Latest news with #T-MobileHomeInternet
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Starlink vs. T-Mobile Home Internet: Clash of the Broadband Disruptors
Just recently, T-Mobile made headlines by announcing its partnership with Starlink's satellite internet service for its mobile plans. But in terms of broadband, how do these providers compare? What makes Starlink and T-Mobile Home Internet solid options for rural communities? One word: availability. Unlike most cable and fiber internet service providers, Starlink and T-Mobile generally offer extensive coverage throughout the country. CNET recommends Starlink over T-Mobile Home Internet, here's why. Starlink's satellite internet is available virtually everywhere, even on the go. This is particularly convenient for rural Americans that often have limited options for broadband. In other words, accessibility is everything. T-Mobile is the leading 5G Home Internet provider in the country, yet for many rural Americans, you may find yourself on T-Mobile's long waitlist (currently sitting at over a million people in queue) to sign up for service. Starlink ditched it's nationwide waitlist in 2023, but it's reported that several cities could still be waiting to sign up for service. Service ranges from $120 to as much as $250 monthly -- and that's not including the steep up-front costs of equipment. T-Mobile Home Internet, on the other hand, is significantly cheaper than Starlink. Both providers offer maximum speeds of over 200 megabits per second with unlimited data and latency low enough to support online gaming. T-Mobile Home Internet happens to come at a much lower price than Starlink and regularly offers perks and deals, making it the better choice in areas where the two ISPs are available. CNET's individual reviews of each provider further that notion. T-Mobile Home Internet scored a 7.4 out of 10, one of the highest ratings out of all 40-plus ISPs CNET has reviewed. (Verizon Fios has the best overall score at 7.6.) Starlink, on the other hand, earned a 6.5, well below T-Mobile Home Internet but still higher than competing satellite internet providers Hughesnet (6) and Viasat (6.1). As always, it's important to examine the fine print to decide which service is ultimately best for your home. Here's the full rundown of everything Starlink and T-Mobile. Starlink offers multiple plan options depending on whether you need fixed or mobile internet service. Fixed home internet service comes down to either "standard" or "priority" data. Standard is the cheapest option at $120 a month for expected speeds ranging from 25 to 100 megabits per second. Priority service offers a higher, more consistent upload and download speed range (40 to 220Mbps), at least until you've reached the data limit. After that, your service is bumped to standard for the remainder of the billing cycle. In addition to its roaming plan, T-Mobile Home Internet recently introduced new plans offering faster speeds than its Home Internet and Home Internet Plus plans, which only have a single speed tier. If you're just interested in home internet, T-Mobile Home is half the price of Starlink's cheapest plan (and even cheaper for qualifying T-Mobile voice customers) and has a higher anticipated speed range. Here's a look at each provider's plans. As mentioned above, T-Mobile Home Internet is half the cost of Starlink's cheapest plan, starting at $50 per month compared to $120 with Starlink Standard. Plus, a $15 discount is available to qualifying T-Mobile voice customers, bringing the monthly rate down even further. There are no set price increases with T-Mobile Home Internet, and the provider is currently running a unique 'price lock,' offering to pay your final bill if the monthly rate ever increases. Likewise, there are no set price increases with Starlink, but the monthly home internet rate has fluctuated in the short time since the service has been available (in fairness, T-Mobile Home Internet rates have shifted between $50 and $60 multiple times). Starlink's home internet plan, the most suitable for everyday home internet use, runs $120 per month. For a priority data connection with a faster speed range and better speed consistency during periods of network congestion, Starlink home internet will run you $140 to $500 per month depending on your chosen data allotment of 40GB, 2TB or 5TB. I would probably pass on the 40GB option, but 2TB is plenty of data and more than the average household will use in a month. Read more: My T-Mobile Home Internet Experience: 5 Things I Love and a Few Things I Could Do Without Starlink and T-Mobile Home Internet plans advertise an expected speed range, meaning the maximum speeds a home receives will vary based on location, network congestion and other factors. T-Mobile Home Internet's speed range is higher than Starlink (87 to 415Mbps versus 25 to 100 or 40 to 220Mbps), but that doesn't guarantee it to be the faster provider. T-Mobile Home Internet estimates that '25% of our customers see speeds below and 25% see speeds above' the 133 to 415Mbps range, according to the provider's FAQ page. The speeds you get with T-Mobile Home Internet will depend on your proximity to a mobile tower and the number of nearby customers who rely on the T-Mobile network for