5G Home Internet Is Here. And, So Are Streaming Services with “Cable Like” 100 channel line-ups, Including Local Networks. That’s great, Because I’ve had it with cable!
Not everything about Streaming is better than Satellite or Cable. And not everyone can replace cable internet access with 5G, but I and millions of others are doing just that. Here’s how that’s been working out for me, and might, for you.
This whole article is long enough, you may wish to jump around:
I wanted to get rid of my cable based internet at the same time. Looks like it’s finally practical (where available).
I am not an expert on 5G for home, and Internet options, but I have been following 5G, with great interest regarding the idea of 5G home internet services. So, let me briefly tell you what I think I know about 5G that’s important.
Gamers – Beware! Let’s start with a brief thought about gaming. I’m finding that data latency – can be slow. I’ve seen my T-Mobile 5G vary from about 30ms to 77ms. For gamers, 30ms is pretty darn good, but not exceptional. 77ms on the other hand is slow, slow enough that serious gamers don’t buy monitors that have latency anywhere near that number, but more like 0-40. Overall 40-60ms was considered “acceptable” for
gaming, when I was reviewing home theater/home entertainment projectors, but faster, was a desired goal.
First, I recall that there are three different frequency bands for 5G, and each has different properties. The fastest band is at a frequency where cell towers have to be very close to each other, roughly dozens to hundreds of feet apart, not miles. The highest speeds are ideal for large public areas, ie a concert venue, a downtown park, anywhere where 100 or 5000 people want to stream video simultaneously (uploading or
There’s also a slow 5G band – barely faster than 4G/4LTE, which I think AT&T and Verizon (and T-Mobile?) may use for other less demanding areas, but the slow speeds aren’t going to support home internet capable of watching 4K UHD content, etc, best I can tell, at this time. They are only a slight upgrade in performance from 4G/LTE.
“The 5G Home Internet performs!Although averaging “merely” 85-90Mb speed, I was able to watch three 4K UHD movies on 3 different sets with no buffering problems, etc.Eureka!It works!
There’s also a slow 5G band – barely faster than 4G/4LTE, which I think AT&T and Verizon (and T-Mobile?) may use for other less demanding areas, but the slow speeds aren’t going to support home internet capable of watching 4K UHD content, etc, best I can tell, at this time. They are only a slight upgrade in performance from 4G/LTE.
T-Mobile seems has chosen to make their main focus on the middle speed frequency band. That’s the one they are using to provide their 5G Home Internet, or so that’s my understanding. I believe I saw that they had bid/won the largest chunk of those frequencies available, but don’t quote me on that. (I’ve heard up to 80%, but haven’t been able to confirm.)
I spoke with them (T-Mobile), about the ability to handle 4 simultaneous 4K UHD viewings at once in our condo. I’m told, that their 50-150Mb download speeds (based on my distance from the tower) would get the job done, no problem. However, if they keep adding subscribers in my area, the speeds will further slow, and perhaps I will no longer be able to stream multiple 4K signals at once? That’s one big IF.
I certainly hoped they weren’t bullshitting! My Xfinity was typically measuring (using easily available software), about 550Mb download speed. Of course it had no problems with that much download speed.
Testing with the same software I used to test my cable internet speed, I found that I was only getting 85-95 Mb, far slower with my 5G Internet when first installed. Since, however, I’ve seen speeds drop to the upper 50Mb/sec range at times. (65-75Mbs now seems typical) But, then, some aspects work differently, so I have one simple, critical test to see if I had enough speed:
I put on 3 different 4K UHD movies – one each on my 2 OLED TVs and one on my Epson home theater projector. “So far, So good!” But I haven’t tried that when speeds drop to around 50Mbs.
QuickTip: Warning: It’s quite possible, where I am signal wise – 3 out of 5 bars on my T-Mobile Router – as they continue adding accounts, my speed could drop enough to limit my multiple 4K viewing. If that should happen, I may decide that T-Mobile’s 5G Internet service is no longer viable for me, or for others with merely “Good” signal strength for lack of respectable performance.
Note: I placed my 5G router at one end of my condo, next to the one window with clear line-of-sight to the nearest T-Mobile cell tower – roughly 1.5 miles away.
To make this work, it’s theoretically easy. When I get my 5G Router/controller from T-Mobile, I just plug it in to the wall. And set it up. Then I unplug my Eero Wifi router system from my old Xfinity internet box, and plug it into the T-Mobile 5G Router. Finally, after using both 5G Internet, and YouTube TV for two weeks or so, I gathered up my Xfinity router, the wifi boxes for each TV, the remotes, and dropped them off at the nearest Xfinity store. With luck, I’ll be set for years…
(Update: I’m fully up and running, using T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet. You can read about overall performance in the last section (not the addendum), before “The Bottom Line.”
How cool is that! Based on what the T-Mobile guy said, I really shouldn’t need “gigabyte” speeds. I’m also told that it only takes about continuous 25Mb download speed to fully support a 4K UHD download. So, room to spare, or so I’m told. Believe me, with a 15 day full refund offer from T-Mobile, I knew I had the time to make sure that I’ve got enough Internet speed to allow my 3 TVs and one projector to all run 4K UHD content at once.
I will be very disappointed if T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet service slows down, and therefore can no longer cut it. (Truth is, I’d be happy as long as we can fully use 3 sets at once, which really is the test I care about. (The fourth is in a rarely used guest bedroom.)
The real question for many, however is one of access – is T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet available in your area? Well, check out their website, they’ll tell you. Below you’ll find screenshots from T-Mobile’s site and their App, showing how easy it is to find out.
Note: I suspect, that even if we are close enough to a tower, there’s going to be a limit on how many homes one cell tower can support. It’s quite possible that it will take a long time – maybe a year or two? – before most folks around the country can access their 5G internet, if they will ever be able to.
How Do I know if T-Mobile’s service in my area is fast enough. Answer: They told me! Now we’ll wait and see, if true.
Because, to determine whether or not I was eligible to sign up for the service, T-Mobile had to check my address vs their nearest 5G tower. They advised that, in my case, that closest tower is a bit less than 1.5 miles. Based on the distance I was quoted the speeds. If I was too far away from their tower, perhaps another mile or so, quite likely, it wouldn’t be viable. I’ll count myself as lucky! You can go to their site, put in your address and they will tell you if the service is currently available for you.
