Coverage

T-Mobile 5G Home Internet is available to over 50 million households across all 50 states, leveraging their extensive mid-band (n41/n71) 5G network. Verizon 5G Home covers fewer households but includes both their nationwide 5G (C-band) and Ultra Wideband (mmWave) in select urban areas. Check both providers' websites with your address — availability varies street by street.

Speed Comparison

T-Mobile typically delivers 100-245 Mbps download with peaks up to 400+ Mbps on mid-band. Upload speeds average 20-30 Mbps. Verizon's C-band service delivers similar 100-300 Mbps speeds, but their mmWave Ultra Wideband service can hit 1 Gbps+ in covered areas (though mmWave range is very limited). In our testing across multiple locations, T-Mobile provided more consistent speeds while Verizon had higher peaks but more variability.

Pricing

T-Mobile: $50/month ($30 with a qualifying T-Mobile phone plan). Price locked — no annual increases. No data caps, no contracts, no equipment fees.
Verizon: $60/month ($35 with a qualifying Verizon phone plan). Also no data caps or contracts. Equipment included.

T-Mobile is $10/month cheaper at the standard rate and $5 cheaper with a bundled phone plan.

Equipment

T-Mobile provides a 5G Gateway (currently the Arcadyan KVD21 or Nokia 5G21 depending on location). It includes a built-in WiFi 6 router, so you don't need a separate router. Verizon provides the 5G Home Router (currently LTE/5G Home Router from Wistron or Samsung), also with built-in WiFi 6.

Both gateways work as all-in-one devices, but performance-focused users may want to put them in bridge mode and use a better standalone router.

Latency

T-Mobile averages 25-40ms ping in our testing. Verizon C-band averages 20-35ms, and mmWave can hit as low as 10-15ms. For casual gaming and video calls, both are acceptable. For competitive gaming, Verizon's mmWave has a slight edge if you're in a covered area, but neither matches the 5-10ms latency of fiber.

Data Policy

Both providers advertise "unlimited" data with no caps. However, both reserve the right to deprioritize heavy users during network congestion. In practice, T-Mobile users report occasional slowdowns during evening peak hours in congested areas. Verizon's deprioritization is less commonly reported but can occur.

Our Verdict

T-Mobile is the better value for most people — cheaper price, wider availability, and reliable speeds. Choose Verizon if you're in a mmWave area and want the highest possible speeds, or if you already have a Verizon phone plan for the bundle discount. Both are solid alternatives to cable internet and worth considering if you're tired of your cable ISP's pricing games.

Run a speed test at SpeedsTests.com on your current connection first, then compare to what these services deliver after setup to see if it's a worthwhile switch.