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Starting at $50
Verizon 5G Home Internet rating
How we calculated our rating
Speed
7/10
Value
7.5/10
Customer Care
7/10
Pros
No data caps or contracts
Straightforward pricing
Faster download speeds than other fixed wireless services
Cons
Speeds are not guaranteed and can fluctuate
Home customers are second priority to mobile users on the network
Upload speeds are comparable to cable but fall short of fiber
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Verizon 5G Home Internet review
Wireless internet is becoming a popular alternative to cable, fiber or DSL internet service. Why is that? Well, J.D. Power's 2024 residential internet survey highlights that customers prefer the affordability of wireless service over wired. That same survey also shows the prominence of 5G internet in the fixed wireless internet category, with T-Mobile and Verizon leading as 5G internet providers.
Wireless delivery allows providers like Verizon to expand quickly. It connects homes through a receiver that picks up Verizon's cellular signal and broadcasts it as a Wi-Fi network. Since launching in 2018, Verizon's 5G Home Internet availability has surged. According to its most recent 2024 quarterly report, Verizon now has nearly 4.6 million customers for 5G Home Internet, a 16% increase from the previous year.
In very select regions, including parts of Verizon's coverage map, you'll find 5G plans capable of hitting near-gigabit download speeds. That wide availability and high speeds -- to say nothing of plans that come without data caps, contracts or hidden fees -- make Verizon 5G Home Internet especially interesting if you live in an area without high-speed cable or fiber internet access. With its straightforward pricing and service terms, there's much to like about what Verizon is selling.
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Verizon 5G Home Internet plans and pricing
It's worth noting that all prices listed on this page reflect available discounts for setting up paperless billing. If you decide not to go with automatic monthly payments, your price will be higher.
Plan Monthly price Max speeds Fees and service details
Verizon 5G Home Read full review $50 ($35 with qualifying Verizon 5G mobile plans) 300Mbps download, 20Mbps upload Unlimited data, no contracts or equipment fees
Verizon 5G Home Plus Read full review $70 ($55 with qualifying Verizon 5G mobile plans) 1,000Mbps download, 75Mbps upload Unlimited data, no contracts or equipment fees
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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
Like any fixed wireless provider, 5G home internet speeds vary based on factors like network congestion and proximity to a 5G tower. Providers like Verizon may advertise speeds “up to” a certain threshold, but actual performance isn’t always guaranteed.
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Verizon offers two plans, each offering a different speed potential. The standard plan offers max download speeds up to 50 to 300 megabits per second and up to 20Mbps in upload speeds. You can find faster max speeds with the Home Plus plan, which ranges from 85 to 1,000Mbps in download (for select areas) and 50 to 75Mbps in upload.
The typical download speeds for each plan range from 50 to 85Mbps for the 5G Home plan and 85 to 250 for the 5G Home Plus plan. You may see faster typical speeds depending on usage, network congestion or proximity to a 5G cell tower. Verizon reports that 5G Home customers should get HD video streaming (1080p) capabilities while those with 5G Home Plus will experience 4K video streaming.
Even better, both plans have a price lock for up to three years, and, unlike many ISPs, equipment rental is already included in your monthly bill.
What's the deal with Verizon 5G and Verizon 4G LTE?
Fixed wireless internet services don't usually boast the fastest internet connection speeds. Still, it's no wonder that millions of households turn to 5G home internet instead of the high prices and hassles of big internet providers. Fixed wireless connections are a practical option for rural areas and have decent prices for decent speeds. However, many users can experience network congestion. According to the company website, Verizon claims that "in times of network congestion, we may reduce data speeds or prioritize your data behind other traffic for the rest of that bill cycle."
This is the same case with Verizon's 4G LTE home internet plan. Moreover, your typical download speeds are between 25Mbps to 50Mbps, with uploads in the single digits. 5G is much faster than that, and that's because the standard's millimeter-wave technology (aka mmWave) sends signals at much higher frequencies than LTE. Those higher frequencies can deliver gigabit speeds in the right circumstances, but the trade-off is that they don't travel as far and can struggle with obstructions.
5G accounts for those high-speed range limitations by mixing slower mid- and low-band signals that travel farther for better coverage. On those frequencies, you can expect your 5G speeds to dip to around 300Mbps on midband or down to double-digit LTE levels on low-band. That's why your 5G mileage will vary as far as speeds are concerned; it all comes down to your home's location.
