Is Verizon 5G Home Internet good?
Verizon 5G Home Internet is fast, affordable, and comes with free stuff (we like free stuff). While 5G home internet introduces technical terms like “millimeter wave,” don’t be intimidated—we’ll show you how it’s the familiar internet you’re used to, just delivered in a new way.
Verizon 5G Home Internet pros and cons
Pros
✓ No annual contracts
✓ No data caps
✓ Equipment included in cost
Cons
✗ Download speeds vary (usually from 300–up to 1,000 Mbps)
✗ Availability is limited
✗ Device often needs to be installed on a window
Our friends at Reviews.org test Verizon 5G Home Internet.
Verizon 5G Home Internet packages and pricing
| Package | Cost* | Price guarantee | Typical download speed | Max download speed | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5G Home with Verizon Wireless phone plan | $25.00/mo. | 2 years | 85 Mbps | up to 300 Mbps | View plan |
| 5G Home Plus with Verizon Wireless phone plan | $35.00/mo. | 3 years | 300 Mbps | up to 1,000 Mbps | View plan |
| 5G Home without Verizon Wireless phone plan | $60.00/mo. | 2 years | 85 Mbps | up to 300 Mbps | View plan |
| 5G Home Plus without Verizon Wireless phone plan | $80.00/mo. | 3 years | 300 Mbps | up to 1,000 Mbps | View plan |
*With Autopay and paper-free billing. Qualifying mobile plans include 5G Play More, 5G Do More, 5G Get More, Play More Unlimited, Do More Unlimited, Get More Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited 5G UW and Above Unlimited 5G UW.
Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.
Verizon 5G Home Internet has many of the same things we like about Verizon Fios—fast speeds, no annual contracts, and no data caps.
Unfortunately, those fast download speeds vary a lot—from 85 Mbps up to 1,000 Mbps. But at least Verizon doesn’t offer 5G home internet anywhere it deems the speeds too low.
That’s part of why your apartment might be eligible for Verizon 5G Home Internet, but your neighbor might not—you get different 5G coverage, resulting in varying speeds.
5G Home vs. 5G Home Plus
Verizon offers two different packages for its 5G home internet service: 5G Home and 5G Home Plus. If you get the 5G Home plan, Verizon will cap your bandwidth at 300 Mbps.
But if you shell out another $10 a month for 5G Home Plus, you’ll get access to speeds as high as 1,000 Mbps, provided your 5G tower has a clear path to your home and the available bandwidth.
Additionally, the 5G Home Plus plan comes digital storage through Verizon Cloud Unlimited and a three-year price guarantee—one year longer than 5G Home’s two-year price guarantee.
Since Verizon’s 5G home internet speeds and prices vary so much, it’s tricky to nail down the bang for your buck—but not impossible.
Verizon says its typical 5G download speeds are 300 Mbps. Other major internet providers offer 300 Mbps plans at anywhere from $14.99 to $80.00 a month, with an average of around $50.00 per month.
So if you get the typical speeds, 5G Home’s price is right where it should be—and it’s a steal of a deal if you pair it with a Verizon 5G mobile plan.
Additionally, Verizon 5G Home Internet includes equipment for which other providers might charge $10 to $15 per month. Those equipment savings are a big perk.
In the end, we like Verizon 5G Home Internet a whole bunch, and we think you’ll enjoy your experience with it. We just hope you won’t run headlong into 5G home internet service just because you think you’re guaranteed to get gigabit speeds—your internet will probably be slower than that.
Verizon 5G Home Internet deals and promotions
Want some deals and freebies with your Verizon 5G Home Internet? Here are the most recent Verizon 5G Home Internet promotions.
Verizon 5G Home Internet deals
- Get a free $200 gift card to Grubhub or DoorDash
- Save $300 on a Verizon Stream TV soundbar
- Get a 10-year price guarantee
Verizon 5G Home Internet equipment
Welcome to the era of the featureless cube. Put this little guy in your window to pick up signals from your local cell tower.
You won’t have to worry about paying for a router with Verizon 5G Home Internet because your plan includes a 5G internet gateway. This device is part 5G receiver, part router.
Verizon designed it to be so easy to install that you can set everything up without a professional in most cases.
The 5G internet gateway usually needs to be in a window facing the nearest cell site—that’s how you get your 5G signal. (Don’t worry, Verizon will provide a map of the best places to get a signal in your house.) The gateway will then decipher the encoded signal and broadcast it as wireless internet throughout your house.
