in the rest of the US is.

That’s pretty similar to mine. We pay a few bucks less for about 120Mbps down and 25 up. It’s through Centurylink in the Denver/Boulder, Colorado area. I could get better speed with Comcast, but they have a ridiculous data cap and their service here is notoriously bad which is why I switched in the first place. What we have is more than adequate. I keep watching, but fiber is still not an option here.

 

[Mort]

T mobile Average rates were low. Latency was worse. Devices were unreliable.

 

[raindance]

Our Xfinity cable Internet gives around 150Mbps down and 30Mbps up and is $50 per month. In Las Cruces, New Mexico. We're lucky if T-Mobile or Verizon connect to 5G at all and we get barely 1Mbps on LTE occasionally when it deigns to connect.

 

[Esprit]

A friend of mine in Milan, €59 per month.
Not a company but a normal citizen.