Who can get Verizon 5G Home Internet?
Map of Verizon 5G service areas
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Map of Verizon 5G service areas
Each dot on this Verizon coverage map represents a city with 5G Ultra Wideband access. The red regions of the map indicate where Verizon offers 5G for mobile customers. The dots are likely spots for the strongest 5G Home Internet connections. Verizon
Verizon 5G Home Internet is available in many places, but it's mostly centered on America's largest metro regions, where the development of 5G infrastructure is furthest along. That puts it on a similar (but much speedier) trajectory to fiber, with service primarily focused in America's largest cities, where the population density makes expansion more cost-effective.
That said, deploying new cell towers and upgrading existing ones is generally faster than wiring entire regions for fiber, neighborhood by neighborhood. While availability is still somewhat limited, there's room for hope that 5G might be able to bring faster home internet to underserved parts of the country faster than fiber, cable or other internet types.
Plug in your address to determine availability
Even if Verizon 5G Home Internet is available in your city, there's no guarantee you can get it at your address. Service requires proximity to Verizon's 5G cell towers and a strong, steady signal.
My former CNET colleague, for example, lived near downtown Louisville, Kentucky, where Verizon's 5G Home Internet is an option for some. Verizon didn't offer service at his address, even though he had a cell plan with Verizon and service strong enough for his phone to connect over 5G semi-regularly when he was at home.
Want to see whether Verizon 5G Home Internet is available at your household? Check out Verizon's availability link and plug in your address.
Verizon 5G Home Internet's simple service terms
Verizon's terms are about as straightforward as you'll find in the home internet market. The monthly rate includes all taxes and fees, and you won't need to pay an additional equipment fee as you will with many providers.
Additionally, there are no service contracts, early termination fees or data caps. That means you can use your connection as much as you like without fearing overage charges for using too much data. On top of that, Verizon 5G Home Internet doesn't come with a bait-and-switch promo rate, so your bill won't arbitrarily jump after 12 months.
All of that is pretty appealing, and it matches what we see from AT&T Internet Air, T-Mobile and Starry, the other names of note offering high-speed wireless home internet plans. Like Verizon, they don't enforce contracts, data caps or equipment fees. That seems like a smart strategy for providers hoping to tempt customers into trying something new.
How does Verizon 5G Home Internet fare against competitors?
AT&T Internet Air is available in 47 states and over 100 markets. It advertises speeds between 75 to 225Mbps download and 10 to 30Mbps up for a monthly cost of $60, which puts it on par with fixed wireless competitors.
As for T-Mobile and Starry, both providers offer appealingly straightforward terms, just as Verizon does, but the prices and speeds are different. For example, consider Verizon 5G Home vs. T-Mobile Home Internet. T-Mobile uses a mix of 5G and 4G LTE signals and offers three speeds (between 72 to 245Mbps and up to 133 to 415Mbps download) for $50 to $70 monthly.
Starry is more impressive, as $45 a month gets you download speeds of up to 300Mbps and upload speeds of 50Mbps. That makes it the only wireless internet provider with speeds at the higher end at a value of just 15 cents per Mbps.
As for each company's coverage map, T-Mobile offers the most availability, with cellular internet service currently available to more than 50 million households across the US. Verizon now offers 5G home internet service to over 40 million households and targets 50 million by 2025. Starry is the smallest provider of the group and is available only in five cities: Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, DC.
Verizon 5G Home Internet perks and promos
Remember how we mentioned that 5G home internet providers are trying to lure customers from other ISPs? That's certainly the case with Verizon. The company currently offers many sweeteners for anyone thinking about making the switch.
The first thing that leaps at you is that price lock guarantee of up to three years. Additionally, if your provider charges an early termination fee for ditching it before your contract ends, Verizon will cover that cost when you switch (up to $500). On top of that, new Verizon 5G Home Internet customers get a 30-day satisfaction guarantee: If you're not happy with your service, you can get a full refund.
Verizon 5G Home Plus customers will also choose a gift: a Samsung 43" Class TV or Meta Quest 3S. Check out CNET's best internet deals for the latest deals from Verizon and other providers.
Bundling with mobile can save you money
Are you already a Verizon mobile customer? Those with select 5G phone plans can snag an additional $15 off their monthly bill when combining their cellphone plan with Verizon 5G Home Internet. That's a nice incentive to give Verizon a try.