home internet, contributing to network congestion. In some cases, T-Mobile will lean on its 4G LTE network to deliver home internet, which can result in speeds slower than the advertised speed range. Starlink says that 'a majority of customers [experience] speeds over 100Mbps.' Like with T-Mobile Home Internet, Starlink's available speeds will vary by location and network congestion, but Starlink is more transparent about what speeds you can expect in different parts of the US, as displayed in the map above. With every new Starlink launch, maximum available speeds and resistance to network congestion could continue to improve. Those with priority data are less vulnerable to slowed speeds during periods of high activity. Starlink's Fair Use Policy states, 'Priority data is given network precedence over Standard and Mobile data, meaning users will experience faster and more consistent download and upload speeds.' T-Mobile Home Internet doesn't offer standard versus priority service tiers, so everyone is at the same mercy of the network's capacity and capabilities. Latency, or the time it takes your connection to send data back and forth, is notoriously high with traditional, geostationary satellite internet services, rendering online gaming and other tasks next to impossible. Starlink and its network of low-orbiting satellites drastically reduce the time it takes to send data from the sky to your home and back. Advertised latency for Starlink internet is between 25 and 60 milliseconds, a significant improvement over Hughesnet or Viasat (which can hit 400 ms or higher) and low enough to support online gaming. T-Mobile Home Internet signals have a shorter distance to travel, and as a result, expected latency ranges are lower than Starlink at around 16 to 36 ms (24 to 40 when relying on its 4G LTE network). Still, latency from either provider is low enough that you likely wouldn't notice a difference between Starlink and T-Mobile Home Internet. Both ISPs have a latency range that will comfortably support online gaming, so don't let latency influence your decision too much on Starlink versus T-Mobile Home Internet. Speeds and latency are a toss-up between Starlink and T-Mobile Home Internet, but the latter has a clear advantage when it comes to equipment and accompanying fees. There are no equipment fees, upfront or ongoing, with T-Mobile Home Internet. Your equipment arrives with free, two-day shipping and setup is simple -- just plug in your router, then create your Wi-Fi network (and don't forget to take these steps to secure it). Starlink recently hiked its equipment purchase fee to $349 in most locations but may run as much as $100 more (or less) in other markets. Equipment fees are due at the time of your order. That's a huge upfront cost compared with T-Mobile Home Internet. On top of that, a shipping and handling fee of around $20 may apply. Equipment is included at no extra cost for T-Mobile Home Internet, just look out for that $35 activation fee when you begin service. Despite the shipping fee, it will probably take longer to get your equipment than T-Mobile Home Internet -- up to two weeks. The setup appears to be fairly straightforward (check it out in the video below), but it's still going to be more involved than T-Mobile Home Internet. Nothing really to move the needle one way or the other here. Neither provider enforces data caps or requires a contract for service. Granted, Starlink has its Priority plan with varying amounts of data, but there is still no cap on your total usage. Once the priority data pool is depleted, customers fall to the Standard and still unlimited data plan. Choosing an internet provider starts with what's available in your area. Starlink has the availability advantage over T-Mobile Home Internet and basically every other nonsatellite provider. According to the most recent Federal Communications Commission data, Starlink is available to 99.7% of US households. A few pockets across the US aren't yet serviceable for Starlink, the biggest areas that lack availability are in west-central New Mexico and along the Virginia-West Virginia border. For the most part, Starlink is immediately available everywhere else. T-Mobile Home Internet's availability has rapidly increased, and there's no reason to expect the ISP will slow down anytime soon. Still, nationwide availability sits at just under 60% as of June 2024, per the most recent FCC data. Coverage is particularly low in the western states of Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming -- states where Starlink indicates its fastest speeds are available. Starlink booted it's nationwide waitlist in 2023, but select cities may still be waiting for service. T-Mobile's 5G Home internet, on the other hand, has over a million people currently in the queue. Even in areas largely serviceable for T-Mobile Home Internet, availability can vary by address and the current network capacity. As a result, home internet service may not be available, even if you can get 5G on your phone. Along the lines of availability, Starlink also offers Roam internet with service intended for 'RVs, nomads and campers' that allows you to take your internet connection essentially anywhere. Service starts at $50 to $165 a month for standard