I Tried Out Verizon and T-Mobile's 5G Home Internet to See if I Could Truly Ditch Cable

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I decided to embrace the future over the last few weeks, starting with my home internet. I ditched my Spectrum cable internet and television services for the overhyped next generation of wireless: 5G. The new tech has been touted as a solution to plenty of problems, but one of its early successes has been providing competition to the likes of Comcast Xfinity, Charter Spectrum, Altice's Optimum, AT&T and Verizon Fios. 

Through several weeks of my trying out T-Mobile's and Verizon's respective $50-per-month services, both showed plenty of promise for eventually replacing my home broadband. But neither proved reliable enough to keep today, so for now, I'm switching back to a more focused home internet provider. 

Here is what I've learned. 

The Verizon 5G Home Internet box. 
Eli Blumenthal/CNET

How Verizon and T-Mobile Compare 

Although neither carrier officially offers 5G home internet services in my building, both providers have particularly strong 5G coverage in my area of New York City. 

On Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network I can often find download speeds greater than 200Mbps (and sometimes over 300Mbps), an impressive connection that can easily handle all the gaming, streaming and working needs of myself and my two roommates. 

Uploads, at least in the early days of my use, were around 20Mbps, or on par with my Spectrum cable connection. 

Read more: Everything You Need to Know About Verizon 5G Home and T-Mobile Home Internet

T-Mobile, which has its 5G Ultra Capacity available where I live, has lately hit similar download speeds in my area -- a more recent development that gives me confidence that the carrier is still actively working on bolstering its network even in areas where it has already deployed plenty of 5G. 

The T-Mobile connection also has been more responsive, often offering lower latency and higher upload speeds regularly over 40Mbps. That is double what Verizon's 5G and my 400Mbps Spectrum plan were offering. 

Both carriers charge $50 for their 5G home internet offerings and those prices include taxes, fees and a modem/router in the monthly cost. Neither have data caps and both offer discounts on monthly service if you also have certain wireless plans. T-Mobile lowers the price to $30 per month if you have its priciest Magenta Max plan. Verizon drops the pricing to $25 per month if you have its Play More, Do More or Get More wireless plans.

Compared to traditional broadband options, this could quickly add up to serious monthly savings even without the wireless bundle discounts. 

Setting up either is also incredibly simple: Take the modem/router device out of the box, place it near a window and plug it in. No visits from a technician are required. 

T-Mobile's modems have screens on them so you can immediately see if the area where you placed your device has strong coverage without going into any apps. Verizon's box is more minimalist and instead relies on an LED light. If it's white, you're good; if it's red, you need to move it to a new location in your home. 

Personally, I prefer T-Mobile's functionality over Verizon's form even if the former's gray cylinder is a bit of an eyesore. The carrier also offers a black box version of its router/modem that has a screen but doesn't appear to be any more stylish.

Both providers have been capable of allowing me and my roommates to stream 4K content, play games online on Xbox, conduct Zoom and FaceTime calls and otherwise live our lives normally.

So why switch back to a more traditional connection? Inconsistency. 

T-Mobile

Strong coverage does not always equal strong performance

While both providers have excellent service in my area, using either system left us with random intermittent periods of dropped internet. My first week with Verizon was excellent, but in week two speeds and latency became so erratic I had to switch away. 

T-Mobile's offering similarly shined more often than not, but it, too, would randomly go out while watching the Grizzlies-Warriors game on a Saturday night on YouTube TV or while trying to do work on Monday or Tuesday morning. A quick reset of the modem and my attached Eero got us back up and running, but the unreliability is a problem. 

In fairness to both carriers, I understand my situation is a bit unique. 

Verizon offers Fios in my area and because of that, 5G Home Internet isn't officially available where I live. If you want internet from Verizon and have the option for zippyshare.com Fios, it will quickly steer you there. Because its Ultra Wideband network has improved so dramatically, the company sent over a device for me to experience its network and its 5G Home Internet product, even though the service technically isn't available in my exact location.

Interestingly enough, Verizon's 5G network in my area for parts of the past few weeks has been considerably worse for both 5G Home Internet and traditional phone connections.