Even without that discount, Verizon could offer solid value if your average speeds are high enough. It's difficult to say with such a wide range of possibilities. With Starry, $40 a month for speeds of 200Mbps comes to about 20 cents per Mbps. With T-Mobile, your average cost per Mbps would be approximately 20 cents, assuming you're routinely hitting speeds of 245Mbps.
As for Verizon, the company says that 5G Home customers should typically expect downloads between 50Mbps and 300Mbps. If your average is 193Mbps, you're paying about 25 cents per Mbps monthly. If you have a strong connection and average download speeds are closer to 300Mbps, that cost per Mbps falls to 17 cents. If the connection is weak and your average is around 85Mbps, the number shoots up to 59 cents. As we said, your mileage may vary.
If you opt for 5G Home Plus, your monthly figures will be slightly different: Verizon's figures come out to 11 cents per Mbps for average speeds at 650Mbps, 26 cents at 300Mbps and 7 cents at 1,000Mbps. Those numbers dip even lower if you apply the Verizon mobile plan discount.
That compares favorably with the top cable providers, who typically charge at least 32 cents per Mbps. Fiber internet still offers the best value, with most plans costing around 17 cents per Mbps. If there's a choice between fiber and 5G, we'll often lean toward fiber.
What's the bottom line on Verizon 5G Home Internet?
On paper, there's not much to criticize. Verizon 5G Home Internet offers some genuinely outstanding terms, and the download speeds could potentially match what you'd expect from cable or fiber. Don't forget that organizations like the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power consistently rank Verizon as a top ISP for customer satisfaction. We wish the uploads were faster than 20 to 75Mbps, especially given that Starry promises uploads as high as 250Mbps, but that might also indicate that there's room for Verizon to improve over time as its 5G network expands.
That expansion of 5G infrastructure will be key to bringing availability to more people and strengthening the signal for Verizon's existing customers. If Verizon can continue growing its service map at a fast clip, and its simple, straightforward pricing proves popular, Verizon's 5G Home Internet service might be a game-changer.
Verizon 5G Home Internet FAQs
What is Verizon 5G Home Internet?
Verizon 5G Home Internet is Verizon's fixed wireless internet service on its mixed low- and mid-band spectrum network. The wireless internet plan allows customers all the perks of a high-speed, wireless internet connection, depending on your home's location. Max download speeds are 1,000Mbps for Verizon's 5G Home Plus Plan and 300Mbps for 5G Home Internet.
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Where can you get Verizon 5G Home?
How fast is Verizon 5G Home?
On average, Verizon 5G Home is faster than satellite internet service and boasts better download speeds than T-Mobile 5G Home Internet. The biggest caveat is that the precise speed and performance you experience will depend on your location. Generally speaking, Verizon says customers should expect typical download speeds of 50 to 300Mbps and up to 1Gbps in select areas.
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What's the difference between Verizon Fios and Verizon 5G Home?
One of the biggest differences is that Verizon Fios is a fixed, wired internet service (a 100% fiber-optic internet network), whereas Verizon 5G Home is a fixed wireless internet service. Verizon Fios is only offered in eight states (and Washington, DC), while Verizon 5G Home is available to select addresses nationwide. Finally, Verizon Fios offers either symmetrical or near symmetrical download and upload speeds of 300, 500, 940 and 2,000Mbps (for some areas), while Verizon 5G Home has download speeds that vary between 50 and 300Mbps (up to 1Gbps in some areas) and upload speeds that max out at 75Mbps.
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Is Verizon 5G good for gaming?
Verizon 5G is a decent option for gaming, but your best bet is to see if you qualify for Verizon Fios, Verizon's fiber-optic internet plan which offers symmetrical download and upload speeds, and a low latency of 12ms, according to the latest data from Ookla. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)
The most important part of a good internet connection for gaming is low latency and quick and reliable speeds. Although Verizon 5G Home Plus boasts speeds up to 1,000Mbps for $80 monthly, that's not consistently guaranteed with a fixed wireless internet provider. Verizon reported 5G latency "less than 30 milliseconds," which is right in the middle of ideal latency speeds but may not stay low consistently.
Does Verizon 5G have unlimited data?
Yes, Verizon offers unlimited data with its 5G Home Internet plans.