unlimited data, while priority data plans range from $250 to $1,000. The Roam Unlimited plan recently increased from $150 to $165 a month, but I'd say the added perks are worth the extra cost. In addition, Starlink also introduced a mini satellite dish that is best suited for travelers. Service starts at $50 or $165 monthly; this does not include the upfront equipment fee of $499. T-Mobile Home Internet also launched a roaming plan of its own, T-Mobile Home Internet Away. At $110 a month for 200GB or $160 for unlimited data, the monthly rate is more in line with Starlink, although going with T-Mobile will save you a good bit on equipment costs. Both providers are fairly new to the home internet market, so there's limited historical data tracking customer satisfaction trends from Starlink or T-Mobile Home Internet. But both seem to be off to a good start. In its third year to include T-Mobile Home Internet in its annual report and second year to distinguish fiber from nonfiber providers, the American Customer Satisfaction Index gave the ISP a score of 76 out of 100. The score, a three-point increase year over year, was well above the average for nonfiber providers (68) and T-Mobile took the top spot in the category. Starlink isn't included in ACSI data, but an Ookla Speedtest Intelligence report from the first quarter of 2023 gives insight into customer reception and satisfaction. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) Data from the report shows that Starlink had a significantly higher Net Promoter Score (a study of how likely a customer is to recommend a service) than the averaged score from all other ISPs despite having slower median download speeds. Starlink outperformed other ISPs exceptionally well in nonmetropolitan settings, which makes sense as the service is geared toward rural internet users. Since entering the broadband space, Starlink and T-Mobile Home Internet have improved high-speed availability and connectivity, particularly in areas where options have long been (and still are) highly limited. Both providers provide significant upgrades in speed and reliability compared with other rural internet services, but I recommend Starlink as it boasts wider availability. However, if given the option of the two, go with T-Mobile Home Internet. T-Mobile Home Internet is considerably cheaper than Starlink, upfront and month to month, while service is potentially faster and easier to get started. T-Mobile Home Internet isn't available everywhere. In areas where T-Mobile Home Internet doesn't yet reach, Starlink is likely to be the best option for high-speed internet compared with geostationary satellite internet (Hughesnet, Viasat) or DSL internet. Starlink and T-Mobile Home Internet match up fairly evenly regarding speed, data caps and contracts. Starlink's main advantage over T-Mobile Home Internet is availability, as the satellite ISP is available nationwide, whereas T-Mobile Home Internet currently covers just over half of US households. Where both providers are available, T-Mobile Home Internet will be the cheaper option. Service starts at half the cost of Starlink's cheapest plan, and there are no equipment fees, saving customers $349 or possibly more in upfront costs compared with Starlink. Starlink's Standard home internet service advertises a speed range of 25 to 100Mbps or 40 to 220Mbps, depending on your chosen service tier. T-Mobile Home Internet's new plans offer a slightly faster download speed range, 87 to 318Mbps or 133 to 415Mbps. Location, network congestion and other factors impact actual speeds from both providers, so Starlink may be faster in some locations while T-Mobile Home Internet is faster in others. Starlink's Priority plan could deliver faster speeds and better reliability by giving users network precedence over Standard users, eliminating or mitigating slowed speeds due to network congestion. T-Mobile Home Internet doesn't offer a similar service tier, so customers may be more likely to experience speed issues during peak usage times or in areas with many users relying on the network. Not for home internet. Just recently, T-Mobile announced it's partnership with Starlink to expand its mobile connectivity to remote locations beyond the reach of T-Mobile's network. SpaceX launched the first set of satellites for T-Mobile use earlier this year. Starlink and T-Mobile Home Internet are less susceptible to service disruptions due to bad weather than traditional, geostationary satellite internet service. Still, heavy cloud coverage, rain or other severe weather conditions can interfere with Starlink signals. Additionally, snow or ice accumulation on the satellite dish could impact service. Internet signals from T-Mobile Home Internet have a shorter distance to travel and are far less susceptible to service disruptions during bouts of bad weather.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
T-Mobile Home Internet Review: Plans, Pricing, Speed and Availability
