Forum Discussion
5G Home Internet vs. phone data speeds
So I'm a Magenta Max customer and mostly happy with my service. We live in a town where the 5G can be very strong depending on time of day/which part of town you're in.
So I started considering switching my home internet to T-Mobile's 5G Home Internet, and did some research. I turned off my phone's wifi to run speed tests on my phone's 5G data from inside my home. It varies a TON depending on the room and the time of day. I've seen download speeds as high as 300+ and upload speeds of about 6-8 (at the times you'd expect… late night or early morning) but as low as 6Mbps for downloads and 1 for uploads (during peak times). That lower number concerned me as I work from home during the day, participating in a lot of mandatory video calls. I can't have my internet just disappear during peak work hours. A great price for home internet won't matter if I lose my job because I can't stay online on a Thursday afternoon.
So I went to a T-Mobile outlet to ask an employee about it. The kid told me the phone data speeds are worse than what I'd get with Home Internet because the wifi customers are "on a different tower." I'm no expert on this stuff, but this sounded made-up to me, like he just wanted me to feel better so I'd buy something. But maybe someone who knows more can confirm if the T-Mobile employee was correct: Are Home Internet speeds better than what I get from my T-Mobile 5G device in the same building, and if so, is it because they deliberately use different towers for that service, as this guy told me?
I should add that this kid was very obviously trying to get me to sign up on the spot, showing me 1000+ speed tests on his device (irrelevant to me because I don't live at the T-Mobile store so my speed won't be the same). So I protected myself by leaving without signing up for the trial service, although I am still considering it.
So anyone with better knowledge than me - and with no stake in trying to sell me something on commission - what's the real story here? Can I reasonably expect better speeds (and most importantly, no frequent drops in service while I'm working) then I get on a 5G mobile device from within the same residence? Thanks for any help!
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I decided to do the trial run. I've had the gateway up and running for about an hour on a Friday afternoon, which I assume is a pretty decent time to test signal strength at peak (or close to peak) usage time.
Im getting speeds ranging from 45-220 down depending on the device and the room I'm standing in, and from 7-12 up. The lowest of those numbers is still better than I'm used to from AT&T in my neighborhood. So far, so good.
One curious thing though - the video streaming is nice and fast on my work laptop. However, when I sign into my work's VPN and attempt to load one of the web pages that requires the VPN, they no longer load. The VPNs are signed in and connected, but the work-related pages that need the VPN are not loading anymore on the T-Mobile wifi. Am I just missing a setting or something?
I agree 100% with "formercanuck" the phones do have priority over the fixed broadband gateways due to the nature of cell phone calls and roaming from tower to tower. Testing with a cell phone vs. the gateway can be rather deceptive. From one manufacturer's cell phone model to another there are often huge differences in the radios in use. If you buy a premium cell phone you are getting better tech than the average cell phone so it is not a comparison that will lead to conclusive results.
The service in one area vs another can vary greatly and it seems to come down to higher density urban areas with heavier user loads requiring the use of bandwidth throttling due to load. T-Mobile may be expanding their network but it seems to me the cells are still often loaded heavier than is optimal for service to be what users are/were expecting. The ONLY way you will know how the T-Mobile solution will work for you in your location is to try it out. Exercise the solution as much as you can during the trial period to profile proper expectations. You can read threads on Reddit, here and other forums and get a better idea as to if it is what you will find satisfying or not.
T-Mobile runs a IPv6 network and a 464XLAT solution so don't expect NAT and port forwarding controls you might have become reliant upon without a VPN solution. Games that rely upon UPnP are not going to be functional on the T-Mobile solution. Go read the FAQs on the T-Mobile pages. Don't be blind sided by not researching the details. I know the T-Mobile home gateway solution can be pretty darn great in some markets. Here we are in a rural area with n41 for the data load and it is very good. We started out with n71 delivery and then they upgraded the cell to n41 and the speeds just about doubled. Still the speeds vary depending upon the time of day/night and load. Weather can also be a factor. Well, there are a number of factors but if your location is close to a cell source and good clear delivery it can be pretty good. In higher density markets where user load is heavier that equation may not work for you.
If you are interested in the way the tech is used: (interesting read)
https://prateek-mishra.medium.com/en-dc-overview-62d35521edc4
Mostly… T-Mobile has deprioritized Home Internet over cell.
I can get as good, if not faster on my Home Internet .. just not as often,
S21 ≈ 150-200Mbps indoors - 5G disabled (becomes worse with 5G enabled, as it is weak from +1 mile away), LTE ≈ 1000' away. During the day, ≈ 150Mbps. Night time ~200Mbps.
Home Internet ≈ 50-200Mbps, typically 50-150Mbps, but some times as low are 10-30Mbps. During the day ≈ 75Mbps. Night time ~=150 upwards to 200Mbps or better.
Upload is typically 30Mbps on both.
I should notice better performance once T-Mobile upgrades the local tower.
Denny, they definitely use the same tower. The "kid" in the T-Mobile store was wrong.
As far as speeds, iPhones and Androids are throttled because of limited battery and CPU power. If you place a T-Mobile gateway in one of the areas of your home where you have great reception of 5G, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the speed you'll get OTA.
Also, there is a 2-week, no questions asked trail period. Give it a shot while you still have your old ISP and see if you can achieve speeds that will satisfy your home's needs. Otherwise, return it.
For me, I had Xfinity 800 Mbps, but I hated having to negotiate the price every year, and I really didn't like the data caps imposed on users. I am not a gamer, but we do stream a lot of TV and have multiple computers, iPhones, smart switches and gadgets. In my environment I get approximately 50-70 Mbps down and 10-11 mbps up, but I can only connect via 4G. The 5G signal isn't strong enough or can't make it through all the trees surrounding our home or through the concrete block construction of our home in S. Florida.
The bottom line is that the bandwidth I receive is more that enough for our activities. We also use T-Mobile as the provider for our iPhones, so that qualifies us for $25 per month rate, all-you-can-eat for life, I'm a very happy camper. From what I can tell on this forum, there are some problems, especially for gamers, but for most people who can get good access to 5G, people really like the service.
Mine is just the opposite. My S22 Ultra will get 400 or better during off peak time standing next to the modem while the home internet .odem will peak at a little over 300
