I have spent years covering the wireless and home broadband companies and considerable time studying and testing a variety of networks. In the age of 5G, these two worlds have intersected, and for regular users in 2025, this is a great thing that finally brings some much-needed legitimate alternatives and competition.
After spending months living with several different 5G home internet products, it’s clear that they can compete with traditional broadband for most everyday tasks. It may not be faster than a multi-gig or fiber connection, but it can certainly be more than enough for most people.
Know the players
I took AT&T Internet Air for a spin.
On its website, AT&T promises download speeds between 90 and 300Mbps (higher is better) for its 5G home broadband service (which it calls AT&T Internet Air), with uploads between 8 and 30Mbps. The carrier says its service’s typical latency, or responsiveness, is between 30-65ms (lower is better).
T-Mobile promises similar performance with its base T-Mobile Home Internet service that uses a less powerful modem (what it calls Rely Home Internet). Per the FCC’s Broadband Facts listed on its website, users of the Rely base version can expect download speeds between 87 and 318Mbps, uploads between 14 and 56Mbps and latency between 18 and 36ms.
Stepping up to the higher-priced Amplified plan with the better modem promises a faster download average between 133 and 415Mbps and more responsive latency between 16 and 28ms. These speeds are similar to those of its priciest All-In plan, which has the same modem but throws in a few additional perks, like a Wi-Fi mesh access point and subscriptions to Hulu (with ads) and Paramount Plus Essential for an extra $10 per month.
5G home internet plans compared
Speeds for Verizon 5G Home Internet are trickier to figure out as the carrier doesn’t make them easily accessible on its website. Instead, its FAQ encourages people to put in their addresses to see which options are available in their areas. In one location I looked at in upstate New York, download speeds were listed as being between 50 and 85Mbps on its base 5G Home plan, with uploads between 5 and 10Mbps and latency between 37 and 57ms.
Stepping up to the pricier 5G Home Plus plan for an extra $20 per month resulted in download speeds between 85 and 250Mbps and upload speeds between 10 and 20Mbps, as listed in the Broadband Facts.
T-Mobile and Verizon both include taxes and fees in their respective sticker prices, but AT&T does not. All three carriers offer discounts if you bundle home internet with some of their wireless plans and sign up for things like automatic payments, which could bring the prices down even further.
For most users, lower speeds should be more than fine
T-Mobile’s Nokia home internet router may not be as strong as its newer models, but it still works well.
In running various speed and download tests, I also noticed that T-Mobile’s newer equipment performed better than the original Nokia gateway I’ve used since the service’s launch years ago. Downloading games like Marvel Rivals to my Xbox Series X was significantly faster using T-Mobile’s newer gateway, with speeds topping 700Mbps. I also enjoyed playing online games like NBA 2K on the newer gateway, as its connection was consistently snappier.
This leads to the best part: Wireless providers aren’t only continually working to improve their 5G networks, but they should also have better 5G gateways rolling out this year.
T-Mobile told me last year that it will launch a new modem in 2025 that will not only double as a Wi-Fi 7 router but should be able to take advantage of more advanced networking radios to run faster and more efficiently on its 5G network. AT&T is similarly working on new home internet gateways.
And as cable companies react by improving their speeds, performance and offerings — which we’ve seen with recent emphasis on multi-gigabit offerings and faster base tiers — 5G providers will need to answer in kind.
When added together, this means you can now call your regular provider and give them a real threat to switch to if they can’t lower your bill or improve your service.