Can T-Mobile's home internet service meet your home broadband needs? Let's look at what makes this internet service provider different. First, T-Mobile only charges $50 to $70 monthly for its plans, a price you can knock down to $35 to $55 by bundling with an eligible mobile plan. On top of that, you don't have to worry about long-term contracts or data caps. The company recently made headlines by introducing three new plans and a slew of perks. Pretty sweet, right? T-Mobile Home Internet is currently available to over 50 million homes across the US, but many locations and addresses still can't get it. 5G is the marquee player on this bill, but T-Mobile relies on 4G LTE to help expand its home internet service area. That means that of the 5G home internet providers, T-Mobile doesn't offer the fastest speeds on average -- a definite bummer. More on that later. T-Mobile launched 5G Home Internet as a pilot program early in 2021, and we were among the first to give it a hands-on test run. By April 2021, T-Mobile officially announced the launch of its home broadband service nationwide. A short year later, it expanded its availability to 40 million households, and we returned to give it another try. Another of our writers, who has used the service for two years, more recently shared her experience with T-Mobile Home Internet" target="_self. T-Mobile has undergone many changes in its plan offerings. Initially, it only offered a single home internet plan, but in April 2024, T-Mobile announced two new internet plans: the Away plan, which is an option for people on the go, and the T-Mobile Home Internet Plus premium plan. Since then, T-Mobile is now offering three main plans, which come with faster speeds and new streaming perks. More on that in a bit. Overall, T-Mobile continues to be ecstatic about its 5G home internet offering. The number of subscribers has reached 6.4 million, according to the company's fourth-quarter 2024 report and the Federal Communications Commission included T-Mobile's home internet offering as one of only 11 fixed internet services able to cover over at least 5% of the US population. Further, T-Mobile Home Internet made a splash with the 2024 American Customer Satisfaction Index survey results by coming out in first place in customer satisfaction for all non-fiber internet service providers. Not too shabby. Now that the company has established its home broadband offering, will T-Mobile Home Internet prove a viable option to replace your current ISP? See at Unknown Merchant T-Mobile offers customers T-Mobile Rely Internet, T-Mobile Amplified Internet and T-Mobile All-In Internet. These plans feature faster speeds than what the company offered last year but for similar pricing to the Home Internet and Home Internet Plus plans. The speed boost is due to new and upgraded gateway routers, which are included with your service. The Amplified and All-In Internet plans offer download speeds of 133 to 415Mbps, whereas the Rely Internet plans are 87 to 318Mbps. These are an upgrade from the 72 to 245Mbps you got from the previous standard plan. In addition, your upload speeds will also look different by plan. The Rely Internet plan offers slightly faster upload speeds of 14 to 56Mbps. If your household does a lot of streaming, then T-Mobile's All-In Internet plan might be a good option. The plan includes a free Hulu and Paramount Plus (with ads) subscription. You also get a mesh router to help with coverage throughout the home. In addition, this plan is designed to ensure that customers have unlimited live tech support at all times through Assurant Personal TechPro. Although T-Mobile's standard plan already offered a customer care team aiding tech support for its customers, the All-In Internet plan goes a step further. Source: CNET analysis of provider data. Initially, only one speed tier was available (72 to 245Mbps), but now, there are more speeds to choose from without paying for more. These new plans feature relatively similar pricing to that of the standard plans. The premise of 5G home internet is that, unlike typical internet connection types (including coaxial cable lines, fiber-optic internet and digital subscriber lines), you're not reliant on underground constructions and deployments to get you connected. Instead, a fixed wireless internet service provides you with a router that connects to a cellular signal. T-Mobile provides its Wi-Fi Gateway device, a combination modem and Wi-Fi 6 router compatible with T-Mobile's 4G LTE and 5G networks. As you can see from the chart, the only variable is the average download and upload speed you'll experience. At the bare minimum, T-Mobile says, all eligible households should see average download speeds of 133 megabits per second. Depending on your location and the placement of the T-Mobile Gateway, you might see download speeds as high as 415Mbps. The hope and promise of 5G and its capabilities haven't yet been fully realized, at least not by T-Mobile. My CNET colleague Eli Blumenthal has thoroughly detailed the basics of 5G and how not all "5G" is the same. In summary, faster 5G speeds come with shorter ranges. The farther the distance, the less speed on the top end. For T-Mobile to hit the road running with availability to over 30 million households at its launch, it leaned on its 4G LTE network as well as its growing 5G network. That's why my CNET colleagues averaged just over 40Mbps download speeds with T-Mobile Home Internet, and some households may get up to just over 100Mbps. Anecdotally, we've heard of some users seeing download speeds