While most internet providers charge about $10 to $15 per month for a router, you don’t have to pay a thing for your 5G internet gateway from Verizon.
So even though your 5G home internet equipment might block your view, the savings you’ll get are a nice tradeoff.
The future of 5G home internet service
You might know 5G is like the previous mobile-technology generation 4G LTE, but more advanced and capable of faster internet speeds—up to 10,000 Mbps, theoretically. That’s faster than any home internet on the market.
But right now, 5G home internet providers offer speeds up to only 1,000 Mbps. The holdup is due in part to the task of updating network tech, but US regulations have also limited the frequencies 5G providers could use.
Things are looking up, though—Verizon took part in an auction with the FCC to acquire rights to use mid-band frequencies (the best ones for 5G internet). We’re moving beyond the far-carrying-but-slow low frequencies and the fast-but-short-reaching high frequencies (that’s the millimeter-wave frequencies you’ve heard about).1
As Verizon rolls out the happy medium mid-band frequencies that Goldilocks would love, we’re hoping it means more coverage for Verizon 5G Home Internet in the future.
Final take: Is Verizon 5G Home Internet worth it?
While the normal Verizon 5G Home Internet plan is exorbitant for its typical speeds, we think the discount Verizon mobile customers get is hard to pass up.
And since Verizon 5G Home Internet comes with no annual contract, no data caps, and included equipment, we say it’s worth trying out if you have the chance. You can always return to landline internet plans if 5G internet isn’t for you.
View plans
See also: Verizon Review | Verizon Internet | Verizon Bundles
Verizon 5G Home Internet FAQ
You can sign up for Verizon 5G Home Internet service in some parts of the following 33 cities, including:
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Anaheim, California
- Los Angeles, California
- Orange County, California
- Riverside, California
- Sacramento, California
- San Diego, California
- San Francisco, California
- San Jose, California
- Denver, Colorado
- Hartford, Connecticut
- Miami, Florida
- Tampa, Florida
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Chicago, Illinois
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Louisville, Kentucky
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Detroit, Michigan
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- St Paul, Minnesota
- Kansas City, Missouri
- St Louis, Missouri
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Arlington, Texas
- Dallas, Texas
- Houston, Texas
- San Antonio, Texas
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Verizon 5G Home Internet’s base cost is $60 per month. However, once you sign up for Auto Pay and paper-free billing (and who doesn’t want to save paper these days?), the cost goes down to $50 per month.
If you have a Verizon 5G mobile plan, you’ll have to pay only $25 per month with Auto Pay and paper-free billing for Verizon 5G Home Internet. Maybe it’s time to switch cellphone providers, huh?
5G home internet uses technology similar to the 4G LTE that connects your smartphone to the internet. It usually uses a higher frequency than 4G LTE, which allows it to reach faster speeds than that old tech.
To get 5G in your home, you’ll need a receiver—Verizon 5G Home Internet provides one that attaches to your window and provides Wi-Fi coverage for your home.
Once you’ve got your receiver set up, your 5G home internet will work just like the normal Wi-Fi you’re used to.
Because of 5G’s fast internet speeds, it’s an attractive alternative to landline internet plans. However, 5G signals have a limited range, and you have to be very particular about where you put your 5G home internet modem/router to receive the signal.
It’s not so much that 5G can’t do what traditional home internet does—it’s just that 5G is available only in certain parts of select cities. Sometimes, you won’t be able to get 5G home internet even if your neighbor can, just based on your position to the nearest cell site.
Until there are solutions for all these drawbacks, 5G won’t be available to most people. But if Verizon comes knocking on your door to say it’s an option for you, we say go for it (and we’re envious).
Yes—Verizon’s 5G home internet offers speeds between 85 and 1,000 Mbps, and while this is a large range, even its lowest speeds are perfectly fine for gaming. For more information on how internet speeds affect your gaming performance, check out our internet gaming guide.
Yes, with speeds from 85 to 1,000 Mbps, 5G speeds are comparable to traditional fiber and cable, although your mileage will vary based on your location.
Verizon’s cheapest fiber internet plan provides 200 Mbps download speeds, but it costs only $49.99 per month. So for 5G Home to be a better deal, make sure your location affords better speeds than that.
Verizon 5G can offer equal speeds for lower prices than traditional cable or fiber plans. However, this largely depends on what speeds you’re able to reach at your location, which can vary even from apartment to apartment. The main advantage of Verizon 5G that you can count on is the lack of equipment fees—your Fios internet gateway is included in the cost of the plan.