How fast is 5G home internet? (& is it good enough?)

Whether 5G fixed wireless home internet is fast enough for your needs depends on several factors, including the type of activities you use it for.

If you depend on the internet for gaming, working from home or streaming 4K resolution content, then 5G internet may not be fast enough or provide a consistent experience for you.

Most people focus on download speeds when assessing broadband home internet plans, because downloading consumes more data, but upload speeds are equally important for sending large files. Your actual internet experience may vary, as 5G home internet performance can be affected by conditions outside the provider’s control, such as:

• • Distance from cell towers
  • Weather events
  • Cellular network coverage
  • Radio frequency interference

Additionally, when comparing 5G fixed wireless and fiber broadband plans, it’s important to consider how location, infrastructure, bandwidth and available technology can affect reliability and overall performance.

Your location can be a limiting factor, as reliable 5G internet access isn’t available everywhere. Because 5G home internet relies on a wideband radio frequency, signals weaken with distance. The farther you are from cellular network technology, the less consistent your broadband connection may be. Even close to a tower, obstacles like buildings, trees and other structures can block or interfere with the signal. In contrast, fiber-powered ISPs like Astound deliver a more stable connection. Fiber is resistant to electromagnetic interference, temperature fluctuations and severe weather, resulting in fewer service interruptions.

Fiber’s infrastructure also supports advanced broadband solutions like Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH), delivering a direct, reliable internet connection from the fiber hub to any residence or business. With fiber-powered Gig internet, customers can connect multiple mobile devices, tablets, TVs, gaming consoles and other technology through a wireless router to enjoy faster speeds, higher bandwidth and a more consistent connection for remote work, streaming and online gaming.

Both fiber internet and 5G can deliver fast broadband speeds, but fiber provides consumers with more flexibility through reliable internet access and multiple home internet offers. With options for different speed tiers, higher bandwidth and technology that supports everything from online gaming to 4K resolution streaming, fiber allows users to choose the plan that best fits their needs and budget.

Since each 5G home internet plan includes different upload and download speed ranges, along with rules on throttling, data cap and fair use policies, it’s important to review the technical details to understand exactly what you’re getting. Moreover, while speed is an important factor when choosing a broadband internet plan, you should also consider:

• • Latency
  • Jitter
  • Lag

Why these factors?

Most 5G internet providers don’t guarantee exact speeds; instead, they advertise a range. Beyond speed, factors like latency, bandwidth, signal strength and jitter can also affect your overall broadband and internet access experience.

Latency is the time it takes for a data packet to travel across a network. While 5G technology promises lower latency, areas with limited broadband infrastructure or overburdened cellular networks may still experience noticeable delays, as some Reddit users have reported. For more reliable internet access, consider a wired solution such as cable or fiber-powered broadband, which provides stronger signal consistency and higher bandwidth.

Jitter occurs when there is a delay between packets of data transmitted over a network. In 5G networks, some users on Reddit have reported that jitter increases in areas with weak signal strength or when the cellular network is heavily used. If you rely on a 5G home network during busy hours, you might notice poor video and audio quality. These disruptions are often linked to jitter affecting your 5G mobile broadband connection and overall home internet availability.

Lag is almost always the result of high latency, which occurs when data takes longer than expected to travel across the network. In situations where the network is congested, bandwidth is limited or signal strength is weak, users may experience noticeable delays when gaming, streaming or doing remote work.

For example, some Reddit users have reported that while their 5G home internet can initially deliver download speeds of around 200 Mbps, the connection may suddenly drop to about 10 Mbps during gameplay or video streaming, particularly during peak usage times.

Let’s take a look at some of the top 5G home internet providers and what they offer in terms of speed and reliability.

AT&T Internet Air 5G home internet speeds:

• • The maximum download speed available is 140 Mbps
  • Currently available only in select areas
  • AT&T may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy
  • Service may be slowed, suspended, terminated or restricted in cases of abnormal use, interference or violations of data cap and fair use policies

T-Mobile 5G home internet speeds:

• • Maximum download speed available is 245 Mbps
  • Currently available only in select areas
  • 25% of users experience slower broadband speeds than advertised
  • During times of high network congestion, home internet customers may notice reduced performance due to data prioritization on the cellular network

Verizon 5G home internet speeds:

• • Maximum download speed of 300 Mbps
  • Currently available only in select areas
  • On certain plans, Verizon may prioritize other traffic over your 5G or 4G LTE data
  • If the connected cellular network site experiences high demand, your broadband speeds may temporarily be slower than other users’ traffic

Though 5G home internet can typically deliver broadband speeds between 40 and 300 Mbps, it comes with trade-offs such as higher latency, variable signal strength and reliance on cellular technology. With Astound’s high speed internet you can get maximum download speeds of 300 Mbps* for $20 per month. You also have the option of maximum download speeds of 2,000 Mbps (or 2 Gig) in select areas, which is more than 14x-50x faster than most 5G home internet providers.

With these fiber-powered broadband speeds you can connect 10x as many devices and support multiple users on your home network – at scale. Moreover, you have freedom to choose the exact speed that best fits your lifestyle whether you’re gaming, working from home or streaming.

Get clear on the differences between fiber-powered internet and 5G home internet.