as high as 300Mbps. Still, T-Mobile's FAQ section promises customers will "see typical download speeds between 87-415Mbps." While that may be plenty of speed for many folks, it doesn't compare to the higher download speeds you might get with fiber internet or cable plans. At least not yet. When discussing any ISP, it's always good to begin by answering the fundamental question: Can I get this service? T-Mobile Home Internet is available to around 60% of the country and all 50 states -- making it the most widely available home internet service. By comparison, Verizon's 5G Home Internet service has rolled out in approximately 900 markets but is available to around 40 million homes. In the meantime, T-Mobile is open to signups in over 600 cities but more households, many within rural areas. Check the T-Mobile Home Internet eligibility page to determine if your address is serviceable. As mentioned, T-Mobile is the most widely available 5G home internet service. Considering that US Census data puts the total number of households in the country at approximately 143 million, about 60% of households remain ineligible for T-Mobile Home Internet. A T-Mobile spokesperson didn't have specific details on expansion plans but highlighted that more than 10 million households in the current footprint are within rural America. Additionally, there's a focus on expanding access for small towns and communities. For people outside the current availability window, T-Mobile's site mentions that its Ultra Capacity 5G connection is expected "to reach 300 million Americans by the end of this year." Yet, it's worth noting that even if you can access T-Mobile's 5G network, you may not automatically get its 5G home internet service" target="_self. T-Mobile also has a Home Internet Lite service, open to anyone within a T-Mobile service area. While that broadens the company's availability footprint, it wouldn't be right to include this as part of T-Mobile Home Internet, as Lite has a 100 to 300GB data cap. One of the significant wins for T-Mobile Home Internet is its straightforwardness. There's no pesky small print. ISPs are notorious for their hidden fees and trap pricing -- they try to lure you in with enticing promo prices but then stick you with a larger bill after those terms expire. That's not the case here. T-Mobile Home Internet features no data caps, so you don't have to fear data overage fees. There's no equipment fee for the Gateway device, so you don't have to figure out an additional monthly cost to tack on to your regular bill. It also requires no annual service contracts, so you don't have any early termination fees looming over your head. These are all appealing aspects of this service and make it very enticing to try T-Mobile Home Internet if it's available in your area. There is one additional fee you'll have to pay once at the start of your service: a $35 "device connection charge," similar to the activation fee you pay with many ISPs. In addition to its new plans, T-Mobile is sweetening the pot with a slew of perks to draw in potential customers. First, customers with eligible Go5G Plus and Magenta Max plans can save $15 monthly. Second, new customers can get a $200 virtual gift card for switching to T-Mobile Home Internet and a free Blink smart security package. Lastly, home internet customers can participate in T-Mobile Tuesdays, the company's weekly discount and free perks promotion. T-Mobile also runs a "Worry-free Test Drive" promotion, during which customers can try the service for 15 days with a money-back guarantee. T-Mobile Home Internet hit the ground running in 2023 when it debuted at the top of the American Customer Satisfaction Index's survey of nonfiber internet service providers. It scored 73 out of 100 points, well ahead of the category's 66-point average. Even more impressive is that it improved that score by 4% in 2024, still topping the ACSI chart, although Verizon 5G Home Internet was hot on its heels in second place. Regarding availability, T-Mobile is also ahead of its 5G home internet competitors, AT&T Internet Air, Starry and Verizon. Starry is available in five major metropolitan areas: Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C. Verizon is available in more cities than T-Mobile (currently 900) but is behind T-Mobile's total households covered. Starry and Verizon have the upper hand on average download speeds. Starry customers typically see consistent download speeds of 200Mbps, and Verizon's 5G Home Internet plans average around 300Mbps. What Starry and Verizon have given up regarding widespread availability, they currently make up for in the average speeds they deliver. All the 5G home internet providers share freedom from all the hidden fees and pricing games that many cable and fiber ISPs play. With 5G, the monthly rate is the monthly rate. There are no equipment rental charges, data caps or binding annual contracts. Regarding 5G, we're much closer to the beginning than the end of where everything will shake out. If it's speed you're after, T-Mobile's 5G home internet service might not impress if you have other cable and fiber internet providers available at your address. If you're in a rural or less developed area where DSL or satellite was your only previous option, T-Mobile