T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Review

T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, going Rogue on Comcast

When it comes to broadband internet, I have been with Comcast since 1998.  I can remember telling clients you really should see this.  I was pulling 3 mbps download and we were raiding Napster for songs at blazing speeds.  We could hook into a T3 line and download 75 songs at the time.  Friends and relatives were lucky to get a song a night using dial-up.

At the time my clients would say all we need are emails and don't need broadband.  Fast forward 24 years and civilization cannot exist without it.

Now I'm seeking an alternative to Comcast.  My location unfortunately does not have fiber yet so I am excluded from Google or AT&T fiber.  Up until this week my only alternative has been AT&T, internet 75, not fiber.  I refuse to go with AT&T since my experience dealing with them on client accounts has always been disappointing as to speeds, (they promise up to 75 MBPS, but may be only 5 MBPS).

I have had Comcast Business for 3 years now and of course the bill keeps climbing.  I have internet service only, no cable TV.

I decided to try T-Mobile 5G home internet.  I entered my address info and voila,

However, all was not as it seemed.  Upon continuing I had to verify my shipping and emergency (911) address.  The address prefilled by the website did not match my actual street address.  I'm at 4228 and it was responding with 4308.  I had to call customer service and the rep told me that the service was not available at my address.  Undaunted the next day I tried again and this time the rep allowed me to change the shipping and emergency address.  I was able to place the order and my internet appliance arrived Tuesday.  I have a 15 day trial before my service starts at $50/month.

Installation and setup.

The device setup was simple.  I attached the power cord, downloaded the T-Mobile app on my iPhone and I was ready.  I started the app and things looked bleak.  It could not auto attach to the T-Mobile 5G network or discover my location.

I then chose manual installation and provided my street address and phone number.  Next I gave it a secured password/key for the internet and accepted the default SSID (Wi-Fi name).  The device then attempted to connect which it accomplished successfully, but only 2 out of 5 bars strength.

I attached my Surface Pro notebook, ran a speed test and found I was pulling 120 MBPS down/8 MBPS up.  The instructions advised to place the device on an upper level near a window.  I moved the device upstairs, trying 3 different rooms. all locations had 3 bars out of 5.  I found that even with 3 bars, some of the locations were not ideal for WIFI due to walls and distance so I opted for the middle level of the house with 3 bars.

So far I'm pleased with the results.  I've tested and used the internet with my notebook and I can't discern any difference between it and my Comcast signal.  I ran the http://speedof.me speed test and the results are:

So far so good... this is with 3 of 5 bars signal strength.  If T-Mobile can improve the strength of the signal to my device I have no doubt that the T-Mobile Home Internet is a worthy alternative to Comcast.  The price is no comparison, $50 vs $130 plus per month.

This weekend I plan to test the device using all my devices including streaming on the TVs.

The T-Mobile device has 2 ethernet ports.  However the location of the device isn't convenient for my lower level office.  I will drop an ethernet cable and connect to an ethernet switch to conduct the test.

I will post an update to the blog next week and publish the result of my experiment with the T-Mobile Home Internet.

Have a great weekend.