T-Mobile Launches Test Drive Program for Home Internet

[MacRumors]

T-Mobile today announced the launch of a new internet "Test Drive" program that's designed to allow users to try out 5G T-Mobile internet in their homes. T-Mobile will send users a gateway to try out for a 15 day period at no cost, with users able to keep their existing internet during the testing program.

To encourage customers to switch to T-Mobile Home Internet, T-Mobile is paying up to $500 in termination fees for customers who cancel their existing plans.

According to T-Mobile, subscribers see typical download speeds of 33 to 182Mb/s, which it says is adequate for streaming video, surfing the web, and most types of online gaming. Upload speeds are between 6 and 23Mb/s.

As for costs, T-Mobile Home Internet is priced at $50 per month, and T-Mobile says it comes with a permanent "Price Lock" feature that will not see prices increase over the years with no additional fees.

Customers who have a family plan with T-Mobile can get discounted home internet access. Magenta Max family subscribers will pay $30 per month for broadband as part of their family plans.

All customers who subscribe to T-Mobile Home Internet will have access to T-Mobile Tuesday deals. Next week, that will include a free TV streaming device valued at up to $50 (Chromecast, Fire TV, or Roku) and 50 percent off a YouTube TV plan.

Article Link: T-Mobile Launches Test Drive Program for Home Internet

 

[Zaren]

Not available yet at my sister's place, where she can't get cable or DSL service either. That sucks.

 

[smaffei]

It works great until you try and use it for gaming. The Ping is usually too high and forget it if you have a Nintendo Switch (Nintendo's networking code is pretty much IPV6 incompatible).

If you want to use 5G home internet for general internet usage / video streaming, it's a great deal.

 

[JosephAW]

5G isn’t even here. I’m happy with 1Mbps on LTE.

 

[stephenschimpf]

My girlfriend tried it last year when she had bandwidth trouble with her HOA-provided internet service. It seemed like it would be a great solution for her. We set it up and connected all her devices, but when we got to her television, Hulu refused to use her new internet because it requires a residential connection at her home, and Hulu doesn't recognize the T-Mobile internet service as such. So, the device quickly went back into the box and was shipped back.

 

[spaceballl]

Would try this if I didn't recently get 10G up / down service from Sonic fiber!!! Had to upgrade my networking equipment to even get close to 10G...

 

[CalMin]

It's not there yet, but I look forward to the day when wireless can break the cable company monopoly in my area. I literally have no options when it comes to high-speed internet and my cable company knows it.

 

[BootsWalking]

An angel gets its wings every time Comcast and AT&T lose a home-internet customer.

 

[Tagbert]

I'd like it if they would offer a loaner handset so I could check out their wireless strength at home to decide if I switch phone carriers.

 

[adampk17]

As far as I know T-Mobile home uses CGNAT which kills port forwarding. I'm sad about that because it's a no-go then.

 

[Sean.]

I’ve had the service for about a month now and it’s been rock solid at my house. I’m getting better speeds than with my old ISP and it’s almost $20 cheaper a month with no data cap. I stream 4k shows no problem, home kit network stuff works perfect and when I game I usually am around 30-60 ping on average.

 

[geo411mar]

I’ve had the service for about a month now and it’s been rock solid at my house. I’m getting better speeds than with my old ISP and it’s almost $20 cheaper a month with no data cap. I stream 4k shows no problem, home kit network stuff works perfect and when I game I usually am around 30-60 ping on average.

I'm experiencing the same. It's worked great and has saved me about $30 a month.

 

[Surfer13134]

I just got it and tried it, It "Worked" for a day but after talking to some of the people on Reddit and tier 2 support at T-Mobile if your area is somewhat congested T-Mobile will band lock you to a slower band. In my case N41 I was getting speeds close to 300 down and 45 up, well I then got band locked to N71 and my speeds barely broke 10mbps down and 1 up and this was off-peak times. I even bought external antennas to try and grab a better signal but finally knowing you get band locked it won't do anything. And the last straw was learning they use CGNAT which makes port forwarding a PIA, so ultimately its a no go for me.

If you casually stream and not in a congested area you are probably fine, but if you are a gamer or run servers you are going to have issues.

 

[anshuvorty]

At 60/month (just $10 more), I am getting 500-1000 Mbps down from ATT Fiber with close to 5ms latency.

TMo Home Internet just can't compete.

 

[DougDolde]

I tried it and it sucked

 

[mnsportsgeek]

What are the pings like? Pretty consistent or do they vary over the course of time?

 

[whiteonline]

At 60/month (just $10 more), I am getting 500-1000 Mbps down from ATT Fiber with close to 5ms latency.

TMo Home Internet just can't compete.

…can’t compete at your exact location.

Fiber service is very location restricted.
I have fiber through another provider, but this looks like a good backup service for remote workers.

 

[coachgq]

It's not there yet, but I look forward to the day when wireless can break the cable company monopoly in my area. I literally have no options when it comes to high-speed internet and my cable company knows it.

I don’t think we are too far away from this.

 

[coachgq]

I tried it and it sucked

I‘ve had it for a year and it’s much better than the $100/month comcast 500 service where I would get 10-20 speed on wireless devices. With TMo I’m getting 75-100 easy and for half the price.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

All customers who subscribe to T-Mobile Home Internet will have access to T-Mobile Tuesday deals. Next week, that will include a free TV streaming device valued at up to $50 (Chromecast, Fire TV, or Roku) and 50 percent off a YouTube TV plan.

Where are you seeing this? T-Mobile Tuesdays shows no indication of a free streaming device or YTTV discount next week.

 

[lkrupp]

Not available yet at my sister's place, where she can't get cable or DSL service either. That sucks.

Starlink by Elon Musk

 

[fonziewonzie]

I've been testing it for the last week and I'm now soon canceling my Spectrum cable service in Los Angeles and switching to T-Mobile. On Spectrum, I was getting usually only 40down/10up during the day on what should have been a 400mpbs service, and since I work from home in film I need big data speeds.

On T-Mobile in my neighborhood I'm getting 400down/100up consistently, it's kind of nuts really, but 5G signal here is really great and there's no fiber service in my neighborhood.

 

[adampk17]

Starlink by Elon Musk

Scr*w Elon...

 

[Spock]

At 60/month (just $10 more), I am getting 500-1000 Mbps down from ATT Fiber with close to 5ms latency.

TMo Home Internet just can't compete.

Thats great but not everyone has ATT fiber or want to deal with ATT

 

[aajeevlin]

It works great until you try and use it for gaming. The Ping is usually too high and forget it if you have a Nintendo Switch (Nintendo's networking code is pretty much IPV6 incompatible).

If you want to use 5G home internet for general internet usage / video streaming, it's a great deal.

I have had the service for 1.5 years now my wife play game on switch online all the time with no issues.