will feel lightning fast by comparison. As one CNET early adopter of T-Mobile Home Internet noted, "Imperfection is a lot more tolerable when you're paying less than half what you were before." Overall, T-Mobile has positioned itself as a viable option in the home internet space, making it an intriguing player to watch as it expands its 5G infrastructure. If nothing else, since it demands no contract commitment, it's an opportunity to try a different option and maybe even use it as leverage to negotiate with your current internet service provider. Hopefully, the more options we have as consumers, our internet service will improve in the long run. No. T-Mobile Home Internet features unlimited data. Customers will not have any potential data overage fees or charges hanging over their heads. If you use T-Mobile Home Internet you could find your service slowed in cases where the company prioritizes its mobile users over its fixed wireless service. Yes. Your router is included in your monthly bill for whichever plan you choose. One of the appealing aspects of T-Mobile Home Internet is that its monthly fee -- $50 to $70 a month (or $35 to $55 monthly for eligible Go5G Plus and Magenta Max mobile customers) -- includes a 5G Gateway (a modem/router combo device). The T-Mobile equipment lease is included in the one fee, and all that's required is that you return the device when you end service with T-Mobile. T-Mobile's new plans, Rely Internet, Amplified Internet and All-In Internet, feature faster routers. For the most part, yes, but not unequivocally. You may find faster speeds with T-Mobile's new plans, ranging anywhere between 87 to 415Mbps in download speeds and 12 to 56Mbps in upload. As T-Mobile says in its Open Internet policy, "many factors affect the speed and performance that customers experience, including ... proximity to a cell site, weather and the surrounding terrain." Whichever T-Mobile plan you choose, you should see download speeds higher than those typically achieved on Hughesnet (an average of 50 to 100Mbps) and Viasat (up to 150Mbps). The Starlink plans can offer similar internet speeds (30 to 220Mbps) but are much more expensive -- $120 to $1,000 monthly, plus a one-time equipment fee of $349 or $599 for the Starlink Mini.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
My T-Mobile Home Internet Experience: 5 Things I Love and a Few Things I Could Do Without
Albuquerque, New Mexico. Home of green chiles, over 300 days of sunshine, the International Balloon Fiesta... and achingly slow internet. Home internet was a two-horse race in Albuquerque for years: CenturyLink DSL and Xfinity cable. I spent decades on DSL, watching my internet speed tests" target="_self march slowly up to a maximum of 20 megabits per second. Friends with faster Xfinity bemoaned the company's customer service, data caps and prices, so I stubbornly stuck with CenturyLink. One day in late 2022, a T-Mobile Home Internet gateway arrived at my house. After that, I finally called to cancel CenturyLink. I went with T-Mobile for several reasons. DSL was too slow. My next-door neighbor got T-Mobile Home Internet and raved about it. Coincidentally, CenturyLink wanted to charge me $200 to replace my old router with a newer one. I said, "Nope," and changed to 5G home internet. My home internet life has improved in my post-DSL world, but it's not all roses and happy dances. If you're looking for a TL;DR, here you go: I'm still on T-Mobile Home Internet and will probably stick with it until I can give Verizon 5G Home Internet a try or until fiber finally shows up on my block. My experience with 5G home internet is specific to my circumstances, so your journey with the same service may differ. Here are things I like about my 5G home internet and the elements that may drive me to switch to another internet service provider someday. I will sing the praises of T-Mobile Home Internet before I air my grievances. The service's best features are its simplicity and ease of use and it represents an upgrade over outdated DSL. With CenturyLink, I was paying $45 per month for downloads up to 20Mbps. With T-Mobile, my monthly bill is a straight $50. That's a sweet spot for me regarding home internet pricing. I was willing to pay a little more than CenturyLink for a higher standard of service, but my bargain-hunting mindset would balk at anything higher. I would consider Verizon 5G Home Internet for the same price, but the rival service is unavailable at my address. I expect fiber to arrive someday, but I'll scrutinize the pricing before I make a change. The two providers most likely to service my address are Ezee Fiber ($69 per month for a gig) and Vexus Fiber ($40 per month for 500Mbps or $50 per month for a gig). Vexus raises rates after the first year. I'll weigh my ingrained frugality against fiber performance when the time comes. That might seem like faint praise, but T-Mobile provides me vastly better speeds than I was getting from DSL. My best speed test results net top download speeds of 200Mbps, 10 times what I got on a good day with DSL. Speeds can be variable thanks to network congestion and placement of the gateway device. I have some speed complaints, but we'll talk about that later. I don't like complexity when it comes to broadband plans. I don't want to calculate equipment rental fees or figure out overage penalties for exceeding a data cap. I especially don't want to be tied into a contract. I just want home internet and to be free to try another ISP. T-Mobile ticks the simplicity box. There are no gear fees, data caps or contracts. My mother lives six blocks away from me. She also had CenturyLink DSL. I ran a speed test on her desktop computer and the best she could get was about 12Mbps. That's not a typo. That's the reality for some DSL customers. She was paying over $60 per month and was frustrated every time she tried to call to discuss her bill. No problem, Mom. We canceled her DSL and got her signed up with T-Mobile. She found a nice perch for the gateway in a front window near her computer. With a strong signal, she can regularly pull down speeds from 100-200Mbps, which is plenty good for her low-key browsing and streaming needs. The only downside is she gets text messages about school closings to her gateway, a leftover from whoever used her gateway's phone number before her. It's a minor annoyance, and I don't have the same problem. T-Mobile provides a free gateway device that melds the features of a modem and a router. I have a silver Nokia gateway that's semi-affectionately referred to as the 'trash can.' The top-mounted display is a mild annoyance due to its awkward location, and it gets hot but works. T-Mobile now has newer models. My mother has a Sagemcom device with a front-mounted display resembling a more refined trash can. The newest gateway is sleeker and looks like an Apple product. I had no issues setting up my Nokia gateway and my mother's Sagemcom. We were online within minutes and found the gateways to be stable, with no crashes or other hiccups to report. The Wi-Fi works well, reaching the corners of our vintage homes with respectable speeds. T-Mobile Home Internet has a lot going for it, but it's not my dream broadband service. Here are a few areas where it stumbles. Xfinity offers cable speeds up to 1,200Mbps at my home. Fiber from Vexus Fiber, Quantum Fiber and Ezee Fiber is slowly spreading across Albuquerque, but it's not in my historic neighborhood yet. Fiber customers can access symmetrical gig speeds, of which I'm incredibly envious. T-Mobile Home Internet offers typical speeds of 87-415Mbps, vastly below offerings from the local cable and fiber ISPs. The good news is I'm not a gamer (let's ignore my Nintendo Wii obsession), so I just need enough oomph to surf and stream. I wouldn't mind zippier downloads and uploads for when I'm moving big music, video and image files around. T-Mobile's 5G internet service is subject to the same pitfalls you encounter with phone service. Sometimes, you're in a place with a weak signal. Sometimes, that place is your own home. My neighbor, the first person I knew who got on board with 5G home internet, gets a strong signal on the west side of her house. Next door, the best I can get is a fair signal, which works out to two bars out of five on the gateway's scale. That means I'm missing out on the top speeds the service is capable of. My T-Mobile Home Internet speed is like the Albuquerque weather. Wait five minutes, and it'll change. I just ran an internet speed test and got 16.7Mbps. That's slow enough to give me unwelcome flashbacks to my DSL days. A few minutes later, I'm at 94.6Mbps. Sometimes, I get over 100Mbps. Usually, I'm sitting around 80Mbps. My speed tests are all over the map. Some of this may be due to the 1939 construction materials of my home and my inability to dial in a good placement for the gateway to get a better signal. My CNET colleague Eli Blumenthal also encountered speed issues when testing the service in 2022. When CNET's Joe Supan tried AT&T Internet Air" target="_self, he also struggled with maintaining decent speeds, so the issue may be more endemic to fixed wireless service than specific to T-Mobile Home Internet. T-Mobile recommends placing your gateway 'close to a window or high up on an upper floor or bookshelf.' When I had DSL, my router sat in my home office on a nifty little custom shelf. It was unobtrusive and out of the way. My T-Mobile gateway has visited every single window in my house in my search for a strong signal. It's now in my living room with the silver 'trash can' perched on a windowsill. I still get solid Wi-Fi coverage around my home, but a piece of internet equipment sitting in my window isn't my ideal home decor. Thinking about dipping your toes into T-Mobile Home Internet? Consider if it's an upgrade over your current service. If you're crawling along with DSL, it could be a smart move. If you need consistent and super-fast speeds, especially for gaming, then look to cable or fiber. I'm not a T-Mobile phone customer, but mobile users can bundle with eligible phone plans to get extra savings on home internet. That could be enough to tip price-conscious shoppers over to the 5G internet service. There's an element of experimentation with 5G home internet. You don't know how well it will work for you until you try it, so take advantage of T-Mobile's 15-day money-back trial. I'm not in love with my home internet, but at least I like it, and that's a better relationship than I had with DSL.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Best Internet Providers in York, Pennsylvania
CNET's top recommendation for internet in York is Xfinity, thanks to its extensive availability, competitive starting prices and the fastest speeds in the area. Plans begin at $30 per month for 300Mbps, scaling up to $75 per month for 1200Mbps. As the only wired provider in York, Xfinity remains the best option for fast, reliable internet, despite significant price hikes after one to three years. If you're looking to avoid Xfinity's pricing fluctuations, T-Mobile Home Internet and Verizon 5G Home Internet are strong alternatives, with plans starting at $50 per month. While their speeds don't quite match Xfinity, Verizon comes close, and both provide ample bandwidth for typical household needs. CNET considers speeds, pricing, customer service and overall value to recommend the best internet service in York across many categories. Our evaluation includes referencing a proprietary database built over years of reviewing internet services. We validate that against provider information by spot-checking local addresses for service availability. We also do a close read of providers' terms and conditions and, when needed, will call ISPs to verify the details. Despite our efforts to find the most recent and accurate information, our process has some limitations you should know about. Pricing and speed data are variable: Certain addresses may qualify for different service tiers, and monthly costs may vary, even within a city. The best way to identify your particular options is to plug your address into a provider's website. Also, the prices, speed and other information listed above and in the provider cards below may differ from what we found in our research. The cards display the full range of a provider's pricing and speed across the US, according to our database of plan information provided directly by ISPs. At the same time, the text is specific to what's available in York. The prices referenced within this article's text come from our research and include applicable discounts for setting up automatic payments each month, a standard industry offering. Other discounts and promotions might also be available for things like signing a term contract or bundling with multiple services. Visit our full methodology page to understand how we review internet providers. Source: CNET analysis of provider data. Source: CNET analysis of provider data. The best internet deals and the top promotions in York depend on what discounts are available during a given time. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers. York internet providers, such as Verizon 5G Home Internet and Xfinity, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, including T-Mobile Home Internet, run the same standard pricing year-round. For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals. Source: CNET analysis of provider data. Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you're looking for an internet plan that can accommodate videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you'll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here's an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Note that these are only guidelines and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address. For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need. 0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics: browsing the internet, sending and receiving email, and streaming low-quality video. 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing. 40 to 100Mbps should give one user sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming. 100 to 500Mbps allows one to two users to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming. 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time. Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike with the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it's impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. What's our approach? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites and mapping information from It doesn't end there: We go to the FCC's website to check our data and ensure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP's service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of the time of publication. Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions: Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds? Do customers get decent value for what they're paying? Are customers happy with their service? The answer to those questions is often layered and complex, but the providers who come closest to "yes" on all three are the ones we recommend. When it comes to selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, although we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and also take into account real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page. Xfinity is York's best internet service provider, offering the broadest coverage, cheapest starting prices and fastest speeds. No, fiber internet isn't available in York, according to FCC data. Xfinity is the cheapest internet provider in York, offering plans starting at $30 per month. Xfinity offers the fastest plan in York, with download speeds up to 1,200Mbps.
